VOA慢速英语2020 没有学生，美国大学城陷焦虑（在线收听）

Many colleges and universities in the United States are in small towns around America.When the coronavirus struck in March, students went home, leaving the towns empty.

美国的许多学院和大学都在小城镇里。3月新冠疫情爆发，由于学生们返回家中，大学城空无一人。

So, what will happen to those communities in the near future? The New York town of Ithaca is about to find out.

那么，这些社区在不久的将来会发生什么呢？ 纽约州的伊萨卡城将会揭晓。 

In Ithaca, most of the 24,000 students at Cornell University and 6,200 from Ithaca College have left.Now, locals who run businesses that depend on students money are wondering if things will ever return to normal.

在伊萨卡，康奈尔大学的24,000名学生和伊萨卡学院的6,200名学生已基本离校。现在，当地那些依靠学生流的商家不知道一切是否还能恢复正常。

"Its going to be hard. I mean, normally we have about seven months that the colleges are here," said Gregar Brous.He runs several restaurants in Ithaca. He has brought about 100 of his usual 330 employees back to work.

格雷加尔·布劳斯说：“这将会很难。我是说，通常我们大约有七个月的工作时间，也就是大学生的在校时间。”他在伊萨卡经营着几家餐馆。此前他曾有330名员工，目前已有约100名员工重回工作岗位。

Brous added that one of the biggest problems for small businesses is that there are "so many unknowns."

布劳斯补充道，小生意面临的最大问题之一就是“不确定性太大”。 

Ithaca College says its students will return to the school in the autumn. But they will do so in October, several weeks later than usual.Cornell – one of Americas so-called Ivy League Schools –says it plans to bring students back this fall.But they also will arrive weeks later than usual.

伊萨卡学院称，其学生将在秋季返校。但他们将在10月份返校，比往年要推迟几周。康奈尔大学是美国所谓的常春藤联盟学校之一，其表示计划让学生于秋季返校。但也会比往年晚几周时间。

Many people expect that even if students do return, they will mostly stay on campus and not go out to restaurants and bars.Locals also worry that returning students will bring COVID-19 into their community.

很多人认为，即便学生返校，他们基本上也是待在校园里，不会去餐馆和酒吧。当地人还担心，返校的学生会将新冠肺炎带到他们所在的社区。

Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick said it is possible international travel restrictions could affect Cornell,since almost 25 percent of the universitys students are from other countries.

伊萨卡市市长斯万特·迈里克称，全球旅行限制可能会对康奈尔大学造成影响，因为该大学有近25％的学生来自其他国家。

"If people dont feel comfortable sending their children across the country or across the world back to our campuses, then well start to shed jobs," Myrick said.

“如果人们不愿意让孩子穿过整个美国或者跨国重返校园，那么我们就会开始裁员，”迈里克说道。 

Cornell students spend an estimated $225 million each year in Ithaca.There are many stores and restaurants on the Ithaca Commons, a shopping area near the campus.

康奈尔大学的学生每年在伊萨卡的花费估计有2.25亿美元。伊萨卡公共社区也就是校园附近的购物区有许多商店和餐馆。

Before coronavirus, "it was so easy to get a job. You couldnt avoid it, they were everywhere," said Matt Stupak.He was a cook, but lost his job when restaurants closed.

马特·斯塔帕克称，在爆发新冠肺炎之前，“找工作很容易。你甚至无法躲避工作机会，因为到处都是”。他是一名厨师，但在餐馆倒闭后就失业了。

Ithaca is still doing well compared to other places in the U.S.The areas April unemployment rate increased to 10 percent, but that is lower than other parts of New York.Cornell University is the areas largest employer, with 10,000 workers. So far, it has not had any job cuts.The university also gave $100,000 to help local businesses.

与美国其他地方相比，伊萨卡市的情况还算不错。该地区4月份的失业率升至10％，但要低于纽约州其他地区。康奈尔大学是该地区最大的雇佣单位，拥有10,000名员工。到目前为止，还没有裁员。该大学还捐赠了100,000美元来帮助当地企业。

But in many college towns, the local economy collapsed when the students went home.

但在许多大学城，其当地经济在学生回家后就崩溃了。 

"Our entire economy left," said Gabrielle Gould. She is executive director of the Amherst Business Improvement District.

加布里埃尔·古尔德说：“我们整个经济来源都消失了。” 古尔德是阿默斯特商业改进区的执行董事。

Amherst, a college town in Massachusetts, had to deal with the sudden loss of 35,000 students from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and four other colleges in the area.By May, Amherst had a 32.6 percent unemployment rate, a study by the Pioneer Institute in Massachusetts found.

阿默斯特是马萨诸塞州的一个大学城，其必须应对35,000名学生的“突然流失”，这些学生来自马萨诸塞州大学阿默斯特分校和该地区的其他4所学院。马萨诸塞州先锋研究所的一项研究发现，截至5月，阿默斯特小镇的失业率为32.6％。

Even if schools permit students to come back in the fall, no one knows how many will actually choose to return.Some students -- and their parents -- may not want to pay the high cost of tuition for a less social college experience.

即使学校允许学生秋季返校，没人知道到底会有多少人选择返校。面对减少的社交及大学经历，有些学生及其家长可能不想为此支付高额的学费。

"How worried am I for Ithaca if the future of higher education changes?" Myrick said. "I am worried. I am extremely worried."

迈里克说：“如果高等教育未来发生变化，我对伊萨卡市会多担忧？我很担心，非常担心。” 

Im Pete Musto.

皮特·穆斯托报道。