VOA慢速英语2014 帮助加州的无家可归的人

 

AS IT IS 2014-12-22 Helping¹ California’s Homeless 帮助加州的无家可归的人

Earlier this month, California police cleared what was said to be the largest homeless encampment in the United States. About 200 homeless people were living at the camp in San Jose, California. Officials said police officers and city workers acted because the area was unclean.

The homeless people were living near Silicon² Valley, the country’s high technology center. Some people there have made millions, even billions of dollars from high-tech³ devices and services. But others have no money and no place to live.

Federal officials believe there are hundreds of thousands of homeless people nationwide on any given day. Each one lacks a permanent place to live. Reasons for homelessness can include the high cost of housing, poverty and unemployment. Other reasons are mental health problems and just plain bad luck.

In Los Angeles, a group called PATH searches along flood channels and major roads for homeless camps. PATH is short for the name People Assisting the Homeless. Its workers look for people who have no permanent shelter.

On a recent day, VOA was there when a PATH worker gave food and water to a 53-year-old homeless woman named Lucy. She lives next to concrete barriers built to contain floodwaters. She says the homeless like to live near friends and neighbors, like everyone else.

“A lot of us try to team up, with two and two, you know. And they help each other, you know.”

Jorge Guzman was one of the people hoping to help the homeless. He says they make their camps where they are not seen -- behind buildings or in forests or parks.

“They just don’t want to be noticed. They’re doing their thing out here and, you know, they’re just trying to survive.”

City workers periodically⁴ clear away small trees and plants, uncovering homeless campers. But one woman near the city of Whittier has lived between a river and a busy road for six years. Sarah Sindeldecker says she and her husband are sometimes forced to move, but they do not travel far.

“When they kick you out, you either have to find another place or, you know…We’ve gone to the Telegraph Bridge for six months between that time, and then move back here when they cleaned us out. They have to clean out every once in a while.”

Michael Crosby lives at a homeless campsite in the California community of Santa Clarita. He has been trying to protect himself from the rain.

“(It’s) clean and tidy, except for lately when this storm came in I spent most of the night coverin’ up stuff, and tryin’ to salvage⁵ what we can, and stay dry.”

He says the nearby river threatens him and others.

“If any more comes down at a higher rate, it’s gonna fork off and wash us away, so...”

Michael Crosby is safe from the rain and the river for the next three months. He will sleep and eat at a shelter operated by a group called Bridge to Home. Tim Davis is the executive⁶ director of the charity. He says homeless people must make difficult choices.

“(Whether from) bad luck, or you have a mental disease, or you have drug or alcohol problems, those kind of things, alright, and you do make 10 bucks⁷ an hour, you can’t find a place to live around here. So, so your choice is, you know, if you have a car, live in the car, or you live in the open.”

Workers in Whittier try to move people out of homeless camps and into a home of their own. But housing is costly⁸. Still, worker Tomasz Babiszkiewizc says he has been able to help some people.

“It’s really good to see the steps when people are leaving their encampments and they’re transitioning to either transitional housing, and after when they obtain their own housing.”

But there are many other homeless people still living on the streets or in camps, moving when their campsites are taken down. 

Words in This Story

tidy – adj. clean and organized; not messy

salvage – v. to remove (something) from a place so that it will not be damaged, destroyed, or lost

fork off – phrasal verb to divide into two parts

charity – n. an organization that helps people who are poor or sick

bucks – n. dollars (informal, slang)

encampment – n. a place that is set up and used as a camp

transition⁹ – v.  to make a change from one state, place, or condition to another; to make a transition

obtain – v. to gain or get (something), usually by effort

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

3 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

4 periodically   

ad.周期性地，定期地

参考例句：

• The geyser erupts periodically. 间歇泉周期性地喷发。
• Economic crises recur periodically. 经济危机周期性地发生。

5 salvage   

v.救助，营救，援救；n.救助，营救

参考例句：

• All attempts to salvage the wrecked ship failed.抢救失事船只的一切努力都失败了。
• The salvage was piled upon the pier.抢救出的财产被堆放在码头上。

6 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

7 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

9 transition   

n.转变，变迁，过渡

参考例句：

• Adolescence is the period of transition between childhood and adulthood.青春期是童年与成年之间的过渡时期。
• They all support a peaceful transition.他们全部都支持和平过渡。