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U.S. Diversity Visas: The Spice of Life 美国的多国籍移民签证：让生活更有味道

课文朗读

课文讲解

繁體中文譯本

Known as the melting pot of the world, the United States is adding more flavors to its gumbo with the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program. In an effort to spice up its cultural diversity, the U.S. is awarding 50,000 permanent resident visas annually to qualified individuals from countries which are currently underrepresented in the U.S.

美国一向被认为是民族的大熔炉，现在更在它的签证里增加了一种多国籍移民计划签证，让它熔炉上的浓汤有更多风味。每年颁发五万个名额的永久居留签证，给那些代表人口数在美国仍然低于适当比例的国家人民，以冀增加美国的文化多元性。

Qualified applicants must have at least a secondary education or two year’s work experience in the past five years at an occupation requiring at least two years of training. Similarly, applicants are eligible for this visa program only if their home country has sent less than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. within the past five years – so national eligibility may change yearly.

有资格的申请者必须至少有高中或同等学历，或过去五年内在至少需要培训二年才能从事的职业上工作过两年。同样地，申请者若要有符合资格；则他的国家必须在过去五年内来美的移民人数低于五万人，所以这种计划签证，每年获准参加抽签申请的国家会不同。

While there’s no fee to apply for the program, an individual may submit only one entry per year. Spouses may apply individually, and, should either spouse be selected, both will receive visas, along with any children they have under the age of twenty-one. In addition, applicants must be organized because diversity visa applications must be received in the first month of the fiscal year, two years in advance of anticipated entry into the U.S.

参加抽签申请无需任何费用，每人每年只许参加抽一次。夫妻双方可以各自申请，若配偶被抽中，本人与配偶都可以获得签证，而属于两人的21岁以下子女也都可以获得签证。除此以外，申请者必须特别注意，抽签申请书必须在移民去美国两年前那一会计年度【注】的第一个月就寄达。

For more details on adding your flavor to the melting pot, visit the U.S. government website at http://travel.state.gov/ DV2004.html.

若想知道更多的美国民族大熔炉签证计划的细节，请自行参阅美国政府网页，网址：http://travel.state.gov/DV2004.html

【注】：美国会计年度是每年十月一日起至次年九月三十日。

Vocabulary

单词发音

diversity [daɪˋvɝsətɪ] n.〔人或事物的〕多种多样

gumbo [ˋgʌmbo] n. 加有秋葵的浓汤; 【植】秋葵

spice up 增添情趣，增添趣味 to make something more interesting, lively, or sexy

underrepresented [͵ʌndɚ͵rɛprɪˋzɛntɪd] adj. 代表不足的；代表低于适当比例的

eligible [ˋɛlɪdʒəb!] adj. 有资格当选的；法律上合格的

eligibility [͵ɛlɪdʒəˋbɪlətɪ] n. 被选举资格

spouse [spaʊz] n.【正式】配偶〔指丈夫或妻子〕

organize [ˋɔrgə͵naɪz] v. 安排

Sentence of the Day

Variety is the price of life.

变化可以让生活多采多姿。

课文讲解

Laura is eating lunch in Tainan with her friend, Gary, whose wife’s diversity visa application to the U.S. was accepted:  在台南，劳拉和她的朋友葛利一起吃午餐；葛利的太太申请的美国DV签证已经获准：

L: I’m disappointed that our application was denied, but after rereading the registration details, I realized we applied incorrectly.

我真失望，我们的申请案被拒绝了，不过我再读过注册细节，原来是我们申请程序有误。

G: We’ve been applying for the three years that Taiwan residents have been eligible for the visa draw, and were only selected this year. What do you think went wrong?

台湾居民已经第三年被准许参加这种签证的抽签，我们已经连续申请了三年，今年才被抽中。妳的申请是什么地方出毛病了？

L: Oh, we were rushed to submit our applications. My husband wasn’t home, so I signed his application for him. Then I couldn’t find individual pictures of our kids, so I sent a group picture instead.

我们急着递件，因为我先生不在家，所以我就替他签名了。而且我找不到小孩们的个人照片，结果就用了一张合照。

G: Yeah, the rules stipulate that applicants must sign for themselves and send individual photographs. The authorities are sticky about the rules because of the volume of applications.

是这样哦，规定要亲自签名，而且要用个人照的。规定很严格是因为申请人数实在太多了。

L: You certainly had the luck of the draw. What’s next in your application process?

你们被抽中完全是靠运气。你的申请步骤接下来是要做什么？

G: We received a letter of notification and now my wife has an overseas interview with U.S. officials. Then, fingers crossed, our family will immigrate by next October.

我们收到一张通知书，我太太现在要接受美国官员的海外面谈。然后幸运的话，最慢十月我们全家就移民到美国去了。

L: Just be thankful you’re not from a country thought to sponsor terrorism – the process is far more involved for those applicants.

你要感谢你的国家没有支持恐怖主义，对那些支持恐怖主义的国家，申请者的手续可复杂得多呢。

G: Hopefully, we’ll soon be enjoying moon cakes, like these here, along with our slice of the American pie.

希望我们很快就能享受眼前这种好吃的月饼，同时也能品尝我们的美国派【注】。

【注】：美国派另有含意指繁荣发达及财富收益的意思。

－by Monica Moreland

Vocabulary

单词发音

stipulate [ˋstɪpjə͵let] v. 规定；约定

sticky [ˋstɪkɪ] adj. 难对付的; 不动的

luck of the draw 一个人一个命(有的人有运气, 有的人没有运气) to win something in a competition where the winner is chosen purely by chance.

fingers crossed  祈求好运 to hope that things will happen in the way you want them to

involved [ɪnˋvɑlvd] adj. 复杂的

Sentence of the Day

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

外国的月亮比较圆。