【英语趣味课堂】城市问题-City Problems

Michael: So how’s crime in the big cities, like in Rome? How is crime in Rome?

 

Goron: Well, many people are complaining for the huge immigration. Like we have many foreigners and illegal foreigners actually. They come in with boats during the night, they’re landing¹, and we cannot control, we cannot stop them because Italy is in the middle of Europe. So from Northern Africa, for many like – I wouldn’t say underdeveloped countries but the countries that see Italy like the…

 

Win: Dream.

 

Goron: America or like dream, like opportunities, which is changing right with the recent crisis².

 

Michael: It’s actually very interesting because we have the same problem in Norway.

 

Win: I’m seeing the same problem everywhere.

 

Michael: Because of the European economic agreement, it’s actually illegal to come and try to find work. But the problem is that people abused³ us and they come – they are just to, you know – beg for money or to steal money or steal things from others. And it’s really easy to pass the border without being controlled.

 

Goron: I don’t think those people are bad. It’s like poverty makes you bad.

 

image

 

Michael: No, I’m not saying they’re bad.

 

Win: Yeah.

 

Goron: If you are desperate, you feel desperate, you do something that is, like we say, illegal.

 

Michael: And that’s a huge problem because in the EU right now, there’s several countries which have poverty, and it evolves⁴ from that, I think. It’s really hard like to create, to make everyone happy and to – I don’t think it’s possible to solve the poverty matter. 

So what about Vietnam?

 

Win: Well, the city I’m living in is very – there is no really people who was born in the city. I mean, I was born in the city but I have roots from everywhere. And most of the people from the city is like that. We They’re from everywhere from the country and the city welcomes them no matter what.

 

So yes, we do have a problem that people keep flocking⁶ to my city to find jobs, and we have crimes and everything. But I think the fact that we have multi-origin people is one of the facts that makes the city interesting.

 

[End of Transcript]

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn vocabulary from the lesson below.

 

beg

 

They beg for money.

 

When you beg, you ask for something earnestly⁷. Notice the following:

 

Many homeless people beg for money.

The students begged the teacher not to give them homework.

poverty

 

Poverty makes you desperate.

 

Poverty is the condition of being very poor. Notice the following:

 

There is a lot of poverty in the countryside.

Poverty is a big problem in poor countries.

desperate

 

If you are desperate, you do something illegal.

 

When you are desperate, you want something badly but feel hopeless in getting it. Notice the following:

 

She is desperate for love.

After I lost my job, I felt desperate.

roots

 

I have roots from everywhere.

 

When you have roots from someplace, you have family there. Notice the following:

 

My roots are from Italy.

We have a lot of roots down south.

no matter what

 

The city welcomes them no matter what.

 

The phrase 'no matter what' means 'regardless' and means you can use any excuse. Notice the following:

 

You must finish no matter what.

They meet every year no matter what.

flock⁵

 

People keep flocking to my city.

 

Here, when people flock to some place, that means many people go there. Notice the following:

 

In summer, many people flock to the beach.

Young people flock to the mall.

1 landing   

n.登陆；着陆；楼梯平台

参考例句：

• Owing to engine trouble,the plane had to make a forced landing.由于发动机出了毛病，飞机不得不进行迫降。
• When are we landing?我们什么时候着陆？

2 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

3 abused   

v.妄用( abuse的过去式和过去分词 )；虐待；辱骂

参考例句：

• All the children had been physically and emotionally abused. 所有这些儿童的身心都受到了摧残。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This rule was brought into being because the old law was abused. 由于旧的法律遭到滥用，这条规则便应运而生。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 evolves   

v.演变，进化( evolve的第三人称单数 )；（动植物等 ）进化，进化形成

参考例句：

• As medical knowledge evolves, beliefs change. 随着医学知识的逐步发展，观念也在发生变化。 来自辞典例句
• Consideration of these actions evolves into a mixed force-displacement analysis. 对于这些作用的考虑导致了一种混合力--移位分析法。 来自辞典例句

5 flock   

n.羊群，一群，大量；vi.群集，聚集，成群

参考例句：

• A flock of customers were waiting for the store to open.一群顾客在等候着商店开门。
• A few sheep have been lost from the flock.羊群里少了几只羊。

6 flocking   

n.羊毛屑，棉屑，植绒花纹v.群集，成群结队而行( flock的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Firms are flocking after the government's offer of money to help them move to areas needing industry. 许多公司都想得到政府提供的旨在帮助他们迁向需要工业的地区的资助。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mournful fancies came flocking on her mind, in crowds. 悲伤的幻想便纷纷涌上她的心头。 来自辞典例句

7 earnestly   

adv．认真地

参考例句：

• The boy earnestly asked that his application be granted. 那孩子热切地要求批准他的申请。
• I earnestly wish I could have been present at the meeting yesterday. 我倒真愿意能参加昨天的会议。