VOA标准英语2012--Fewer Kids Living in US Suburbs

Fewer Kids Living in US Suburbs

When you think of the American suburbs, what comes to mind?
Street after street of similar houses? Shopping malls and big yards and white picket¹ fences?
All valid² images, but you’re forgetting something that is - or was - a fixture³ of suburbia: young children, romping⁴ on quiet streets and in playgrounds.
According to 2010 Census⁵ data, the population of children has dropped in 95 percent of America’s counties, compared with a decade earlier. While the nation’s population grew almost 10 percent in that time, the number of households with children under 18 remained constant, at about 38 million.
Five million more U.S. households have dogs than have children.
Real-estate publications are taking note of the absence of kids in many neighborhoods, except in suburbs where typically larger Hispanic families have moved in.
“Lots of elders, lots of singles, fewer kids,” Armondo Carbonell of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy told Realtor magazine.
In some areas of the country, schools have closed from declining enrollments, some child-oriented businesses are closing, and housing needs are shifting, the magazine reported.
In Levittown, Pennsylvania, a planned community that became the stereotype⁶ of suburban⁷ sprawl⁸, Jim White recalls that everybody on his street had kids. He told the USA Today newspaper, “At no time could you walk out and not have someone to play with.”
Now, as his neighbor, Kathy Bachman, told the newspaper, “Out of 75 houses on the street, I’d say maybe 15 have kids.”

1 picket   

n.纠察队；警戒哨；v.设置纠察线；布置警卫

参考例句：

• They marched to the factory and formed a picket.他们向工厂前进,并组成了纠察队。
• Some of the union members did not want to picket.工会的一些会员不想担任罢工纠察员。

2 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？

3 fixture   

n.固定设备；预定日期；比赛时间；定期存款

参考例句：

• Lighting fixture must be installed at once.必须立即安装照明设备。
• The cordless kettle may now be a fixture in most kitchens.无绳电热水壶现在可能是多数厨房的固定设备。

4 romping   

adj.嬉戏喧闹的，乱蹦乱闹的v.嬉笑玩闹( romp的现在分词 )；（尤指在赛跑或竞选等中）轻易获胜

参考例句：

• kids romping around in the snow 在雪地里嬉戏喧闹的孩子
• I found the general romping in the living room with his five children. 我发现将军在客厅里与他的五个小孩嬉戏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 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。

6 stereotype   

n.固定的形象，陈规，老套，旧框框

参考例句：

• He's my stereotype of a schoolteacher.他是我心目中的典型教师。
• There's always been a stereotype about successful businessmen.人们对于成功商人一直都有一种固定印象。

7 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

8 sprawl   

vi.躺卧，扩张，蔓延；vt.使蔓延；n.躺卧，蔓延

参考例句：

• In our garden,bushes are allowed to sprawl as they will.在我们园子里，灌木丛爱怎么蔓延就怎么蔓延。
• He is lying in a sprawl on the bed.他伸开四肢躺在床上。