【外刊精读】韩国福利院（上）

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釜山兄弟福利院是韩国1975年到1987年接受国家补助金帮助3000多名流浪者的地方，这个本该给社会弱势群体提供救助的地方为何成为了人间地狱？今天，贸学长带着大家跟随纽约时报看看这个韩国历史中不能直视的一页，告诉你什么是恶魔在人间。

原文导读（上）

Decades After a ‘Living Hell,’

Korean Victims Win a Step Toward Redress

SEOUL— From 1976 to 1987, military dictators in South Korea swept roughly 38,000 people off the streets, corralling them into a welfare center called Brothers Home. The facility was supposed to feed and teach what the government called vagrants— many of them minors— and train them for jobs.

Instead, Brothers Home turned out to be a house of nightmares. Many were beaten, raped and used for slave labor. More than 650 people died while being held there illegally and unbeknown to their families, according to survivors and investigators.

Brothers Home, in the southeastern port city of Busan, became among the most infamous examples of human rights abuses in South Korea’s modern history. Yet few people have been held accountable. After the top manager was investigated in 1987, government leaders intervened, and the manager spent only 30 months in prison. He was found guilty of minor financial crimes, but not of violating human rights.

On Wednesday, after a decades-long struggle to hold the authorities accountable, victims scored a victory when South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission confirmed that the government illegally helped send people into forced detention at Brothers Home, exposing them to beatings, rape and other abuse that sometimes led to death.

The scandal at Brothers Home has long been one of the best documented among the numerous cases of rights abuses under Korea’s successive dictatorships. Over the decades, survivors have written books. Major TV stations have released investigative documentaries. Human rights groups and newspapers have run multipart series on the abuse and attempts to cover it up.

It was not until Wednesday, though, that a government agency formally recognized what happened at Brothers Home as a “grave human rights violation by the state,” announced an official death toll and recommended a governmental apology and assistance to heal the victims’ trauma.

“The whole country is an accomplice,” said Park Gyeong-bo, 58,whowas incarcerated at Brothers Home twice between 1975 and 1980.“There has always been an overflowing amount of evidence of wrongdoing, but no one cared, nobody listened to us. We were treated like the trash of society.”

The Truth Commission’s findings provide powerful ammunition for survivors who are suing the government for compensation. Its work is part of South Korea’s renewed efforts to come to terms with its tumultuous modern history, which has been marked not only by democratization but also by civilian massacres, popular uprisings, torture and other human rights violations.

第一段：SEOUL— From 1976 to 1987, military dictators in South Korea swept roughly 38,000 people off the streets, corralling them into a welfare center called Brothers Home. The facility was supposed to feed and teach what the government called vagrants— many of them minors— and train them for jobs.

参考译文：韩国首尔——从1976年到1987年，军事独裁者将约38,000人赶出街头，把把他们关进一个名为 "兄弟之家"的福利中心。该机构本应为政府所称的流浪汉（其中许多是未成年人）提供食物和教育，并对他们进行工作培训。

知识点解读：

1.military dictator：军事独裁者，例如，“Not content with having overthrown the government, the military dictator imprisoned all his opponents.那个军事独裁者不满足于推翻政府，还把所有的反对者囚禁起来。”相对应的“军事独裁”的表达为“military dictatorship”，例如，“In the 80s Latin America emerged from the dark days of military dictatorship with the hope that democracy would bring social justice.在80年代，拉丁美洲刚刚从军事独裁的阴影下走出来，把希望寄托于民主政治之中，希望它能够带来社会的公平。”

2.Sweep off:扫清、大量清除，例如，“She swept the papers off the table.她把文件从桌子推到了地。”

3.corral：作名词时表示“畜栏”，作动词时表示“把…赶入畜栏”，原文中用作比喻，符合语境，十分生动贴切，例如，“This wonderful invention allows you to corral cleaning products all together in one location.这个了不起的发明让你把所有的清洁用品都集中放到一处。”

4.welfare center：福利中心；福利院，拓展一个表达：“nursing home养老院”。

5.vagrant：流浪汉，尤其是指无业游民，例如，“It's not hard to see why they mistook you for a vagrant.不难理解为什么他们会把你错当成游民。”

minors：少数民族，或者表示未成年人，例如，“The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors.法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。”

第二段：Instead, Brothers Home turned out to be a house of nightmares. Many were beaten, raped and used for slave labor. More than 650 people died while being held there illegally and unbeknown to their families, according to survivors and investigators.

参考译文：相反，“兄弟之家”变成了一个噩梦之家。许多人遭到殴打、强奸和奴役。据幸存者和调查人员称，650多人在被非法关押期间死亡，然而家人不知情。

知识点解读：

1.turned out to be：结果却是，有种“出乎意料”的意思，例如，“We talked all the way home, and I carried his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid.在回家的路上我帮他背着书，我们一路上聊着，原来他是一个非常酷的孩子。”

held：Hold的过去式，在本文中主要表示“容纳”和“监禁”的意思。Hold一词有非常多的意思，大家要根据语境具体判断。

第三段：Brothers Home, in the southeastern port city of Busan, became among the most infamous examples of human rights abuses in South Korea’s modern history. Yet few people have been held accountable. After the top manager was investigated in 1987, government leaders intervened, and the manager spent only 30 months in prison. He was found guilty of minor financial crimes, but not of violating human rights.

参考译文：位于东南部港口城市釜山的兄弟之家成为韩国现代史上最臭名昭著的侵犯人权案例之一。但几乎没有人受到追责。1987年兄弟之家的最高管理者被调查后，政府领导人进行了干预，该管理者仅在监狱中关押了30个月。他被判犯有轻微的金融犯罪，但没有被判侵犯人权罪。

知识点解读：

1.infamous：声名狼藉的、臭名昭著的，不是“不出名”的意思，千万别被in的否定前缀迷惑了，例如，“I was shocked by her infamous behaviour. 她的无耻行径令我震惊。”

2.human rights abuse：践踏人权，例如，“They have fled human rights abuse and have sought asylum outside their home country.他们逃避人权侵害并在其本国外寻求庇护。”本文中也多次用另一个词表达“践踏人权”，即“human rights violation”.

Intervene:介入、干预，常考的是“intervene”和“interfere”的区别. “intervene”一般作褒义词，有“介入调解”之意，常见的搭配是“intervene in”，或作为不及物动词单独使用例如，“To prevent further drops in government bond prices, the bank should announce that it is ready to intervene in the market.要阻止国债价格下一步下滑，欧洲央行应当宣布，其准备进入市场干预。” “interfere”则多做贬义词使用，表示“未获允许而妨碍、阻扰、干涉他人的事”，例如，“Family frictions can interfere with a child's schoolwork.家庭中的争吵会影响孩子的学业。”

第四段：On Wednesday, after a decades-long struggle to hold the authorities accountable, victims scored a victory when South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission confirmed that the government illegally helped send people into forced detention at Brothers Home, exposing them to beatings, rape and other abuse that sometimes led to death.

参考译文：周三，经过数十年的努力，韩国真相与和解委员会证实，政府通过非法途径帮助将人们强行关押在兄弟之家，使他们遭受殴打、强奸和其他虐待，有时甚至致死。在为让政府对此事负责进行了几十年的努力后，这是受害者们取得的一个胜利。

知识点解读：

1.score a victory：取得胜利，是非常地道的的表达，例如，“After a poor 1975 season, Peterson moved back to March and scored his final victory for the team at the 1976 Italian Grand Prix. 在经历了1975年糟糕的赛季后，彼得森回到了3月份，并在1976年意大利大奖赛上为球队赢得了最后一场胜利。”

forced detention:强制拘留，大家要注意区分“detention”和“detection”，前者是“拘留；扣押；监禁”，后者是“发现；侦查；察觉”。

第五段：The scandal at Brothers Home has long been one of the best documented among the numerous cases of rights abuses under Korea’s successive dictatorships. Over the decades, survivors have written books. Major TV stations have released investigative documentaries. Human rights groups and newspapers have run multipart series on the abuse and attempts to cover it up.

参考译文：兄弟之家的丑闻长期以来一直是韩国历届独裁统治下众多侵犯人权案件中记录最完整的一个。几十年来，幸存者写了很多书。主要电视台已经发布了调查性纪录片。人权组织和报纸就虐待问题发表了多篇系列文章，并试图掩盖真相。

知识点解读：

1.successive：连续的, 相继的，强调事物一个接一个地发生，无间断。，例如，“He won three successive matches.他连胜三场比赛。”这里需要区分下其他两个表示“连续的”的词语：

continual：强调重复或持续发生，但连续之间可以有间断，例如，“I am tired of this continual rain.不停的下雨使我厌倦。”

continuous ：强调在时间和空间上没有间断，例如，“She suffered a continuous bout of illness lasting six months.她患病发作已持续了六个月。”

2.cover up：包庇(某人)；掩盖，例如，“Heng shook his head silently, but after a few moments another sob escaped, and again he tried to cover up his crying.珩慢慢的摇了摇头，但过了一段时间以后又发出了抽泣声，他试图掩饰自己的抽泣。”

第六段：It was not until Wednesday, though, that a government agency formally recognized what happened at Brothers Home as a “grave human rights violation by the state,” announced an official death toll and recommended a governmental apology and assistance to heal the victims’ trauma.

参考译文：然而，直到周三，一个政府机构才正式承认在兄弟之家发生的事件是“国家对人权的严重侵犯”，公布了官方的死亡人数，并建议政府道歉和提供援助，以治愈受害者的创伤。

知识点解读：

1.government agency：政府机构，官方表达，要注意积累。

2.death toll：（事故、战争、灾难等的）死亡人数。

trauma：创伤，包括心理上和身体上的，我们常说的Ptsd就是“Posttraumatic Stress Disorder”，指“创伤后应激障碍”。

第七段：“The whole country is an accomplice,” said Park Gyeong-bo, 58,who was incarcerated at Brothers Home twice between 1975 and 1980.“There has always been an overflowing amount of evidence of wrongdoing, but no one cared, nobody listened to us. We were treated like the trash of society.”

参考译文：“整个国家都是同谋，”58岁的朴庆波（Park Gyeong-bo）说。他在1975年至1980年期间两次被监禁在兄弟之家。“一直都有大量的犯罪证据，但没有人关心，也没有人听我们的发声。我们被视为社会的垃圾。”

知识点解读：

1.accomplice：共犯；帮凶；同谋，例如，“The burglar must have had an accomplice, or he would not have been able to enter the house alone.这个窃贼一定有一个帮凶，否则他自己进不去房子。”

2.Incarcerate：监禁；关押，相当于“imprison”。

3.Wrongdoing：不道德的行为，例如，“The newspaper's charges of official wrongdoing were mere allegations.报纸对官方不良行为的指摘不过是主观臆测而已”

be treated like:被像……一样对待，例如原文中的“We were treated like the trash of society.”

第八段：The Truth Commission’s findings provide powerful ammunition for survivors who are suing the government for compensation. Its work is part of South Korea’s renewed efforts to come to terms with its tumultuous modern history, which has been marked not only by democratization but also by civilian massacres, popular uprisings, torture and other human rights violations.

参考译文：真相委员会的调查结果为正在向政府索赔的幸存者提供了有力的证据。委员会的工作是韩国重新努力适应其动荡的现代历史的一部分，这段历史的特点不仅是民主化，还包括平民屠杀、群众起义、酷刑和其他侵犯人权行为。

知识点解读：

1.civilian massacres：屠杀平民。关于“屠杀”的表达还有“slaughter”这个词。

torture：酷刑，折磨，例如，“In the night terrible dreams had broken his sleep, and made it a long torture.在可怕的梦打破了他的睡眠，使之成为长期的酷刑。”