VOA常速英语2020--被解雇的美国绿卡持有人在疫情期间艰难生活

After obtaining a diversity visa also known as the green card lottery¹, Eric Alamsha came to the US from indonesia at the end of 2019 with his wife Sari and two children. He used to work in the IT sector² for eight years in the indonesian capital Jakarta, but even with extensive work experience he still has not been able to find a full-time³ job. Out of all the applications I sent whether retail⁴ or other jobs in the IT field, I only get call backs from essential jobs like in the pharmacies⁵, grocery stores and home improvement stores. Maybe I have to put my search on hold to find the other IT jobs. In the meantime just to get by Alamsha is working as a cashier at a home depot⁶ store, a hardware outlet⁷ in the state of maryland. It's considered an essential business that's still operating in the middle of the pandemic.

在获得多样性签证（也叫绿卡抽签）之后，在2019年底，埃里克·阿拉姆沙带着妻子萨里和两个孩子从印度尼西亚来到美国。他曾在印尼首都雅加达从事IT行业8年，但即使他有着丰富的工作经验，他仍未能找到一份全职工作。我投了许多工作申请，无论是零售业还是其他IT领域的工作，但我只接到一些基本工作的回电，比如在药店、杂货店或者家装店。也许我得停下来找找其他的IT领域的工作。同时，阿拉姆沙正在一家家得宝商店当收银员，这是马里兰州的一家五金商店。由于政府认为五金是一项重要的业务，所以在疫情期间，这家商店仍在运作。

Vina Agnesia was also a green card lottery winner from Indonesia. She took leave from her final year as a dentistry student in Padang on the island of Sumatra to move to new york city by herself at the end of 2019. With no college degree nor work experience Agnesia found it difficult to find a full-time job. She worked part-time as a server in a Japanese restaurant for a few months until it was closed due to the lockdown. She found herself unemployed⁸ in the US at the epicenter of a pandemic in one of the most expensive cities in the world. My parents are worried about me not only because of the coronavirus but financially as well, because I'm unemployed they are worried thinking how I can get by and then I told them don't worry. I'm legal here so I'm eligible⁹ to get government assistance. The assistance she's referring to is the 1200 dollars stimulus¹⁰ check as well as the pandemic unemployment assistance. Under the PUA Agnesia receives about 600 every week which she uses to pay rent, utilities, food and transportation while searching for work. Meanwhile the Alamsha family remains¹¹ optimistic about living a new life in America in the midst of uncertainties¹². We came here for our children, for our children's education. We have already made our decision, so we have to go through it no matter what. I just hope things will get better. The Alamsha family and Agnesia are some of about 55,000 people that come to the US. Every year through the green card lottery many of them now just trying to survive. In Maryland Fina Muttaidi voa news

维娜·阿格尼西亚也是一名来自印度尼西亚的绿卡抽签中奖者。她作为牙科学生的最后一年开始休假，于2019年底，从苏门答腊岛独自搬到纽约市。由于没有大学学历和工作经验，阿格尼西亚发现很难找到一份全职工作。她在一家日本餐馆做了几个月的兼职服务员，直到餐馆因封锁而关门。她发现自己在美国疫情的中心失业了，而自己正身处在世界上消费最昂贵的城市之一。我的父母很担心我，不仅是因为冠状病毒，还有经济原因，因为我失业了，他们很担心我该如何谋生，我告诉他们不要担心。我在这里是合法的，所以我有资格获得政府援助。她提到的援助是指1200美元的经济刺激计划以及疫情的失业援助。根据PUA协议，阿格尼西亚每周会收到600美元，可以用来支付房租、水电费、食物以及找工作时的交通费。同时，阿拉姆沙一家对于在充满不确定性的美国过上新生活持有乐观态度，我们来这里是为了孩子，是为了孩子的教育问题。我们已经做好了决定，所以无论如何我们都要挺过去。我只希望事情会好起来。阿拉姆沙一家和阿格尼西亚是来美国的大约5.5万人之一，每年通过绿卡抽签，他们中的许多人现在只是为了生存。美国之音记者Fina Muttaidi，马里兰州报道

1 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

2 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

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 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。

5 pharmacies   

药店

参考例句：

• Still, 32 percent of the pharmacies filled the prescriptions. 但仍然有32%的药剂师配发了这两张药方。 来自互联网
• Chinese herbal pharmacies, and traditional massage therapists in the Vancouver telephone book. 中药店，和传统的按摩师在温哥华的电话簿里。 来自互联网

6 depot   

n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站

参考例句：

• The depot is only a few blocks from here.公共汽车站离这儿只有几个街区。
• They leased the building as a depot.他们租用这栋大楼作仓库。

7 outlet   

n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄

参考例句：

• The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
• Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。

8 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。

9 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

10 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

12 uncertainties   

无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 )； 不确定； 变化不定； 无把握、不确定的事物

参考例句：

• One of the uncertainties of military duty is that you never know when you might suddenly get posted away. 任军职不稳定的因素之一是你永远不知道什么时候会突然被派往它处。
• Uncertainties affecting peace and development are on the rise. 影响和平与发展的不确定因素在增加。 来自汉英非文学 - 十六大报告