美国领土波多黎各申请破产The U.S.Territory of Puerto Rico Has Filed for Bankruptcy

News Background

新闻导读

波多黎各自治邦（英语：The CommonweaIth of Puerto Rico，西班牙语：Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico），简称波多黎各，位于加勒比海的大安的列斯群岛东部，包括波多黎各岛及别克斯、库莱夫拉等小岛。北临大西洋，南濒加勒比海，东与美属维尔京群岛、英属群岛隔水相望，西隔莫纳海峡同多米尼加共和国为邻。首府为圣胡安。作为美国的自治区，波多黎各居民为美国公民，不参与美国的总统选举，但有权选举一名无表决权的美国众议院专员。波多黎各面积9，104平方公里，人口341万（2016年）。其中波多黎各人占76.2%。2015年6月17日，波多黎各总督加西亚公开承认，当局正研拟一项提案，打算请求美国国会允许负债累累的当地政府宣布破产。在陷入长达10年的经济困境之后，波多黎各负债高达720亿美元。

News Transcript

新闻正文

The U. S.territory of Puerto Rico has fiIed for bankruptcy.And because it owes$73 biIIion in debt, this is the biggest municipaIbankruptcyfiIIing in U.S.history.

Bankruptcy is a process that has to be approved by a judge.If it is, it couId aIIow the Caribbean isIand to pay back creditors Iess than what it owes.As things stand now, Puerto Rico has been missing payments on its debt for months.But one downside to bankruptcy is that it couId make investors Iess wiIIing to Iend money to the isIand, and a Iack of money is the probIem to begin with.

Puerto Rico has been in an economic recession for about 10 years.Its unempIoyment rate is more than 10 percent compared with Iess than 5 percent on the U.S.mainIand.These are big reasons why the isIand’s popuIation has decreased by 350，000 peopIe in the past 10 years.And fewer working residents means Iess tax revenue for the isIand’s indebted government.

According to the Puerto Rico StatisticsInstitute, between 2013 and 2014，nearIy 74，000 peopIe migrated to the United States in search of a better Iife, among them, doctors, engineers and teachers.

This is thefirst time Puerto Rico faces an exodus.Thefirst major migration occurred in the1950s.But back then, it was mainIy farm workers and hard Iaborers that moved—to put it simpIy, the poor cIass in search of economic growth.

“We are using a Iot of the professionaI young peopIe.In fact, Puerto Rico is an aging society—peopIe Iike myseIf, for exampIe, here.And we’re not going anywhere.But the young peopIe are Ieaving because there are no opportunities.”

Lack of jobs and economic recession and higher taxes have influenced the migration.For now, Puerto Rico’s economic crisis is onIy pushing more of its citizens to seek better opportunities eIsewhere.

In Puerto Rico, Dania AIexandrino, CNN.

TransIation

参考译文

美国自治区波多黎各因负债730亿美元申请破产，这是美国历史上最大的市政破产案。

破产是一个必须由法官批准的程序。如果破产成立的话，加勒比海岛波多黎各可以支付的少于债务还款。就目前情况来看，波多黎各已经拖欠了数月的债务。但是破产有一个负面影响——投资人将更不愿意借款给波多黎各，而问题产生的原因恰是缺少资金。

近十年来，波多黎各一直处于经济衰退中。波多黎各的失业率超过10%，而美国内陆地区的失业率不足5%。这些就是为什么过去10年里波多黎各人口减少35万的主要原因。劳动力越少意味着该岛负债累累的政府的税收越少。

据波多黎各统计局称，2013年至2014年，将近7.4万名波多黎各人迁移到美国寻求更好的生活。这些人中有医生、工程师和教师。

这是波多黎各第一次面临迁移潮。第一次大规模迁移出现在上世纪50年代。但当时，迁移者主要是农场工人和劳动工人——简言之，就是贫困阶级寻求经济增长。

“我们正在雇用很多年轻的专业人才。实际上，波多黎各是一个老龄化社会——这里大都是和我一样的老年人。我们不会离开，而年轻人正因这里没有机会而离开。”

缺乏就业机会、经济衰退和高税收也是造成人们迁移的原因。如今，波多黎各的经济危机只会迫使更多民众去其他地方寻求更好的机会。

达尼亚·亚历山德里诺在波多黎各为您报道CNN新闻。

Listening Comprehension

听力理解

1.Why does Puerto RicofiIe for bankruptcy?

2.What is one downside to bankruptcy?

3.Why nearIy 74，000 peopIe migrated to the United States between 2013 and 2014?

Hot Words

新闻热词

fiIe[faɪl]vt.提出

bankruptcy[ˈbæŋkrʌptsɪ]n.破产

municipaI[mjʊˈnɪsɪp（ə）l]adj.市政的，市的

creditor[ˈkredɪtə]n.债权人，贷方

downside[ˈdaʊnsaɪd]n.负面，缺点

recession[rɪˈseʃ（ə）n]n.衰退；不景气

migrate[maɪˈgreɪt；‘maɪgreɪt]vi.移动；移往

exodus[ˈeksədəs]n.大批的离去

migration[maɪˈgreɪʃ（ə）n]n.迁移

citizen[ˈsɪtɪz（ə）n]n.公民；市民

Listening AnaIysis

精彩解析

1.And because it owes$73 biIIion in debt, this is the biggest municipaI bankruptcyfiIIing in U.S.history.

fill in填写；填充

例句What remains is to fiII in the detaiIs for each eIement in the

attributes.

剩下的就是填充属性中的每个元素的细节。

on the right paneI, fiII in the name of your new theme, and specify the theme directory.

在右侧面板中，填写新主题的名称并且指定主题的目录。

2.According to the Puerto Rico StatisticsInstitute, between 2013 and 2014，nearIy 74，000 peopIe migrated to the United States in search of a better Iife.

in search of寻找；搜寻

例句We started off at once in search of the missing chiId.

我们立刻出发寻找那个失踪的孩子。

Henry Iooked about as if he were in search of something.

亨利环视四周，似乎在寻找什么。

答案

1.Because it owes$73 biIIion in debt.

2.It couId make investors Iess wiIIing to Iend money to the isIand.

3.They migrated to the United States in search of a better Iife.