美国国家公共电台 NPR Hearing From New American Citizens This Independence Day

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Fourth of July is next week, a day to reflect on what it means to be an American. We wanted to hear from you, specifically people who recently became citizens, to find out what it's like to be a new American on America's Independence Day.

MARIANA TORREALBA: My name is Mariana Torrealba (ph). And I immigrated¹ here to the United States in 2004.

SIMON: She came from Venezuela, became a citizen in 2016.

TORREALBA: With the situation in my home country, Venezuela, I know that people would do anything to be American citizens and be able to live such a fulfilled life like we do here - that we have so much opportunities and access to everything, pretty much.

SIMON: How is she planning to celebrate the Fourth? Her family loves to grill². They also love arepas.

TORREALBA: Which is a Venezuelan traditional dish made out of ground maize³ dough⁴. And we pretty much grill it, and you can fill it with whatever, so we like to mix it up. And instead of making the typical arepa, we can make a hamburger arepa. So we're trying to combine both experiences.

MATT BURT: I just became a citizen on April 25, 2018.

SIMON: Matt Burt (ph) was born in England to Australian parents. They moved to the U.S. in 1975 when he was 4.

BURT: People who have known me for years maybe didn't realize that I was an immigrant and not a U.S. citizen. It still felt a little bit different, especially when everyone is talking about politics and voting, and I was regretting having waited so long.

SIMON: No more regrets. Mr Burt, who now lives in Colorado, just voted this past Tuesday in his state's primary. Let's hear from our final new American.

ANA CECILIA PIEMONTE: So my name's Ana Cecilia Piemonte (ph). I became a United States citizen this January of 2018.

SIMON: She came to the U.S. from Mexico in 1999 at the age of 7. And for her, this July Fourth is all about family.

PIEMONTE: I feel like more than ever right now being able to share the love that I have for my family with them is so important when there are people who are being torn apart, not getting to spend time with their children. And that's something that we have taken for granted for so long, but it's such a great blessing⁵.

SIMON: Another blessing is that she gets to celebrate the holiday with her husband. He's in the U.S. military and deploys⁶ later this year.

PIEMONTE: So this is going to be one of our very few holidays we get to spend together. He's gone for Christmas and the rest of the holidays. It's also very special because as a military wife, things like Independence Day shows what America is all about.

SIMON: Three new U.S. citizens on what Independence Day means to them.

1 immigrated   

v.移入( immigrate的过去式和过去分词 )；移民

参考例句：

• He immigrated from Ulster in 1848. 他1848年从阿尔斯特移民到这里。 来自辞典例句
• Many Pakistanis have immigrated to Britain. 许多巴基斯坦人移居到了英国。 来自辞典例句

2 grill   

n.烤架，铁格子，烤肉；v.烧，烤，严加盘问

参考例句：

• Put it under the grill for a minute to brown the top.放在烤架下烤一分钟把上面烤成金黄色。
• I'll grill you some mutton.我来给你烤一些羊肉吃。

3 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

4 dough   

n.生面团；钱，现款

参考例句：

• She formed the dough into squares.她把生面团捏成四方块。
• The baker is kneading dough.那位面包师在揉面。

5 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

6 deploys   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的第三人称单数 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• It then deploys "decoy" programs designed to attract the virus. 然后，它释放“诱饵”去吸引病毒。
• But when that doesn't work, he deploys his secret defense mechanism. 但没有效果，它要施展绝密自卫武器了。