China’s City Dwellers Endure‘Extreme Commutes,’ Report Says
As cities sprawl, people are spending more and more time traveling to their workplaces, resulting in “extreme commutes,” according to a report published Friday.
根据周五发布的一份报告，随着城市的扩张，人们花费在通勤上班的时间越拉越长，导致了“极端通勤”的情况。
More than 90% of the cities monitored in the study had smaller percentage of people who worked within less than five kilometers from their home — a key indicator of a “comfortable commute” — in 2021 compared with the previous year, said the report. Over 14 million surveyed city dwellers said they had to endure an extreme commute with over 60 minutes of traveling each way.
该报告称，与前一年相比，在该研究中监测的90%以上的城市中，在离家不到5公里范围内工作的人所占比例较小——这是“舒适通勤”的一个关键指标。超过1400万接受调查的城市居民表示，他们不得不忍受单程超过60分钟的极端通勤时间。
The report was jointly published by a housing ministry-affiliated research center, the China Academy of Urban Planning and Design, and Baidu Maps. The survey included 215 million residents in 44 major cities with rail operations.
该报告由住建部下属的研究中心、中国城市规划设计研究院和百度地图联合发布。这项调查涵盖了44个有铁路运营的大城市中的2 . 15亿居民。
Shen Yongnan, a marketing specialist in Guangzhou, told Sixth Tone she used to spend nearly 90 minutes per day traveling one way to her company, which included cycling for 20 minutes in total.
沈永南是广州的一名营销专员，她告诉Sixth Tone，她过去每天花近90分钟单程去公司，其中还包括总计20分钟的骑车时间。
“I don’t know how I managed to get through the ordeal,” Shen said, adding she usually arrived home at 10 p.m. after overtime. “The commute ate up almost my leisure time.”
“我不知道我是怎么熬过来的，”沈说，并补充说她通常在加班后晚上10点到家。"通勤几乎耗尽了我的闲暇时间。"
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eat up耗费大量金钱、时间或资源；If something eats up money, time, or resources, it uses them or consumes them in great quantities. 比如说：Health insurance costs are eating up his income.医疗保险费用花掉了他大量的收入。
Experts cited in the report said that the lack of expansion of a public transportation network has fueled the trend. For example, Beijing boasts an 855-kilometer rail system, including subways, but can only cover one-fifth of the commuting areas within an 800-meter radius, and the city’s bus system can only support 30% of the commuting population within a 45-minute distance.
报告中引用的专家表示，公共交通网络的扩张不足助长了这一趋势。例如，北京拥有包括地铁在内的855公里的铁路系统，但只能覆盖800米半径内五分之一的通勤区域，城市的公交系统只能支持45分钟距离内30%的通勤人口。
【小词精讲】 boast
这个动词，词典上通常的解释是“夸耀”（后面有of）, 但在实际使用中常常用来作“拥有（某一值得夸耀之物，但不一定真的在夸耀）”解（后面无of，带直接宾语），是延续状态（第一类动词）而非瞬时动作。
【例如】Our school boasts a new gymnasium. 我们学校有一座新的体育馆。
The increasing commuting time highlights the dilemma of city dwellers in striking a work-life balance in an increasingly competitive environment. While many people have flocked to the suburbs to save on high rental costs, the arduous commutes have added more pressure.
通勤时间的增加凸显了城市居民在竞争日益激烈的环境中平衡工作与生活的两难境地。虽然许多人涌入郊区以节省高昂的租金，但麻烦的通勤增加了更多压力。
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highlight /'haɪlaɪt/ v.使…突出，使注意力集中于: to make a problem or subject easy to notice so that people pay attention to it，比如说：•Your resume should highlight your skills and achievements.你的简历应该突出自己的技能和成绩。
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dilemma /dɪ'lemə/ 进退两难的境地，困境:a situation in which it is very difficult to decide what to do, because all the choices seem equally good or equally bad，比如说：•a moral dilemma道德上进退两难的窘境•I'm in a dilemma about this job offer.对于是否接受这份工作我左右为难。
The report said that the younger demographic is in particularly dire straits, as over 40% of respondents who endured an “extreme commute” were under the age of 35. While Beijing had the highest proportion of people who commuted for an hour to work, Shenzhen had the lowest percentage among the four megacities taking such journeys.
该报告称，年轻人口的处境尤为艰难，因为超过40%忍受“极端通勤”的受访者年龄在35岁以下。虽然北京通勤一小时上班的人比例最高，但在四大城市中，深圳通勤一小时的人比例最低。
Shen said she was so exhausted by the commute during a three-month period that she moved in with her parents. She now rents an apartment within a 10-minute walk to her new company in Tianhe District.
民沈说，和父母一起住时的三个月的通勤时间让她筋疲力尽，她现在租了一套公寓，离她在天河区的新公司只有10分钟的步行路程。
“No one likes long commutes to work, but you need to endure them if you want more savings at the end of the month,” she said. “It’s all about money.”
“没有人喜欢长时间的通勤，但如果你想在月底有更多的储蓄，你就必须忍受，”她说。“都是钱的问题。”
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