VOA慢速英语207--美国混血人种数量增长

 

The number of mixed-race Americans is increasing three times faster than the population of the United States as a whole.

That information comes from the Pew Research Center in Washington, DC.

In the 1970s, one percent of all American children were of mixed race. Now, 10 percent are.

The U.S. Census¹ Bureau² predicts that, by 2060, the number of multiracial Americans will be three times larger than it is now.

Many multiracial Americans experience life in a way that is very different from someone whose parents belong to the same race or minority group.

Delia Douglas says problems sometimes result when you are multiracial and decide to marry someone of another race.

“Especially in the first three years of my daughter’s life, people often would stop and ask me if I was the nanny, and there were days when that would be incredibly frustrating³.”

Douglas is white, African-American and Native American. Her 5-year-old daughter Soleil looks more like her father, who is white. She is light-skinned.

“I think she surprised both of us. I never expected her to have golden blond⁴ hair.”

Ronnie Nells is Douglas’ brother. He says life as a mixed-race person in the United States can sometimes be difficult.

“I was pulled over, I think, once a month for a year and asked where I was headed and what I was doing.”

The Pew Research Center reports four in 10 mixed-race Americans who are partly black say they have been unfairly targeted by police.

The center says 69 percent of mixed-race Americans who are at least partly black say most people consider them black. They also say their experience is similar to that of black Americans.

Some Americans say the Los Angeles area is more accepting of multiracial individuals than other parts of the country. Damona Hoffman’s parents are Russian-Jewish and African-American.

“I found actually that it (LA) was where my people were because there were so many biracial people that were suddenly in my orbit⁵ that I really had not seen before growing up in the Midwest.”

Many young mixed-race children in Los Angeles go to schools where many ethnicities are represented. At World City Center, 30 percent of the students are multiracial.

Viviane Arlotto is Korean and Belgian. She is married to a white American. Her son attends school at the World City Center.

“I grew up in a really homogenous⁶ neighborhood and felt like the ‘other,’ so it was important for my son to be in a place where he felt normal.”

WorldSpeak is a school where children learn languages other than English. Eighty percent of the students there are of mixed race. Angelika Getmanchuk launched⁷ the school. She says children who come from a multiethnic background have an advantage.

“They have more empathy towards other multiracial and multilingual children. They have more curiosity⁸ towards multiracial differences and acceptance⁹.”

Some mixed-race Americans like Ronnie Nells say there is a growing acceptance of people of mixed ancestry¹⁰. He notes the success of former U.S. President Barack Obama.

“We went from knowing all five other families that were mixed in the (LA) valley to a mixed man being the president, and that is (an) awesome¹¹ thing.”

Obama’s father was from Kenya, while his mother was a white woman from Kansas.

Words in This Story

nanny – n. a woman who is paid to care for a young child usually in the child’s home

frustrating – adj. causing feelings of anger and annoyance¹²

pull over – phrasal verb to force (a driver or vehicle) to move to the side of the road and stop

orbit – n. the area over which or throughout which someone or something has power; the group of friends, coworkers and family members that one is familiar with

homogenous – adj. made up of the same kind of people or things

advantage – n. something (such as a good position or condition) that helps to make someone or something better or more likely to succeed than others

empathy – n. the feeling that you understand and share another person’s experiences and emotions

curiosity – n. the desire to learn or know more about something or someone

1 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

2 bureau   

n.提供或收集消息的机构；局，司，处；署

参考例句：

• The weather bureau makes daily reports on weather conditions.气象局每天报告天气状况。
• The Tourist Bureau arranged everything for our journey to Rome.旅游局已为我们去罗马旅行准备了一切。

3 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 blond   

adj.金发的；n.白肤碧眼金发的人

参考例句：

• Her long blond hair spilled down over her shoulders.她那淡黄色的长发披垂在双肩。
• This blond man delivers newspaper every morning.这个白肤金发碧眼的男人每天早晨送报纸。

5 orbit   

n.轨道；vt.使沿轨道运行；使进入轨道运行；vi.沿轨道运行，环行

参考例句：

• The space rocket was launched and went into orbit.宇宙火箭发射后进入轨道。
• We can draw the earth's orbit round the sun.我们可以画出地球绕太阳运行的轨迹。

6 homogenous   

adj.同类的，同质的，纯系的

参考例句：

• Japan is a wealthy,homogenous,developed nation with a stable political system.日本是一个富裕的同质型发达国家，政治体制稳定。
• My family is very homogenous and happy.我们这个家庭很和睦很幸福。

7 launched   

v.发射( launch的过去式和过去分词 )；[计算机]开始（应用程序）；发动；开展（活动、计划等）

参考例句：

• He launched a bitter diatribe against the younger generation. 他对年轻一代发起了猛烈的抨击。
• The product was launched amid much fanfare worldwide. 这个产品在世界各地隆重推出。

8 curiosity   

n.好奇心，新奇的事物，珍品

参考例句：

• He gave in to curiosity and opened my letter.他抑制不住好奇心，拆开了我的信。
• The children are dying of curiosity to see what's in the parcel.孩子们出于好奇，迫不及待地想看看包裹中是什么东西。

9 acceptance   

n.接受，接收，验收，接纳；承认，认可

参考例句：

• The new laws gained widespread acceptance.新法令受到广泛赞同。
• It took years for Einstein's theory to gain acceptance.爱因斯坦的理论经过多年才被人们接受。

10 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

11 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

12 annoyance   

n.恼怒，生气，烦恼

参考例句：

• Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气？
• I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。