2006年VOA标准英语-A Trip 'Around the World' in an Hour on New Yor

By Amanda Cassandra
New York
29 December 2006

New York's Number Seven subway train is nicknamed the "International Express," because it weaves through Queens County, the nation's most ethnically² diverse neighborhood, with people from 150 countries living there. Amanda Cassandra has this report for VOA on the train and the many different neighborhoods it travels through.

Number 7 train's route map

On its 10-kilometer journey from Times Square, the heart of Manhattan, to the Flushing neighborhood of Queens, the Number Seven train passes by the businesses and establishments of many cultures in about an hour.

Jack³ Eichenbaum is an urban geographer⁴ and lifelong resident of Queens, one of the five boroughs⁵ that make up New York City. He says the city has one of the highest immigrant populations in the world, with a majority of those immigrants concentrated in Queens because of its relatively⁶ low housing costs and proximity⁷ to Kennedy Airport, an international hub.

"Of the population in New York City now, in the last census⁸, which was 2000, 39 percent of the people were foreign born," Eichenbaum said. "That's two out of five people are foreign born, and these are immigrants. Some of them are children, of course, who are going to grow up to be just like everyone else. And they'll speak perfect English and they'll go to school and they'll chew bubble gum and they'll watch the same programs on television. America assimilates young people very quickly. And some are older people who never learn to speak English and will live in areas where there are immigrants like themselves.

Eichenbaum says New York is an attractive destination for many immigrants for a variety of reasons.

"There are three kinds of people who can come in as immigrants. One: People who have family already here and whose family is willing to support them. Two: People who have a desired profession, such as doctors, and of all the immigrants in New York, the Filipinos have the highest wages," he said. "t's mostly the women and it's mostly the nurses. So many female nurses come in from the Philippines where they have an American education system that helps them. Being a former colony of the United States, they speak English. They come in on this preferential treatment for professionals, in this case nursing. The third one is if you bring money, and I think it is something like a $100,000 to start a business, and, therefore, employ other people. And, the star performers of this one are the Koreans. The Koreans more than anybody else are into opening shops and offices and things. That's what they do and that's how they get in here.

Eichenbaum says the most striking aspect of the Number Seven train's international journey is not the numbers of different cultures it passes or the large number of people - 400,000 - it carries each day, but that somehow everyone seems to get along.

"Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshi, they all walk up and down the street and they all shop together," Eichenbaum pointed⁹ out. "One of the triumphs of America is how quickly immigrant groups learn to get along with people they hated in the old country. It's amazing that people who were at war with their neighbors in Europe or Asia manage to get along with the same people here, particularly when they need the same kind of products."

Eichenbaum says the Seven train itself is credited with some of the urbanization of Queens, as many immigrants settled near the route of the train, and that, in turn, prompted the development of businesses to serve the borough's increasing population.

Mustafa Ali Hadi, 21, moved to the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens from Pakistan. He says, in Pakistan, Jackson Heights is known as a condensed version of Pakistan, with all the comforts of home easily available.

"I heard about Jackson Heights over there," he said. "They said it's like the same thing in Pakistan. They compared it to an area called Lalucade. So, it's cool. We have very good surroundings and nice friends. It's very easy for us to live here, because we don't have a language problem."

Glen Natkins is a lifelong Jackson Heights resident, who has witnessed the area's transformation¹⁰ from an Irish and Italian community to the more diverse ethnic¹ mix it is today. She says she enjoys the area's diversity, as well as the opportunities she now has to taste different kinds of food.

"There are many different restaurants, Hispanic and Indian restaurants," she said. "So, that's very nice to have a taste of their culture. I've gone to Afghan restaurants, Hispanic, Indian and, of course, Italian."

Venturing through the neighborhoods of Queens, visitors will find museums, sculpture gardens, a baseball stadium and a vast park that hosted world's fairs in 1939 and 1964. In the Woodside section of Queens, visitors will discover Irish pubs and German and Turkish restaurants, as well as places of worship that cater¹¹ to communities from Korea, Latin America and China.

In 2000, the White House designated the Number Seven train a National Millennium¹² Trail, recognizing it as a symbol of the American immigrant experience. It is one of 16 such trails, including the Appalachian Trail and Boston's Freedom Trail, that reflect defining aspects of U.S. history.

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 ethnically   

adv.人种上，民族上

参考例句：

• Ethnically, the Yuan Empire comprised most of modern China's ethnic groups. 元朝的民族成分包括现今中国绝大多数民族。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• Russia is ethnically relatively homogeneous. 俄罗斯是个民族成分相对单一的国家。 来自辞典例句

3 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

4 geographer   

n.地理学者

参考例句：

• His grandfather is a geographer.他的祖父是一位地理学家。
• Li Siguang is a famous geographer.李四光是一位著名的地理学家。

5 boroughs   

（尤指大伦敦的）行政区( borough的名词复数 )； 议会中有代表的市镇

参考例句：

• London is made up of 32 boroughs. 伦敦由三十二个行政区组成。
• Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City. 布鲁克林区是纽约市的五个行政区之一。

6 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

7 proximity   

n.接近，邻近

参考例句：

• Marriages in proximity of blood are forbidden by the law.法律规定禁止近亲结婚。
• Their house is in close proximity to ours.他们的房子很接近我们的。

8 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。

9 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

10 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

11 cater   

vi.(for/to)满足，迎合；(for)提供饮食及服务

参考例句：

• I expect he will be able to cater for your particular needs.我预计他能满足你的特殊需要。
• Most schools cater for children of different abilities.大多数学校能够满足具有不同天资的儿童的需要。

12 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。