Jean: If the teacher hadn’t told us, I would’ve had no idea that today is the International Labour Organization’s World Day Against Child Labour.
Jean: 如果老师没有告诉我们，我根本不知道今天是「世界无童工日」。
George: Me neither. I thought that child labor was a problem of the past.
George: 我也是，我以为童工问题在社会中已不再存。
Jean: Just because we don’t see it in our day-to-day lives, doesn’t mean that this issue doesn’t exist.
Jean: 也许是因为我们没有看见，那不代表问题并不存在。
George: True. When did the World Day Against Child Labour start?
George: 没错，你知道「世界无童工日」是在哪一年发起的吗？
Jean: No idea …
Jean: 不知道…
George: According to Wikipedia, it was first launched in 2002, and aims to raise people’s awareness of that fact that child labor is still a problem in many parts of the world.
George: 根据维基百科，它是在 2002 年首次发起，目标是要唤起大家对于世界各地童工问题的意识。
Jean: Apparently there are 73 million laborers between the ages of 5 and 11 around the world! 58 percent of them work in agriculture.
Jean: 世界上有七千三百万个介于五岁到十一岁的童工！其中百分之五十八是从事农业工作。
child labor (n.) 童工
child 是名词，表示「小孩」，labor 也是名词，意思是「劳务工作」，合起来就是「童工」的意思，为不可数名词。
The World Day Against Child Labor is held to remind people that child labor is still a serious issue even today.
世界无童工日是为了提醒人们至今童工的问题仍然很严重。
raise awareness (phr.) 唤起意识
raise 这个动词有很多意思，常见的意思是「举起；引起；养育；募款」，另外也有「唤起」的意思，而 awareness 是名词，表示「意识」，它是由形容词 aware 变化来。
This conference aims to raise people’s awareness of public health issues.
这个会议的目的是为了要唤起大家对公共疾病的意识。
agriculture (n.) 农业
culture 是「文化」的意思，而字首 agri- 则有「土地、田地」之意，所以 agriculture 就是「农业」的意思。
This country’s economy is still based largely on agriculture.
这地区大部分人的收入来自于农业。
接着，Jean 跟 George 讨论到童工可能对孩子造成的影响…
George: Not including agriculture, most child laborers work in hazardous occupations like mining.
George: 除了农业之外，大部分的童工都在危险的环境下工作，像是挖矿。
Jean: If these children have to work at such an early age, doesn’t that mean they can’t go to school?
Jean: 如果这些孩子这么小就要工作，不就代表他们不能去上学吗？
George: Yes. Employing child labor not only deprives children of their right to an education, but also the chance to enjoy a real childhood.
George: 没错，童工议题不仅剥夺孩子不管是教育权，也让他们失去童年。
Jean: Working in such environments also puts children’s long-term physical and mental health at risk
Jean: 而且在如此危险的环境下工作，也会对他们的身心健康产生危害。
George: No wonder the International Labour Organization feels that this is a problem that needs to be eradicated.
George: 难怪世界劳工组织会认为这是一个必须根除的问题。
Jean: You know, we should organize an event to raise awareness and funds to help children around the world suffering from this issue.
Jean: 你知道，我们可以做个活动来提升大家对这个议题的意识以及募款来帮助世界各地受难于童工问题的孩子。
George: Count me in!
George: 我也要加入！
hazardous (adj.) 危险的
在英文中，除了 dangerous 之外，也有许多形容词能表示「危险的」，像是 hazardous，其名词形是 hazard 。
The road was closed to cars as it was too hazardous to cross after the earthquake.
这条路车辆无法通行，因为地震过后变得太危险了。
deprives sb. of sth. (phr.) 剥夺某人的某物
deprive 为动词，「剥夺」的意思，记得介系词要搭配 of。
Many Black Americans were deprived of the right to vote before 1965.
1965 年以前，许多美国黑人都被剥夺享有投票的权利。
right to an education (n.) 教育权
童工问题不只剥夺小孩快乐的童年，更剥夺了他们受教育的权利，你知道「受教权」的英文应该怎么说吗？ right 在此是名词，表示「权利」，而 education 则是「教育」，所以 right to an education 就是「受教权」喔！
Children should have a right to an education, and we should work hard to make sure that no one deprives them of that right.
孩子应享有受教权，而且我们应该要努力确保没有人会被剥夺这个权利。
