美国国家公共电台 NPR--Quirky roadside attractions bring small town pride

Quirky roadside attractions bring small town pride

Transcript¹

For small towns with dwindling² populations and shrinking tax bases, luring³ travelers to stop and spend a few dollars is a matter of survival. Some turn to quirky roadside tourist attractions.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

There's a line in the movie "Vacation." Chevy Chase is driving his family across the country, and he promises that just in 4 hours they're going to see the world's second-largest ball of twine⁴. The movie is fiction, but attractions like that are real. Here's David Condos of Kansas News Service.

DAVID CONDOS, BYLINE⁵: The rural Midwest doesn't have all the natural wonders that can attract tourists to other parts of the country, like oceans, for instance. So to stand out, some towns in Kansas try to manufacture their own larger-than-life wonders.

ERIKA NELSON: We've got the world's largest prairie dog in Oakley and the world's largest cow hairball in Garden City. Hutchinson has the world's largest grain elevator.

CONDOS: In the small town of Lucas, artist Erika Nelson displays her shrine⁶ to roadside attractions that bill themselves as the world's largest. And for those, Middle America is a bit of a hotspot. Five years ago, she opened her own roadside attraction - this collection of nearly 250 miniature giants, aptly named "The World's Largest Collection Of The World's Smallest Versions Of The World's Largest Things." It even has its own theme song.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG)

UNIDENTIFIED SINGER: (Singing) The world's largest collection of the world's smallest versions of the world's largest things and roadside attractions.

CONDOS: No matter how kitschy, these curiosities offer real boosts to rural economies. They also give communities something to rally around and a feeling that their town, no matter how overlooked, deserves a nod from the outside world. A classic example sits one hour north in Cawker City, where thousands of visitors come each year to see the world's largest ball of twine.

LINDA CLOVER: You do what you can with what you have, and we have a ball of twine.

CONDOS: That's Linda Clover, the site's caretaker and self-proclaimed belle⁷ of the ball. This ball got rolling in 1953 when a farmer didn't know what else to do with leftover⁸ twine from hay bales. Today, the twine wrapped around this ball would be long enough to stretch from here to New York City. It weighs nearly 14 tons and is roughly the size of a shuttle bus. And each time, she helps a new traveler add their own piece to it, the ball and its fame grow a little bit bigger.

CLOVER: And you have made the ball the biggest it's ever been. You have set a world record. People love that.

CONDOS: Clover pulls out the ball's guest book and rattles⁹ off dozens of far-flung places tourists have come from - California, Florida, Italy - just in the past day or two. And while it might seem, well, unconventional to have a twine ball as your town's claim to fame, Clover says most residents are grateful that it puts them on the map.

CLOVER: It makes them feel good that the world is interested. We all kind of like to think about - that somebody cares about us.

CONDOS: It's a similar story across the country. You have the largest peanut in Georgia, largest pistachio in New Mexico and largest ketchup¹⁰ bottle in Illinois. Cheryl Hargrove, a cultural heritage tourism expert, says a site that gets tourists to pull over and spend a few dollars at the gas station or diner can make a big difference for a small town's economy.

CHERYL HARGROVE: It is having something that does make you different, something that makes you distinctive¹¹ and, you know, worth a detour¹².

CONDOS: But the significance goes beyond dollars and cents. Artist Erika Nelson says these attractions resonate with rural Midwesterners because they're a way to show pride in accomplishing something big and unexpected in an often-overlooked place. It sends a message that there is much more to the story of places like rural Kansas. And that message isn't just aimed at tourists.

NELSON: Continually telling your story to outsiders means that you're reminding yourself of why you built it. You're reminding yourself that this is something special.

CONDOS: And rural Kansas isn't done telling that story just yet. Abilene, a cattle drive town east of here, just announced plans to build - wait for it - the world's largest belt buckle¹³.

For NPR News, I'm David Condos in Lucas, Kan.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ROAD TRIPPIN'")

RED HOT CHILI¹⁴ PEPPERS: (Singing) Road-tripping with my two favorite allies. Fully¹⁵ loaded - we got...

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 dwindling   

adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The number of wild animals on the earth is dwindling. 地球上野生动物的数量正日渐减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority. 他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。 来自辞典例句

3 luring   

吸引，引诱（lure的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Cheese is very good for luring a mouse into a trap. 奶酪是引诱老鼠上钩的极好的东西。
• Her training warned her of peril and of the wrong, subtle, mysterious, luring. 她的教养警告她：有危险，要出错儿，这是微妙、神秘而又诱人的。

4 twine   

v.搓，织，编饰；（使）缠绕

参考例句：

• He tied the parcel with twine.他用细绳捆包裹。
• Their cardboard boxes were wrapped and tied neatly with waxed twine.他们的纸板盒用蜡线扎得整整齐齐。

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 shrine   

n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣

参考例句：

• The shrine was an object of pilgrimage.这处圣地是人们朝圣的目的地。
• They bowed down before the shrine.他们在神龛前鞠躬示敬。

7 belle   

n.靓女

参考例句：

• She was the belle of her Sunday School class.在主日学校她是她们班的班花。
• She was the belle of the ball.她是那个舞会中的美女。

8 leftover   

n.剩货，残留物，剩饭；adj.残余的

参考例句：

• These narrow roads are a leftover from the days of horse-drawn carriages.这些小道是从马车时代沿用下来的。
• Wonder if that bakery lets us take leftover home.不知道那家糕饼店会不会让我们把卖剩的带回家。

9 rattles   

（使）发出格格的响声， （使）作嘎嘎声( rattle的第三人称单数 )； 喋喋不休地说话； 迅速而嘎嘎作响地移动，堕下或走动； 使紧张，使恐惧

参考例句：

• It rattles the windowpane and sends the dog scratching to get under the bed. 它把窗玻璃震得格格作响，把狗吓得往床底下钻。
• How thin it is, and how dainty and frail; and how it rattles. 你看它够多么薄，多么精致，多么不结实；还老那么哗楞哗楞地响。

10 ketchup   

n.蕃茄酱，蕃茄沙司

参考例句：

• There's a spot of ketchup on the tablecloth.桌布上有一点番茄酱的渍斑。
• Could I have some ketchup and napkins,please?请给我一些番茄酱和纸手巾？

11 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

12 detour   

n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道

参考例句：

• We made a detour to avoid the heavy traffic.我们绕道走，避开繁忙的交通。
• He did not take the direct route to his home,but made a detour around the outskirts of the city.他没有直接回家，而是绕到市郊兜了个圈子。

13 buckle   

n.扣子，带扣；v.把...扣住，由于压力而弯曲

参考例句：

• The two ends buckle at the back.带子两端在背后扣起来。
• She found it hard to buckle down.她很难专心做一件事情。

14 chili   

n.辣椒

参考例句：

• He helped himself to another two small spoonfuls of chili oil.他自己下手又加了两小勺辣椒油。
• It has chocolate,chili,and other spices.有巧克力粉，辣椒，和其他的调味品。

15 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。