美國：一個移民國家

TheUnited States is the third most populous nation in the world, ranking behindChina and India. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, America has a populationof 314 million by 2012.

美國是世界人口第三大國，人口總數僅次於中國和印度。根據美國人口普查局調查顯示，截止2012年美國人口達3.14億。

a.What』s the composition of the U.S.population?

b.What』s the U.S. immigration history?

1）美國人口組成如何？2）美國的移民歷史是什麼？

What』sthe composition of the U.S. population? The United States has a racially andethnically diverse population. The United States Census officially recognizessix racial categories: White Americans, Black or African Americans, Indian andAlaska Natives, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, andpeople of two or more races.

美國人口組成如何？美國擁有種族多樣的人口。美國人口普查局官方認定了六種種族：美國白人，美國黑人或非裔美國人，印第安及阿拉斯加原住民，亞裔美國人，夏威夷及其他太平洋島嶼原住民，多種族人群。

Hereis a table showing the composition of American population, including how peopleidentify themselves as which race and the percentage of each race.

下面是一張美國人口組成圖表，包括人們是如何認定自己的種族以及各個種族所佔的人口比率。

WhiteAmericans. Traditionally, the mainstream Americans were called WASPs, that is,White Anglo-Saxon Protestants. The White Anglo-Saxon Protestants is the mostpowerful and influential race. They are the descendants of the Early Settlers.They control most of the national wealth and political power. But actuallythere is a much greater variety of ethnic groups. In addition to the Englishroots, the White American population also has German roots and Irish roots.

美國白人。傳統上，美國人口主流是白人盎格魯撒克遜新教徒。這一人群是美國社會最有影響力的人群。他們是早期定居者的後代。他們控制了大部分的國家財富和政治權利。但事實上這一族群中也有相當多的種族構成。美國白人的祖先除了來自英國的部分，還有德國血統和愛爾蘭血統。

AfricanAmerican is the most numerous minority, who numbered 12.6% of the population. Theirforefather came from Africa. The first black arrived in Jamestown (Virginia) in1619 as indentures servants.

非裔美國人是人數最多的少數種群，佔總人口的12.6%。他們的祖先來自非洲。1619年，第一個黑人作為契約僕人來到美國佛吉尼亞州詹姆斯敦。

TheAsian Americans are the fastest-growing racial and ethnic group in the UnitedStates. Most Asian-Americans are doing well in the United States and a higherpercentage of them complete university study.

亞裔美國人是美國人口增長最快的少數族裔。大部分亞裔美國人在美國都生活地不錯並且他們中的大多數接受了高等教育。

Indiansand Alaska Natives are the original inhabitants on the continent. For centuriesbefore the arrivals of the first Europeans, the land of what is now the UnitedStates were populated by many tribes of culturally distinctive peoples. Today,about half of the 2 million native Indians live on the 278 reservationsscattered around the United States.

印第安及阿拉斯加原住民是北美大陸的原住民。在第一個歐洲人到來之前，他們已經在此居住了幾個世紀。當時這片土地居住著各式各樣的部落。今天，兩百萬印第安人中大約一半住在美國278個印第安人保留區。

NativeHawaiians or other Pacific Islanders are those who have original peoples ofPolynesia, Melanesia, or Micronesia.

夏威夷及其他太平洋島嶼原住民則主要來自於玻利尼西亞，美拉尼西亞，或者密克羅尼西亞。

Twoor more races are widely known as multiracial. People who report more than oneof the foregoing five options are classified as 「people of two or more races」. Anyrespondents may identify with any number of the racial categories. Respondentscan also write how they identify themselves, if different from precedingcategories, they are classified as some other race.

兩種及以上種群即多種族人群。人們在人口普查時若申報兩個及以上種群即被歸類為多種族人群。在人口普查時，人們可以任意申報自己的種群歸屬。他們甚至可以描述自己，若皆不屬於以上分類，他們將被劃歸為其他種群。

What』sthe immigration history?

美國的移民歷史是什麼？

Themajority of American people are descendants of the European immigrants. ModernAmericans look back to their Pilgrim Fathers, a group of Puritans who came fromEngland in 1620, as a symbol of their origins in this new country.

大部分美國人都是歐洲移民的後代。現代美國人認為他們是清教徒移民的後代。這群清教徒在1620年從英格蘭出發前往美國，他們象徵著這個國家的開始。

Fromthe 16thcentury through 19thcentury, about 12millionpeople were brought to America from African countries as slaves, working onplantations or large farms of the South.

16-19世紀，大約一千兩百萬非洲人作為奴隸被販賣到美國，在南方的種植園或大農場工作。

Afterthe early periods of settlement, the sharp increase in immigration took placein the 1830s and 1840s, bringing Northern Europeans and particularly Irish craftsmendisplaced by the dreadful poverty of the Great Potato Famine. In 1890s, anothertremendous tide of immigration appeared, this time the immigrants were skilledworkers largely from Southern and Eastern Europe.

早期大量定居之後，在1830-1840年代，大量北歐人特別是愛爾蘭工匠因馬鈴薯饑荒移居美國。1890年代，一股移民熱潮湧現，這一時期的移民大多是來自南歐和東歐的熟練工人。

Duringthis period, the United States was changing from a mainly agricultural societyto an industrialized country. Many immigrants settled in cities and worked infactories. Being poor and accustomed to poverty, they were willing to work forvery low wages. This made other workers, especially those in labor unions,afraid that the immigrants would lower wage levels and take jobs away fromthem. This opposition finally led totheImmigration Act of 1924that restricted further immigrations, particularlyfrom Europe.

這一時期，美國正經歷從農業社會向工業社會的轉型。許多移民在城市裡落腳，在工廠里工作。由於貧困並習慣於貧窮，他們願意低薪工作。這導致其他工人，特別是工會的不滿，他們害怕移民會降低工資水平並搶走工作。這種反對最終促成了阿1924年《移民法》的頒布，限制更多的移民，特別是來自歐洲的移民。

Someother groups continued to come and concentrate in different areas---Mexicans inTexas and California and Cubans in Florida. Many recent immigrants are from CentralAmerican countries.

其他族群仍陸續移民到美國並聚居在不同區域。墨西哥人聚居在德克薩斯和加利福尼亞，古巴人聚居在佛羅里達。很多近期移民都來自於中美洲國家。

Inthe 19thcentury, laws limited Asians immigration. Asians in theUnited States such as Chinese and Japanese met with widespread discrimination.

19世紀，法律限制亞洲移民。亞洲人在美國，例如中國人和日本人遭受了普遍的歧視。

In1965, theImmigration and Nationality ActAmendmentsgave an equal chance to all foreigners seeking entry into theUnited States regardless of where they came from. In the 1980s, almost half ofall immigrants were Asians. People from different countries immigrate to theUnited States because of famines, war, persecution, lack of jobs, etc. in theirhome countries. They seek employment and other opportunities in America tostart a new life.

1965年，《移民與國籍修正案》賦予了所有想移民去美國的外國人平等的移民權利，不管這些人來自於哪裡。1980年代，幾乎美國的一半移民都是亞洲人。來自不同國家的人由於饑荒、戰爭、迫害、缺乏工作等原因紛紛移民美國。他們爭取各種機會，在美國開始新生活。

Hereis the discussion question.下面是討論問題。

Illegalimmigration was a signature issue of U.S. President DonaldTrump"s presidential campaign, and his proposed reforms and remarks about thisissue generated much publicity.A hallmark promise of his campaignwas to build a substantial wall on the United States-Mexicoborder. Trump has also expressed support for a variety of "limits on legalimmigration and guest-worker visas, including a "pause" ongranting green cards, which Trump says will "allow record immigrationlevels to subside to more moderate historical averages". Do you thinkthese are good immigration policies? Why or Why not?

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