大城市病 Big City Disease

高楼林立gāolóu línlì、车水马龙chē shuǐ mǎ lóng，大dà城市chéngshì以yǐ其qí繁华fánhuá吸引xīyǐn着zhe无数wúshù追梦zhuīmèng的de年轻人niánqīngrén。

With high-rises standing like forests and streets streaming with traffic, big cities attract countless dream-chasing young people with their bustle and prosperity.

然而rán'ér，繁荣fánróng的de背后bèihòu，“大城市病dà chéngshì bìng”正zhèng日益rìyì凸显tūxiǎn。

Behind the prosperity, however, 'big-city disease' is becoming increasingly prominent.

交通jiāotōng拥堵yōngdǔ吞噬tūnshì着zhe人们rénmen的de时间shíjiān，高昂gāo'áng的de房价fángjià压yā得de年轻人niánqīngrén喘不过气来chuǎn bú guò qì lái。

Traffic congestion devours people's time, and soaring housing prices leave young people gasping for breath.

空气kōngqì污染wūrǎn、噪音zàoyīn干扰gānrǎo，更gèng使shǐ城市chéngshì居民jūmín的de生活shēnghuó质量zhìliàng大打折扣dà dǎ zhékòu。

Air pollution and noise disturbance further leave urban residents' quality of life greatly compromised.

有人yǒu rén选择xuǎnzé逃离táolí“北上广Běi Shàng Guǎng”，回到huídào节奏jiézòu舒缓shūhuǎn的de中小zhōngxiǎo城市chéngshì。

Some choose to flee 'Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou' and return to smaller cities with a gentler pace.

也yě有人yǒu rén认为rènwéi，大dà城市chéngshì的de机遇jīyù与yǔ资源zīyuán仍然réngrán无可替代wú kě tìdài。

Others believe that the opportunities and resources of big cities remain irreplaceable.

其实qíshí，问题wèntí的de根源gēnyuán不在bú zài城市chéngshì规模guīmó本身běnshēn，而ér在于zàiyú资源zīyuán分配fēnpèi的de失衡shīhéng。

In fact, the root of the problem lies not in city size itself, but in the imbalance of resource distribution.

唯有wéiyǒu促进cùjìn区域qūyù协调xiétiáo发展fāzhǎn，让ràng中小zhōngxiǎo城市chéngshì同样tóngyàng宜居宜业yí jū yí yè，人们rénmen才cái能néng真正zhēnzhèng拥有yōngyǒu选择xuǎnzé的de自由zìyóu。

Only by promoting coordinated regional development and making smaller cities equally good places to live and work can people truly have the freedom to choose.

城市chéngshì的de价值jiàzhí，究竟jiūjìng应该yīnggāi用yòng高度gāodù来lái衡量héngliáng，还是háishi用yòng居民jūmín的de幸福感xìngfúgǎn来lái衡量héngliáng？

Should a city's value, after all, be measured by its height, or by its residents' sense of happiness?

🔊 Audio uses your device's Chinese voice for now — teacher recordings are coming. Tap any word to see its meaning.

Key words 生词

凸显tūxiǎnto become prominent

拥堵yōngdǔcongestion

吞噬tūnshìto devour; engulf

大打折扣dà dǎ zhékòugreatly compromised; heavily discounted

失衡shīhéngimbalance

衡量héngliángto measure; weigh

Grammar note 语法点

唯有……才……

'only by... can...' — a formal conditional stating the sole path to a result.

唯有促进区域协调发展,人们才能真正拥有选择的自由。

V + 得 + complement

A degree complement paints how far the action goes — here the pressure is so heavy one cannot breathe.

高昂的房价压得年轻人喘不过气来。

用……来 + verb

'to (verb) by means of...' — names the standard or tool used for an action.

城市的价值,究竟应该用高度来衡量,还是用居民的幸福感来衡量?

Check yourself 小测验

1. 什么吞噬着人们的时间?

2. 作者认为问题的根源在于什么?

3. 有人逃离“北上广”,回到什么样的城市?

大城市病Dà chéngshì bìngBig City Disease

Key words 生词

Grammar note 语法点

Check yourself 小测验

More HSK 6 reading practice