VOA慢速英语2017 最新数据显示:美国种族愈加多元化

All races and ethnic¹ groups in the U.S. increased in number last year.

However, Asian and Hispanic populations continued to be the fastest-growing, according to the Census² Bureau's yearly population count.

The agency recently released the new information.

The census shows that the non-Hispanic white population grew the slowest.

The report is called the National, State and County Population Estimates by Age, Sex, Race and Hispanic Origin.

The report says that as of July 1, 2016 the U.S. Hispanic population was 57.5 million, which is a two percent increase from last year. The Asian population grew three percent, which is an increase of 21.4 million. The Asian population is the fastest growing population in the U.S.

The Census report is from the State Data Center Program. The program works with data from all 50 states in the U.S., the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and U.S. territories. The information comes from networks of state agencies, universities, libraries, and regional and local governments.

The study also shows that non-Hispanic white people had more deaths than births. There was a decrease of 163,300 births by non-Hispanic white people. All other races and ethnic groups had more births than deaths last year.

Monica Gomez Isaac is the executive director of the Institute for Immigration Research at George Mason University. She said the increase in the Hispanic and Asian populations may be a result of higher birth rates. She said the birth rates are "projected to grow."

As a result, she said the U.S. population is becoming more ethnically³ diverse. However, she said that 50 years ago, immigrant populations grew for different reasons.

She said after the U.S. ended the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, "a greater diversity of immigrants" were admitted into the U.S. The act created entry quotas⁴, which limited the number of people from some countries who were allowed to enter the U.S.

The new census data show that the majority of Asian and Hispanic people live in states on the West Coast.

California is the largest state in that area. It has 15.3 million Hispanic people and 6.6 million Asian people. Those are the largest Hispanic and Asian populations in the U.S.

Texas saw an increase of 233,100 Hispanic people, which is the highest growth of that group in the country.

Every year, the Census Bureau estimates the number of people living in the U.S. and its territories. Every 10 years, the Census Bureau counts everyone living in the U.S. and its territories. The U.S. Constitution requires the count and it will take place again in 2020.

In order to count everyone in the U.S. and its territories, the Census Bureau mails surveys to every U.S. home. The surveys have many questions such as how many people live in that house and what their ages and ethnicities are.

Census surveys let people choose more than one race when filling out the survey. Some residents may be one race or a number of races. Hispanic origin can mean people of Hispanic, Spanish or Latino origin.

The Census Project is an activist⁵ group made up of people from business, government and nongovernmental organizations. It said the Census Bureau may not have asked for enough money in the 2018 budget. The group said the Census Bureau may have to cut back on field tests when it should be getting ready for the 2020 census.

On its website, the Census Project said that there is a greater chance for the 2020 census to count fewer people than there are. It added that the risk of undercounting is more likely to affect "communities of color and rural residents."

去年，美国所有种族和族裔群体的数量都有所增加。

据美国人口普查局的年度人口统计，其中亚裔和拉美裔人口数量增长最快。

美国人口普查局近日发布了这一新信息。

人口普查数据显示，非拉美裔白人的增长速度最缓慢。

该报告名为《基于年龄、性别、种族、是否拉美裔的国、州、郡人口普查》。

报告指出，截至2016年7月1日，美国拉美裔人口数量为5750万，较去年上涨2%。亚裔人口数量增长3%，实际人口数量增长2140万。亚裔人口是美国增速最快的群体。

人口普查报告来自于国家数据中心项目。该项目负责处理来自美国50个州、哥伦比亚特区、波多黎各和美国其他的领土。这些信息来自各州政府机构、大学、图书馆、地区和当地政府。

研究还显示，非拉美裔白人的死亡率大于出生率。去年，非拉美裔白人新生婴儿的数量减少了16.33万。而同年其他种族人口的出生率都大于死亡率。

莫尼卡·戈麦斯·艾萨克（Monica Gomez Isaac）是乔治梅森大学移民研究所的执行主任。她表示，出生率上升可能是拉美裔人口和亚裔人口增加的原因。她还表示，“预计出生率还会攀升”。

因此她认为，美国种族正在变得多元化。不过她指出，50年前移民人口的增长归结于多种原因。

她表示，美国废除了《1965年外来移民与国籍法》之后，允许“更多不同种族移民”入境美国。该法提出了入境配额，限制了本能够入境的一些国家的移民数量。

新人口普查数据显示，大多数亚裔和拉美裔定居在西海岸的各州。

其中加州的移民数量居首。加州拥有1530万拉美裔和660万亚裔人口。这里的拉美裔人口和亚裔人口是全美数量最多的。

去年，德克萨斯州的拉美裔人口增加了23.31万，成为美国拉美裔人口增速最快的州。

每年，美国人口普查局都会估统计美国境内及其所属领土的常住人口数量。每隔10年，美国人口普查局就会统计美国境内及其所属领土的人口数量。美国宪法要求进行人口统计，待2020年将再进行一次人口普查。

为准确核对美国及其所属领土的人口数量，美国人口普查局将通过邮件以调查问卷形式发给公民。调查问卷上诸多问题，例如：家中人口数量、年龄以及所属种族。

该调查问卷中的种族一栏可多选，住户们可能是一个种族或多个种族。如果勾选拉美裔人，就意味着填写人母语为拉丁语系、来自于西班牙或有拉丁血统。

人口普查项目是由商界、政府和非政府组织的积极人士组成的。该组织表示，美国人口普查局没有申请到足够的2018年预算资金。该组织表示，为了准备2020年人口普查，美国人口普查局不得不缩减实地调研经费。

该组织的官网上标明，2020年人口普查的统计结果可能会少于实际数量。官网还指出，如果统计数字失准，很可能会影响到“种族和农村社群。”

1 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

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 ethnically   

adv.人种上，民族上

参考例句：

• Ethnically, the Yuan Empire comprised most of modern China's ethnic groups. 元朝的民族成分包括现今中国绝大多数民族。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• Russia is ethnically relatively homogeneous. 俄罗斯是个民族成分相对单一的国家。 来自辞典例句

4 quotas   

（正式限定的）定量( quota的名词复数 )； 定额； 指标； 摊派

参考例句：

• In fulfilling the production quotas, John made rings round all his fellow workers. 约翰完成生产定额大大超过他的同事们。
• Quotas of the means of production are allocated by the higher administrative bodies to the lower ones. 物资指标按隶属关系分配。

5 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。