| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Chinanews, Beijing, Apr. 17 – In March, 2005, ten college students from the Hunan Normal University spent their spare time making a social investigation1 about the life of Chinese coal miners2.
In two years, the students visited over 30 coal mines and interviewed hundreds of miners. Their work finally ended with a 20,000-word report on factors that affect the sense of safety of coal miners in Hunan and how to make them feel safer. “Death is part of our everyday life. For us, the only difference is when it will happen and who will be the unlucky guy. Since we have worked here for many years, we are no longer bothered by things like death. What means most to us now is how we can make more money, ” said Xiao Zhihai, who worked in the Chifeng Coal Mine in Li County3, Changde City, Hunan Province. Xiao, 47, said that since accidents occurred every day, most coal miners were now accustomed to death. What Xiao said left a deep impression on the students. Over the past two years, the students investigated a total of 545 people. The questionnaires show that married coal miners will have to earn money to support their families (most of them have four members in their family). Those who are single also need to earn money to buy houses, to prepare for marriage and child raising, as well as to save for their old age life. Some coal miners work for 7-8 hours, or even 10 hours, a day, while some have to do some farm work at home apart from working underground. The investigation shows that these coal miners, who live at the bottom rung of the social ladder, can only make about 1,000 yuan a month and don’t have any social benefits. Despite this, many coal miners are quite satisfied with their current life. Money is one of the most important reasons that could explain their satisfaction. Some coal miners can make a monthly4 wage of 2,000 yuan, or even higher than that. If they do farm work, they might have to work for more than half a year, or even a whole year, to make that amount. Therefore many coal miners regard themselves as money-spinners. What they fear most is coal mine accident. While they might feel sad about the loss of their colleagues, accidents will also mean that some coal mines will have to be closed down and as a result, they will make less money or live in dire5 poverty.
点击  收听单词发音
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TAG标签：
- 发表评论
-
- 最新评论 进入详细评论页>>
