美語情景對話 第868期:Old and New Cities 舊城與新城

Todd: So, Aiman, you are from Syria, but you've actually lived all over the Middle East. What's interesting is that you've lived in a very old city, Damascus, and a very new city, Dubai, and they're actually not that far from each other. What's the difference between living in a very old city and a very new city?

託德：艾曼，你來自敘利亞，不過你在中東各地都生活過。你在古老的城市大馬士革和新城迪拜都生活過，而且這兩座城市相隔不遠。生活在舊城和生活在新城有什麼不同？

Aiman: It is really really different because the whole city is designed in a different way. In a city like Dubai for example, it is designed in a line. It is designed in a linear way, so you have to go across the city to go from one end to the other. And some people live on one end, and they work on the other end, so they have to go across the whole city, which makes roads unbelievably crowded all the time. While in a city like Damascus, it is true that it is an old city and the road system is really old and needs to be maintained and changed sometimes, but still the city is of different parts that are connected, so you might find people who live on the northern-eastern part, and they have all that they need in that part. They don't need to go to any other part of the city. So that's why it is convenient to walk around the city. You don't even need a car in Damascus. However, a city like Dubai being new and modern has it's advantages because it's convenient. You go everywhere and things are new, shops everywhere. New Shopping malls open every day, and you can go to one shopping mall and do whatever shopping you need, whatever brand you even think of is there, even the brands that you don't know, you will find there from all around the world. You meet people from all around the world in Dubai. I meet friends from all different parts of the world. I learned about many different cultures in Dubai. While in Syria it is isolated and you don't meet people from other countries in Syria, and even when foreigners live in Syria, they tend to stay in their own bubble and not mix with people because I think that English is not very well spoken in Syria, so it is hard to move around with English in the city. While in Dubai it is the opposite because you can't speak Arabic sometimes in Dubai. You have to speak English most of the time in if you are looking for a job, you have more chances finding a job if speak English and you don't speak Arabic, than if you speak Arabic but you don't speak English.

艾曼：差別很大，因爲整座城市的設計完全不同。迪拜這樣的城市是按線條設計的。是以線性角度設計的，所以從一處到另一處要穿越城市。有些人在城市的一端生活，在另一端工作，所以他們必須要穿越整座城市去上班，這使得道路一直都令人難以置信的擁擠。大馬士革的確是一座古老的城市，道路系統非常舊，需要維修更換，不過這座城市不同的區域都連接在一起，所以，生活在城市東北部地區的人們，可以在那個地區找到他們所需要的所有東西。他們不用去城市的其他地方。所以在城市遊覽很便利。在大馬士革遊覽甚至都不需要坐車。不過迪拜這樣的新城市現代化程度很高，擁有自己的優勢，而且非常便利。所有地方的設施都是新的，到處都有商店。每天都有新購物中心開張，你可以去購物中心買你想買的任何物品，你能想到的品牌都能在購物中心裏找到，連你不知道的品牌也有，你可以找到世界各地的品牌。在迪拜可以見到世界各地的人。我在那裏結交了來自世界各地的朋友。我在迪拜體驗了許多種不同的文化。而敘利亞則相對孤立，在敘利亞不會見到其他國家的人，即使有外國人生活在敘利亞，他們也可能會只待在自己的活動空間，不和其他人交往，因爲英語在敘利亞不太普及，所以僅憑英語遊覽敘利亞會很難。而迪拜則正好相反，因爲有時在迪拜不能說阿拉伯語。大部分時間你都要說英語。如果你在迪拜找工作，會說英語而不會說阿拉伯語的人，比會說阿拉伯語不會說英語的人機會要更大。

Todd: That's interesting.

託德：這很有意思。

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重點講解：
1. each other 彼此；互相；
例句：We should always help each other.
我們應始終互相幫助。
2. think of 想到；想起；想出；
例句：I shudder to think of the problem ahead of us.
我想到擺在面前的問題就不寒而慄。
3. tend to do sth. 往往會；經常就；
例句：People tend to gain weight on holidays.
人們常常在假期長胖。
4. look for 找；尋；
例句：He began to look for another position immediately.
他馬上開始尋找另一個職位。