当前位置: Language Tips> 新闻播报

Hostages finally come home

中国日报网 2012-07-25 11:11

分享到

 

Get Flash Player

Download

With his weather-beaten face creasing into smiles, 30-year-old fisherman Zhang Leilei said he felt "reborn" the moment he arrived in Beijing on Tuesday afternoon after more than 570 days at the mercy of Somali pirates.

Zhang was among 26 rescued crew members of the Xu Fu 1 trawler, a Taiwan ship with 13 fishermen from the Chinese mainland, one from Taiwan and 12 from Vietnam.

The boat was hijacked by Somali pirates in late December, 2010, off the Madagascar coast and forced to Somalia.

The fishermen told reporters they felt helpless and survived on meager rations, often less than a meal a day, during their 19-month captivity.

They were released and picked up by the navy last week.

Zhang was in no doubt as to what he would do once he got home. "I will kneel in front of my father and pay my respects. We haven't seen each other for around five years."

Zhang signed a contract with a local company to work as a sailor for a Taiwan company in July 2007 to earn more money to support his rural family.

Zhang Qian, 56, Zhang's mother, told China Daily, from her home in Ruzhou in Henan province, that she felt "the sky had collapsed" when she heard that her son had been kidnapped by pirates two years ago.

Her relief was obvious but so too was the concern and worry of the past two years.

She only received two phone calls from her son during his captivity.

"I fainted with the telephone holding in my hand when I heard that his nails had been pulled," she said, adding that the ringing phone over the past two years made her nervous as it could be bringing bad news.

After their rescue, the fishermen boarded the naval frigate Chang Zhou, one of several Chinese naval ships on regular anti-pirate patrol off Somalia.

Once on board, they were escorted to the port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania for transfer on Saturday.

The fishermen underwent daily physical examinations and a 24-hour emergency medical response team was on standby.

Considering their ordeal, they were in good shape but still weak, Wang said.

Looking to the future, fisherman Liu Renxiong, 33, said he could not rule out the possibility of another sea trip due to his financial circumstances.

"Our families have spent a lot of money over the last two years, and financial conditions are not good."

Liu also expressed his gratitude for the efforts made by the government and the ship owner for "not giving up on them".

Questions:

1. For how many days were the fishermen held by the pirates?

2. How many crew members were rescued?

3. Where were the pirates from?

Answers:

1. More than 570 days.

2. 26.

3. Somalia.

(中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑)

Hostages finally come home

About the broadcaster:

Hostages finally come home

Rosie Tuck is a copy editor at the China Daily website. She was born in New Zealand and graduated from Auckland University of Technology with a Bachelor of Communications studies majoring in journalism and television. In New Zealand she was working as a junior reporter for the New Zealand state broadcaster TVNZ. She is in Beijing on an Asia New Zealand Foundation grant, working as a journalist in the English news department at the China Daily website.

 

分享到

中国日报网英语点津版权说明:凡注明来源为“中国日报网英语点津:XXX(署名)”的原创作品,除与中国日报网签署英语点津内容授权协议的网站外,其他任何网站或单位未经允许不得非法盗链、转载和使用,违者必究。如需使用,请与010-84883561联系;凡本网注明“来源:XXX(非英语点津)”的作品,均转载自其它媒体,目的在于传播更多信息,其他媒体如需转载,请与稿件来源方联系,如产生任何问题与本网无关;本网所发布的歌曲、电影片段,版权归原作者所有,仅供学习与研究,如果侵权,请提供版权证明,以便尽快删除。

中国日报网双语新闻

扫描左侧二维码

添加Chinadaily_Mobile
你想看的我们这儿都有!

中国日报双语手机报

点击左侧图标查看订阅方式

中国首份双语手机报
学英语看资讯一个都不能少!

关注和订阅

本文相关阅读
人气排行
搜热词
 
 
精华栏目
 

阅读

词汇

视听

翻译

口语

合作

 

关于我们 | 联系方式 | 招聘信息

Copyright by chinadaily.com.cn. All rights reserved. None of this material may be used for any commercial or public use. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. 版权声明:本网站所刊登的中国日报网英语点津内容,版权属中国日报网所有,未经协议授权,禁止下载使用。 欢迎愿意与本网站合作的单位或个人与我们联系。

电话:8610-84883645

传真:8610-84883500

Email: languagetips@chinadaily.com.cn