雙語：英語難道不是美國的官方語言？

　　美國共和黨眾議員Steve King和參議員Jim Inhofe最近提案(the English Language Unity Act of 2011)，要將英語定為美國政府的官方工作語言。

　　Two conservative Republican lawmakers, Congressman Steve King(R-Iowa) and Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla。)， introduced the EnglishLanguage Unity Act of 2011 on Friday, a bill that requires that allofficial United States government functions be conducted in English。

　　美國共和黨眾議員Steve King和參議員Jim Inhofe最近提案(the English Language Unity Act of 2011)，要將英語定為美國政府的官方工作語言。

　　"A common language is the most powerful unifying force knownthroughout history," King said in a release. "We need to encourageassimilation of all legal immigrants in each generation. A nationdivided by language cannot pull together as effectively as a people."

　　King說：「歷史上擁有最強的凝聚力的無疑就是統一的語言，我們要促進合法移民儘快融入美國社會。一個語言眾多紛亂的國家無法團結一致。」

　　Added Inhofe: "This legislation will provide much-neededcommonality among United States citizens, regardless of heritage. As anation built by immigrants, it is important that we share one vision andone official language."

　　Inhofe補充道：「這項立案將在不同文化背景的美國公民間建立起共通性。美國這樣擁有很多移民的國家，更加需要一種統一的官方語言和目標。」

　　In response to the measure, Democratic Rep. Jose Serrano of NewYork addressed reporters in Spanish Friday, asking them, "como esta?"(That"s Spanish for "how are you?") He said the bill reflects anon-issue that nonetheless comes up every once in a while。

　　紐約的民主黨眾議員Jose Serrano唱起了反調，在周五的記者會上用西班牙語向大家問好。他說這項議案完全毫無意義，而這種東西每隔一段時間就會有人拿出來炒冷飯。

　　Serrano added that while it"s natural for grandparents speakSpanish, second generations are completely bilingual. With the thirdgeneration, he said, the grandmother is always complaining about thekids" Spanish and why they don"t play soccer。

　　Serrano說上一輩的移民或許只會講西班牙語，但年輕一代差不多都是講雙語的。上一輩的人會對年輕人糟糕的西班牙語表示不滿，不明白他們為什麼不玩足球，不沿襲自己的傳統。

　　According to the advocacy group U.S. English, Inc., more than 700members of Congress have co-sponsored or voted for measures on makingEnglish the official U.S. government language dating back to 1981. TheEnglish Language Unity Act attracted 140 co-sponsors when introduced inthe last Congress。

　　倡導學英語的組織U.S. English, Inc。統計表明，自1981年起，有超過700名國會成員參與共同提案或同意將英語定為美國的官方語言。上一次同樣的議案在國會贏得了140人的共同提案。

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