聽力訓練營第八期原文

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滬江

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滬江英語綠寶書之

托福第八期原文

Narrator:ListentoalectureinaU.S.historyclass.

Professor:Goodafternoon,class.TodayIwanttotalkalittleaboutsomethingthat'sdonemore,Ithink,toshapethelandscapeoftheUnitedStatesasitistodaythan,uh,well,probablymorethatjustaboutanyotherphenomenon:theInterstateHighwaySystem.TheInterstateSystemhasbeencalledthelargestpublicworksprojectinthehistoryofthecountry—maybeinthehistoryoftheworld—andit'sdefiniyoneoftheworld'sgreatengineeringwonders.Whenthe,uh,theCenturyHighwayinLosAngeleswascompletedin1993,itmarkedtheend—well,almosttheend,therewerestillsomebitsandpiecesthatweren'tfinished—butiteffectivelymarkedtheendofaforty-yearprojectthatcosthundredsofbillionsofdollars.

Okay,let'stakeatripbackintime;let'sgobacktotheearlypartofthetwentiethcentury.Let'ssayyou'vejustboughtabrand-newauto —maybeashinynewModelAFord.Here'syourproblem:youcandriveyourcararoundthecity,butifyouwanttogofromcitytocity,therearenoroadstospeakof.Whentheweatherisbad,well,peoplejokeaboutlosingauto sinthemud.Infact,inmanyces,roadsareprobablyworsethantheywereahundredyearsbefore.Anyoneguesswhy?No?Okay,rememberacoupleofweeksago,wetalkedabouthow,aftertheCivilWar,therailroadbecamedominant,thedominantformoftransportation?Doesthatringa

bell?So,whatwasoneofthesideeffectsofthis?Theroadsmeantforhorses,forcarts,forcarriages,theseallfellintodisrepairbecause—well,becausepassengersandgoodsallmovedbyrailroad.Therewasnoreasontomaintainroads.Anyway,you'vegottheseterribleroads,nowayto...togetfromcetoce,sowhatdoyoumotoristsdo?Youorganize,youformgroups,andthenyouask,youdemandthattheernmentbuildroads.Thesegroupsofmotoristswentbyalotofdifferentnames,dependingonwheretheywere,butcollectively,theywereknownastheBetterRoadsMovement.Andtheernmentresponded.Itrespondedslowly,butitresponded.Roadswerebuilt,butitwouldbeyears,manyyearsbeforetherewasacomprehensivehighwaysystem.Okay,let'smoveaheadintimeafewyears.It's1919,andayoungarmyofficer,whosenameisDwightDavidEisenhower,isorderedtoleadamilitaryconvoyoftrucksandmotorcyclesacrossthecountry,fromWashington,D.C.,toSanFrancisco,California.He'sorderedtogetthereassoonaspossible.Ittakeshim...youmightfindthishardtobelieve,butittookhimsixty-twodays.Sixty-twodays!

Okay,nowit'sthe1930s...thetimeoftheGreatDepression,asIknowyou'llremember,andtherearemillionsofunemployedworkers—millions—andRooseveltputssomeofthemtoworkonpublicworksprojects.Theseprojectsincluderoadbuilding.In1938,thefirst"superhighway"opens.It'scalledthePennsylvaniaTurnpike.Youmayhavetraveledonityourselfandnotfoundit...well,notfounditallthatexciting.However,atthetimeitopened,itwasknownas"thedreamroad."Thisfour-lanehighwaybecameamodelforthehighwaysofthefuture.

So...afterWorldWarII,theUnitedStatesreallyandtrulyenterstheauto age.By1950,thereareover50millionvehiclesontheroad.In1954,DwightDavidEisenhower—he'stheoftheUnitedStatesbynow—heproposesasystemofsuperhighways.ThissystemwouldbasicallyconnectallofthemajorcitiesintheUnitedStates.Ofcourse,Eisenhowerhasbeeninterestedinroadsforalongtime.Thereweretwoeventsthat...twomajoreventsinhislifethatinfluencedthewayhethinksabouthighways.Oneishiswartimeexperience.HewascommanderoftheAlliedsinEuropeduringWorldWarII,andhesaw,uh,theadvantagethattheefficientGermanautobahnsystem—theGermansuperhighwaysystem—hesawtheadvantagethisgaveGermanyduringthewar.Theotherevent?It'sthatlong,hardtriphetookacrossthecountrybackin1919.

So,in1956CongresspassestheFederalHighwayAct,andthefirstsectionoftheInterstatesystemisbuiltinKansas—Eisenhower'shomestate.Thesystemissupposedtobecompletedby1972,butit'snotfinished,asIsaid,untilthe1990's.

TheInterstateHighwaySystemhashadjusta...justanenormousimpactonlifeintheUnitedStates.It'screatedmillionsofjobs.It'sprovidedanincrediblyefficientsystemformovingpeopleandtransportinggoodsaroundthecountry—andbecauseofthat,it'scontributedtothedeclineoftherailroads.Becauseofthesafetyfactorsthatwerebuiltintothesystem,it'sprobablysavedthousandsoflives.It'shelpedcreatethesuburbsthatsurroundeveryU.S.city.Now,it'strue,thereweresuburbsbeforetherewereInterstatehighways,buttheInterstatesystemhashelpedacceleratetheirgrowthbecause...well,it'sjustsoeasytotravelfromsuburbto

centralcity.

Nowdon'tgetmewrong—notalltheeffectsofthissuperhighwaysystemhavebeen,well,positive,especiallyinurbanareas.Therehavebeenwholeneighborhoodsdestroyedtomakewayforroads.JustinSeattle,forexample,thousandsofhomesweredestroyedtomakewayforInterstate5.Wholeneighborhoodswere...well,itwaslikehavingariver,aconcreteriver,ariveroftrafficcutthroughaneighborhood,orcutofffromotherneighborhoods.Therewasopposition,thereweres.InBostonin1966,ananti-highwaygroupsuccessfullyblockedthebuildingofahighwaycalledtheInnerBelt.Anothergroupstoppedthebuilding