PBS高端访谈:新冠疫情让大量美国人失业

JUDY WOODRUFF: The huge rise in unemployment claims we learned about today, nearly 3.3 million filed over the past week, dwarfs¹ all historical records in the United States. Many economists² say that that number doesn't fully³ capture the true number of people who have been laid off or furloughed, or are out of work because they are losing their business. We asked people today to share some of their stories and the real struggles they are facing right now. Here's just a sampling of what we heard.

BRITTANY PICURI, Server: My name is Brittany Picuri.

ALLYSON JAFFE, Co-Owner, D.C. Improv Comedy Club: My name is Allyson Jaffe.

ABABUTI OLOK, Boston Logan International Airport Worker: My name is Ababuti Olok.

LARRILOU CARUMBA, Housekeeper⁴: My name is Larrilou Carumba.

EDAN ALVA, Lyft Driver: My name is Edan Alva.

CANDACE ROGERS, Software Engineer: My name is Candace Rogers. I'm a software engineer. And I was laid off just a couple of weeks ago. I had just embarked⁵ on buying my first home. And that happened almost a month before this happened. So I think being a first-time homebuyer and trying to navigate⁶ unemployment at this moment is the most scary for me.

ALLYSON JAFFE: I'm a co-owner here at the D.C. Improv Comedy Club. This has been horrific. I had to lay off my staff 50 on March 16, and it was just devastating⁷. They're hard workers. They're hourly workers. They have families. And we don't know how long we're going to be closed. And that's, that uncertainty⁸ has been the worst part.

ABABUTI OLOK: I have been working at the airport, Logan Airport. Originally, I'm from Ethiopia. I came in 2011 as a refugee. Now I'm a U.S. citizen. I don't have any clue or anywhere to go to pay my rent. I have two boys, which is making me to worry the most. My mom's here. My wife got laid off too. So, my thinking not for myself, but for my kids.

BRITTANY PICURI: I was a server at that Legal Sea Foods in the King of Prussia Mall. I have a child with special needs. I haven't taken my daughter outside, no... because she's nonverbal, and I can't even fathom⁹ taking her to the hospital if something like that were to happen.

EDAN ALVA: I am a Lyft driver. We're being put in a particularly difficult situation, where we have to make a choice between going out there unprotected and losing our homes, losing our car loans, or all the things that might happen financially when you don't make your payments.

LARRILOU CARUMBA: I work as a housekeeper for eight years. I'm a single mom. And I have three kids. I am really concerned about...and scared about our health care. I just want everybody to be safe. And I hope that everybody will really be in a shelter in place, because, to control this virus, because everybody wants to end this, because it's really, I mean, everybody's being so, get anxiety about what's happening, because we don't know what would happen next. And I really don't know when I'm going to go back to work.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So hard to hear. And there were so many more just like them.

朱迪·伍德拉夫：今天，我们了解到失业率攀升——近330万人在过去的一周内登记为失业，达到了美国历史上的新高。许多经济学家表示，这一数字并不能准确反映下岗员工、休假员工、失业员工的真实数字，但他们也失去了谋生的收入。今天，我们邀请一些人分享他们的故事以及他们现在的困境。以下是我们听到的一部分内容。

布莱尼·皮库利，服务员：我是布莱尼·皮库利。

阿利森·贾菲，联合创始人，华盛顿特区即兴喜剧表演俱乐部：我是阿利森·贾菲。

阿坝布提·欧洛克，波士顿洛根国际机场工作人员：我是阿坝布提·欧洛克。

拉利洛·加拉姆巴，管家：我是拉利洛·加拉姆巴。

艾丹·艾尔瓦，来福车司机：我是艾丹·艾尔瓦。

坎迪斯·罗杰斯，软件工程师：我是坎迪斯·罗杰斯，我是一名软件工程师。我前几周被解雇了。我刚开始着手买第一个房子。我是被解雇前的一个月开始着手买房的。我觉得买第一套房的时候还要思考应对失业的方法，这对我来说是最可怕的。

阿利森·贾菲：我是华盛顿特区即兴喜剧表演俱乐部的共同所有人。现在的情况很可怕：3月16日的时候，我不得不解雇了50名员工，当时特别难受。他们都是努力工作的小时工，他们上有老下有小。我们不知道要关停多久。而这种不确定性是最可怕的。

阿坝布提·欧洛克：我在波士顿洛根国际机场工作。我来自埃塞俄比亚。2011年的时候以难民的身份来到这里。现在我是一名美国公民了。我不知道要怎么支付我的房租。我有2个儿子，这是最让我担心的。我母亲也在这，我妻子也下岗了。所以我不能为自己考虑，而要为孩子们考虑。

布莱尼·皮库利：我在普鲁士王购物中心的海鲜餐厅当服务员。我的孩子有特殊需求。我没有把女儿带到外面，我不能这样做……因为她不能说话，现在疫情发生了，我更没法带她到医院了。

艾丹·艾尔瓦：我是来福车司机。现在的情况很艰难。我们必须要做出抉择——是在不受保护的状态下出去，还是丢掉家、车贷以及其他因为无法支付而造成的经济问题。

拉利洛·加拉姆巴：我做管家已有8年的时间。我是单亲母亲，带着3个孩子。我很关心也很担心我们的医疗问题。我希望大家都能平平安安的。我希望每个人都能得到庇护，因为要控制新冠病毒，因为大家都希望疫情能过去，因为大家都很担心，因为我们不知道接下来会发生什么。我真地不知道什么时候复工。

朱迪·伍德拉夫：听到这些人的境遇，真地痛心。像他们一样的人还有很多。

1 dwarfs   

n.侏儒，矮子（dwarf的复数形式）vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Shakespeare dwarfs other dramatists. 莎士比亚使其他剧作家相形见绌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The new building dwarfs all the other buildings in the town. 新大楼使城里所有其他建筑物都显得矮小了。 来自辞典例句

2 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 housekeeper   

n.管理家务的主妇，女管家

参考例句：

• A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper.炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。
• She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply.她节约持家，一家人吃得很省。

5 embarked   

乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
• She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。

6 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

7 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

8 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

9 fathom   

v.领悟，彻底了解

参考例句：

• I really couldn't fathom what he was talking about.我真搞不懂他在说些什么。
• What these people hoped to achieve is hard to fathom.这些人希望实现些什么目标难以揣测。