VOA慢速英語(yǔ)：美國(guó)三分之一縣死亡率高于出生率

Recently, we reported on the importance of counties in the United States.
最近我們報(bào)道了美國(guó)郡縣的重要性。
Today we have a lot more on what the U.S. Census Bureau calls "the primary political and administrative divisions of states."
今天我們來(lái)更多地談一談這個(gè)被美國(guó)人口普查局稱(chēng)為“國(guó)家主要政治和行政區(qū)劃”的郡縣。
There are more than 3,000 counties nationwide.
美國(guó)有3000多個(gè)郡縣。
Most states use the word "county" to describe these subdivisions, or separate areas, within a larger territory. Naturally, there are exceptions to this definition. For example, the southern state of Louisiana is divided up into parishes.
大多數(shù)州使用“縣”這個(gè)詞來(lái)描述州內(nèi)的這些分支地區(qū)。當(dāng)然，這個(gè)定義也有例外。例如，南部的路易斯安那州被分為各個(gè)教區(qū)。
The Census Bureau reports that 1,653 counties lost population between 2010 and 2015. That is more than half of all counties nationwide. At the same time, the general population grew by about 4 percent.
美國(guó)人口普查局報(bào)告稱(chēng)，2010年到2015年期間，美國(guó)有1653個(gè)縣的人口有所下降，這個(gè)數(shù)字超過(guò)了美國(guó)所有縣總數(shù)的一半。與此同時(shí)，美國(guó)總?cè)丝谠鲩L(zhǎng)了4%左右。
Delaware and Hawaii are the only two states that did not have a single county with a falling population number.
只有特拉華和夏威夷兩個(gè)州所轄的縣中，各縣的人口都沒(méi)有下降。
If not for new immigrants, 194 more U.S. counties would have lost population.
如果不是因?yàn)樾乱泼?，美?guó)還有194個(gè)縣的人口會(huì)下降。
More people are dying than are being born in more than one-third of all counties. Population experts call this "natural decrease." But that does not always mean their population is shrinking.
美國(guó)有三分之一的縣的死亡率超過(guò)出生率，人口專(zhuān)家稱(chēng)之為“人口自然減少”。但是這并非總是意味著人口正在縮減。
A county's population can grow even when there are more deaths than births. The reason? People are moving there from other parts of the United States or from other countries.
即使一個(gè)縣的死亡率超過(guò)出生率，人口也可能會(huì)增長(zhǎng)。這是為什么呢?因?yàn)槿藗儚拿绹?guó)其它地方或其它國(guó)家遷移到這里。
Some news stories have described counties that record more deaths than births as "dying counties." In 2009, the Census Bureau reported natural decrease in 880 counties. In 2012, the Census Bureau estimated natural decrease in 1,135 counties. Most were in rural areas.
一些新聞將死亡率高于出生率的縣稱(chēng)之為“正在消失的縣”。2009年，美國(guó)人口普查局報(bào)道稱(chēng)，美國(guó)有880個(gè)縣存在人口自然減少問(wèn)題。到了2012年，人口普查局預(yù)計(jì)1135個(gè)縣存在人口自然減少問(wèn)題。其中大多數(shù)縣都在農(nóng)村地區(qū)。
Kenneth Johnson is a professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire. He told the Associated Press that the number of counties with natural decrease is rising not only because there are fewer births than deaths in those areas. He said another reason is an increase in the number of deaths among "baby boomers." The term baby boomer is used to describe the 70 million Americans who were born between 1946 and 1964.
肯尼斯·約翰遜(Kenneth Johnson)是新罕布什爾大學(xué)的社會(huì)學(xué)教授。他對(duì)美聯(lián)社表示，人口自然減少的縣在不斷增加，這不僅是因?yàn)槌錾藬?shù)少于死亡人數(shù)，還有一個(gè)原因是“嬰兒潮一代”中的死亡人數(shù)的增加。“嬰兒潮一代”這個(gè)術(shù)語(yǔ)用于描述1946年到1964年之間出生的7千萬(wàn)美國(guó)人。
Johnson said, "I expect natural decrease to remain high in the future. These counties are in a pretty steep downward spiral. The young people leave and the older adults stay in place and age."
約翰遜表示，“我預(yù)計(jì)人口自然減少未來(lái)仍然會(huì)很高。這些縣處于一個(gè)相當(dāng)陡峭的下降螺旋。年輕人都走了，只留下老年人不斷老去。”
He adds, "that unless something major changes -- for instance, new development such as a meatpacking plant to attract young Hispanics -- these areas are likely to have more and more natural decrease."
他補(bǔ)充說(shuō)，“除非有重大變化，例如新的發(fā)展，如肉類(lèi)加工廠吸引西班牙裔年輕人過(guò)來(lái)。否則這些縣的人口自然減少可能會(huì)越來(lái)越嚴(yán)重。”
About 46 percent of rural counties experienced natural decrease. That compares to 17 percent of counties in populated areas.
大約46%的農(nóng)村縣經(jīng)歷了人口自然減少。相比之下，人口稠密地區(qū)只有17%的縣有此煩惱。
Experts say counties "die" because they have increasingly-older populations, a low birth rate and a poor economy. They say it is difficult for some areas to retain or attract younger people.
專(zhuān)家表示，縣的消亡是因?yàn)樵摽h的人口不斷老齡化，出生率低和經(jīng)濟(jì)不景氣。他們說(shuō)一些地區(qū)很難留住或吸引年輕人。
Japan and many European countries have been experiencing natural decrease for many years.
日本和很多歐洲國(guó)家已經(jīng)經(jīng)歷了多年的人口自然減少。
In the United States, the 10 largest counties are in the West, in states such as California, Arizona and Nevada. Some of the smallest counties are in eastern states.
美國(guó)最大的10個(gè)縣都在西部，隸屬加州、亞利桑那州和內(nèi)華達(dá)州這些州。一些最小的縣都在東部州。
The first counties were created in Virginia in the 1630s. Maryland and Massachusetts established counties a short time later.
美國(guó)第一個(gè)縣于17世紀(jì)30年代在弗吉尼亞州建立。不久之后馬里蘭州和馬薩諸塞州也建立了縣。
The Census Bureau says there are 3,031 counties nationwide. But the National Association of Counties (NACo) says there are 3,069. Association officials told VOA they use the term "counties" for both county governments and county geographies with county governments.
美國(guó)人口普查局表示，全國(guó)范圍內(nèi)有3031個(gè)縣。但是美國(guó)全國(guó)郡縣協(xié)會(huì)說(shuō)有3069個(gè)縣。協(xié)會(huì)官員對(duì)美國(guó)之音表示，他們對(duì)縣政府和縣政府內(nèi)的縣級(jí)區(qū)域都稱(chēng)之為縣。
Five of the 10 smallest counties by population are in the state of Nebraska. Cook County, Illinois, which includes Chicago, is the second-most-populous county in the nation. It has more people than 29 states and more than the seven smallest states combined.
人口最少的10個(gè)縣中，有5個(gè)位于內(nèi)布拉斯加州。伊利諾伊州庫(kù)克縣下轄芝加哥市，它是美國(guó)人口第二大縣。其人口超過(guò)了29個(gè)州各自的人口，也超過(guò)了7個(gè)最小州的總?cè)丝凇?51VOA注：美國(guó)的縣比市在行政區(qū)劃上大一級(jí)，和我國(guó)相反。)
The top four most densely populated counties are in the New York City area. The top four least densely populated counties are in Alaska.
人口最密集的四個(gè)縣位于紐約市地區(qū)。人口最稀少的四個(gè)縣位于阿拉斯加。
Some cities and counties have joined together. In other words, the city and county are controlled by one government. These include the city and borough of Anchorage, Alaska and the city and county of San Francisco, California; Denver, Colorado; Baltimore, Maryland and St. Louis, Missouri. Yet the state of Virginia has 39 independent cities that are not part of any county.
一些城市和縣已經(jīng)連成一片。換句話說(shuō)，該市和縣由同一個(gè)政府管轄。其中包括阿拉斯加州的安克雷奇市和自治市鎮(zhèn)，加利福尼亞州的舊金山市與縣，科羅拉多州的丹佛市與縣，馬里蘭州的巴爾的摩市與縣以及密蘇里州的圣路易斯市與縣。然而，弗利尼亞州有39個(gè)獨(dú)立的城市，不隸屬于任何縣。
Generally, county governments are strongest in the western and southern United States, and weakest in the east, where there are more cities. Few counties create laws like state legislatures and city councils do. Most just enforce state laws.
一般來(lái)說(shuō)，美國(guó)西部和南部的縣政府最強(qiáng)，東部有更多城市，這里的縣最弱。少數(shù)縣像州立法機(jī)構(gòu)和市議會(huì)一樣制定法律，而大多數(shù)縣只執(zhí)行州法律。
There are about 3.6 million county government employees in the United States.
美國(guó)有360萬(wàn)縣政府雇員。
About a third of counties operate hospitals. Counties are involved in 27 percent of public transportation systems and 34 percent of public airports. They own 40 percent of the bridges, and own and repair 45 percent of the roads.
大約三分之一的縣經(jīng)營(yíng)醫(yī)院。各縣參與了27%的公共交通和34%的公共機(jī)場(chǎng)。它們擁有40%的橋梁，擁有和維修45%的道路。
And that's all we have today about U.S. counties.
以上就是今天我們所講的美國(guó)郡縣的所有內(nèi)容。
I'm Anna Matteo.
我是安娜·馬特奧。
And I'm Christopher Jones-Cruise.
克里斯托弗·瓊斯克魯斯報(bào)道。