美国国家公共电台 NPR Rural America Supported Trump But Will His Policies Support Them?

 

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

Small town America deserves much of the credit for putting President Trump¹ in the White House. Rural voters in swing states like Florida and Pennsylvania helped tip the election in his favor. Those small towns that once relied on mines or factories are now struggling, and they're counting on President Trump's policies to change that. North Country Public Radio's Brian Mann reports.

BRIAN MANN, BYLINE²: It's a cold, snowy day, and I'm standing³ on the waterfront in Moriah, N.Y. It's a tiny, sleepy place on the shore of Lake Champlain. Not so long ago, this was a major industrial port. Iron ore carved out of the hills here was packed onto train cars and barges⁴. That iron ore helped build America's cities.

TOM SCOZZAFAVA: Then it all came to an abrupt⁵ halt.

MANN: Tom Scozzafava grew up here and serves now as town supervisor⁶. He remembers the good times, and he remembers the summer the good times stopped.

SCOZZAFAVA: Nineteen seventy-one - the miners - 600 of them - went home for their annual August vacation and were never called back.

MANN: It didn't just happen in one town or one state. Beginning after World War II and accelerating in the '70s and '80s, rural economists⁷ say much of small town America began a painful decline, shedding jobs, losing population. These are the parts of America where voters felt like Donald Trump was speaking directly to them.

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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.

MANN: Here's the new president giving his inaugural⁸ address.

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TRUMP: Rusted-out factories, scattered⁹ like tombstones across the landscape of our nation.

MANN: Critics pounced¹⁰ on the president's language, suggesting it was too bleak¹¹, too apocalyptic¹². But rural policy experts like Dave Swenson say it's pretty accurate for a lot of small town America. Swenson studies rural communities and economic development for the state of Iowa.

DAVID SWENSON: Two-thirds of our 99 counties have posted population declines. Those folks have had to migrate.

MANN: Young people moved away to the cities. Main streets dried up. Swenson says people left behind feel angry, humiliated¹³.

SWENSON: What's left out in many of these places are the people that were unable to migrate, people that were unable to find new occupations or re-educate themselves into new trades.

MANN: The question now is whether Donald Trump's policies and ideas can change things, driving jobs and investment and people back to places like rural Iowa or Moriah, N.Y. Rural experts I interviewed are skeptical¹⁴. They say taking a tougher line with China or Mexico likely won't cause a surge of new manufacturing in small towns. Chuck Fluharty heads an organization called the Rural Policy Research Institute.

CHUCK FLUHARTY: That 65 to 80 percent of the manufacturing losses in our country are directly related to automation and technology.

MANN: Those kinds of job cuts can't be reversed by tariffs¹⁵ or trade deals. Fluharty says what rural America needs is an investment in what he describes as human capital - health care and education. He also says small towns need to open their doors to immigrants.

FLUHARTY: The rural regions that will thrive in the future are the ones where that diversity is strongly expressed.

MANN: But efforts to create any kind of path to citizenship¹⁶ for undocumented families living now in rural America seem unlikely to move forward. Rural economists say the new administration could boost some regions in the short term with big investments in infrastructure¹⁷, roads and bridges. Parts of the country could also see a boom from increased oil or gas production.

Still, most policy experts think the long-term trends hurting small towns - urbanization, globalization and mechanization - won't change much under President Trump. And if he can't deliver on his promise to make rural America great again, this could be one of the biggest political challenges he faces. For NPR News, I'm Brian Mann.

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1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 barges   

驳船( barge的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The tug is towing three barges. 那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。
• There were plenty of barges dropping down with the tide. 有不少驳船顺流而下。

5 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

6 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

7 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 inaugural   

adj.就职的；n.就职典礼

参考例句：

• We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
• Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。

9 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

10 pounced   

v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击）

参考例句：

• As soon as I opened my mouth, the teacher pounced on me. 我一张嘴就被老师抓住呵斥了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The police pounced upon the thief. 警察向小偷扑了过去。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

12 apocalyptic   

adj.预示灾祸的，启示的

参考例句：

• The air is chill and stagnant,the language apocalyptic.空气寒冷而污浊，语言则是《启示录》式的。
• Parts of the ocean there look just absolutely apocalyptic.海洋的很多区域看上去完全像是世界末日。

13 humiliated   

感到羞愧的

参考例句：

• Parents are humiliated if their children behave badly when guests are present. 子女在客人面前举止失当，父母也失体面。
• He was ashamed and bitterly humiliated. 他感到羞耻，丢尽了面子。

14 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

15 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

16 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

17 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。