Michael Chugani 褚简宁 - Culture Shock｜又中又英

In my previous column I asked readers to suggest topics to write after a reader emailed to say I was writing too much about food and restaurants. I want to thank the many readers who emailed with diverse (very different) suggestions. The suggestions included writing about proverbs, idioms, American sports, subways (MTR) in different cities in the world, food and culture, homelessness in America, and even the upcoming 45th anniversary of the death of singer Elvis Presley. It is an exhaustive list of suggestions. The word "exhaustive" means complete and thorough. Do not confuse it with exhausted which means very tired.

I will try to write about these topics but today I will write about homelessness in the US. I briefly mentioned homelessness in my previous column, saying even though the US is a rich country it still has many homeless people. It is a timely topic because voters in California made clear in primary elections last week they want elected leaders to solve the problem of homelessness, especially in Los Angeles. The word "timely" means happening or doing something at the right time. Foreigners who visit US cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle, where there are many homeless people, get a culture shock when they see people in rags sleeping on the streets.

They wonder why there are people in rags sleeping on the streets when the US is a rich country. The expression "culture shock" means a confused feeling by people who visit a place or country they don't fully understand. The word "rags" used this way means torn and dirty clothes. There are two types of homeless people in the US. One type are people in rags who sleep on streets. They either have mental health problems or are drug users. The other type are people who have jobs but cannot afford home rents. They sleep in tents or public transport. Many US businesses such as supermarkets and restaurants want to hire staff but some homeless people choose not to work.
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在之前的文章中，我提及一位读者传电邮给我，说我写得太多饮食与餐厅，我便请求各位读者提议一下，我可以写哪些题目？我想多谢那许多写电邮给我的读者，提供了各种各样（diverse）的建议。这些建议包括：谚语、成语、美国体育运动、世界各地不同城市的地下铁路、饮食与文化、美国的无家可归者，甚至关于歌星艾维斯‧皮礼士利「猫王」逝世四十五周年纪念快将来到。这实在是一张非常exhaustive的建议清单——exhaustive是指全面而彻底的。不要将它与exhausted一字混淆啊，后者是解作筋疲力尽、累透了。

我会尝试写写这些题目，不过今天我会先写美国的无家者状况。在之前的文章中，我便曾约略提及无家者状况，说即使美国是富裕国家，却有许多露宿者。这是个适时的（timely）题目，因为加州的选民在上星期的初选中已清晰表明，他们希望当选的领袖会着手解决露宿者问题，尤其是在洛杉矶的。Timely是指某事的发生来得及时，又或在合适的时间去做某事。当那些到访纽约、洛杉矶和西雅图等美国城市的外国人，见到人们衣衫褴褛地（rags）睡在路旁时，都受到很大的文化冲击（culture shock）。

他们会思忖，为何美国是个那么富裕的国家，却同时有人会穿着破烂的衣服（rags）露宿街头？习语 "culture shock" 是指人们身处一个陌生的地方或国家，并不完全理解当地文化时所产生的一种困惑、震惊的感觉。Rags在这里是指破烂、肮脏的衣服。美国有两类无家者：一种是衣衫褴褛（rags）露宿街头的，他们要么就是有精神健康问题，要么就是吸毒者；另一种则是有工作但仍负担不起房租的人，他们会睡在帐篷中，又或公共交通设施附近。许多美国公司如超市和餐厅也想招聘人手，但一些露宿者却选择不去工作。中译：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁