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When Saray Cambray Alvarez, a 13-year-old in North Carolina, and several other teenagers get to the fields at
6, they pull a black plastic garbage bag over the body and punch holes through the bags for their arms. They are
protecting their skin from leaves dripping with nicotine-tinged dew. This is because the plants’ nicotine often
dissolves in rain and dew, which can cause vomiting, dizziness and irregular heart rates, among other symptoms.
Saray sometimes has trouble breathing in the middle of all the heat, humidity and leaves, and often feels
weary during her 12-hour shifts when she moves through the rows to pluck unwanted flowers or pull off oversize
leaves for the harvest. Saray is not alone. The New York Times reports that in other states like Kentucky,
Tennessee and Virginia, children as young as 7 are working on tobacco farms and many suffer from the symptoms
of acute nicotine poisoning.
For years, public health experts and federal labor officials have sought to bar teenagers under 16 from the
tobacco fields, citing the grueling hours and the harmful exposure to nicotine and other chemicals, but their efforts
have been blocked. Three years ago, Hilda Solis, then the labor secretary, proposed declaring work in tobacco fields
and with tractors hazardous—making that type of work illegal for those under 16.
During the re-election in 2012, the Obama administration withdrew Ms. Solis’s proposal after encountering
intense opposition from farm groups and Republican lawmakers. Agricultural organizations said the move would hurt
family farms and make it harder for young people to learn farming skills. But some proponents still hope to revive the
tobacco part of the proposal once the midterm elections in 2014 are over.
To proponents of higher age limits, however, dangers lurk in many corners. The tobacco fields pose a whole
environment of risk. It’s the nicotine, the pesticides, the heat, the long hours, the pressure they get from employers.
Last year, a study conducted by Human Rights Watch found that three-quarters of young tobacco workers interviewed
had suffered nausea, dizziness and rashes. And most tobacco farms did not even have portable bathrooms. “There’s
nothing good about this job, except that you get paid,” said Esmeralda, who earns $8.50 an hour.
What is this passage mainly about?
AChild labors on tobacco farms.正確答案
BTreatment of nicotine poisoning.
CThe threats to American tobacco industry.
DInterplay between lawmakers and the tobacco companies.
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