2006年VOA标准英语-New Orleans Convention Center, Casino Reop

By Greg Flakus
New Orleans
18 February 2006

Mardi Gras celebrations get under way in New Orleans this weekend, although on a much smaller scale than in past years. The city is still recovering from the devastation¹ unleashed² by Hurricane Katrina on August 29 of last year. Local spirits were boosted Friday by two important reopenings.

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Players at slot machines   
  

Crowds have returned to the slot machines and gaming tables once again at Harrah's casino in downtown New Orleans. The casino reopened Friday with full services and close to 1,300 employees. Meanwhile, a few blocks away, there was another important reopening, that of the New Orleans Convention Center, which served as a temporary shelter for hundreds of desperate people in the days following Katrina.

The first event at the Convention Center is a Gift and Jewelry⁴ Show featuring 600 exhibits. Some 15,000 shoppers crowded the halls on Friday and it was a happy scene for New Orleans Convention and Visitor's Bureau President Stephen Perry.

"It is a really powerful national signal, all over the United States and all over the world that New Orleans is back,"  Perry said. "It is open and it is ready for business."
 

Harrah's New Orleans Casino  
  
The reopening of Harrah's casino represents an important source of income for the cash-strapped city as well. The casino pays the city $925,000 a year to operate here and also draws tens of thousands of tourists who spend money at local hotels and restaurants.

Harrah's New Orleans' Senior Vice³ President and General Manager Jim Hoskins tells VOA that this is a new beginning for the casino in this city.

Jim Hoskins   
  
"It is full entertainment," Hoskins said. "We have Masquerade, which is a bar and night club, we have a theater where tonight local musician Alan Touissant is playing. We offer a full array of that type of experience. We offer all the normal experiences, night club activity and first-class entertainment. We are going to have some Broadway shows in the future and other types of shows."

Hoskins says one of the big challenges his company faced in reopening the casino was finding places where the 1,300 employees could live. Most of the residential⁵ areas in New Orleans were devastated⁶ by flooding and are still uninhabitable. Hoskins says Harrah's hired two housing coordinators to find places for employees to live.

"We set up relief centers after the storm, so we knew if they needed housing help," he said. "What these two coordinators did was go out and try to facilitate with the community and find all kinds of housing options. They have been really successful with that and we are very happy about it."

Carnival⁷ parades and parties have begun in neighborhoods across New Orleans, leading up to the grand celebration on February 28, known as Mardi Gras. City leaders hope this will give New Orleans a further boost, but it may be limited in impact. Fewer than half of the city's 3,000 pre-Katrina restaurants have reopened and hotel rooms are hard to find anywhere near the city. Only about a third of the city's former residents have returned and many remain in hotels all across Louisiana and other states waiting to see if it will be possible for them to return.

1 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 unleashed   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
• The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

5 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

6 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

7 carnival   

n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演

参考例句：

• I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
• Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。