大城市病 Big City Disease — HSK 6 Reading

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?

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