VOA慢速英语2020 美国餐厅或因疫情面临破产（在线收听）

Months before coronavirus fears hit the United States, business was slow at Mediterranean Breeze, a family-owned Greek restaurant near Washington, D.C.

在美国出现冠状病毒恐慌的数月前，位于华盛顿特区附近的地中海微风(Mediterranean Breeze)是一家家族经营的希腊餐厅，生意很冷清。

Terry Kasotakis is the restaurant's owner. Both he and Paul Johnson, the general manager, were sure business would improve when the weather got warm.

特利（Terry Kasotakis）是这家餐厅的老板。他和总经理保罗·约翰逊都笃信，待天气转暖后，生意会好转。

"We were just kind of (waiting) for April because we have a big outdoor section and it's very popular, and it holds a lot of people," Johnson said.

约翰逊表示:“我们一直在等待四月份的到来，因为我们餐厅有一处宽阔的户外区域，非常受欢迎，可以接待很多顾客。”

Last week, business at the Virginia eatery was down 90 percent.

上周，弗吉尼亚州的餐馆的生意下降了90%。

The state of Virginia has told police to enforce a 10-person limit in restaurants. Several U.S. states have ordered all restaurants to close their dining rooms in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus.

维吉尼亚州已要求警方强制执行10人就餐限制措施。美国几个州纷纷下令所有餐馆停业，以减缓新型冠状病毒的传播。

The governors of California, Connecticut and at least six other states are among those who have ordered restaurants and bars to close their dining rooms. The businesses are now limited to delivery or carry-out service only.

加州、康涅狄格州和其他至少六个州的州长下令各餐厅和酒吧停业。这些商家现在只提供配送或外卖服务。

The U.S. Congress is considering measures that would expand loans to small businesses affected by coronavirus. Those loans would not make up for financial losses, but they could make it possible for a restaurant or bar to stay in business.

美国国会正在考虑采取措施，扩大对受疫情影响的小企业的贷款。这些贷款虽无法弥补经济损失，但能够让餐馆或酒吧得以继续营业。

"The problem with a small restaurant, if you close, you still have to pay your insurance, you still have to pay an electric bill, you still have to pay rent," explained economist Michael Hicks. He works at Ball State University in Indiana.

经济学家迈克尔·希克斯解释称:“小型餐馆面临的问题是，如果停业，还得支付保险费，电费和房租也照交不误。”迈克尔在印第安纳州的波尔州立大学工作。

Hicks notes that even with loans a small business will still lose money, "but you'll still be able to open, perhaps."

迈克尔指出，即使有了贷款，小型企业仍然会亏损，“不过或许还能开门营业。”

Anwar Halteh owns Waterfront Pizza in Foster City, near San Francisco, California. He expects to lose 70 percent of his business, but he thinks his restaurant will survive.

安瓦尔·哈尔特(Anwar Halteh)在加州旧金山附近的福斯特城(Foster City)经营一家海滨披萨店。他预计店里的生意会损失70%，但他认餐厅能生存下来。

"I expect (carry-out) to give us maybe 30 percent of business, but we cut down our overhead by 80 percent so we should be able to be okay," he says. "I only keep three people in the whole restaurant cleaning and cooking."

他说:“我希望（外卖服务）能帮餐厅挽回30%的生意，但是我们削减了80%的日常管理费用，所以我们应该可以度过难关。”“整间餐厅我只留下三名员工负责打扫和烹饪。”

Halteh says he does not have the money to keep paying the employees no longer working in the restaurant. But he believes things will go back to normal.

哈尔特说，他已经没钱继续支付那些不再在餐馆工作的员工了。但他相信一切都会恢复如常。

"I think, after it's over, everything's going to be a booming economy," he said.

他说:“我认为，在危机结束后，经济将会再次繁荣起来的。”

The general manager of Virginia's Mediterranean Breeze can only hope business will soon be back to where it was.

维吉尼亚州“地中海微风”餐厅的总经理只能期盼，生意能很快恢复到原来的水平。

"I'm...hopeful that the virus situation will start to subside in the next five to 10 days, although I know a lot of the professionals are saying that's not going to be the case," Paul Johnson said.

“尽管我知道很多专业人士都预测（疫情）情况不会好转，但我还是希望疫情在未来5到10天内开始消退。”

He added that the 15-year-old restaurant cannot survive more than a month under these conditions.

他补充说，在这种环境下，这家有15年历史的餐厅撑不过一个月。

"The local businesses...those are the ones that are really hurt here," said Johnson. He hopes more people will give their carry-out business to family-owned restaurants like Mediterranean Breeze.

“当地的企业……这些企业才是真正受到冲击的。”他希望更多的企业能将外卖业务交由“地中海微风”这样的家族餐馆经营。

Words in This Story

manager – n. one who organizes at a business

bar – n. a place where people go to drink alcohol

delivery – n. to being to someone

insurance – n. a payment made to protect against fire or accident

rent – n. the price of using a house or store that belongs to someone else

overhead – n. the cost of business

booming – adj. growing quickly

subside – v. to end

professional – n. one who is educated and does a high paying job