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VOA慢速英语--“绿色空间”或有助减少贫困地区的犯罪

时间:2018-10-08 14:32:39

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(单词翻译)

‘Green Spaces’ May Help Reduce Crime, Depression in Poor Areas

Keith Green has an unusual interest in empty, unused properties, even while he is on vacation.

Recently, Green, an American, was visiting Shanghai, China. He went out for dinner when he discovered something that made him stop and take a picture.

“Everyone else is taking pictures of the skyline,” he told VOA. “I’m taking a picture of a vacant1 lot.”

Most travelers do not seek out vacant properties. In Green’s hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, vacant lots are often home to increased crime. People often leave trash or hide illegal weapons and drugs in them.

But Green is leading an effort to remove these problem areas from Philadelphia’s low-income communities. In their place, he creates “green spaces,” or areas that are like small parks, with plenty of trees or other plants.

It is a huge job. The city has an estimated2 40,000 vacant lots.

Still, Green is seeing how a little green space can make a big difference in parts of the city that experience high levels of poverty and crime.

Green spaces reducing gun violence and depression

Recent studies published in major scientific journals3 have documented the effects of the program that Green heads. These studies have found that the program is leading to major reductions4 in gun violence and depression in some of the poorest parts of Philadelphia.

Gina South co-wrote those studies. She is an emergency department doctor at the University of Pennsylvania. Since her first years at the hospital, she has wanted to do more to help the people from these neighborhoods before they come to her severely5 injured.

“We took care of a lot of shooting victims and did a great job of treating their physical injuries,” she said, “but did little to nothing to think about what was causing them to come in as shooting victims to us in the first place.”

Several years ago, South became interested in the program Green directs at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, called Philadelphia LandCare.

The program employs local workers to clear the trash and some of the plants from vacant lots. Then they plant trees and grass, cut the grass twice a month, and surround the lots with fences with openings that welcome people in.

South said at first she did not fully6 believe that the changes would do much for the people living these areas.

But the more she and her coworkers investigated it, the more positive results they found.

In one study, they found people’s heart rates decreased as they walked past cleaned-up lots. That shows their stress levels are coming down, a reaction “happening in people’s bodies in response to what’s in their neighborhood environment,” South said.

Possibly the most notable7 results come from the group’s study of 541 vacant lots in different places across the city. They were divided into three groups. One group got the full cleaning and greening treatment. One just got a few trash pickups. One group got nothing.

Around the cleaned and greened lots, crime decrease by nearly 10 percent overall8. In the poorest neighborhoods, gun crimes fell by 17 percent and nearly 70 percent fewer people said they felt depressed9.

“Those are big effects,” said Northwestern University crime researcher Wesley Skogan, who was not involved with the study.

Cleaning and greening vacant lots removes “signs that nobody’s watching, nobody cares, nobody’s in charge,” he added.

Improving vacant lots fits in with an idea called the “broken windows” theory. The idea is, disorder10 in the environment sends a signal that more disorder is acceptable11, including criminal behavior.

The theory became problematic as it led to the creation12 of the “stop and frisk” method of policing. Under this method, officers hold and search anyone they believe may be involved in illegal activity, for whatever reason.

Cleaning and greening “is much closer just to fixing the…window,” Skogan said. “It’s a sign that someone’s looking out for them. Someone’s paying attention.”

Unexpected13 results

The program is working better than even Keith Green expected.

“I didn’t think it would work,” he said.

Green had been doing community gardening with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society as the LandCare program was getting started in the late 1990s and early 2000s. At the time, he was planting flowers and other plants and surrounding them with large fences “to keep people out,” he said.

Meanwhile, the program was welcoming people into the green spaces.

“I was like, ‘That’s not going to work. People aren’t going to respect it,’” Green added.

“Then I started seeing people put picnic tables on it, putting garden areas in...They’re not destroying it,” he said. “Then I was like, ‘This can actually work.’”

Green said each lot costs about $1,600 to treat and about $200 per year to keep operating.

However, Skogan would like to see research showing how it compares to other methods of helping14 low-income neighborhoods.

“Probably nobody thought it was a bad idea to clean things up and put up fences,” he said. “It’s always a question of whether you do this versus15 something else.”

Green said he gets calls from officials across the country and the world asking how a little green space can help improve their neighborhoods.

He said he sees people’s way of thinking changing in neighborhoods where he is working. Children do not throw trash in the cleaned-up lots, he said. They pick it up.

That has been satisfying enough, he said. “But when you start throwing (in) these numbers, like, gun violence is going down, and people’s heart rates are being reduced, people are exercising more…you’re just like, wow.”

I’m Anna Matteo. And I’m Pete Musto.

Words in This Story

skyline – n. the outline of buildings or mountains against the background of the sky

vacant – adj. not filled, used, or lived in

lot – n. a small piece of land that is or could be used for building something or for some other purpose

trash – n. things that are no longer useful or wanted and that have been

income – n. money that is earned from work, investments16, or business

journal(s) – n. a magazine that reports on things of special interest to a particular group of people

positive – adj. good or useful

stress – n. a state of mental tension17 and worry caused by problems in your life or work

response – n. something that is done as a reaction to something else

frisk – v. to pass your hands over someone to search for something that may be hidden in clothing

picnic – n. a meal that is eaten outdoors especially during a trip away from home


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 vacant biXwx     
adj.未被占用的,空着的;空缺的
参考例句:
  • A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
  • He stared into space with a vacant expression.他茫然地凝视着天空。
2 estimated CtGzc2     
adj.根据估计的
参考例句:
  • She estimated the breadth of the lake to be 500 metres. 她估计湖面大约有500米宽。
  • The man estimated for the repair of the car. 那人估算了修理汽车的费用。
3 journals 4ca1ac76c8091a68621ecbcff41f0f85     
n.(某学科或专业的)杂志( journal的名词复数 );期刊;日志;(用于报纸名)…报
参考例句:
  • Which journals does the library subscribe to? 图书馆订有哪些报刊?
  • This short story was published by two journals of repute. 这篇短篇小说由两种著名的杂志刊出。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 reductions 9d620aac96fcfb40507e9f7b1eb375ef     
减少( reduction的名词复数 ); 降低; [数学]约简; [摄影术]减薄
参考例句:
  • Many companies have announced dramatic reductions in staff. 许多公司已经宣布大幅裁员。
  • The forthcoming talks hold out the hope of real arms reductions. 即将举行的会谈给实现真正的裁军带来了希望。
5 severely SiCzmk     
adv.严格地;严厉地;非常恶劣地
参考例句:
  • He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
  • He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。
6 fully Gfuzd     
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。
7 notable sH1x9     
adj.值得注意的,著名的;n.名人,要人
参考例句:
  • His achievement is very notable.他的成就是非常显著的。
  • He wrote and published the essay under notable's name.他假托名人写文章发表。
8 overall vJQxS     
n.工作服,工装裤;全面的,全体的
参考例句:
  • The shop assistant was wearing a white overall.那店员穿着白色的工作服。
  • How much will it cost overall?一共多少钱?
9 depressed xu8zp9     
adj.沮丧的,抑郁的,不景气的,萧条的
参考例句:
  • When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
  • His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。
10 disorder Et1x4     
n.紊乱,混乱;骚动,骚乱;疾病,失调
参考例句:
  • When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后,他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
  • It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。
11 acceptable NIByZ     
adj.可接受的,合意的,受欢迎的
参考例句:
  • The terms of the contract are acceptable to us.我们认为这个合同的条件可以接受。
  • Air pollution in the city had reached four times the acceptable levels.这座城市的空气污染程度曾高达可接受标准的四倍。
12 creation CzExH     
n.创造,创造的作品,产物,宇宙,天地万物
参考例句:
  • Language is the most important mental creation of man.语言是人类头脑最重要的产物。
  • The creation of new playgrounds will benefit the local children.新游戏场的建立将有益于当地的儿童。
13 unexpected Qkpw8     
adj.想不到的,意外的
参考例句:
  • I always keep some good wine in for unexpected guests.我总保存些好酒,用来招待不速之客。
  • His promotion was unexpected.他的升迁出人意料。
14 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
15 versus wi7wU     
prep.以…为对手,对;与…相比之下
参考例句:
  • The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
  • The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。
16 investments a6dba6e72f1adaf693af15720bcbf55a     
n.投资( investment的名词复数 );投资额;(时间、精力的)投入;值得买的东西
参考例句:
  • With the markets being so volatile, investments are at great risk. 由于市场那么变化不定,投资冒着很大的风险。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • All their money was tied up in long-term investments. 他们所有的钱都搁死在长线投资上了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
17 tension zpUw6     
n.(紧张)状态;拉(绷)紧;张力,拉力
参考例句:
  • I could feel the tension in the room. 我可以感觉到房间里的紧张气氛。
  • Relaxaion is better than tension. 缓和比紧张好。

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