VOA常速英语:With Most of Puerto Rico Still Dark, Many Residents Leaving

Almost two months since Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico in late September.Life is still like this for most people on the island. Whole neighborhoods are still under water and more than half the island is still without power.Everything from gasoline to fresh water is in short supply.The situation on the ground has pushed hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans, who are all US citizens enabled to travel freely to leave for the US mainland, mainly Florida.
自九月底飓风玛利亚袭击波多黎各以来，已经几近两个月的时间了。对岛上大多数人而言，生活仍然是这样。整个居民区仍有积水，岛上半数以上地区仍然没有电力供应。从汽油到淡水所有东西都供不应求，当地局势迫使成千上万的波多黎各人离开，这些离开的波多黎各人都是美国公民，他们可以自由地前往美国本土，主要是往佛罗里达州。

“Because of the Hurricane we lost our home, right now the children aren’t getting in education,because many schools are either closed or being used as shelters. So we decided to head to the US mainland.”
因为飓风我们失去了家，现在孩子们没办法接受教育，因为很多学校要么关闭，要么用作避难所，所以我们决定前往美国大陆。

The Vega’s maybe the lucky ones, they have the money and the support to allow them to leave.
维嘉这一家人也许是幸运的，他们有钱而且有人支持他们离开波多黎各。

“We work for a company that gave us a transfer and we are going there with work, both of us. But it is more for our children’s education and medicine.”
我们为一家能让我们离开小岛的公司工作，我们要随工作去那里，我们两个人都去。但我们之所以选择离开更多的是为了孩子的教育和医疗。

Thousands of others have brought their way up the island on board cruise ships like Janet and Oliver Ramirez.But even though their life may be easier on the mainland, leaving home has been difficult.
许多像珍妮特和奥利弗·拉米雷斯一样的人，登上了去往这座小岛的游轮。即使他们在内陆的生活更容易，但离开家更困难。

“You know things happen, you were born, raised, given values at your house,your whole mind is set where you live, but you can’t, you don’t know what to do.”
你知道的，事情发生了，你出生、长大、形成价值观的家，满脑子想的都是你生活的地方，但你不能，也不知道该做些什么。

Despite the hardships, those who remain are uniting behind the “I’m not giving up” movement. The Governor of Puerto Rico has released a study,estimating the island has sustained at 94 billion dollars worth of damage from the September 20th hurricane.
尽管困难重重,但这些留下的人仍然因“我不放弃”运动紧紧团结在一起。波多黎各总督公布了一份研究报告，估计该岛从9月20日的飓风中损失达940亿美元。

Kevin Enochs VOA News.
VOA记者凯文·伊诺克斯。