VOA常速英语2007-Golden Gate Bridge Icon of Beauty, Death

By Liu Enming
San Francisco, California
12 October 2007
 

The Golden Gate Bridge -- the iconic gateway¹ to San Francisco Bay -- has withstood 70 years of rain and shine.  A marvel² of engineering, it is also sadly a site where people commit suicide by throwing themselves off its heights.  For Producer Liu Enming, VOA's Elaine Lu has the story.

At the entrance of the Golden Gate strait, where the Pacific Ocean meets the San Francisco Bay, sits the Golden Gate Bridge.  Stretching across the strait for more than 2,700 meters, the bridge connects San Francisco and Marin County. 

Mary Currie is the public affairs director for the Golden Gate Bridge. "Behind me is the Golden Gate Bridge," she explains, "which was built between 1933 and 1937.  At the time it was built it was the longest suspension span ever built.  Today it's ranked about seven or eight.  The main span, which is the span between the towers, was 4,200 feet [1,280 meters], making it the longest bridge ever built at its time."

San Francisco's residents love their city's world-famous landmark³.

Resident Peter Richards says, "The bridge is iconic, obviously.  It's something that identifies San Francisco as a place, and as a city on the Pacific Rim⁴.  For me, it's very important.  It's like a mountain to me.  I look for it when I am trying to locate myself in the city."

Yet for Nancy Langhofer, another resident, the bridge means something entirely⁵ different.  "This bridge is a cursed thing to me, it is a tragic⁶ symbol."

Since its completion in 1937, some 1,200 people have jumped to their deaths, giving the bridge a notoriety as a site for suicides.

Film director Eric Steel made a controversial documentary about the Golden Gate suicides.  In the 2006 film, called  "The Bridge", his cameras captured 23 of the 24 suicides in 2004.  "We show very compelling footage, we show how mysterious the bridge is, we show how beautiful it is, we show how easy it is to climb over the railing, we show how many people there are walking back and forth⁷ everyday."

Steven Post, who specializes in Feng Shui -- the ancient Chinese practice of placement and arrangement of space to achieve harmony with the environment -- has his own theories.  "One is its immense beauty and the drama of the long plunge⁸ into the ocean.  For a dramatic ending, it is certainly pre-eminent there.  But if we look at the bridge itself, its color, this international orange, it may be a bit of that as well."

Nancy Langhofer wants measures taken to prevent people from jumping off the bridge. "I am giving them (postcards) to people.  It says: 'demand a suicide barrier.'  It's been a long-time argument here in San Francisco about whether or not to install a suicide barrier on the bridge and a friend of mine committed suicide in 2004." 

The Board of Directors of the Golden Gate Bridge began exploring the possibility of building a barrier two years ago, but not everyone is in favor of the idea.

One resident, Diana, commented, "I don't think building a barrier to prevent that is going to help a lot.  It's just going to make it uglier.  Then people who are trying to jump over are just going to find other places."

Another person, when asked if he thought barriers should be built, said, "I personally do not.  I think the issue that has prevented the full completion of total-length suicide barriers, that the objection has been that it destroys the view, it destroys the experience of walking across the bridge."

But Nancy Langhofer replies, "There is a bridge in Canada that I know of, it has high incidents of suicides.  They put up a fence or some kind.  Why not do it here?  It's been here since 1937.  It's time."

Upon completion of the bridge, the chief engineer for the project, Joseph Strauss, wrote a poem called, "The Mighty⁹ Task is Done."  But it may be that more will be done to this monumental structure, 70 years after it was built.

1 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。

2 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

3 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

4 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

5 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

6 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

7 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

8 plunge   

v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲

参考例句：

• Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
• That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。

9 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。