实战口语情景对话 第868期:Old and New Cities 旧城与新城

Todd: So, Aiman, you are from Syria, but you've actually lived all over the Middle East. What's interesting is that you've lived in a very old city, Damascus, and a very new city, Dubai, and they're actually not that far from each other. What's the difference between living in a very old city and a very new city?
托德：艾曼，你来自叙利亚，不过你在中东各地都生活过。你在古老的城市大马士革和新城迪拜都生活过，而且这两座城市相隔不远。生活在旧城和生活在新城有什么不同？

Aiman: It is really really different because the whole city is designed in a different way. In a city like Dubai for example, it is designed in a line. It is designed in a linear way, so you have to go across the city to go from one end to the other. And some people live on one end, and they work on the other end, so they have to go across the whole city, which makes roads unbelievably crowded all the time. While in a city like Damascus, it is true that it is an old city and the road system is really old and needs to be maintained and changed sometimes, but still the city is of different parts that are connected, so you might find people who live on the northern-eastern part, and they have all that they need in that part. They don't need to go to any other part of the city. So that's why it is convenient to walk around the city. You don't even need a car in Damascus. However, a city like Dubai being new and modern has it's advantages because it's convenient. You go everywhere and things are new, shops everywhere. New Shopping malls open every day, and you can go to one shopping mall and do whatever shopping you need, whatever brand you even think of is there, even the brands that you don't know, you will find there from all around the world. You meet people from all around the world in Dubai. I meet friends from all different parts of the world. I learned about many different cultures in Dubai. While in Syria it is isolated and you don't meet people from other countries in Syria, and even when foreigners live in Syria, they tend to stay in their own bubble and not mix with people because I think that English is not very well spoken in Syria, so it is hard to move around with English in the city. While in Dubai it is the opposite because you can't speak Arabic sometimes in Dubai. You have to speak English most of the time in Dubai.And if you are looking for a job, you have more chances finding a job if speak English and you don't speak Arabic, than if you speak Arabic but you don't speak English.
艾曼：差别很大，因为整座城市的设计完全不同。迪拜这样的城市是按线条设计的。是以线性角度设计的，所以从一处到另一处要穿越城市。有些人在城市的一端生活，在另一端工作，所以他们必须要穿越整座城市去上班，这使得道路一直都令人难以置信的拥挤。大马士革的确是一座古老的城市，道路系统非常旧，需要维修更换，不过这座城市不同的区域都连接在一起，所以，生活在城市东北部地区的人们，可以在那个地区找到他们所需要的所有东西。他们不用去城市的其他地方。所以在城市游览很便利。在大马士革游览甚至都不需要坐车。不过迪拜这样的新城市现代化程度很高，拥有自己的优势，而且非常便利。所有地方的设施都是新的，到处都有商店。每天都有新购物中心开张，你可以去购物中心买你想买的任何物品，你能想到的品牌都能在购物中心里找到，连你不知道的品牌也有，你可以找到世界各地的品牌。在迪拜可以见到世界各地的人。我在那里结交了来自世界各地的朋友。我在迪拜体验了许多种不同的文化。而叙利亚则相对孤立，在叙利亚不会见到其他国家的人，即使有外国人生活在叙利亚，他们也可能会只待在自己的活动空间，不和其他人交往，因为英语在叙利亚不太普及，所以仅凭英语游览叙利亚会很难。而迪拜则正好相反，因为有时在迪拜不能说阿拉伯语。大部分时间你都要说英语。如果你在迪拜找工作，会说英语而不会说阿拉伯语的人，比会说阿拉伯语不会说英语的人机会要更大。

Todd: That's interesting.托德：这很有意思。