【原版杂志阅读】30期 Day 1：Homelessness rises to a record level in America part 1

United States | Out for the count
Homelessness rises to a record level in America (record high/low)

A surge in migration and disasters pushed many people over the edge (名词 + 介词短语=后置定语; people around the world) 

EACH YEAR for a few frigid days in January volunteers fan out across cities, towns and rural areas to try to count every homeless person in America. The method is imperfect: cities do their counting in different ways, and many homeless people are transient or hide away in subterranean tunnels and under highway overpasses. Researchers think the result is an undercount. But this “point in time” survey offers the most complete picture of homelessness that exists in America today. The results for January 2024, released on December 27th, offer bleak news: the number of homeless people in the country had risen to the highest level on record.

Between 2023 and 2024 homelessness increased by 18%, to roughly 771,000 people. That is nearly as many people as live in North Dakota. The vast majority of the uptick comes from people living in shelters—picture hotel rooms or rows of beds—rather than sleeping rough, as is common on the West Coast and in some southern states. The report’s most shocking revelation is that the number of homeless people in families with children rose 39% year-on-year—a reversal of a slow but steady decline in the years preceding the covid-19 pandemic. Three big things contributed to the surge: a housing shortage that has driven up rents and home prices, an influx of asylum-seekers that overwhelmed some cities, and disasters that displaced people.

Estimates vary, but Moody’s Analytics, a consultancy, reckons America is short about 2.9m affordable homes. It is no coincidence that many states with consistently high rates of homelessness (California and New York) or those that saw big increases this year (Hawaii and Massachusetts) have some of the priciest housing in the country. A third of people counted were chronically homeless, and may suffer from drug addiction or struggle with mental illness, which make it harder to stay housed. But most people fall in and out of homelessness depending on their finances. When pandemic-era programmes that offered rental assistance and prevented landlords from evicting tenants expired, more people may have been pushed onto the streets.

一、词汇部分

1. subterranean /ˌsʌbtəˈreɪnɪən/ adj.   地下的

前缀: sub-向下(subway)

词根: terr- 土地(territory 领地)

后缀: -anean 形容词后缀(ocean)

2. asylum  /əˈsaɪləm/ n. 庇护，避难

前缀: a-否定(ad-加强语气, ab-否定)

助记:syl- 本意是权利, 联想为style 

后缀: -um 名词后缀

3. dire  /ˈdaɪə(r)/ adj. 极其严重的

对比: dire—fire 

联系: d- 负面, 很差(de-向下)

4. flail /fleɪl/ v.  用力地胡乱挥动; 用力地胡乱摆动

联想:  fly

联想: fail 

5.   Engulf /ɪnˈɡʌlf/ v . 吞没

前缀: en- 同in-进入

词汇: gulf 海湾

二、文章讲解(词汇/搭配、语法长难句、篇章段落结构）

1. EACH YEAR for a few frigid days in January volunteers fan out across cities, towns and rural areas to try to count every homeless person in America. The method is imperfect: cities do their counting in different ways, and many homeless people are transient or hide away in subterranean tunnels and under highway overpasses. Researchers think the result is an undercount. But this “point in time” survey offers the most complete picture of homelessness that exists in America today. The results for January 2024, released on December 27th, offer bleak news: the number of homeless people in the country had risen to the highest level on record.

1) frigid adj. 极其寒冷的; fridge —-freezer 冷冻柜

2) fan out 分散

3) that 引导定语从句: 名词+that, that 在后面从句中作主语/宾语

4) bleak adj. 不乐观的, 沮丧的(black)

第一段: 引入. (美国无家可归任务达到了历史最高水平—描述现象)

2. Between 2023 and 2024 homelessness increased by 18%, to roughly 771,000 people. That is nearly as many people as live in North Dakota. The vast majority of the uptick comes from people living in shelters—picture hotel rooms or rows of beds—rather than sleeping rough, as is common on the West Coast and in some southern states. The report’s most shocking revelation is that the number of homeless people in families with children rose 39% year-on-year—a reversal of a slow but steady decline in the years preceding the covid-19 pandemic. Three big things contributed to the surge: a housing shortage that has driven up rents and home prices, an influx of asylum-seekers that overwhelmed some cities, and disasters that displaced people.

1) 写作中, 单纯的数字/数据冲击力不大, 读者没感觉, 一定要有一个锚定标准.

2) the vast majority of 大多数

3) tick 

4) people living in shelters --名词+ doing sth 后置定语

5) shelter 收容所

6) picture v. 想象; 

7) sleep rough 露宿街头

8) as 引导定语从句: as—前面露宿街头的情况

9) contribute to 导致—因果关系

1-2 现象+数据—无家可归人数达到历史之最高. —3个原因: 房屋短缺、移民/庇护寻求者、灾难.

3. Estimates vary, but Moody’s Analytics, a consultancy, reckons America is short about 2.9m affordable homes. It is no coincidence that many states with consistently high rates of homelessness (California and New York) or those that saw big increases this year (Hawaii and Massachusetts) have some of the priciest housing in the country. A third of people counted were chronically homeless, and may suffer from drug addiction or struggle with mental illness, which make it harder to stay housed. But most people fall in and out of homelessness depending on their finances. When pandemic-era programmes (that offered rental assistance and prevented landlords from evicting tenants) expired, more people may have been pushed onto the streets.

住房原因—对无家可归人数上涨的影响.

1) It is no coincidence that…这并不是偶然…, 这绝非巧合….

(主语从句, it 形式—指代that….).  (that……结尾) is no coincidence. 

无家可归的人数比例高很的那些州, 

2) 定语从句: that saw big increases this year (Hawaii and Massachusetts)

3) A third of people counted were chronically homeless

(be 动词出现, 一定是谓语, 说明counted 一定不是谓语, counted过去分词)

名词+动词过去分词, 后置定语

无家可归人数150人

其实上统计的数字比真实的小: 统计到的120人.

A third of people counted —1/3*120—40人

4) chronic adj. 慢性的, 长期的—chron-时间 + ic 形容词后缀

Chronic disease 慢性病

5) suffer from …承受…的痛苦(有..问题)

6) 逗号, which— 定语从句: which make it harder to stay housed. 

补充: it— to do something) 

stay + adj. 保持某种状态

7) evict 驱逐---e-ex向外+vict- 赢 (Victor, victory胜利) 

8) tenant n. 租客

住房短缺—推动了无家可归人数上涨.

三、段落翻译

每年1月的寒冷几天里，志愿者们会分散到各个城市、城镇和乡村，尽力统计美国每一位无家可归者。这种方法并不完美：各个城市的统计方式不同，许多无家可归者是流动的，或藏匿在地下隧道和高速公路立交桥下。研究人员认为，这导致了统计数据的低估。但这项“某一时刻”的调查仍然提供了美国目前关于无家可归问题的最完整的图像。2024年1月的调查结果，于12月27日发布，带来了令人沮丧的消息：美国无家可归者的数量已达到历史最高水平。

2023年到2024年间，无家可归人数增加了18%，达到了大约771,000人。这个数字几乎与北达科他州的总人口相当。这一增长的绝大多数来自于住在收容所中的人——比如酒店房间或排排床位，而不是像西海岸和一些南方州常见的街头露宿。 报告中最令人震惊的发现是，带有孩子的无家可归家庭人数同比增长了39%——这与新冠疫情前几年无家可归家庭数量的缓慢但稳定的下降趋势形成了鲜明对比。 三大因素导致了这一激增：住房短缺推高了租金和房价、庇护寻求者的涌入使一些城市不堪重负，以及灾难导致的大规模流离失所。

估计数据有所不同，但穆迪分析公司（Moody’s Analytics）这家咨询公司认为，美国大约缺少290万套可负担住房。 许多无家可归率持续居高不下的州（如加利福尼亚州和纽约州）或今年无家可归人数大幅增加的州（如夏威夷州和马萨诸塞州），其住房价格通常是全国最高的，这并非巧合。 三分之一的被统计者是长期无家可归者，他们可能受到毒瘾或心理疾病的困扰，这使得他们更难以维持住所。然而，大多数无家可归者的境况是随着经济状况的变化而反复出现的。 当疫情期间提供租金援助并防止房东驱逐租客的相关项目到期后，可能更多的人被迫流落街头。