VOA慢速英語：美國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.
最近我們報道了美國郡縣的重要性。
Today we have a lot more on what the U.S. Census Bureau calls "the primary political and administrative divisions of states."
今天我們來更多地談一談這個被美國人口普查局稱為“國家主要政治和行政區(qū)劃”的郡縣。
There are more than 3,000 counties nationwide.
美國有3000多個郡縣。
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”這個詞來描述州內(nèi)的這些分支地區(qū)。當然，這個定義也有例外。例如，南部的路易斯安那州被分為各個教區(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.
美國人口普查局報告稱，2010年到2015年期間，美國有1653個縣的人口有所下降，這個數(shù)字超過了美國所有縣總數(shù)的一半。與此同時，美國總?cè)丝谠鲩L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州所轄的縣中，各縣的人口都沒有下降。
If not for new immigrants, 194 more U.S. counties would have lost population.
如果不是因為新移民，美國還有194個縣的人口會下降。
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.
美國有三分之一的縣的死亡率超過出生率，人口專家稱之為“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.
即使一個縣的死亡率超過出生率，人口也可能會增長。這是為什么呢?因為人們從美國其它地方或其它國家遷移到這里。
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之為“正在消失的縣”。2009年，美國人口普查局報道稱，美國有880個縣存在人口自然減少問題。到了2012年，人口普查局預計1135個縣存在人口自然減少問題。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)是新罕布什爾大學的社會學教授。他對美聯(lián)社表示，人口自然減少的縣在不斷增加，這不僅是因為出生人數(shù)少于死亡人數(shù)，還有一個原因是“嬰兒潮一代”中的死亡人數(shù)的增加。“嬰兒潮一代”這個術語用于描述1946年到1964年之間出生的7千萬美國人。
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，“我預計人口自然減少未來仍然會很高。這些縣處于一個相當陡峭的下降螺旋。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."
他補充說，“除非有重大變化，例如新的發(fā)展，如肉類加工廠吸引西班牙裔年輕人過來。否則這些縣的人口自然減少可能會越來越嚴重。”
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.
專家表示，縣的消亡是因為該縣的人口不斷老齡化，出生率低和經(jīng)濟不景氣。他們說一些地區(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.
美國最大的10個縣都在西部，隸屬加州、亞利桑那州和內(nèi)華達州這些州。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.
美國第一個縣于17世紀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.
美國人口普查局表示，全國范圍內(nèi)有3031個縣。但是美國全國郡縣協(xié)會說有3069個縣。協(xié)會官員對美國之音表示，他們對縣政府和縣政府內(nèi)的縣級區(qū)域都稱之為縣。
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個縣中，有5個位于內(nèi)布拉斯加州。伊利諾伊州庫克縣下轄芝加哥市，它是美國人口第二大縣。其人口超過了29個州各自的人口，也超過了7個最小州的總?cè)丝凇?51VOA注：美國的縣比市在行政區(qū)劃上大一級，和我國相反。)
The top four most densely populated counties are in the New York City area. The top four least densely populated counties are in Alaska.
人口最密集的四個縣位于紐約市地區(qū)。人口最稀少的四個縣位于阿拉斯加。
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，該市和縣由同一個政府管轄。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個獨立的城市，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.
一般來說，美國西部和南部的縣政府最強，東部有更多城市，這里的縣最弱。少數(shù)縣像州立法機構(gòu)和市議會一樣制定法律，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.
美國有360萬縣政府雇員。
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)營醫(yī)院。各縣參與了27%的公共交通和34%的公共機場。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·瓊斯克魯斯報道。