中英文本

There's a disturbing side to the diamond trade--- the traffic of conflict diamonds, otherwise known as blood diamonds. This is Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone on the West African coast, a country still emerging from ten years of war. During that war, it was held by rebel forces--- rebels who use diamonds to finance their rebellion.

钻石交易中有一个令人不安的方面——冲突钻石的交易，也被称为血钻。这是弗里敦，塞拉利昂的首都，位于西非海岸，一个从十年战争中崛起的国家。在那场战争中，它被叛军占领--叛军用钻石来资助叛乱。

The war started with rebel forces trying to overthrow a corrupt government, but quickly descended into a terror campaign with amputation used as a weapon--- thousands of people were killed and maimed as the rebels maintained their tenacious hold on the diamond fields, using the gems to buy more guns. Rebels forced men, women and children to dig for diamonds at gunpoint. These diamonds were then smuggled into the world markets. There, they were cut and polished, disappearing into the legal supply, sold like any other gem to consumers who had no idea they'd been paid for originally in blood. Diamonds from Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo joined the illegal exodus.

战争开始于叛军试图推翻一个腐败的政府，但很快就演变成一场恐怖行动，用截肢作为武器——在叛军对钻石矿的顽强控制下，他们用宝石买更多的枪，数千人被杀或致残。叛军强迫男人、女人和孩子在枪口下挖掘钻石。这些钻石随后被走私到世界市场。在那里，它们被切割和打磨，消失在合法的供应中，像其他任何宝石一样卖给消费者，而消费者根本不知道自己的购买是由鲜血堆砌。安哥拉和刚果民主共和国的钻石也加入了非法销售的行列。

It doesn't look like much, but this is the Sierra Leone's government diamond office--- the new frontline of the fight against blood diamonds. Every gem in this room is supposed to be legal. Lawrence Myers who runs this office understands the danger blood diamonds posed to the industry. Thousands of diamonds pass through this office every week and every so often, a spectacular one shows up, like the stone that came through yesterday.

看起来不太像，但这是塞拉利昂政府的钻石办公室--对抗血钻的新前线。这个房间里的每一颗宝石都应该是合法的。劳伦斯·迈尔斯是这个办公室的负责人，他明白血钻给这个行业带来的危险。每星期都有成千上万颗钻石经过这间办公室，每隔一段时间就会出现一颗壮观的钻石，就像昨天经过办公室的那颗钻石一样。
"That stone would vary from 1 million to 1.5 million."

“那颗钻石的价钱100万至150万。”

It's already on its way to Belgium--- the largest diamond exported from Sierra Leone in ten years at least legally. Weighing in at 110 carats, it's the size of a golf ball and worth about a million dollars in its rough state. After it's been cut and polished, it will be sold for about five times that amount. But for the government of Sierra Leone, the diamond will earn a mere 30,000 dollars in export taxes. That's not very much. But many diamond traders in the country choose not to pay any taxes at all. About 40% go through the official channels. 60% of diamonds are smuggled--- 70 to 75 million.

这颗钻石已经在运往比利时的路上了——这是塞拉利昂在至少10年内合法出口的最大钻石。它重达110克拉，大小相当于一个高尔夫球，在未打磨的状态下价值约100万美元。经过切割和打磨后，它的售价大约是这个数字的五倍。但对于塞拉利昂政府来说，这颗钻石只能赚取3万美元的出口税。这并不是很多。但是这个国家的许多钻石商人选择不纳税。大约有40%通过官方渠道。60%的钻石是走私的--7000万到7500万颗。

This untamed jungle shelters a rich and fertile land, but there's almost no sign of agriculture. Farmers abandoned these fields long ago--- many to dig for diamonds, no fences, no guards, no industrial machinery. Twenty feet beneath these men is a diamond-rich gravel bed. To get to it, tons of earth have to be moved, a shovelful at a time. Ex-rebels work side by side with the civilians they once terrorized. Most of these men dig all day, every day, 365 days a year.

这片未被开垦的丛林提供了肥沃的土地，但几乎没有农业的迹象。农民们很久以前就抛弃了这些田地--许多人去挖钻石，没有围墙，没有警卫，没有工业机器。在这些人脚下二十英尺的地方是一个钻石丰富的砂砾层。为了到达那里，必须移动大量的土地，一次一铲。前叛军与他们曾经恐吓过的平民并肩作战。大多数人每天都在挖，一年365天。

"Century ago, diamonds have been part of their life. They dream diamonds, they eat diamonds, they think diamonds. Wherever you go, you talk about diamonds."

“一个世纪以前，钻石已经成为他们生活的一部分。他们以钻石为梦，他们以钻石作为食物来源，他们心心念念着钻石。无论你走到哪里，都在谈论钻石。”
"I buy house. I buy motorcar. I do the job for my people."

“我买房子。我买汽车。我为我的人民工作。”

Whether they are large or small, diamonds from these mines feed the same pipeline that once trafficked the blood diamonds. There are up to a million miners in Sierra Leone, and only a thousand of them have licenses. It's like the Wild West, a place that obeys its own laws, because all it takes is one big stone to change a person's life, for better or for worse.

无论是大钻石还是小钻石，从这些矿坑中开采出来的钻石都是曾经用来运输血钻的管道。塞拉利昂有100万矿工，其中只有1000人有执照。这就像狂野的西部，一个遵守自己法律的地方，因为无论好坏，改变一个人的生活都需要一块大钻石。

重点讲解

1.descend into 下降到
A pleasant evening can descend into a dispute about who had a starter and who ordered the lobster.
一个欢愉的夜晚随之便演变一场争论，争论谁点了开胃菜谁又点了龙虾。

2.pass through 通过
Much of the energy is absorbed as the Sun's rays pass through the atmosphere.
太阳光线通过大气层时许多能量被吸收去了。

3.at a time 每次
You can check your program one command at a time while it's running.
你可以在程序运行期间，逐条输入命令以对程序进行检查。