【英语趣味课堂】默加-Mega

Paul: Goron: Hello, my name is Goron. I’m from Italy.

 

Win: My name is Win. I’m from Vietnam.

 

Michael: My name is Michael. I’m from Norway.

 

Goron: So today, we’re going to discuss about mega cities. So do you have mega cities in your countries?

 

Win: Well, Vietnam is still a developing country, but we have several big city. The city I’m from, Ho Chi Minh City is – I think it’s the biggest city in Vietnam. And we have people flocking¹ from the countryside to the city every year. And the population keeps growing but infrastructure² is not capable³ of keeping up with the population, so we kind of have some problem right there.

 

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Michael: No. Norway does not have any mega city. But even so, we have problems with infrastructure. We have a huge car queues but they’re actually right now, they are doing everything they can to develop that infrastructure. And most of our capital, Oslo, is actually planned – well, it plans for the roads to all be sub-terrestrial.

 

Goron: Okay. In Italy, the biggest city is Rome. It’s a really ancient city, as you know. And so for this reason, it was built for horses, for a really small amount of people, not five million as, I think, we have today.

 

So the biggest problem in Rome is the traffic jam. Sometimes, it could be terrible, terrible. You can be stuck in the traffic for hours. And you just start to think, “Oh well, I want to get out of here.”

 

Michael: Have you – do you have any kinds of rules or like there’s days, specific days where you cannot drive if your sign has this specific number or something like that?

 

Goron: They tried to do that, but the drivers in Rome are really famous. They didn’t follow the rules. It’s really hard to have a car incident there. They’re driving like crazy. They are really stressed out about traffic jam and so they’re screaming. They’re horning? So it could be stressful.

 

Win: Does the government try to renovate⁴ infrastructure of the city?

 

Goron: The problem is like it’s really interesting because when they’re trying to dig into Rome, they find something, some monuments or something that’s from the Roman Empire. And they have to stop everything. So they cannot just destroy, you know, the columns⁵ or that they maybe, they find some new houses under the ground, then the…

 

Michael: Or catacombs.

 

Goron: Catacombs, yeah. So really, it’s – and so this one, it’s really difficult to dig into Rome and build new metros⁶ for example.

 

Michael: So maybe for Italy, it would be better to create like a new capital, like political capital like in Brazil where they have Brasilia which was specifically⁷ built only for the politicians.

 

Goron: It will be much better to move the capital of Milan actually. I think that, but it’s too much history in Rome to just say, “Oh well, let’s move it out somewhere else.”

 

Win: I mean, I think…

 

Michael: Would you say that urbanization is a problem in Rome that more and more people are coming to Rome from other places? And what would you think is the reason for that?

 

Goron: Not really. It was a problem some decades ago, but not now. Not really. If you can avoid the big city, you do. But as we know, the biggest opportunities that you have for work, for everything are in the big cities. So this is the main reason.

 

[End of Transcript]

 

重点词汇：

 

infrastructure

 

Infrastructure is not capable of keeping up.

 

Infrastructure refers to things like roads and bridges. Notice the following:

 

The city should spend more on infrastructure.

Japan has great infrastructure.

keep up

 

We could not keep up.

 

When you keep up with something, you maintain⁸ the same pace as others. Notice the following:

 

She is having trouble keeping up in class.

I cannot keep up with all these software updates.

queue

 

We have huge car queues.

 

A queue is a line of something waiting to move forward. Notice the following:

 

The cars all sat in a queue.

There was a queue to get into the nightclub.

sub-terrestial

 

It plans for the roads to all be sub-terrestrial.

 

Sub-terrstial means below ground or underground. Notice the following:

 

The roads are sub-terrestrial.

Most water pipes are sub-terrestrial.

follow the rules

 

They didn’t follow the rules.

 

When you follow the rules, you do what the rules say can be done. Notice the following:

 

When playing a game, you must follow the rules.

Good drivers follow the rules of the road.

urbanization

 

Urbanization is a problem in Rome.

 

Urbanization is when people move from the countryside to the cities. Notice the following:

 

The country is dealing⁹ with urbanization.

We have urbanization because young people move to the city for work.

1 flocking   

n.羊毛屑，棉屑，植绒花纹v.群集，成群结队而行( flock的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Firms are flocking after the government's offer of money to help them move to areas needing industry. 许多公司都想得到政府提供的旨在帮助他们迁向需要工业的地区的资助。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mournful fancies came flocking on her mind, in crowds. 悲伤的幻想便纷纷涌上她的心头。 来自辞典例句

2 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

3 capable   

adj.有能力的，有才能的

参考例句：

• The new woman secretary was extremely clever and capable.这位新来的女秘书很是精明强干。
• Jim is capable at sports.吉姆擅长运动。

4 renovate   

vt.更新，革新，刷新

参考例句：

• The couple spent thousands renovating the house.这对夫妇花了几千元来翻新房子。
• They are going to renovate the old furniture.他们准备将旧家具整修一番。

5 columns   

n.柱( column的名词复数 )；纵队；栏；（舰队的）纵列

参考例句：

• The temple is supported by marble columns. 这座庙宇由大理石柱支撑。
• There are two columns on each page of this dictionary. 这本词典每一页有两栏。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 metros   

n.地下铁路( metro的名词复数 )；（尤指）巴黎地铁

参考例句：

• The map says the highest peak in this vicinity is 1500 metros. 地图显示附近最高点是1500米。 来自互联网
• Cuando estaba en el equipo de atletismo, siempre corría 400 metros. 我在田径队时，总是跑400米。 来自互联网

7 specifically   

adv.明确地，具体地；特别地，特意

参考例句：

• The book was written specifically for children.这本书是特地为儿童编写的。
• I told you specifically not to do that.我明确地告诉你不要那样做。

8 maintain   

vt.支撑；赡养，抚养；维持，保有

参考例句：

• He has to maintain a large family on a small salary.他不得不依靠很少的工资养活一家人。
• We must do our best to maintain sales at their usual rate.我们要尽力使销售额保持在平日的水平上。

9 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。