美国国家公共电台 NPR Muscovites Protest Mayor's Plans to Demolish Their Homes

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

In Russia, one of the most enduring legacies¹ of Communist rule is a housing stock that was often hastily built, long-neglected and now falling into various stages of dilapidation². Earlier this year, Moscow's mayor, who's a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, announced an ambitious plan to knock down thousands of shabby apartment blocks and resettle up to a million people.

As NPR's Lucian Kim found out, not all Muscovites are welcoming the demolition³ plan which the city is euphemistically calling a renovation⁴ program.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: (Laughter).

LUCIAN KIM, BYLINE⁵: When Anna Sazonkina and her husband bought their apartment in north Moscow last August, they thought they'd finally found a home where they could raise their four boys, aged⁶ 4 months to 14 years.

ANNA SAZONKINA: We were so happy, really, and it was in a good - this flat is very - in a very good condition. We didn't need to reconstruct something. It looked like it was built especially for our family - very comfortable for all members of our family.

KIM: The modest three-bedroom apartment is on the third floor of a five-story brick building constructed in the 1960s, of which there are thousands in Moscow and across Russia. Sazonkina, a professional musician, loves her leafy courtyard, the nearby school and the fact her mother lives a 10-minute walk away.

But now her building is on a list of more than 4,000 buildings the city wants to tear down to make way for modern apartment towers. Sazonkina says most of her neighbors will vote for the resettlement in a survey taken by the city, yet she feels her constitutional rights as a property owner are being violated because she's not being given a real choice.

SAZONKINA: (Speaking Russian).

KIM: "I believe they'll make my life hell and squeeze us out eventually," Sazonkina says, "but my civic⁷ conscience won't allow me to vote for it." Sazonkina is not alone. Other homeowners are venting⁸ their anger in online groups and holding rallies against the planned demolitions⁹.

They don't believe the mayor's promise they'll get to stay in their districts and receive apartments the same size as their old ones. And they doubt the quality of the new buildings and worry that Moscow will become a concrete jungle of 20-story high-rises. Most of all, they don't like being treated like sheep led to slaughter¹⁰, as Sazonkina puts it.

(CROSSTALK)

KIM: Earlier this month, incensed¹¹ homeowners gathered for a grassroots seminar on how to defend their rights. The organizer was Yuliya Galyamina, a linguist¹² turned civic activist¹³, who says the real reason for the mass resettlement program is to revive the Moscow real estate market which has been battered¹⁴ by Russia's economic downturn.

YULIYA GALYAMINA: (Speaking Russian).

KIM: Galyamina says, "President Vladimir Putin's friends came up with the demolition plan because they see their own people as a source of income." Sergei Zverev smiles when he hears Galyamina's accusations¹⁵. He's the head of the construction committee in the city assembly and a member of Putin's party.

SERGEI ZVEREV: (Speaking Russian).

KIM: "Of course we can blame everything bad on our president," says Zverev, "but we should recognize that he supports our idea." Zverev says most Muscovites affected¹⁶ by the program prefer new housing. Many of the old buildings have wooden beams, ancient plumbing¹⁷ and tiny kitchens and bathrooms.

The city insists that nobody has to worry about being sent to another neighborhood and those who don't want new apartments will get financial compensation. Homeowners like Sazonkina don't believe it. Just by being on the list of condemned¹⁸ buildings, the value of her property has already dropped. The city begins pulling residents this week. And in July, the Russian Parliament is set to pass a bill enshrining Moscow's demolition program into law.

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting in Russian).

KIM: Sazonkina says she's never gone to a rally in her life, but yesterday, she joined thousands of Muscovites who packed a central thoroughfare chanting hands off Moscow. She says she was encouraged to see so many like-minded citizens and is ready to go back on the street to defend her home. Lucian Kim, NPR News, Moscow.

1 legacies   

n.遗产( legacy的名词复数 )；遗留之物；遗留问题；后遗症

参考例句：

• Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind. 书是伟大的天才留给人类的精神财富。 来自辞典例句
• General legacies are subject to the same principles as demonstrative legacies. 一般的遗赠要与指定数目的遗赠遵循同样的原则。 来自辞典例句

2 dilapidation   

n.倒塌；毁坏

参考例句：

• Yet all this was apart from any extraordinary dilapidation.特别破落的样子倒也找不出。
• The farmhouse had fallen into a state of dilapidation.农舍落到了破败的境地。

3 demolition   

n.破坏,毁坏,毁坏之遗迹

参考例句：

• The church has been threatened with demolition for years. 这座教堂多年来一直面临拆毀的威胁。
• The project required the total demolition of the old bridge. 该项目要求将老桥完全拆毁。

4 renovation   

n.革新，整修

参考例句：

• The cinema will reopen next week after the renovation.电影院修缮后，将于下星期开业。
• The building has undergone major renovation.这座大楼已进行大整修。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

7 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

8 venting   

消除； 泄去； 排去； 通风

参考例句：

• But, unexpectedly, he started venting his spleen on her. 哪知道，老头子说着说着绕到她身上来。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• So now he's venting his anger on me. 哦，我这才知道原来还是怄我的气。

9 demolitions   

n.毁坏，破坏，拆毁( demolition的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Randy Couture as Toll Road, an Expendable and demolitions expert. 大卫·萨亚斯饰演加尔扎将军，邪恶的独裁者。 来自互联网
• Allied Demolitions upgrade moved one slot to the left on the Allied HQ UI. 盟军的爆破升级在指挥部界面中左移一格（由于现在没钳子升级了，所以填钳子的位置）。 来自互联网

10 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

11 incensed   

盛怒的

参考例句：

• The decision incensed the workforce. 这个决定激怒了劳工大众。
• They were incensed at the decision. 他们被这个决定激怒了。

12 linguist   

n.语言学家；精通数种外国语言者

参考例句：

• I used to be a linguist till I become a writer.过去我是个语言学家，后来成了作家。
• Professor Cui has a high reputation as a linguist.崔教授作为语言学家名声很高。

13 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

14 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

15 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

16 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

17 plumbing   

n.水管装置；水暖工的工作；管道工程v.用铅锤测量（plumb的现在分词）；探究

参考例句：

• She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche. 她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。
• They're going to have to put in new plumbing. 他们将需要安装新的水管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。