课文翻译 英美报刊阅读教程中级精选本 第五版 端木义万 Lesson 7

Lesson 7 ：Cities and Suburbs Are Trading Places

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Young Singles, Other ‘Non-Families’ Taking Over Outer Areas, Study Shows

研究显示，单身青年和其他“非家庭成员”占据了周边地区

By D’Vera Cohn.

A role reversal between cities and suburbs is rewriting a demographic script that has dominated American life for decades.

城市和郊区之间的角色转换正在改写几十年来主导美国生活的人口统计学脚本。Young singles, elderly widows and other such “non-family households”now outnumber married-with-children homes in the nation’s suburbs, creating changes in demand for housing, entertainment and services in the communities where most Americans live.

在美国的郊区，年轻的单身人士、年老的寡妇和其他类似的“无家庭家庭”现在的数量超过了结婚带孩子的家庭，这就改变了大多数美国人居住的社区对住房、娱乐和服务的需求。

At the same time, the married-with-children families often thought of as typically suburban are increasing in many growing cities of the South and West, according to a study based on the 2000 Census to be released today by the Brookings Institution.

与此同时，布鲁金斯学会(Brookings Institution)今天发布的一项基于2000年人口普查的研究显示，在美国南部和西部许多发展中城市，通常被认为是典型的郊区已婚带孩子家庭的人数正在增加。

In suburbs, the demand for social services is rising even as nightclubs are springing up in shopping malls to serve affluent singles.

在郊区，对社会服务的需求正在上升，尽管为富裕单身人士服务的购物中心里的夜总会如雨后春笋般涌现。

In some cities, school buildings are crowded again, and small commercial districts are rising from the dead.

在一些城市，学校建筑再次拥挤起来，小型商业区死而复生。

In the Washington area, non-families have outnumbered married-with-children households in most of the region’s biggest suburbs for more than a decade, and the trend intensified in the 1990s, hi the region’s outer suburbs, married couples with children still dominate.

在华盛顿地区，十多年来，在该地区大部分最大的郊区，非家庭家庭的数量超过了已婚带孩子的家庭，这一趋势在20世纪90年代加剧，在该地区的远郊，已婚带孩子的家庭仍然占主导地位。

The transformation of the suburbs reflects the arrival of a more diverse population and changes in the lives of people already living there.

郊区的转变反映了人口多样化的到来，以及已经生活在那里的人们的生活发生了变化。

There is a growing singles scene of young people who want to live near suburban workplaces, an increasing number of unmarried couples buying houses, and more homes being rented to groups, including immigrants.

越来越多的年轻人想要住在郊区工作场所附近，越来越多的未婚夫妇在买房，越来越多的房子被租给团体，包括移民。

At the same time, there also are more elderly individuals—once in a couple, now widowed—who want to remain in the neighborhoods where they raised their children.与此同时，也有越来越多的老人——曾经是一对夫妻，现在已经丧偶——愿意留在养育子女的社区。

“The suburbs increasingly are becoming a microcosm of America,” said demographer William H. Frey, the report’s co-author. “All the problems we associate with America and even urban America are suburban problems … housing affordability at the low end, senior services at the high end.”

该报告的合著者、人口学家威廉·h·弗雷(William H. Frey)说:“郊区正日益成为美国的缩影。”“所有我们与美国甚至美国城市联系在一起的问题都是郊区问题……低端的住房负担能力，高端的高级服务。

The growing power of single suburbanites of all ages could foreshadow political struggles.

各个年龄段的郊区居民日益增长的力量可能预示着政治斗争。

“They may be able to outvote the households with children who need school and playgrounds,” said regional economist Stephen Fuller, who teaches at George Mason University.

在乔治梅森大学(George Mason University)任教的地区经济学家斯蒂芬·富勒(Stephen Fuller)说:“他们可能会在投票中击败那些有孩子需要上学和玩耍的家庭。”

There are now 12.8 million non-family households in the suburbs of the nation’s 102 largest metropolitan areas, according to Frey’s analysis, and 11.7 million households in the married-with-children category, in 1990, the situation was reversed.

根据弗雷的分析，在美国102个最大的都市区的郊区，现在有1280万非家庭，有1170万家庭属于已婚带孩子的家庭。1990年，情况发生了逆转。

In 32 older northern metropolitan areas, non-family households accounted for most of the suburban household growth in the 1990s, Frey said.

弗雷说，20世纪90年代，在32个北部老城区，非家庭家庭占了郊区家庭增长的大部分。

They included Buffalo, Detroit, Pittsburgh and metropolitan areas—Cleveland; Gary, Ind.; and St. Louis—the number of married-with-children households in the suburbs actually dropped.

其中包括布法罗、底特律、匹兹堡和克利夫兰等大城市;印第安纳州加里市。在圣路易斯，郊区已婚带孩子的家庭数量实际上下降了。

In Anne Arundel County, where non-family households out-numbered married-with-children homes for the first time in 2000, county demographer Sandy Speer said most are people living alone.

2000年，在安妮阿伦德尔县，非家庭家庭的数量首次超过了已婚带孩子家庭。该县人口统计学家斯皮尔(Sandy Speer)说，大多数是独居的人。

Some were longtime county residents who got divorced or were widowed.

有些人是县里的老住户，离婚或丧偶。