正文文本

Alaer is a city that stands nearest to the Taklimakan Desert in northwest China.
It became a fully-fledged city in 2004 after undergoing decades of development and growth.
Many historical events have also taken place in this city.
"This route shows where Ban Chao had lived during his stay in the Western Regions. He was the first official been sent to Xinjiang and worked there. He was also an official who worked in Xinjiang for the longest time at that time."
This is Yang Xuewei, a guide at a local memorial hall.
She says her father Yang Hua relocated from Nanjing with her grandpa to settle in Alaer 60 years ago.
They were a part of a large group of people who moved from inland to Xinjiang to boost local development.
They searched for land suitable to settle on and plant cotton on either side of the Tarim River that runs through the desert.
Yang Hua says he has witnessed great changes over the years.
"Believe it or not, at that time, everything here lagged behind other places in the country's interior. There were cranes everywhere because of construction work. After fourteen years of development, Alaer is now considered as the center of Nanjiang area."

In 2011, construction work for a man-made ecological barrier started.
It's designed to stop encroaching deserts and combat climate change.
The so-called 'Great Green Wall' now stretches for 130 kilometers along the Taklimakan Desert.
The project has helped improve the local people's living conditions as most of them were living in shabby houses.
Zhang Xiaoting is a young woman born in the 1990s. She works in a local library.
After graduating from an inland university, she quit her job where she earned a salary of more than 10-thousand yuan a month and returned to Xinjiang.
She says more and more young people like her are returning to the region with the hope of making their hometown better.
"I think we should make contributions to our hometown as we have learned a lot. I have lived for a while in other places so I know what's going on in the world. However, many things that you can see in other places haven't been launched here, which is a great pity. This is also what I'm trying to do in the future."
As one of China's top cotton growing regions, Alaer is improving its transportation network, which includes highways and airports.
The local government is also making efforts to further its manufacturing and service industries.
For CRI, this is Guan Hao.

参考译文

新疆阿拉尔市是离中国西北部的塔克拉玛干沙漠最近的城市。
经过几十年的发展和成长，这座城市在2004年成为一个完备的城市。
该市也发生了许多历史事件。
“这条路线展示了班超在西域期间所居住的地方。他是第一个被派往新疆并在那里工作的官员。他也是当时在新疆工作时间最长的官员。”
这是当地纪念馆的讲解员杨雪薇的介绍。
她说，60年前，她的爷爷带着她爸爸杨华从南京搬到了阿拉尔定居。
他们是从内陆搬到新疆的大批人员之一，目的是促进当地发展。
他们寻找适合居住的土地，沿着塔里木河两岸种植棉花。
杨华说，他见证了多年来的巨大变化。
“不瞒你们说，那时候（这里）就只是个城市的雏形，跟内地一个乡一个镇都没法比。到处都是塔吊、到处都在搞建设。经过这14年的发展，现在（阿拉尔要）做南疆地理中心现在已经是初具规模了。”
2011年，阿拉尔启动了生态工程建设。
这项工程旨在阻止沙漠侵入和应对气候变化。
所谓的“大绿墙”现在沿着塔克拉玛干沙漠绵延130公里。
该项目帮助改善了当地人民的生活条件，因为他们大多数都住在简陋的房子里。
张晓婷是一名90后年轻女孩。她在当地图书馆工作。
从内地大学毕业后，她放弃月薪过万的工作岗位，重新回到新疆。
她说，越来越多像她这样的年轻人回到这个地区，希望能把把家乡建设得更好。
“我觉得我们学到了东西就应该去回报，去干一点自己能干的事。特别是我在外面待过，有很多在外面看到的东西，这边还没有去开展，还没有去落实，这时候我就可以把自己的（看到的、听到的一些）想法在今后的工作当中去实现。”
阿拉尔是中国最大的棉花种植区之一，现在该地区正在改善其交通网络，大力推进高速公路和机场建设。
当地政府也在努力推动其制造业和服务业的发展。
CRI新闻，关浩（音译）报道。

重点讲解

重点讲解：
1. take place （尤指在控制或组织下）发生，进行，举行；
As time passed by, changes began to take place in nature of things.
随着时间的推移，事情开始发生变化。
2. search for 搜寻；搜索；搜查；寻求；
But they have searched for new ways to be modern.
但它们一直在寻找现代化的新途径。
3. believe it or not （强调刚才所述之事令人吃惊）信不信由你；
Believe it or not, what I have told you is all true.
信不信由你，但我告诉你的都是事实。
4. lag behind 落后；赶不上；
Modesty helps one to go forward; conceit makes one lag behind.
虚心使人进步，骄傲使人落后。