原版英语小短文 104. People Are Poor

　　People are standing¹ in long lines all over America. The long lines are unemployment² lines. Unemployment lines are for people who have no jobs. Millions of Americans have no jobs. They used to have jobs. But they got laid off. They got laid off because of the recession³. The recession is in America. The recession is in China. The recession is in Europe. The recession is all over the world. What's a recession? A recession is a time when people have only a little money. They don't buy new things. If they don't buy new things, factories stop making new things. Factories lay off the workers. In a recession, people buy only necessary things, like food. They don't buy new TVs, new cars, or new homes. They don't buy new shoes. They take their old shoes to the shoe repair shop. They don't go to expensive restaurants. They go to fast-food restaurants. They don't go to the movies. They watch TV. They don't go to Disneyland. They go to city parks. Everyone hopes the recession will end soon.

1 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。

2 unemployment   

n.失业，失业状态

参考例句：

• The government will look into how to reduce unemployment.政府将研究如何降低失业率。
• He gave a talk on the theme of teenage unemployment.他就青少年失业的主题作了一次报告。

3 recession   

n.（工商业的）衷退（期），萧条（期）

参考例句：

• Manufacturing fell sharply under the impact of the recession.受到经济萧条的影响，制造业急剧衰退。
• A rise in interest rates plunged Britain deeper into recession.利率的提高导致英国经济更加萧条。