VOA慢速英语2014 AS IT IS 2014-03-11 New York’s Chinatown is Changing 纽约唐人街正在发生变化

 

AS IT IS 2014-03-11 New York’s Chinatown is Changing 纽约唐人街正在发生变化

Hello again and welcome to As It Is from VOA Learning English!  I’m June Simms in Washington.     

Many cities around the world are experiencing population growth.  And the list of megacities is expanding.  Today we tell about the South African city of Johannesburg.  For many young people, Johannesburg is an increasingly popular place to call home.

But first, we look at some changes taking place in New York -- the largest city in the United States.  And we hear how those changes are affecting one of its neighborhoods. 

Rising Land Values Remake New York’s Chinatown

Rising land values have changed the Chinatown area of New York City.  Chinatown has long been an important base for Chinese immigrants and their families.  It has one of the largest populations of ethnic¹ Chinese outside of Asia.  But many are leaving the neighborhood because of the rising cost of housing.  Chinatown is now becoming home to many whites and students.

The Asian American Legal Defense² and Education Fund has its headquarters in New York.  The group released a report earlier this year.  It said there is a similar shortage of reasonably priced housing in Chinatowns in Boston and Philadelphia.  The report found an increase in high cost housing and hotels.  It also noted³ a decline in families and Asian businesses in these Chinatowns. 

In New York, Mayor Bloomberg's policies are praised for a major decrease in crime.  Many of his supporters say higher housing costs are evidence of a city's economic progress.

But in Manhattan's Chinatown those rent increases have already pushed many people out.  Numbers from the 2010 Census⁴ suggest that about 17 percent of the Chinese people in the area have been displaced since 2000.  That is about 6,000 people who have left the neighborhood.

Sun Meirong has been living in Manhattan's Chinatown since she first came to the United States from Fuzhou in 1990.  She owns a restaurant near the center of Chinatown.  She says she has seen a large decrease in customers, mostly Chinese immigrants.

“In the past, during the thanksgiving holiday for example, there were so many people on this street outside.  You could not walk.  But in the past three years nobody is on the street anymore.  This is the change we see in Chinatown.”

Sun says that many of her neighbors have been forced from their homes after building owners decided⁵ to repair and modernize⁶ the buildings.

“Houses have been renovated⁷ and after that they just get sold to developers without considering to give it to the people who were living there in the first place: immigrants.  The U.S. is a country of immigrants, but many immigrants get here and do not have a place to live or cannot afford it.”

For Sun, what is happening in Chinatown opposes the very ideals that America stands for.

Several organizations in Chinatown are fighting what they see as the destruction of their neighborhood.

Li Hua is a secretary of the Chinese Staff & Workers' Association.  She says her group collected thousands of signatures in an effort to stop plans for new high price developments. 

“We have been protesting against it in all venues⁸ possible.  At public hearings, with the administration's planning department, to the city council.  We had people participating at every step, not just a few but hundreds.  But Bloomberg charged on, they just do not care.”

New York recently elected a new mayor.  Some are hoping for a change in housing policy.  Mayor Bill de Blasio has promised to take action to increase reasonably priced housing in the city.

You are listening to As It Is.  I’m June Simms in Washington.  Thanks for joining us!   

Africa’s Big Cities Draw Young Up-and-Comers

 

From New York to London, Paris to Lagos, the list of international megacities is growing.  Recently, mayors from many of the world’s big cities met in Johannesburg, South Africa.  These officials gathered to discuss some of the issues facing large cities. 

Africa is home to two cities with populations of more than 10 million people.  Those cities are Cairo, the Egyptian capital, and Lagos in Nigeria. 

More and more African cities are expanding quickly.  Experts predict their populations will increase by millions within the next few years.  Faith Lapidus has more in this report from VOA’s Anita Powell in Johannesburg.

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg praised the urbanization of Africa to the mayors at the C40 gathering⁹. 

“In 2011, there were 52 African cities with a population higher than one million people.  By 2016, in only two years, there will be around 65.  And that’s a good thing.”

However, the executive mayor of Johannesburg, Mpho Parks Tau, says this kind of growth creates its own issues. 

“As people are coming to the city there isn’t always adequate accommodation to have those people coming to the cities.  A lot of them find themselves in inadequate¹⁰ accommodation in slum environments.”

Like many people who live in Johannesburg, 24-year-old student Simphiwe Kahla came from somewhere else.  He left his town in the rural Eastern Cape¹¹ province to live in Johannesburg.  The city is an important trade and transport center for Africa. 

“Here, you actually stay on your toes.  It keeps you on your toes, it’s all about hustling¹², it’s all about business.  I think I would really get bored if I would have to return to the Eastern Cape.”

Songezo Mcapukisi is also new to Johannesburg.  Like many others there, she says she came to the city -- not for the culture, the mix of people or the restaurants -- but for the money.

“We’re faced with the reality that our skills, they are only needed in the megacities, in the metropolitan¹³ cities.  So, you know, I studied accounting¹⁴, and there are no jobs for accountants back home.”

Lawyer Chris Baird agrees.

“All of my friends are here.  It’s a great place in terms of being a young professional.  It’s where the great work is.  It’s the economic hub of the country.  And really, I’ll give you that it’s not nearly as pretty as Cape Town, but it’s where you need to be if you want to climb up the ranks.”

Hannah Edinger is a director with the research group Frontier Advisory¹⁵.  She says one of the things that make African megacities special is that there are just not enough of them. 

“I think what is interesting about African cities, unlike European cities for example, is there is only a few cities, and these cities are expanding quite rapidly.”

Simphiwe Kahla, Songezo Mcapukisi and Chris Baird are among millions of people who have moved to fast growing African cities in recent years.  The cities include Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Cairo, Egypt; Lagos, Nigeria; Nairobi, Kenya and, of course, Johannesburg, South Africa.  Together, more than 30 million people now live in these African cities.  And the numbers are growing. 

I’m Faith Lapidus.

1 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

4 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。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 modernize   

vt.使现代化，使适应现代的需要

参考例句：

• It was their manifest failure to modernize the country's industries.他们使国家进行工业现代化，明显失败了。
• There is a pressing need to modernise our electoral system.我们的选举制度迫切需要现代化。

7 renovated   

翻新，修复，整修( renovate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He renovated his house. 他翻修了房子。
• The house has been renovated three years earlier. 这所房子三年前就已翻新。

8 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

9 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

10 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

11 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

12 hustling   

催促（hustle的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Our quartet was out hustling and we knew we stood good to take in a lot of change before the night was over. 我们的四重奏是明显地卖座的， 而且我们知道在天亮以前，我们有把握收入一大笔钱。
• Men in motors were hustling to pass one another in the hustling traffic. 开汽车的人在繁忙的交通中急急忙忙地互相超车。

13 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

14 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

15 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。