VOA慢速英语2019 伯利恒准备多年来最好的圣诞节（在线收听）

Bethlehem Preparing to Have Best Christmas in Years

The West Bank town of Bethlehem is busy getting ready for Christmas.

As bright lights and other holiday decorations go up in Manger Square, Bethlehem is preparing for its best Christmas in 20 years, the town's mayor said.

西岸的伯利恒小镇正忙着为圣诞节做准备。

镇长说，随着马格广场上明亮的灯光和其他节日装饰品的出现，伯利恒正在为20年来最好的圣诞节做准备。

Five new hotels are being built and some existing hotels are expanding. The town has even extended the opening hours of the Church of the Nativity, the place where many Christians believe Jesus Christ was born.

But even after three years of relative peace, many people are still worried. Bethlehem is just a short drive from Jerusalem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

五家新酒店正在建造中，一些现有酒店正在扩展。 该镇甚至延长了圣诞教堂的开放时间，该教堂是许多基督徒认为耶稣基督出生的地方。

但是即使经过了三年的相对和平，许多人仍然感到担忧。 伯利恒距离以色列占领的西岸的耶路撒冷只有一小段车程。

The local economy depends on the money spent by visitors. Whenever there is unrest anywhere in the Middle East, tourists stop coming and that can lead to a financial disaster.

Sitting in his office overlooking the newly lit Christmas tree in Manger Square, Mayor Anton Salman said Bethlehem may get more than the 1.5 million visitors it received last year.

当地的经济取决于游客花的钱。 每当中东任何地方发生动乱时，游客就会停下来，这可能会导致金融灾难。

市长安东·萨尔曼（Anton Salman）坐在他的办公室中，俯瞰着马格广场（Manger Square）上新近点亮的圣诞树。他说，伯利恒的游客人数可能超过去年的150万。

"Since three years (ago), things are going up. This year is better than 2018 and 2018 was better than 2017 and it is a continuous increase," Salman told the Reuters news agency.

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萨尔曼对路透社说：“三年以来，情况一直在上升。今年比2018年好，2018年比2017年好，而且还在持续增长。”

For years, the biggest problem was the small front door leading to the Church of the Nativity. Visitors must bend over and crouch to enter. The door was once large, but reduced in size hundreds of years ago by Christian Crusaders. During Ottoman Turkish rule, the door was made even smaller to prevent people driving vehicles from entering the church.

多年来，最大的问题是通往耶稣诞生教堂的小前门。访客必须弯腰蹲下才能进入。门曾经是一扇大门，但在数百年前，克里斯蒂安·克鲁萨德（Christian Crusaders）将门缩小了。在奥斯曼土耳其统治时期，门被做得更小，以防止驾驶汽车的人进入教堂。

For the first time this year, officials extended the building's opening hours from sunset to 8 at night, Salman said. In 2020, officials plan to enlarge the town's bus station and to work on ways to limit traffic on the narrow road leading to Manger Square.

萨尔曼说，官员们今年首次将大楼的开放时间从日落延长到晚上8点。官员们计划在2020年扩大该镇的公交车站，并研究限制通往曼格广场的狭窄道路上的交通的方法。

The town will even consider asking tourist groups to register before arriving.

"If the number will be high and the church can't receive all of them we need to look for other plans that can be helpful," he said.

该镇甚至会考虑要求旅游团在到达之前进行注册。

他说：“如果人数过多，而教堂不能全部接受，我们需要寻找其他有帮助的计划。”

Memories of Christmas past

Townspeople are excited about a new attraction – a piece of wood said to be from the manger used by the baby Jesus. The wooden relic arrived back in Bethlehem last week from Rome.

But the town is also worried. Bethlehem enjoyed a strong economy until the Palestinian rebellion against Israeli rule in 2000. As the violence between Israelis and Palestinians worsened, visitors stopped coming.

市民对新的吸引力感到兴奋-据说是小耶稣用的马槽里的一块木头。 木制遗物上周从罗马回到伯利恒。

但是小镇也很担心。 伯利恒的经济强劲，直到2000年巴勒斯坦人反抗以色列的统治为止。随着以色列人和巴勒斯坦人之间的暴力局势恶化，来访者不再来。

Now, Israel's high wall rises up over the northern entrance to Bethlehem, and separates it from Jerusalem.

Palestinians call Israel's barrier an attempt to take their land. Israel says the wall has reduced attacks on its citizens.

现在，以色列的高墙在伯利恒的北部入口上方升起，并将其与耶路撒冷隔开。

巴勒斯坦人称以色列的障碍是企图占领自己的土地。 以色列说，隔离墙减少了对其公民的袭击。

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Joey Canavati directs the Alexander Hotel in Bethlehem. He said his family had little hope for the town during the past 10 years, but now it expects a lot of visitors through 2021. The hotel is expanding from 58 to 110 rooms.

乔伊·卡纳瓦蒂（Joey Canavati）指挥伯利恒的亚历山大酒店。 他说，在过去的10年中，他的家人对这个小镇充满了希望，但现在预计到2021年会有很多游客。酒店的房间将从58间扩大到110间。

"Business has been booming, we have never seen it like this ever before," he said. "But, it's always about stability."

他说：“业务一直在蓬勃发展，我们从未像现在这样看到过它。” “但是，这始终与稳定性有关。”

Words in This Story

Christmas – n. a Christian holiday that is celebrated on December 25 in honor of the birth of Jesus Christ or the period of time that comes before and after this holiday

decoration – n. something that is added to something else to make it more attractive

crouch – v. to lower your body to the ground by bending your legs

Crusader – n. a person who fought in military operations led by Christian powers in Europe's Middle Ages to capture the Holy Land from Muslims

attraction – n. an object that appears to the desires or tastes of someone

manger – n. an open box in which food for farm animals is placed

booming – adj. doing financially well

stability – n. the quality or state of something that is not easily changed or likely to change