VOA常速英语2022 双城记：童年的回忆

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双城记：童年的回忆

A Tale of Two Cities: Reminiscence of Childhood

Wow. So many memories on this porch. Hanging out with my friends. Bunch of kids from the neighborhood. Kids in the house. Mom and Mary. I could, I mean, I can almost smell the fried chicken and greens.This is 1320 Hill Avenue, Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, the home I was reared in.

哇。门廊上有太多回忆了：和朋友们出去玩儿，一群邻居的孩子，还有家里的孩子，妈妈和玛丽。我几乎都能闻到炸鸡和青菜的味道了。这是宾夕法尼亚州威尔金斯堡希尔大道1320号，我就是在这里长大的。

As the story was told to me, when I was born, there was a deal made between my maternal¹ grandmother and a woman by the name of Elsie Boyd.

我出生的时候，我的外祖母和一个叫埃尔西·博伊德的女人达成了一个约定。

I call her mom because when I was born, she exercised on the deal to take me home to this house.At the time, my biological mother was poor.She already had a child when she was 15, had me when she was 17.Not just my mother was poor but my father was a heroin² addict³ and he was in and out of prison.Eventually, he was murdered inside a prison, a day before his 27th birthday.

我叫她妈妈是因为我出生的时候，她按照约定带我回家。当时，我的生母很穷。她15岁的时候已经有了一个孩子，17岁的时候有了我。不仅我的母亲很穷，我的父亲也是一个海洛因成瘾者，他经常进出监狱。最终，就在他27岁生日的前一天，他在监狱里被杀。

Now, in reflecting back, it was, you know, an informal way to take care of children.Wasnt a foster care.It was an informal mechanism⁴ that matriarchs did back in the day.I stayed here till I graduated from high school.

现在，回想起来，你知道，这是一种非正式的照顾孩子的方式。不是寄养家庭。这是一种非正式的机制，当年的女族长就是这么做的。我在这里一直呆到高中毕业。

Theres still items in there, I believe.Yeah, Im actually anxious to see whats still in there.When Mom passed and Moms daughter became ill, they both moved away.And so, the home was abandoned and no one was paying taxes on it.And so, the county, the borough⁵ claimed it.

我相信里面还有东西。是啊，我真的很想看看里面还有什么。当妈妈去世后，妈妈的女儿生病了，她们俩都搬走了。因此，这座房子被遗弃了，没有人为它缴税。这个县，这个自治市宣称了它的所有权。

Wow. Oh, my goodness.

哇。哦，我的天哪。

Yeah, it gets worse and worse every time.It gets worse.Like now, the roof is completely collapsed⁶.That means, that part.

是啊，一次比一次更糟。情况变得更糟了。就像现在，屋顶完全坍塌了。就是那部分。

Wow. This ones worse than the last.When you look around, theres a lot of homes that are looking just like mine.The street has been emptied out, so to speak.

哇。这一次比上一次更糟。当你环顾四周时，会发现有很多房子看起来和这座一模一样。可以说，这条街已经空无一人了。

It was a fun place.It was community.I also remember vividly⁷ people coming to play cards on Saturdays, or Fridays and Saturdays.They would play Tonk and Biz Whiz, games that African Americans play.

那是个有趣的地方。这是一个社区。我还清楚地记得人们在周六或周五和周六来打牌。他们会玩“Tonk和Biz Whiz”，这是非裔美国人玩的游戏。

When youre growing up, you really dont know that youre poor in so many ways, because our culture and our family was so rich.When I come back, it deflates you.

当你成长的时候，你真的不知道你在很多方面是贫穷的，因为我们的文化和我们的家庭是如此丰富多彩。当我回来的时候，这会让我气馁。

Wilkinsburg was a predominantly White area and a very wealthy, affluent⁸ area.When we started to approach the 70s, we started to see some of the economic shocks of what lead to U.S.Steel leaving the area.And, of course, that helped facilitate White flight, because from the 70s on through now,you started to see a rapid decline of White population and Black people at the same time started to move into Wilkinsburg.And so, the demographic shifted pretty dramatically.

威尔金斯堡是一个以白人为主的地区，也是一个非常富裕的地区。接近70年代时，我们开始看到导致美国经济衰退的一些经济冲击。钢材产业搬离了这个区域。当然从70年代到现在，是经济冲击促进了白人的外逃，你开始看到白人人口迅速减少，同时黑人开始迁入威尔金斯堡。因此，人口结构发生了巨大的变化。

As soon as it became darker, investment started drying up.

黑人多了，投资开始迅速减少。

I mean, right down the street and we need to go to the main street, Penn Avenue.We need to go to see what was once a booming main street.

来到这条街上，我们得去主干道佩恩大道看看。我们要去看看这条曾经繁华的大街。

Wow. I mean, this is like one of my best, my favorite blocks because of Angelos Pizza.It was everyones favorite block.We all walked down after school or on the weekends, Friday nights.

哇。我不得不说，这是我最喜欢的街区之一，因为这里有安吉洛披萨。因为安吉洛披萨，这里成为了每个人最喜欢的街区。放学后或周末，周五晚上散步时，我们都会来这里。

1 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。

2 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

3 addict   

v.使沉溺；使上瘾；n.沉溺于不良嗜好的人

参考例句：

• He became gambling addict,and lost all his possessions.他习染上了赌博，最终输掉了全部家产。
• He assisted a drug addict to escape from drug but failed firstly.一开始他帮助一个吸毒者戒毒但失败了。

4 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

5 borough   

n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇

参考例句：

• He was slated for borough president.他被提名做自治区主席。
• That's what happened to Harry Barritt of London's Bromley borough.住在伦敦的布罗姆利自治市的哈里.巴里特就经历了此事。

6 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

7 vividly   

adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地

参考例句：

• The speaker pictured the suffering of the poor vividly.演讲者很生动地描述了穷人的生活。
• The characters in the book are vividly presented.这本书里的人物写得栩栩如生。

8 affluent   

adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的

参考例句：

• He hails from an affluent background.他出身于一个富有的家庭。
• His parents were very affluent.他的父母很富裕。