Intermediate - Detroit (C0843)

A 底特律是不是很破?
Dǐtèlǜ shì bu shì hěn pò?
Is Detroit really run down?
B 怎么会?它可是美国的汽车城,大的车厂都在那儿。
zénme huì? tā kě shì Měiguó de qìchē chéng, dà de chē chǎng dōu zài nàr.
How could that be? It is America's automobile manufacturing center. The big factories are all there.
A 那是以前。现在好多车厂都搬走了。所以好多人失业。
nà shì yǐqián. xiànzài hǎo duō chē chǎng dōu bānzǒu le. suǒyǐ hǎo duō rén shīyè.
That was before. Now a lot of automobile factories have moved. So a lot of people there are unemployed.
B 你对底特律有偏见吧?
nǐ duì Dǐtèlǜ yǒu piānjiàn ba?
You're a little prejudiced against Detroit, aren't you?
A 没有,我说的是事实。
méiyǒu, wǒ shuō de shì shìshí.
It's not that at all. I am just speaking the truth.
B 你知道底特律还是音乐城吗?
nǐ zhīdào Dǐtèlǜ hái shì yīnyuè chéng ma?
Did you know that Detroit is also a musical city?
A 是吗?
shì ma?
Really?
B 那儿六十年代是美国的流行音乐中心。
nàr liùshí niándài shì Měiguó de liúxíng yīnyuè zhōngxīn.
In the 1960s it was the center of American pop music.
A 真没想到。
zhēn méixiǎngdào.
I didn't realize that.
B 而且城市还挺漂亮呢。有机会,我想去看看。
érqiě chéngshì hái tǐng piàoliang ne. yǒujīhuì, wǒ xiǎng qù kàn kan.
Plus the city is quite beautiful. If I have the chance, I would like to go have a look.
A 我可不想去。
wǒ kě bù xiǎng qù.
I don't want to go at all.

Key Vocabulary

底特律 Dǐtèlǜ Detroit
run down
chǎng factory
搬走 bānzǒu to move away
失业 shīyè unemployed
偏见 piānjiàn prejudice
事实 shìshí fact
音乐 yīnyuè music
流行 liúxíng popular
中心 zhōngxīn center
年代 niándài era
没想到 méixiǎngdào to not realize
有机会 yǒujīhuì to have an opportunity

Supplementary Vocabulary

繁华 fánhuá flourishing
萧条 xiāotiáo desolate
工业 gōngyè industry
生产 shēngchǎn to manufacture