VOA标准英语2013--New York Speaks Your Language, No Matter What It Is

 

New York Speaks Your Language, No Matter What It Is

With hundreds of languages and dialects spoken from around the world, few cities are as diverse as New York.

"New York is the capital of the world, where we live together in peace," said Ernesto Arias¹.

Ernesto Arias, from Bolivia, says this is all possible without loss of tradition or the mother language. He speaks in his native Spanish.

 “There are people from every background, so you’ll hear a variety of languages and dialects.  For example, in my country, they speak Aymara and Quechua.  Of course, here we’re starting to lose that.  But we are making an effort to maintain our community in some form so that we don’t lose it," he said.

According to the 2010 census²,  51 percent of New Yorkers speak only English. The remaining 49 percent, according to experts, speak hundreds of other languages.

For many local residents, it probably comes as no surprise that the second-most spoken language in New York is Spanish, representing 25 percent of the population.

“It’s a very cosmopolitan³ city where you see people from around the world and listen to every language possible in the elevators, on the street, doing business.  I don’t know about 800 languages, but they all sound very different," said Gabriela Pisterna, Argentinian tourist.

Historically, the Big Apple has been known for welcoming immigrants, earning it the unofficial title of “Capital of the World.”

“Every place is represented here, at least from Latin America, there are so many," said Edmundo Datri, another Argentinian Tourist. 

1 arias   

n.咏叹调( aria的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Can you pick out the operatic arias quoted in this orchestral passage? 你能听出这段管弦乐曲里有歌剧式的咏叹调吗？ 来自辞典例句
• The actions are large and colour, there are arias and recitatives. 动作夸张而华美，有唱段也有宣叙部。 来自辞典例句

2 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

3 cosmopolitan   

adj.世界性的，全世界的，四海为家的，全球的

参考例句：

• New York is a highly cosmopolitan city.纽约是一个高度世界性的城市。
• She has a very cosmopolitan outlook on life.她有四海一家的人生观。