又中又英｜Belts in the US

Most people in Hong Kong and the mainland know about China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a global infrastructure plan that links many countries. The US has so-called Belts too, such as the Rust Belt, Sun Belt, and Bible Belt that mostly Americans are familiar with. These are regions in the US, not infrastructure plans. There are 13 such Belts in the US. The Rust Belt is a politically important region during presidential elections. This region includes parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. The Rust Belt gets its name from the abandoned factories and urban decay after factory jobs were outsourced to places like China and Vietnam.

It used to be called the Steel Belt when factories thrived by producing steel and iron decades ago. It’s an important political region because states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin are among the seven swing states that mostly decide who is elected president. A swing state, as I explained previously, is a state where Republicans and Democrats have similar voter support. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will be slugging it out in the swing states. To slug it out means to fight, argue, or compete until one side wins.

The Sun Belt stretches across the entire southern part of the US, including California, Florida, and Texas where the weather is mostly sunny and warm. Unlike the Rust Belt, the Sun Belt is a thriving region. The Bible Belt, in the Southeastern US, gets its name from the Protestants and Evangelicals who dominate the region. Most of the Bible Belt states, such as Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana, strongly support the Republican Party.

香港和内地许多人都会知道中国的「一带一路」倡议——一个连系许多国家的全球基础设施发展计划。美国也有所谓的「带」，例如 Rust Belt、Sun Belt和Bible Belt，都是大多数美国人相当熟悉的。这些带却并非基建的计划，而是美国的不同地区。在美国，有十三条这样的「带」。The Rust Belt是锈带，为总统大选期间一个政治上很重要的地带。它包括了位于纽约、宾夕凡尼亚州、密芝根州以及威斯康辛州的部分地区。由于工厂工作都外包至中国及越南等地，以致出现废弃工厂以及城市衰落，「锈带」（Rust Belt）因而得名。

几十年前当它制造钢铁，工业发展相当兴旺之时，这个地区就曾被称为 the Steel Belt。它是一个重要的政治地区，因为像宾夕凡尼亚州、密芝根州和威斯康辛州这些州分，都是在七个摇摆州分（swing states）之中，大多决定由谁当选总统。正如我之前解释过的，swing state就是共和党和民主党的候选人在这些州分中有相近的票数支持。副总统贺锦丽和前总统唐纳德‧特朗普都将会在这些摇摆州分（swing states）中决一雌雄（slugging it out）。To slug it out 是指去对决、争拗或比并，直至分出胜负。

太阳带（Sun Belt）则于整个美国南部铺展开，它包括了加州、佛罗里达州及德萨斯州，当地天气多是阳光充沛及和暖。不像锈带（Rust Belt），太阳带（Sun Belt）是个繁荣的地带。位于美国东南部的圣经带（Bible Belt），则是由于基督新教及福音派教徒主宰这个地区而得名。大部分的圣经带（Bible Belt）州分，例如密西西比州、阿肯色州以及路易斯安那州，都是强烈支持共和党的。

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Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻