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Welcome to This Is America from VOA Learning English. I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

And I’m Mario Ritter. Today we talk about the city of Boston, Massachusetts. Boston has been in the news recently because of the two bombs that exploded during the Boston Marathon on April15. Boston is also a popular place for visitors from the United States and around the world—partly because the city played an important role in American history.

Three people died and more than 260 people were hurt at the Boston Marathon bombings. Some of the most seriously injured victims have already said they want to run again. Boston also wants to make sure that travelers keep coming to the city.

Jason Clampet is one of the founders of a company called Skift. Skift studies the travel industry. Mr. Clampet says some travel agencies had to cancel trips to Boston after the bombings. He says no one knew what was happening between the Monday when the bombs exploded and the Friday when the second suspect was captured alive.

“SoI think everybody who was planning a trip hit the pause button.”

Mr. Clampet says that in recent weeks, travel to the city has returned to normal. He says one reason is because transportation networks and hotels were not seriously affected. The Boston bombings did not have as big an effect as the September11, 2001 attacks in New York City or Hurricane Katrina in 2005 in New Orleans.

Welcome to This Is America from VOA Learning English. I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

And I’m Mario Ritter. Today we talk about the city of Boston, Massachusetts. Boston has been in the news recently because of the two bombs that exploded during the Boston Marathon on April15. Boston is also a popular place for visitors from the United States and around the world—partly because the city played an important role in American history.

Three people died and more than260 people were hurt at the Boston Marathon bombings. Some of the most seriously injured victims have already said they want to run again. Boston also wants to make sure that travelers keep coming to the city.

Jason Clampet is one of the founders of a company called Skift. Skift studies the travel industry. Mr. Clampet says some travel agencies had to cancel trips to Boston after the bombings. He says no one knew what was happening between the Monday when the bombs exploded and the Friday when the second suspect was captured alive.

“SoI think everybody who was planning a trip hit the pause button.”

Mr. Clampet says that in recent weeks, travel to the city has returned to normal. He says one reason is because transportation networks and hotels were not seriously affected. The Boston bombings did not have as big an effect as the September11, 2001 attacks in New York City or Hurricane Katrina in 2005 in New Orleans.

One of his grandsons became a senator from Massachusetts. Then, in 1960, that grandson was elected the 35th president of the United States. His name was John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

“And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”

Boston’s Mix of People Help Gives Life to the City

The population of Boston has been changing. The city's Hispanic and Asian populations have grown. Boston also has a large African-American population.

Black people began to move therein large numbers from the Southern states after World War One ended in 1918. Many African-Americans and Hispanics live in Roxbury, in the center of the city.

Non-Hispanic whites are no longer a majority in Boston. But leaders of other groups say white Bostonians still control the city.

The racial and ethnic mixture of people in Boston helps give life to the city. But it has also caused deep divisions over the years.

In 1974, a federal judge ruled that Boston school officials had illegally separated students by race. The judge ordered the city to transport students to different schools to create a balance between blacks and whites.

Many white parents protested. Some threw rocks at buses that carried black students to white schools.

A new transportation plan will start in 2014. Many more students will go to school closer to their homes. But some parents still criticize the new plan. Efforts at racial balance have failed. Many white families moved their children to private schools. Or the families moved out of the city. Today only about13 percent of the students in the Boston public schools are white. Most of the students are Hispanic or black, and three-fourths of them are poor.

As the capital city in Massachusetts, Boston was at the center of another civil rights issue. In 2004, Massachusetts became the first American state to permit same-sex marriage. Some people compared the measure to an act of rebellion that is one of the best known events in Boston-- and American-- history.

That event happened in 1773. Colonists dressed as Indians threw shiploads of British tea into Boston Harbor. They were protesting British taxes. The protest is known as the Boston Tea Party.

Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson. I’m Mario Ritter.

And I’m Kelly Jean Kelly. Join us again next week for This Is America from VOA Learning English.

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（来源：VOA 编辑：Julie）