时间:2019-01-13 作者:英语课 分类:2007年VOA标准英语(五月)


英语课
By Nico Colombant
Port Harcourt, Nigeria
27 May 2007





Happiness despite hardships in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, 27 May 2007   


Happiness despite hardships in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, 27 May 2007   



A group of Nigerian artists and dancers from the Muslim north once dreamt of oil riches in the southern delta 1 region, but instead found difficult life in a slum, underneath 2 a bridge in Port Harcourt. But as VOA's Nico Colombant reports, they persevere 3 in trying to promote their culture.


Members of this troupe 4 from Kaduna state play drums under threatening rain, amid trash mixed in mud, in front of their tin roof shacks 5.


They thought they would be playing for Nigerian dignitaries and rich oil businessmen but instead they are playing for a crowd of slum dwellers 6.


The musicians laugh it off, even though they say their houses were razed 7 three weeks ago. The foundations of their previous homes pile along the bank of a nearby creek 8, but they refuse to leave, and say they will continue enjoying their life, whatever the hardships.


There is more laughter as two of the musicians go bathe in the oily creek below, that also serves as a communal 9 toilet and public dump.


One of the leaders, Aminu Yussuf Aruma, says however bad it may look, it is a good place to do some business.


"I am doing business, anything one can, I do. Do you understand? I sell cigarettes, mineral, fuel, water, other things. The business is good, because we are getting small, small things," said Aruma.


Despite the treatment from government officials who told them they were not allowed to be living on the street, Aruma says he cannot complain about common people in Port Harcourt.


"All this place, we do not have bad people. We came here, this is not our place, but we know here it is Nigeria and that Nigeria is one, and that wherever you have been, anywhere you are if you are inside in Nigeria, even though you are in the east, and you are from the north and you come to the east, you come to your land," continued Aruma. "All the people living in Port Harcourt, they like us, what we did here."


He says it is important to continue art despite poverty.


The troupe's main problem, he says, is like for many artists around the world, getting a good agent, which he calls a standing 10 man.


"Often now, we do not have anything from this cultural troupe, because we do not have a standing man who will stand for us, so if that person will stand for us. We do not have standing man to hire us and carry on for us to perform," added Aruma.


Sometimes he says they get orders, but then since they do not receive the money upfront, they do not have enough money to pay for the transportation to perform.


Another dancer says artists are like any other Nigerians who do not have connections. He says he has no future, so he spends most of his time getting high.


"I find things very difficult for me. In fact Nigeria as a whole is in trouble because we do not have jobs for people in the country," he said. "We the masses, people, young men in the country, are suffering. As you can see there is no job for me now. We only eat from God, from hand to mouth, because we do not have a job."


He then takes pieces of wood from the trash-littered ground, sharpens them with his teeth and starts playing a new tune 11 on the drums, while people from the bridge above stop their endless chase of a few desperate nairas, the local currency, watch, listen and smile amid the smog coming from car fumes 12 and a nearby slaughterhouse.




n.(流的)角洲
  • He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
  • The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔,形成了一个三角洲。
adj.在...下面,在...底下;adv.在下面
  • Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
  • She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣,里面套着一条连衣裙。
v.坚持,坚忍,不屈不挠
  • They are determined to persevere in the fight.他们决心坚持战斗。
  • It is strength of character enabled him to persevere.他那坚强的性格使他能够坚持不懈。
n.剧团,戏班;杂技团;马戏团
  • The art troupe is always on the move in frontier guards.文工团常年在边防部队流动。
  • The troupe produced a new play last night.剧团昨晚上演了一部新剧。
n.窝棚,简陋的小屋( shack的名词复数 )
  • They live in shacks which they made out of wood. 他们住在用木头搭成的简陋的小屋里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Most people in Port au-Prince live in tin shacks. 太子港的大多数居民居住在铁皮棚里。 来自互联网
n.居民,居住者( dweller的名词复数 )
  • City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes. 城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • They have transformed themselves into permanent city dwellers. 他们已成为永久的城市居民。 来自《简明英汉词典》
v.彻底摧毁,将…夷为平地( raze的过去式和过去分词 )
  • The village was razed to the ground . 这座村庄被夷为平地。
  • Many villages were razed to the ground. 许多村子被夷为平地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
n.小溪,小河,小湾
  • He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
  • People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。
adj.公有的,公共的,公社的,公社制的
  • There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
  • The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整
  • He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子,并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
  • The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。
n.(强烈而刺激的)气味,气体
  • The health of our children is being endangered by exhaust fumes. 我们孩子们的健康正受到排放出的废气的损害。
  • Exhaust fumes are bad for your health. 废气对健康有害。
学英语单词
ability to respond
alabamians
antithrombins
apical tuberculosis
Archeda
asangas
asotins
balance sheet total
Biarritzian
brown purple
caprock mt.
cash flow back
chlorine monoxid(e)
cladia aggregata
Codroxomin
colour image dissector
command signal plant
common-user item
composition operation
continuous fluid bed reduction
convergent extention
crtback
cyclopentanecarboxylic acid
darcy resistance coefficient
decompound
diffraction line
dis-associating
Disinfection-room
down-train
emergency joint bar
error condition flag
escort agencies
gelatinous polyp
global program optimization theory
gobelin blue
having a ball
heavy lift wharf
hetetelytic
hinged jaw tong
hypospadiases
infantile autisms
infinition
infotisement
inter-milan
interrupt entry point
issey miyake
journal cash book
kronholz
leaf protein
linked computer system
local density
lock-out device
martis
metal monocoque
mindwiping
mus booduga
myrmecophilous plant
Neidenstein
nephridioduct
noise cancelling mic
paradox gate
parimutuel machine
Paris daisy
paternity suits
platydiol
plicae semilunaris conjunctivae
pluriciliate
plus mineral
port-canon
primeness
propellant chemical
punkling
put the wood behind the arrow
quackbuster
quellung reaction
redundant control circuit
Samet, Ko
Santaella
sarrasines
self-alignment level
shelfs
shock wave refraction
skipping town
skylight purlin
smell of the lamp
stilets
sulphiredoxins
swell box
swell the ranks of
swowh
TDEA
theatrical agents
title of ownership
tops o're tiria
trimethyl amine
urosome
Utilities Sector
Waterloo cracker
weather routing capability
X-component velocity
xenophilous
zhu rongji