VOA标准英语2013--Detroit Residents Not Surprised by Bankruptcy

 

Detroit Residents Not Surprised by Bankruptcy¹

While more than 1 million people have left over the last 50 years, lifelong resident John George decided² to stay in Detroit, and he watched it hit rock bottom.

“The good news about hitting rock bottom is sometimes you get a bounce, and that’s what we’re looking for.  A bounce from the bottom back up, you really can’t go too much farther than a bankruptcy to hit rock bottom,” he said.

The streets of this neighborhood are a symbol of Detroit’s rock bottom.  Homes once populated with middle class families, with cars in each driveway and bikes on each sidewalk, have been replaced with piles of garbage and burned out ruins.

As founder³ of the charitable organization called Motor City Blight⁴ Busters, John George’s mission is to tear down things that once were the soul of this neighborhood - now abandoned and neglected - so they don’t encourage crime, vandalism or fire.

He said he’s seen enough hardship in Detroit to not be surprised by the city’s bankruptcy filing.

“Detroit needs a second chance, and I think that, by filing that Chapter 9, that is our second chance,” said George.

“This is an economic shot heard around the world," said University of Michigan Law Professor John Pottow. He said the eyes of the world were upon Detroit, and how its leaders and residents responded to the financial crisis, because other municipalities could suffer the same fate.

“There’s public deficits⁵ in every major European country right now.  You know, the Greek crisis as well.  So they’re seeing this as maybe the canary in their own coal mine about what’s going to happen in the future, and they want to see what happens,” he said.

What John George saw happening was the city reinventing itself as something more than just the home of the U.S. auto⁶ industry. 

“Buildings and people and cities go in cycles, and for Detroit, it’s our time for us to cycle out of this negative time, and cycle into something better, something more stable, more revitalized, more beautified,” he said.

Along with shedding its crippling debt, George wanted to see Detroit improve services, decrease crime and shorten response times by emergency workers.

And with the blight removed, maybe, just maybe these streets will see new life again, reminiscent of the fond memories of John George’s childhood.

“If it’s clean and safe, we can attract new families, young families, and I think that will happen in time," he said.

In the meantime, John George is doing his part to help the effort, tearing down Detroit’s urban blight, one street, one house at a time. 

1 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

2 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。

3 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

4 blight   

n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残

参考例句：

• The apple crop was wiped out by blight.枯萎病使苹果全无收成。
• There is a blight on all his efforts.他的一切努力都遭到挫折。

5 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

6 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。