TED演讲:为何闪亮的玻璃高楼对城市生活有害(5)_在线英语听力室

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Now, I'm not against glass. It's an ancient and versatile¹ material. 我并不是反对使用玻璃。玻璃毕竟是一种古老且通用性强的材料。

It's easy to manufacture and transport and install and replace and clean. 它们易于大量生产、运输、安装、替换和清洁。

It comes in everything from enormous, ultraclear sheets to translucent² bricks. 无论是巨大的超洁净面板还是简单的透明砖，都有玻璃的存在。

New coatings make it change mood in the shifting light. 新式涂层能够让它们在光照的变化中变换色调。

In expensive cities like New York, it has the magical power of being able to multiply real estate values by allowing views, 在像纽约这样的高消费城市，玻璃拥有神奇的能力，通过扩大视觉空间使房地产价格轻松翻倍，

which is really the only commodity that developers have to offer to justify³ those surreal prices. 而玻璃也是开发商唯一能够用来对离奇高的地产价格做出解释的理由。

In the middle of the 19th century, with the construction of the Crystal Palace in London, 在19世纪中期，伴随着伦敦水晶宫的建成，

glass leapt to the top of the list of quintessentially modern substances. 玻璃一跃到了标准现代化材料清单的榜首。

By the mid-20th century, it had come to dominate the downtowns of some American cities, 到了20世纪中期，玻璃主导了美国部分城市的市中心，

largely through some really spectacular office buildings like Lever House in midtown Manhattan, 主要通过这些壮观的写字楼，像是在曼哈顿的利华大厦，

designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. Eventually, the technology advanced to the point 由Skidmore、Owings和Merrill三人设计的。直到最后，科技进步到达了一种

where architects could design structures so transparent⁴ they practically disappear. 使建筑师们能够让设计结构透明到看不见的地步。

And along the way, glass became the default material of the high-rise city, and there's a very powerful reason for that. 在这个过程中，玻璃成为了高楼耸立的城市中的默认材料，其实这些改变的背后有着强大的理由来支持。

Because as the world's populations converge⁵ on cities, the least fortunate pack into jerry-built shantytowns. 因为世界人口都聚集于城市之中，最穷的那批人会住进偷工减料建造的棚户区当中。

But hundreds of millions of people need apartments and places to work in ever-larger buildings, 而数以亿计的人还是会需要越来越高大的公寓和办公楼，

so it makes economic sense to put up towers and wrap them in cheap and practical curtain walls. 所以从经济角度考虑，建立高塔并用便宜且实用的玻璃帘幕作为墙壁的举措，是完全合理的。

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收听单词发音

1 versatile
adj.通用的，万用的；多才多艺的，多方面的
参考例句：
A versatile person is often good at a number of different things.多才多艺的人通常擅长许多种不同的事情。 He had been one of the game's most versatile athletes.他是这项运动中技术最全面的运动员之一。

2 translucent
adj.半透明的；透明的
参考例句：
The building is roofed entirely with translucent corrugated plastic.这座建筑完全用半透明瓦楞塑料封顶。 A small difference between them will render the composite translucent.微小的差别,也会使复合材料变成半透明。

3 justify
vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护
参考例句：
He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。 Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

4 transparent
adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的
参考例句：
The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。 The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

5 converge
vi.会合；聚集，集中；(思想、观点等)趋近
参考例句：
The results converge towards this truth.其结果趋近于这个真理。 Parallel lines converge at infinity.平行线永不相交。

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TED演讲:为何闪亮的玻璃高楼对城市生活有害(5)