VOA慢速英语:US Poverty Rate Highest Since 1993

A new report says the poverty rate in the United States last year was the highest since nineteen ninety-three. The official rate was 15.1 percent, up from 14.3 percent in two thousand nine.
一份新的报告显示，去年美国的贫困率达到自1993年来最高水平。官方报告的贫困率为15.1%，比2009年的14.3%有所增长。

Poverty meant yearly income, or earnings, of less than twenty-two thousand three hundred dollars for a family of four.
贫困意味着一个四口之家的年收入少于2.23万美元。

The American recession lasted from December of two thousand seven to June of two thousand nine. Since two thousand seven, the poverty rate has risen more than two and a half percentage points.
美国的经济衰退从2007年12月持续到2009年6月。自2007年以来，贫苦率增加了2.5个百分点。

The new findings did come as a surprise to Michael Ferrell of the Coalition for the Homeless in Washington, DC.
这份新的研究结果使华盛顿特区无家可归者联盟的Michael Ferrell感到非常惊讶。

MICHAEL FERRELL: "Unless there's a turnaround within the economy in the very near future, it's most likely to get worse."
Michael Ferrell：“除非近期经济出现好转，否则形势会进一步恶化。”

The Census Bureau says median household income fell more than two percent from two thousand nine to two thousand ten. Median means half earned more and half earned less. Last year, the median income was about forty-nine thousand dollars. The Census Bureau says more than forty-six million people were living in poverty. It was the largest number since estimates began in nineteen fifty-nine. They included more than one-fourth of blacks and Hispanics, twelve percent of Asians and about ten percent of non-Hispanic whites.
人口普查局表示，从2009年至2010年，家庭收入中值下降了超过2%。中值意味着有一半的人口收入超过该数字，另外一半人口的收入低于该数字。去年，中值收入大约是4.9万美元。人口普查局表示，超过4600万人生活在贫困中，这是自1959年开始统计以来的最大值。其中包括超过1/4的黑人和拉美裔，12%的亚裔以及10%的非拉美裔白人。

Some economic measures were unchanged. Women in full-time, year-round jobs continued to earn an average of seventy-seven percent as much as men did.
一些经济措施并没有发生变化。全职女性平均工资仍只有男性的77%。

The number of people without health insurance rose from forty-nine million to almost fifty million last year. But the rate -- 16.3 percent -- was about the same as in two thousand nine.
去年，没有医疗保险的人数从4900万上升到接近5000万。但医保未覆盖比例为16.3%，与2009年基本持平。

Most Americans who have health insurance get it through their employers. Elise Gould at the Economic Policy Institute says people age eighteen to twenty-four are the least likely to get insurance plans through their employers. But she says young people are facing fewer barriers because of the nation's new health care law.
大部分美国人的医疗保险是由雇主购买的。经济政策研究所的Gould表示，18岁至24岁的人从雇主那里获得医疗保险的可能性最低。但她表示，由于美国的新医保法案，年轻人面临的障碍已经减少。

ELISE GOULD: "Health reform played a key role in stemming the fall of workplace coverage for young adults. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly known as health reform, included provisions that allowed young adults up to age twenty-six to secure health insurance coverage through their parents' employer-sponsored health insurance policies."
ELISE GOULD：“医疗改革在防止工作场合年轻人医疗保险降低方面发挥着非常重要的作用。《患者保护和可负担医疗法》，也就是通常所说的医改法案，允许26岁以下青壮年通过其父母由雇主支付的医保政策获得医保覆盖。”

Experts say the biggest driving force of poverty is unemployment. About fourteen million Americans are unemployed. Millions more have stopped looking for work or wish they could work more hours.
专家表示，造成贫困的主要原因是失业。大约1400万美国人失业，数百万人已经停止找工作，或者希望他们能工作更长时间。

Las Vegas, Nevada, is famous for its casinos and hotels. But the city was hit hard by the recession and the housing market crash that helped cause it. Former construction worker Richard Scanlon is disabled, but he says many able-bodied friends are out of work.
内华达州的拉斯维加斯以赌场和酒店著称。但是该城市受到经济衰退和房产崩溃的冲击最为严重。前建筑工人Richard Scanlon身患残疾，但他表示很多身体健全的朋友都丢掉了工作。

RICHARD SCANLON: “Ten, fifteen years ago, if you couldn’t get a job in Vegas, you weren’t looking for one. Now it’s tough.”
RICHARD SCANLON：“十年或十五年前，如果你在拉斯维加斯找不到工作，只能说明你自己根本没去找。而现在的形势非常艰难。”

Family Promise is a national group that helps people get jobs and housing. Director Terry Lindemann says Family Promise of Las Vegas works with religious organizations that offer short-term housing.
Family Promise是一个全国性的组织，帮助人们获得工作和房屋。该组织负责人Terry Lindemann表示，拉斯维加斯Family Promise与提供短期住所的宗教组织一起合作。

TERRY LINDEMANN: “We bring together Catholics, Protestants, Jewish congregations, Muslims, to open up their congregations at night to be overnight shelters.”
Terry Lindemann：“我们联合天主教，福音教会，犹太集会，穆斯林一起在夜晚开放他们的圣会，供人们在夜晚居住。”

Cassendra Waller is a mother of two. She got help to move into a new apartment.
Cassendra Waller是两个小孩的母亲。她得到帮助搬进了新的公寓。

CASSENDRA WALLER: “When you get a job and you’re making a minimum wage, how do you pay a babysitter for two kids every day? I wound up homeless several times. And this is the worst I’ve seen the homeless in Vegas.”
CASSENDRA WALLER：“如果你有一份工作，只能拿到最低工资，你怎样支付两个小孩每天的托管费？我数次落得无家可归。这是我看过的拉斯维加斯无家可归者中最惨的经历。”

Stephen Brown is an economist with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He says the city is starting to get more visitors again. But he says that will not solve the bigger economic issues.
Stephen Brown是拉斯维加斯内华达大学的经济学家。他表示，这座城市已经开始吸引更多游客。但是他表示，这不能解决更大范围的经济问题。

STEPHEN BROWN: “So what we really need is for the forces that were pushing population to Las Vegas in the past to resume. And that really means that the whole US economy needs to get moving again.”
Stephen Brown：“所以，我们真正需要的是恢复过去推动诸多人口前往拉斯维加斯的动力。这意味着整个美国经济需要再次前进。”