VOA标准英语2013--美国的旅游城镇评估政府关门的损失

 

US Tourist Towns Assess Shutdown Damage 美国的旅游城镇评估政府关门的损失

At a coffee shop near the edge of town, customer Dan Palo waits for his morning coffee. He is a regular here and he said this coffee shop lost a lot of business.

“Actually, the town has been dead. There is hardly anyone here," he said. "I usually come in here and have to wait 30 minutes for my coffee because it is full of tourists waiting to go into the park.”

The town was mostly left to the local residents and a handful of  tourists, when Yosemite National Park closed in the government shutdown October 1. Other national parks and some federal monuments later re-opened with temporary funding from state governments, including New York's landmark¹ Statue of Liberty.

But California officials refused to intervene.

At a resort that is whimsically called the "Yosemite Bug²" in nearby Midpines, California, co-owner Douglas Shaw said the shutdown left most rooms empty.

“We are running about five percent of normal, and we let go of about 70 percent of our staff,” he said.

He added that business in his restaurant slowed to a trickle³.

An Australian family is finishing breakfast in an empty dining hall, and visitor Ghiselle Lawler says it is hard to understand how a major national park could close its gates.

“People are coming to your country willing to spend money and look at things," said Lawler. "The last thing you should be shutting is your parks.”

The losses are hard to assess. Mariposa county supervisor⁴ Kevin Cann said the shutdown cost local hotels $2 million per week in lost business, and the county government loses another $200,000 a week in taxes on that income. He said losses to restaurants, shops and other businesses make conditions even worse.

“We feel we are being held hostage in places like this, in all of the gateway⁵ communities around any federal area," he said. "We are being held hostage by Congress's inability to do their job.”

Cann said this community has dealt with many kinds of hazards.

“Floods, fires, rock falls," he said. "We have contingency⁶ plans for all of those. We do not have a very good contingency plan for a government shutdown.”

Coffee shop owner Bret Ticehurst said the mood around Yosemite has been bleak⁷. “There is just massive frustration⁸ in town, from everybody's perspective, I guess,” he said.

Hotel owner Shaw said he does not think Congress should have the power to close the federal government, which he said provides needed services. And he has a question.

“Is this shutdown going to happen every six months? Is it going to happen every year?” he asks.

The people near Yosemite National Park say they hope not. 

1 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

2 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

3 trickle   

vi.淌，滴，流出，慢慢移动，逐渐消散

参考例句：

• The stream has thinned down to a mere trickle.这条小河变成细流了。
• The flood of cars has now slowed to a trickle.汹涌的车流现在已经变得稀稀拉拉。

4 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

5 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。

6 contingency   

n.意外事件，可能性

参考例句：

• We should be prepared for any contingency.我们应该对任何应急情况有所准备。
• A fire in our warehouse was a contingency that we had not expected.库房的一场大火是我们始料未及的。

7 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

8 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。