VOA慢速英语2011--US Poverty Rate Highest Since 1993

IN THE NEWS - US Poverty Rate Highest Since 1993

新闻报道 - 美国上年度贫困率创1993年以来新高
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
这里是美国之音慢速英语新闻报道。
A new report says the poverty rate in the United States last year was the highest since nineteen ninety-three. The official rate was 15.1 percent, up from 14.3 percent in two thousand nine.
一份新报告称，美国去年贫困率创1993年以来新高。官方数据显示贫困率从2009年的14.3%上升到了去年的15.1%。
Poverty meant yearly income, or earnings¹, of less than twenty-two thousand three hundred dollars for a family of four.
贫困是指四口之家年收入少于2.23万美元。
The American recession lasted from December of two thousand seven to June of two thousand nine. Since two thousand seven, the poverty rate has risen more than two and a half percentage points.
美国经济衰退从2007年11月持续到2009年6月。从2007年起，贫苦率已上升超过2.5个百分点。
The new findings did come as a surprise to Michael Ferrell of the Coalition² for the Homeless in Washington, DC.
这份新的研究结果令华盛顿特区无家可归者联盟（Coalition for the Homeless)的迈克尔·法瑞尔（Michael Ferrell）深感意外。
MICHAEL FERRELL: "Unless there's a turnaround within the economy in the very near future, it's most likely to get worse."
法瑞尔：“除非近期经济出现转机，否则情况极有可能变得更糟。”
The Census³ Bureau says median household income fell more than two percent from two thousand nine to two thousand ten. Median means half earned more and half earned less. Last year, the median income was about forty-nine thousand dollars. The Census Bureau says more than forty-six million people were living in poverty. It was the largest number since estimates began in nineteen fifty-nine. They included more than one-fourth of blacks and Hispanics, twelve percent of Asians and about ten percent of non-Hispanic whites.
美国人口普查局表示，从2009年到2010年，家庭平均收入下降超过2个百分点，去年美国家庭平均收入为4.9万美元。人口普查局称，超过4600万人生活在贫困中，这是自1959年开始统计以来的最大值。其中包括超过1/4的黑人和拉美裔，12%的亚裔以及10%的非拉美裔白人。
Some economic measures were unchanged. Women in full-time⁴, year-round jobs continued to earn an average of seventy-seven percent as much as men did.
一些经济指标保持不变。全职女性平均工资仍只有男性的77%。
The number of people without health insurance rose from forty-nine million to almost fifty million last year. But the rate -- 16.3 percent -- was about the same as in two thousand nine.
去年，医保未覆盖人数从4900万上升到近5000万。但医保未覆盖比例为16.3%，与2009年基本持平。
Most Americans who have health insurance get it through their employers. Elise Gould at the Economic Policy Institute says people age eighteen to twenty-four are the least likely to get insurance plans through their employers. But she says young people are facing fewer barriers because of the nation's new health care law.
大多数美国人通过雇主获得医保。经济政策研究所的爱丽丝·古尔德（Elise Gould）表示，18至24岁人群通过雇主获得医保的可能性最低。但她表示，由于美国的新医保法案，年轻人面临的障碍已经减少。”
ELISE GOULD: "Health reform played a key role in stemming the fall of workplace coverage⁵ for young adults. The Patient Protection and Affordable⁶ Care Act, commonly known as health reform, included provisions that allowed young adults up to age twenty-six to secure health insurance coverage through their parents' employer-sponsored health insurance policies."
古尔德：“医保改革在遏制职场青壮年医保覆盖的下滑上起到了关键作用。俗称医保改革法案的《患者保护和可负担医疗法》规定，允许26岁以下青壮年通过其父母由雇主支付的医保政策获得医保覆盖。”
Experts say the biggest driving force of poverty is unemployment. About fourteen million Americans are unemployed⁷. Millions more have stopped looking for work or wish they could work more hours.
专家表示，贫困的最大推动因素是失业。近1400万美国人处于失业状态。数百万人已停止求职或寻求工作更长时间。
Las Vegas, Nevada, is famous for its casinos and hotels. But the city was hit hard by the recession and the housing market crash that helped cause it. Former construction worker Richard Scanlon is disabled, but he says many able-bodied friends are out of work.
内华达州的拉斯维加斯因赌场和酒店而著名。但由于经济衰退和房市崩溃，拉斯维加斯遭受了沉重打击。前建筑工人理查德·斯坎伦（Richard Scanlon）身患残疾，但他表示很多身体健全的朋友都丢掉了工作。
RICHARD SCANLON: “Ten, fifteen years ago, if you couldn’t get a job in Vegas, you weren’t looking for one. Now it’s tough.”
斯坎伦：“10到15年前，如果你在拉斯维加斯都找不到工作，那是因为你根本就没去找。但现在可就难多了。”
Family Promise is a national group that helps people get jobs and housing. Director Terry Lindemann says Family Promise of Las Vegas works with religious organizations that offer short-term housing.
Family Promise是一个帮助人们获得工作和住所的全国性组织。该组织负责人特里·林德曼（Terry Lindemann）表示，拉斯维加斯Family Promise与提供短期住所的宗教组织一起合作。
TERRY LINDEMANN: “We bring together Catholics, Protestants, Jewish congregations, Muslims, to open up their congregations at night to be overnight shelters.”
林德曼：“我们联合天主教徒、新教徒、犹太教会众以及穆斯林在晚上开放他们的教区作为过夜收容所。”
Cassendra Waller is a mother of two. She got help to move into a new apartment.
卡桑德拉·沃勒（Cassendra Waller）是两个孩子的母亲。她得到帮助搬进了一个新公寓。
CASSENDRA WALLER: “When you get a job and you’re making a minimum wage, how do you pay a babysitter for two kids every day? I wound up homeless several times. And this is the worst I’ve seen the homeless in Vegas.”
沃勒：“如果你只有一份收入最低的工作，你每天拿什么钱给两个孩子请保姆？我数次落得无家可归。这是我看过的拉斯维加斯无家可归者中最惨的经历。”
Stephen Brown is an economist⁸ with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He says the city is starting to get more visitors again. But he says that will not solve the bigger economic issues.
斯蒂芬·布朗（Stephen Brown）是内华达州拉斯维加斯大学的经济学家。他说，拉斯维加斯已经开始再次迎来更多游客。但他表示，这无助于解决更大的经济问题。
STEPHEN BROWN: “So what we really need is for the forces that were pushing population to Las Vegas in the past to resume. And that really means that the whole US economy needs to get moving again.”
布朗：“所以，我们真正需要的是恢复过去推动人们来到拉斯维加斯的动力。而这就意味着美国整体经济必须再次向前发展。”
And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.
___
Contributing: Mil Arcega, Avi Arditti, Suzanne Presto and Mike O'Sullivan

1 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

2 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

3 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。

4 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

5 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

6 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

7 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

8 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。