Chinese toy makers' struggles dim Christmas joy
In Dongguan, where many of Santa's gifts are really made, nearly half of the 3,800 toy factories have closed or plan to. That's left a vast number of workers, mostly migrants, without jobs.
By Barbara Demick
December 25, 2008
source:
Los Angeles Times
在東莞，這個真正製造許多耶誕老人禮物的地方，3,800家玩具工廠中有將近半數已經倒閉或正打算關門，使得眾多勞工(大部分來自外地)失了業。
Reporting from Dongguan, China -- Growing up in the Chinese countryside with only an elementary school education, Yang Yanjun had never heard of Christmas until she landed a job painting pink-cheeked cherubs to decorate trees.
But Christmas proved to be a miraculous holiday that would utterly transform her life. Over a decade, she worked in factories producing ornaments and toys that foreign children were told came from Santa's workshops. She earned up to $200 a month, unimaginable riches that allowed her to build a house for her family back home.
| Word | Category | Definition |
  | China | 中級 | [名詞] 中國 |
| | closed | 中高級 | [形容詞] 關閉的;自給自足的;不公開的; close(關上) 的過去式及過去分詞 |
| | decade | 中級 | [名詞] 十;十年 |
| | dim | 中級 | [形容詞] 微暗的;暗淡的; [動詞] 變暗淡;變模糊 |
| | elementary | 中級 | [形容詞] 基本的;初級的,基礎的 |
| | makers | 中級 | maker(製作者;製造業者;製造廠) 的複數 |
| | migrants | 中高級 | migrant(移民;候鳥) 的複數 |
| | miraculous | 中高級 | [形容詞] 神奇的;奇蹟般的 |
| | mostly | 中級 | [副詞] 一般地,通常 |
| | ornaments | 中高級 | ornament(裝飾;美化) 的第三人稱單數現在式; ornament(裝飾品;裝飾) 的複數 |
| | reporting | 中級 | report(報告;報導) 的現在分詞; [名詞] 報導 |
| | riches | 中級 | [名詞] 財富,財產;富有,豐饒; rich(有錢人) 的複數 |
| | transform | 中級 | [動詞] 使改變;使轉化 |
| | up | 中高級 | [形容詞] 向上的;上行的; [動詞] 提高;增加;舉起;突然站起; up(提高;增加;舉起;突然站起) 的過去式及過去分詞; [副詞] 向上; [介系詞] 向...上; [名詞] 上升;走運 |
| | utterly | 中高級 | utter(徹底的;十足的;絕對的) 的衍生的副詞; [副詞] 完全地;徹底地;十足地 |
| | vast | 中級 | [形容詞] 廣闊的,浩瀚的;非常的 |
| | workshops | 中級 | workshop(作坊;研討會) 的複數 |