美国国家公共电台 NPR Maine's Immigrants Boost Workforce Of Whitest, Oldest State In U.S.

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Maine is the whitest and oldest state in the U.S. It also has one of the country's lowest birthrates. Demographers¹ say that adds up to a looming² crisis for Maine. NPR's Hansi Lo Wang has this story about one Maine community that is relying on newcomers to keep its economy alive.

HANSI LO WANG, BYLINE³: Here in the eastern edges of the U.S. along the shores of Washington County, many make a living from the waters of Down East Maine.

(LAUGHTER)

WANG: Crew members of Lobster⁴ Trap dump a vat⁵ of salted herring on a dock of a glassy bay ringed by evergreens⁶ and a scattering⁷ of wood-shingled houses. They're filling pungent⁸ containers of lobster bait. Annie Sokoloski helps manage this facility, and she says working in seafood⁹ goes back generations in her family.

ANNIE SOKOLOSKI: My grandmother forced me to go into the fish factory and pack sardines¹⁰. And she told me, anytime that I thought about not having an education, I needed to remember that day.

WANG: And she says she still remembers other lessons from growing up in rural Down East Maine.

SOKOLOSKI: They instilled¹¹ into our generation you need to get away from here to make anything for yourself, you know, and I think to a certain degree I do it with my own daughter.

WANG: Sokoloski's 23-year-old daughter, Natasha Davis, was also raised in Washington County.

NATASHA DAVIS: There seems to be more job opportunity out of Maine.

WANG: You'd have to leave for that.

DAVIS: Yes, travel, go somewhere different.

WANG: Davis wants to be a veterinary technician and has California in her sights. It's young people like her that have been leaving Maine in droves since the 1980s. And local officials say they're worried about harder times ahead for Washington County, including Charles Rudelitch of the Sunrise County Economic Council. A recent Pew Research Center report projects that new immigrants will be the main drivers of growth in the U.S. workforce¹² through 2035. Rudelitch says immigrants will also be key in sustaining Washington County's economy.

CHARLES RUDELITCH: We are making the argument that over time there will be a much bigger economy for all of us to have a share of if we welcome people who choose to move here.

WANG: Newcomers have been moving to the county, specifically to the small town of Milbridge, population just over 1,300. About 6 percent is Latino, many of them families drawn¹³ by jobs in lobster processing, blueberry picking and wreath making. Maria Paniagua Albor works in the office of a lobster processing plant.

MARIA PANIAGUA ALBOR: Most of us are either from Puerto Rico or Mexico.

WANG: Her father was one of the first workers from Mexico who puts their roots down in Milbridge. She says he worked seasonal¹⁴ jobs in the area for years before he decided¹⁵ to move his family after they received their green cards. Paniagua Albor is a U.S. citizen now. She lives in her own mobile home in Milbridge with her husband and 2-year-old son. Maine, she says, is just like what the welcome signs say along the highways here - the way life should be.

ALBOR: It really is. I mean, I don't want to be stuck in traffic like in New York (laughter). So I guess I like it. It's calm, and that's good to raise kids.

MANNY FLORES: I'm going to be the dragon.

VICTOR FLORES: Where's the other dragon? There's the other dragon in here.

WANG: Victor Flores is raising his 5-year-old son, Manny, and three daughters in Milbridge with his fiance. They met when he was working at a sea cucumber processing plant.

FLORES: At that place, she was the bookkeeper. That's how I met her.

WANG: Flores' fiance is white and has lived in the area for almost three decades. He was born in Mexico and moved here from Florida almost two decades ago. Flores says he's felt some of the backlash against newcomers in town, including once outside the local supermarket when he parked next to a white man's car.

FLORES: He thought I was too close to him, so he started getting mad. And the first thing he's like, go back to Mexico. Go back to where you came from. You don't belong here.

WANG: But at that point, you had been living here for more than a decade.

FLORES: Yes.

WANG: For Annie Sokoloski of Lobster Trap, though, newcomers have been a welcome addition to her town, especially at job fairs and other recruiting events.

SOKOLOSKI: We start at $11 an hour with a weekly bonus.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Do you work Sundays?

SOKOLOSKI: Seven days a week.

WANG: Still, Sokoloski says she's concerned about the future of Down East, Maine's, economy.

SOKOLOSKI: It's going to be more of a retirement¹⁶-type area. There's nothing to really sustain a long-term growth of a younger generation.

WANG: And she's not sure how long she'll live here year-round once her daughter leaves. After retirement, Sokolowski says, she'll probably move away. Hansi Lo Wang, NPR News, Milbridge, Maine.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE OLYMPIANS' "APOLLO'S MOOD")

1 demographers   

n.人口统计学( demography的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Demographers, however, point out that the'single" trend will have a profound effect on American institutions. 不过，人口学家们指出，“单身”趋势将对美国的公共机构产生深远的影响。 来自时文部分
• Selectivity of human migration long been the focus of demographers and economists. 人口迁移的选择性一直以来都是人口学家和经济学家关注的焦点。 来自互联网

2 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 lobster   

n.龙虾，龙虾肉

参考例句：

• The lobster is a shellfish.龙虾是水生贝壳动物。
• I like lobster but it does not like me.我喜欢吃龙虾，但它不适宜于我的健康。

5 vat   

n.(=value added tax)增值税，大桶

参考例句：

• The office is asking for the vat papers.办事处要有关增值税的文件。
• His father emptied sacks of stale rye bread into the vat.他父亲把一袋袋发霉的黑面包倒进大桶里。

6 evergreens   

n.常青树，常绿植物，万年青( evergreen的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The leaves of evergreens are often shaped like needles. 常绿植物的叶常是针形的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The pine, cedar and spruce are evergreens. 松树、雪松、云杉都是常绿的树。 来自辞典例句

7 scattering   

n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散

参考例句：

• The child felle into a rage and began scattering its toys about. 这孩子突发狂怒，把玩具扔得满地都是。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The farmers are scattering seed. 农夫们在播种。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 pungent   

adj.（气味、味道）刺激性的，辛辣的；尖锐的

参考例句：

• The article is written in a pungent style.文章写得泼辣。
• Its pungent smell can choke terrorists and force them out of their hideouts.它的刺激性气味会令恐怖分子窒息，迫使他们从藏身地点逃脱出来。

9 seafood   

n.海产食品，海味，海鲜

参考例句：

• There's an excellent seafood restaurant near here.离这儿不远有家非常不错的海鲜馆。
• Shrimps are a popular type of seafood.小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。

10 sardines   

n. 沙丁鱼

参考例句：

• The young of some kinds of herring are canned as sardines. 有些种类的鲱鱼幼鱼可制成罐头。
• Sardines can be eaten fresh but are often preserved in tins. 沙丁鱼可以吃新鲜的，但常常是装听的。

11 instilled   

v.逐渐使某人获得（某种可取的品质），逐步灌输( instill的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Nature has instilled in our minds an insatiable desire to see truth. 自然给我们心灵注入了永无休止的发现真理的欲望。 来自辞典例句
• I instilled the need for kindness into my children. 我不断向孩子们灌输仁慈的必要。 来自辞典例句

12 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

13 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

14 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

15 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

16 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。