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Billionaire Toys
Bruce Zaccagnino might look like a grown-up, but he’s really a kid at heart, and toy trains have been his passion since he was a kid. Bruce is a software developer, who’s made millions. And that’s just what it took to build this 1)extravagant1 2)monument to a child’s fantasy...nine million dollars, to be exact. That’s more than a million per mile of track. Yes, that means there’s nearly nine miles of track here. It’s all part of Bruce’s belief that size does matter, at least when it comes to toy trains. And the secret is, they don’t come any bigger than this. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Bruce’s personal play set, known as Northlands, is the world’s largest model railway.
Bruce: Welcome to Northlands.
Visitor: Thank you.
Northlands is Bruce’s creation. It’s hidden just an hour outside of New York City, in the New Jersey2 suburbs.
Bruce: People 3)liken us to Disney World. We’ve had tens of thousands that will call us a wonder of the world.
…Passion, love and 4)enthusiasm...
In 1996, he went public with his railway collection. Over 1500 people a week now 5)pilgrimage to this miniature 6)mecca. 7)Rod Stewart has been here. So has 8)Patricia Arquette. Even the most 9)skeptical3 10)gawkers are 11)overwhelmed.
Train Enthusiast4: If you look at something of this 12)magnitude, and I mean you...you can’t even 13)comprehend the hours that must have gone into construction. This is unbelievable and so huge.
Bruce: We have about 40,000 feet of track, that the trains run on all throughout the complex.
In case you’re wondering, 40,000 feet is equal to more than half the length of Manhattan. And here’s another secret. Bruce’s homemade mountain range is taller than a three story building. It takes the space the size of a football field to hold all these trees, tracks and trains. Uncovering every mysterious corner of this 52,000 square foot building can take hours. And don’t forget your 14)sneakers, because to see it all, is over a mile’s worth of walking.
Going deeper into Northlands is a little like time travel. A Civil War battle rages only inches from a 15)sprawling5 16)metropolis6. There’s more than 115 trains 17)chugging through this landscape of abandoned mining towns, 18)industrial complexes, farms, and fast food outlets7.
So where did this 19)eccentric billionaire get the 20)props for his 21)wacky rail world?
Bruce: Ninety-five percent of this is my work. All the design is my work. I designed it, and that’s basically it. Even though it looks complete, there’s fifteen years of work ahead of me yet.
Make that fifteen years and another four million dollars. But that doesn’t concern this overgrown kid, who doesn’t believe in pinching pennies when it comes to the thing he loves most.
Bruce: The 22)essence to a good life is to give, and, you know, give of your talents. I’m able to do this. You’ve got to give it to the world. The bottom line is to 23)tweak the mind, inspire the mind, uh...and to entertain.
注释：
1) extravagant [ik5strAvE^Ent] a. 奢侈的
2) monument [5mRnjumEnt] n. 杰出的典范；纪念碑
3) liken [5laikEn] v. 把……比作
4) enthusiasm [in5Wju:ziAzm] n. 热情, 狂热
5) pilgrimage [5pil^rimidV] v. 朝拜, 朝圣
6) mecca [5mekE] n. 众人渴望去的地方
7)Rod Stewart 洛·史都华，英伦摇滚巨星，有“摇滚铁公鸡”的称号。
8)Patricia Arquette 帕特里夏·阿奎特，出生于演员世家的好莱坞女影星，尼古斯·凯奇的第一任妻子。
9) skeptical [5skeptikl] a. 好怀疑的，持怀疑态度的
10) gawker [5^C:kE] n. 伸长脖子呆看的人
11) overwhelm [EuvE5welm] v. 压倒；压服
12) magnitude [5mA^nitju:d] n. 大小，量值
13) comprehend [kRmpri5hend] v. 理解；领会
14) sneaker [5sni:kE] n. 胶底运动鞋
15) sprawling [sprC:liN] a. 肆意扩张的
16) metropolis [mi5trRpElis] n. 大都会
17) chug [tFQ^] v. [拟]轧轧地响
18) industrial complex 大工业中心
19) eccentric [ik5sentrik] a. 古怪的；偏执的
21) wacky [5wAki] a. <美俚>古怪的；反常的
22) essence [5esns] n. 精髓；要素
23) tweak [twi:k] v. 拧；<俚>（汽车比赛时）把发动机马力开足，这里喻意开拓思维
亿万富翁的童趣生活
布鲁斯·萨卡尼鲁看起来像个大人，却有颗童心，他自小便是玩具火车迷。布鲁斯是软件开发商，身家数百万，正可用来实现童年梦想——兴建这一“奢华”的杰作；准确来说，是900万美元的项目。每英里路轨需要100万元以上。对，这意味着这段路轨将近有九英里那么长。布鲁斯认为大小规模绝对很重要，起码玩具火车如此。而秘密在于，找不到比这更大的玩具火车了。根据《吉尼斯记录大全》，布鲁斯这座称为“北国”的私人火车玩具，是世界上最大的铁路模型。
布鲁斯：欢迎来到“北国”。
参观者：谢谢。
“北国”是布鲁斯的杰作，就藏在新泽西州市郊，距离纽约市只有一小时车程的。
布鲁斯：人们把这里比作迪士尼乐园。数以万计的人都称这里是世界奇观。
……激情、爱与热诚……
1996年，他向外公开其火车收藏。如今，每周有超过1500人慕名来到这个微型旅游胜地。洛·史都华来过，帕特里夏·阿奎特也来过。先前持怀疑态度更甚的人都看得目瞪口呆。
火车爱好者：如果你看到这样规模的模型，我想说的是，你难以想象兴建它该花多长的时间。这真是难以置信，太巨型了。
布鲁斯：铁轨长四万英尺，这就是火车要走完的路程。
也许你对这个数字没什么概念，四万英尺就比半个曼哈顿区占地还要广。还有另一秘密——布鲁斯自建的山脉比三层楼还高。这些树木、路轨和火车需要一个足球场那么大的空间才能容纳。要一一揭开这五万两千平方英尺的模型的秘密，得花上好几个小时。别忘记穿上你的运动鞋哦，要看尽一切，需要走一英里以上路程。
逐步深入“北国”，有点像走进了时光隧道：一场内战硝烟正酣，离肆意扩张的大都会仅数英寸距离。超过115辆火车穿梭于废置矿城、大工业中心、农场以及快餐店之中。
这名古怪的亿万富翁又是如何为自己另类的铁路世界找到这些奇怪的道具的呢？
布鲁斯：95%是我造的。全由我自己设计。就是这样。看起来模型已完成，但仍有15年的后期工作要做。
15年又再需要400万美元。但这名老顽童并不关心这些，对于他的挚爱，他认为不该斤斤计较。
布鲁斯：理想生活的关键是付出，和发挥才能。我能够做到这点。大家都应该把自己的才能献之于世。关键是要多动脑筋，激发灵感以及使大家快乐。
收听单词发音 |
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extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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skeptical
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| adj.怀疑的，多疑的 | |
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enthusiast
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| n.热心人，热衷者 | |
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sprawling
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| adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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metropolis
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| n.首府；大城市 | |
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outlets
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| n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店 | |
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prop
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| vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山 | |
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