Level 5-Day 28.Arthur Scargill: ' Criticism of Tory Policies' (1)

词汇提示

1.Tories 保守党

2.utter 彻底的

3.eroded 侵蚀

4.devastation 破坏

5.mortgage 抵押贷款

6.derelic 废弃的

7.vulnerable 脆弱的

8.negotiating 谈判

原文

ArthurScargill: ' Criticism of Tory Policies' (1)

Todayour nation, after eight years under the Tories, is on the brink of utter chaos,facing both social and economic collapse.

Ourbasic industries have been butchered.

Ourmanufacturing base has been eroded with hundreds of businesses, large andsmall, gone to the wall while the nation has become increasingly dependent onimported goods.

Thehuman consequences of this industrial and economic devastation are terrible.

Overeight million people struggle for survival on or below the poverty line andfour and a half million people are unemployed.

Thousandsof families are homeless: the number of homeless families in Britain hasdoubled since 1978, while the enforced repossession of homesis at an all-time record because so many can no longer manage to maintainmortgage payments.

Evenmore people, meanwhile, try to cope as best they can in derelict, oftendangerous dwellings - one and a quarter million homes are unfit to live in, whilehouse-building investment throughout Britain has been slashed by sixty per centsince 1979.

Sicknessand ill health of all kinds are rampant, and they are made even more terribleby the crisis in the National Health Service and throughout the welfare system.

TheTories have been utterly ruthless in their butchery of health and welfareprovisions.

TheNHS, once the pride of our nation, has been reduced to a critical conditionthrough hospital closures, medical staff cutbacks, the lack and withdrawal ofresources and vital equipment, and the privatization of key services.

Approximately700,000 people wait today for hospital treatment and an increasing number willnot receive that treatment before it is too late.

Thousandsof people who are suffering from serious, often fatal diseases are being turnedaway through lack of hospital beds and staff.

Oursocial services are faced with ever-increasing family and community problems asTory attacks take their toll, with children and old people among those mostvulnerable.

Oureducation system is also in chaos, as students and teachers struggle againstyet more cutbacks, fewer resources - and for our youngsters it must seem oftena pointless exercise, with jobs, training and access to higher education becomingmore and more difficult to attain.

Theirteachers meanwhile, like many other trade unionists, have had their negotiatingrights removed by the Government, and their commitment to teaching the nation'schildren treated with contempt.

Thishas become a grim and desperate society - fulled by unemployment and its socialconsequences, frustration, rage and despair are rampant all around us.

Moreand more people, I believe, are coming to see themselves as under attack - andthey are correct.

翻译

阿瑟·斯卡吉尔:“对保守党政策的批评”(1)

今天，在保守党执政八年后，我们的国家正处于彻底混乱的边缘，面临着社会和经济的崩溃。
我们的基础工业遭到了破坏。
我们的制造业基础受到侵蚀，数以百计的大大小小的企业倒闭，而这个国家越来越依赖进口商品。
这种工业和经济破坏对人类造成的后果是可怕的。
800多万人在贫困线上或贫困线以下挣扎求生，450万人失业。
成千上万的家庭无家可归:自1978年以来，英国无家可归家庭的数量翻了一番，而强制收回房屋的数量达到了历史最高水平，因为许多人无法再支付抵押贷款。
与此同时，更多的人试图在废弃的，往往是危险的住房中尽可能地应对——125万套住房不适合居住，而自1979年以来，英国的住房建设投资已经削减了60%。
各种各样的疾病和不健康状况都很严重，而国民医疗服务体系和整个福利体系的危机使它们变得更加可怕。
托利党在削减医疗和福利方面一直非常无情。
国民保健制度曾经是我们国家的骄傲，但由于医院关闭、医务人员裁减、资源和重要设备的缺乏和撤回以及关键服务的私有化，它已沦落到危急的境地。
今天大约有70万人在等待医院治疗，越来越多的人得不到治疗，否则就为时已晚。
由于缺乏医院床位和工作人员，成千上万患有严重、往往是致命疾病的人被拒之门外。
由于保守党的攻击，我们的社会服务面临着越来越多的家庭和社区问题，儿童和老人是最脆弱的群体。
我们的教育体系也陷入混乱，学生和教师都在努力应对更多的削减和更少的资源——对于我们的年轻人来说，这似乎是一项毫无意义的工作，工作、培训和接受高等教育的机会变得越来越难获得。
与此同时，他们的教师像许多其他工会成员一样，被政府剥夺了谈判权利，他们对教育全国儿童的承诺受到蔑视。
这已经变成了一个严峻而绝望的社会——充满了失业及其社会后果，挫折、愤怒和绝望在我们周围猖獗。
我相信，越来越多的人开始觉得自己受到了攻击——他们是对的。