双语地理资料.doc

“种族地图”令美国人吃惊 According to the Daily Telegraph of September 26, Eric Fischer, a California computer programmer used the 2000 Census of America to create a series of digital maps of dozens of majors cities , which show continuing racial divides in the country。Fischer, 37, plotted one dot for each 25 people and gave colors according to how people were described in the census. White people were represented by a red dot, black people by a blue dot, Asians by green, and Hispanics by orange。He started with Washington DC where the results showed a clear divide between predominantly white areas in the west, and black areas in the east. The map for Los Angeles showed how Hispanic people live in the poorest areas。In New York there were clearly defined pockets dominated by black, white, Hispanic and Asian populations. One of the most mixed cities was San Francisco where the map showed no clear dividing lines。Fische told the Washington Post: It was amazingly dramatic and I wondered what it was like in other cities. I always knew that cities had these racial divisions but seeing them set out so graphically, that was the striking thing about them.据每日电讯报9月26日报道，美国加州一名电脑程序员埃里克菲舍尔根据2000年美国人口普查数据，创作了几十个美国主要城市的数字化地图，结果在地图上显示出美国的“种族划分区域”。37岁的菲舍尔在地图上标绘一个小圆点就代表25人，随后根据人口普查中的人口构成数据来上颜色。红色圆点代表白人，蓝色圆点代表黑人，绿色圆点代表亚洲人，橙色圆点代表拉美裔。他首先创作出来的是华盛顿电子地图，地图清晰地表明，华盛顿西部是白人占主导的地区，东部则主要是黑人。洛杉矶地图显示拉美裔生活在该城市最贫困地区。在纽约，黑人、白人、拉美裔和亚洲人各自都有明显占多数的生活区域。(在这些区域中)，最混乱的城市之一就是旧金山，在地图上没有明确划分种族居住区域。菲舍尔对美国华盛顿邮报表示，“我对作品显示结果感到非常吃惊，我也想知道其他城市的情况。以前我知道城市里存在种族分裂的现象，但是看到在地理上都能显现出来，这是令人触目惊心的。婚戒太丑 多数准新娘竟拒绝结婚It seems whoever said money cant buy you love, was wrong - at least when it comes to British women. A third would think twice about accepting a marriage proposal if they didnt like the engagement ring, according to new research. Statistics that emerged today revealed that the nations females now have greater expectations than ever when it comes to their partner popping the question。常言道，多少金钱都不能买来真爱。估计这一句话不能用在当今的英国女士身上了，据调查，在英国，当求婚对象求婚时拿出的求婚“戒指” 与理想中的相距甚远时，有三分之一的女士会说“不”。调查显示当代妇女对于“结婚戒指”的期望值已经达到了顶峰。Material girl: 64 per cent of women admitted they would ask their partner to change the ring if it wasnt to their taste. And it seems that the ring is now the most crucial part, with many women hoping for one that will rival those worn by bride-to-be celebrities like singer Katy Perry。物质女孩？有64%的女士承认如果“结婚戒指”不符合她们的品味的话，她们会要求对方更换戒指。“结婚戒指”逐渐成为那些争相追逐明星、偶像的女士的攀比物品。It may have once been a simple symbol of love but 13 per cent of women now believe it reflects their social status as well as identity and their fiances career success.So, with all this to bear in mind, it comes as no surprise that fifteen percent of prospective brides-to-be said they hadnt been happy with the ring their fiance used to propose。戒指一直以来都被冠以“爱情的象征”的符号，而如今却越发具有“铜臭味”。13%的女士认为戒指代表了她们的社会地位与职场的成功能力。戒指的重要性被抬得如此之高，这样说来，调查显示中的15%的女士不满意未婚夫送的戒指也不是什么奇怪的事情了。Relationship expert Jo Barrett said the findings, from shopping channel QVC, showed how engagement rings had now become a status symbol.She explained: I think this shows that we do now live in a very materialistic society. Theres a lot of peer pressure - we see celebrities flashing their big diamond rings and everyone wants to be like a celebrity.For some, its a status thing - wearing an engagement ring has become a competition。For others its more personal and instead of seeing it as a simple gesture of love, some women take it as an in