VOA标准英语2010年-For Unemployed New Yorkers, No Recover

Over 10 percent of New Yorkers, nearly 425,000, are unemployed¹ and looking for work, the highest rate in the three decades that records have been kept. The city's jobless numbers are expected to stay at ten percent or above through next year. And that doesn't include those who have given up looking for work. Jobless New Yorkers on both ends of the economic spectrum² say they see no recovery in sight.

Duane  Randall, 27, lives in a low-income part of Brooklyn. He hasn’t had a regular full-time³ job for five years. The first year he was out of work, he said, he put in applications at scores of businesses and stores.

“To no avail, nobody called me, follow-up, nothing. Even if a place isn't hiring, I will still go and ask anyway, because you're not going to know. Some people probably just want to be selective and picky, and see who's determined⁴ to work,” he said.

Randall, a father of two, has survived on government aid, such as food stamps, and small jobs as a mover and handyman. He’s skilled as a builder, but can’t find a job in construction.

“You show me the frame, I will build your house out,” he said. “I know how to do electrical work, plumbing⁵ work, sheetrock, plastering, woodwork. You know, I have so many skills I can't use that are a necessity. Every day they're building houses, but there's just nobody employing."

Marketing⁶ and fundraising expert Stephanie Forman was laid off a year ago.

A few kilometers away, in an upscale Manhattan neighborhood, Stephanie Forman, 45, is also struggling. A year ago, she was a highly-paid marketing expert and non-profit fundraiser. Now she's living on occasional consulting jobs and using up her retirement⁷ savings⁸ while she searches for another job.

“Basically every day, I try to just look to see what companies are hiring,” she said. “I check a lot of blogs, news postings, to see what companies are doing well, what companies have come out with a new product, see who's working there, see if I know somebody. And often you don't hear back from people and need to be very persistent⁹. And there's a fine line between being persistent and getting under somebody's skin, where they're not going to see you."

Forman attended a Manhattan job fair recently that drew hundreds of other unemployed professionals. She went even though she doubted there were many solid jobs being offered.

“I’ve found from going to a few job fairs that a lot of companies that are here really don’t have a lot of jobs open,” she said. “There is a false sense in our country that the job market is getting better. Just because companies are starting to post jobs doesn't mean they're hiring people. And I can tell from my years of experience in business, I've never seen in 25 years a job market like this."

“People come up with ideas like oh, since you’re not working, why don’t you work in retail¹⁰, or work in a restaurant or bar? I’ve seen most restaurants in my neighborhood close. I see people losing their jobs who were making very little money. Part-time jobs in retail stores used to be a quick way to earn a buck¹¹. Even over the holidays they weren’t hiring.”

Still, she says, there's no option but to keep looking. “I just keep moving forward. Not having a job and not having an income are not reasons enough for me not to continue to move forward,” she said.

Duane Randall is trying to move forward, too. He recently applied¹² for a temporary job with a federal agency, the Census¹³ Bureau.

“I heard about the test, and said, let me give it a shot, and I passed. I’m very excited about it. It actually pays very well. It's a part-time job - I think it's only for about four or five months out of the year. But hey, you know, you're working,” he said.

Stephanie Forman also had good news recently: a part-time marketing job came through. It’s a start. She’ll combine it with her job search and the unpaid¹⁴ consulting work that she does for charitable organizations. She’s also considering starting a small business. Forman says the important thing is to keep working, to be ready and prepared for the next opportunity.
 

1 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。

2 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

3 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。

4 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

5 plumbing   

n.水管装置；水暖工的工作；管道工程v.用铅锤测量（plumb的现在分词）；探究

参考例句：

• She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche. 她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。
• They're going to have to put in new plumbing. 他们将需要安装新的水管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

7 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

8 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

9 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

10 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

11 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

12 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

13 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。

14 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。