VOA标准英语2011--Nevada Families Struggle with Poverty in

Nevada Families Struggle with Poverty in Shadow of Casinos

In the shadow of the glittering casinos and resorts of Las Vegas, Nevada, many poor families are struggling to get by. Several recent studies have found that one in five American children lives in poverty, and that two and a half million more children now are poor than in 2000. Family poverty has become especially severe in the state of Nevada. A slow tourist economy and a dismal¹ housing market have forced many to seek help.
The summer heat has brought many homeless and unemployed² people to a cooling station run by Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada.
Former construction worker Richard Scanlon is disabled, but says many able-bodied friends are out of work.
"Ten, 15 years ago, if you couldn't get a job in Vegas, you weren't looking for one. Now it's tough," said Scanlon.
Some families get help from Family Promise, a national charity that finds temporary shelter and helps people get jobs and apartments.
Cassendra Waller is a mother of two who moved into a new apartment and got help to furnish it.
"When you get a job and you're making a minimum wage, how do you pay a babysitter for two kids every day? I wound up homeless several times, and this is the worst I've seen the homelessness in Vegas," said Waller.
Director Terry Lindemann explains that Family Promise of Las Vegas works with religious organizations that offer short-term housing.
"We bring together Catholics, Protestants, Jewish congregations, Muslims to open up their congregations at night to be overnight shelters," Lindemann said.
NaDeeryah Yehudah Edward, a mother of three, went through the program. She sobbed³ when she first spoke⁴ to the director on the phone.
"She said, 'I can't understand what you're saying, but whoever this is, I'm going to help you.' And she kept saying that. 'I'm going to help you, don't worry, I'm going to help you.' And she helped us," said Edward.
Edward now has an apartment and is studying to become a chef.
Homelessness and poverty are hardest on children. More than 6,000 students are homeless in Las Vegas. A federal program helps provide school materials and supplies like toothpaste. Many more children get free or subsidized meals.
Tourism drives the economy here. Economist⁵ Stephen Brown at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, says it is starting to pick up. But he says that won't offset⁶ the crash of the U.S. housing market, which reversed years of growth in Las Vegas.
The state has the highest unemployment rate in the country, at 12.9 percent, and the highest home foreclosure rate.
"So what we really need is for the forces that were pushing population to Las Vegas in the past to resume," Brown explained. "And that really means that the whole U.S. economy needs to get moving again."
Terry Lindemann at Family Promise says politicians don't understand the problem.
"I believe that every politician in America today, to be able to help and advocate for this issue of poverty and homelessness, should check into a rescue mission on a Sunday afternoon, give up their ID, go in just as a homeless person would, travel this situation for a week, and then see the dilemma," said Lindemann.
Lindemann says the economy needs to improve, but in the meantime, those at the bottom are desperate and that charities like hers are doing what they can to help.

1 dismal   

adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的

参考例句：

• That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
• My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。

2 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

3 sobbed   

哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说

参考例句：

• She sobbed out the story of her son's death. 她哭诉着她儿子的死。
• She sobbed out the sad story of her son's death. 她哽咽着诉说她儿子死去的悲惨经过。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

6 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。