VOA标准英语2010-Nationwide Census Expected to Report Big

America's founding fathers decided¹ that a count of all the country's inhabitants should take place every 10 years. The 2010 census² is now underway, and people all over the country are being asked to provide information about themselves. This year's census will show dramatic changes in America.

This part of Charlotte, North Carolina used to be known for pastoral countryside and old fashioned charm, but in the last decade it's changed.  Charlotte has become a major financial center and expanded and immigrants came to work in the building boom here.

Latino community activist³ Angeles Ortega Moore drives through Charlotte's changed neighborhoods.

 

"At one point this used to be a middle income, to upper income community, here," explained community activist Angeles Ortega Moor⁴.  "It was very much an in place to be, and little by little it has sort of become, the demographic has changed, so it's a pretty popular area for Latinos and still a high proportion of African Americans."

Charlotte's Latino population has more than doubled, and other minority groups have also grown.

"Now you start seeing the Spanish language signs," added Moore. "This seems to be the Salvadoran corner, then you have a Middle Eastern, then a Mexican and a Vietnamese restaurant."

Ortega Moore says the immigrants were welcomed… at first.

"As the people began to change, there were needs from the community as far as education, services for the community," noted⁵ Moore.  "That's when people started to notice it, and went, 'Ooh, ooh, wait a minute, what do you mean all of the sudden we have to put money?'"

She says she hopes the census will help to bring new resources to this area, because the census does not just draw new electoral districts for Congress. It's also used to distribute hundreds of billions of dollars for new roads, schools and hospitals.

The U.S. Census Bureau is headquartered just outside Washington.  Management division chief Frank Vitrano has spent years planning this year's count.

"The census itself only has ten questions, but they're important questions: age, race, sex, Hispanic origin," said Vitrano.  "These are data that are used to really help us understand what does our country look like, how are we aging, where are we geographically⁶ in the country?"

In order to do that, the Census Bureau has printed 130 million forms and mailed them out across America.
It's conducting a huge ad campaign.  And it's sending people across America to explain the census.

Here in Charlotte not all people feel the changes of the past decade are for the better.

CHARLOTTE RESIDENT 1: "When I came, it was better than this. Too many people are coming in. People coming from everywhere."

CHARLOTTE RESIDENT 2: "Right now, if you weren't from Charlotte you couldn't find your way around. If you left for just five years, you couldn't find your way around no more."

Still census officials say it is important that everyone is counted.

William Frey, a demographer⁷ at the Brookings Institution in Washington, says most Americans do like getting information about who we are as a nation.

"There's just this intrinsic curiosity in the United States about this, and so the census is seen as this huge gold mine of statistics that people can use to get this information," said Frey.

And Charlotte is indicative of the transformation⁸ that has occurred in America's heartland over the last 10 years.

America has long been a melting pot of people from all over the world. But until now most of the melting, in the latest wave of immigration, occurred in big coastal⁹ cities, like New York, Los Angeles and Miami. The 2010 Census will let us know to what extent that has happened, in the rest of America.

 

1 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。

2 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。

3 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

4 moor   

n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊

参考例句：

• I decided to moor near some tourist boats.我决定在一些观光船附近停泊。
• There were hundreds of the old huts on the moor.沼地上有成百上千的古老的石屋。

5 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。

6 geographically   

adv.地理学上，在地理上，地理方面

参考例句：

• Geographically, the UK is on the periphery of Europe. 从地理位置上讲，英国处于欧洲边缘。 来自辞典例句
• All these events, however geographically remote, urgently affected Western financial centers. 所有这些事件，无论发生在地理上如何遥远的地方，都对西方金融中心产生紧迫的影响。 来自名作英译部分

7 demographer   

n.人口统计学家

参考例句：

• Professor Antonio Golini is a demographer at the University of Rome. 罗马大学安东尼奥教授是位人口统计学家。 来自互联网
• Demographer William Frey says immigrants with young families will help keep the United States competitive. 人口统计学家佛瑞表示这些年轻的家庭会帮助美国保持竞争力。 来自互联网

8 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。

9 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。