VOA慢速英语2019 在历史建筑上应该花多少钱？

How Much Money Should be Spent on Historic Buildings?

The fire at Notre Dame¹ Cathedral in Paris has raised questions about the condition of thousands of other cathedrals and historic structures across Europe. It also raises questions about whether European governments are doing enough to keep up and care for such buildings.

巴黎圣母院的火灾引发了关于欧洲其他数千座教堂和历史建筑状况的质疑。这也提出了一个问题，即欧洲各国政府在维护和保护这些建筑方面是否尽心尽力。

Critics suggest that a culture of indifference² to aging, world famous buildings could undermine a shared history and Europe’s tourism industry.

批评家指出，对年久失修的世界著名建筑漠不关心的文化可能会破坏共同的历史和欧洲旅游业。

Tibor Navracsics is the European Union’s top culture official. He told The Associated Press that "we are so used to our outstanding cultural heritage in Europe that we tend to forget that it needs constant care and attention."

蒂伯·纳拉斯科斯（Tibor Navracsics）是欧盟高级文化官员。他告诉美联社，“我们已经对欧洲优秀的文化遗产习以为常，以至于我们往往会忘记它需要持续的保护与关注。”

Some people say the fire last week was a wake-up call, not just for Europe, but the whole world.

一些人说，上周的火灾不仅给欧洲敲响了警钟，也给全世界敲响了警钟。

Sneska Quaedvlieg-Mihailovicis heads the heritage group Europa Nostra. She said it was “as if Notre Dame decided³ to set itself on fire to ring the alarm bell. As if she wanted to sacrifice herself for the cause.”

Sneska Quaedvlieg-Mihailovicis是Europa Nostra遗产组织的负责人。她说，这就像“圣母院决定以自焚来敲响警钟”。好像她牺牲自我来警醒人类。”

Large fires have long robbed humanity of knowledge, art and treasures. One example is the fire at the famous library of Alexandria in northern Egypt.

长期以来，大火掠夺了人类的知识、艺术与财富。例如，埃及北部著名的亚历山大图书馆发生的火灾。

Didier Rykner works for the French magazine La Tribune de l'Art. Rykner knows of no actual list of historic buildings destroyed by fire. But he added that France sees "several fires every year in historic buildings, which is already way too much."

迪迪埃·雷克纳(Didier Rykner)就职于法国《艺术论坛报》(La Tribune de l'Art)。据雷克纳所知，没有确切的遭大火烧毁的历史建筑名单。但他补充说，法国“每年都会发生几起历史建筑的火灾，这已经太多了。”

In 2015, the German engineering company Siemens found that Scotland had about 10 damaging fires a year, while England lost at least a dozen listed buildings a year. In Germany, 70 historic buildings have been destroyed since 2000.

2015年，德国工程公司西门子(Siemens)发现，苏格兰每年发生约10起破坏性火灾，而英格兰每年至少损失十几座名胜古迹。自2000年以来，德国已有70座历史建筑被毁。

And all too often, fires happen while old structures are being repaired.

很多时候，火灾都是在老旧建筑修缮期间发生的。

The Glasgow School of Art’s Mackintosh Building, for example, was heavily damaged by fire last year. It was the second large fire in four years as workers neared the end of a multimillion dollar restoration project.

例如，格拉斯哥艺术学院(Glasgow School of Art)的麦金托什大楼(Mackintosh Building)去年遭大火严重损毁。这是四年来的第二场大火，当时这项耗资数百万美元的修复工程已经接近尾声。

Experts say that what is needed is continuous attention and maintenance. These steps, if taken, could help avoid the need for major restoration work.

专家表示，持续的关注和维护是有必要的。如果采取这些措施，将有助于避免进行重大的修复工程。

But regular attention and maintenance costs money.

但是定期的维修和养护也需要花钱。

Part of the problem comes from austerity budgets approved by governments after the 2008 financial crisis and Europe's subsequent debt crisis.

部分问题来自2008年金融危机和欧洲债务危机过后各国政府批准的财政紧缩预算。

The EU itself set aside $5.28 billion for restorations in the 2014-2020 financial budget. Individual EU states also spend money on repairs.

欧盟在2014-2020财政预算中拨出52.8亿美元用于修复古建筑。个别欧盟国家也拨款维修历史建筑。

But as state financing dries up, governments are increasingly looking for private donors⁴ to keep up historic structures.

但是随着国家财政的枯竭，政府越来越多地寻找私人捐助者来修护历史建筑。

In recent years, Tod’s luxury shoes provided money for repairs at Italy’s Coliseum. Fendi fashion house helped the Trevi Fountain in Rome, and Diesel⁵ backed improvements for the Rialto bridge in Venice.

近年来，托德豪华鞋为意大利竞技场的维修提供了资金。芬迪时装公司(Fendi fashion house)为罗马的特雷维喷泉(Trevi Fountain)提供了帮助，迪塞尔公司(Diesel)为威尼斯的里亚托桥(Rialto bridge)提供了修缮资金。

“We do need to invest more, but this is a shared responsibility for governments, businesses and citizens across Europe,” said the EU’s Tibor Navracsics.

欧盟的蒂伯表示，“我们确实需要加大投资，但这是欧洲各国政府、企业和公民的共同责任”。

Some say world-renowned monuments like Notre Dame are the driving force behind tourism and should get more respect.

有人指出，像圣母院这样的世界著名古迹是旅游业的驱动力，应当得到更多的尊重。

Quaedvlieg-Mihailovicis noted⁶ the importance of such respect. “Cultural heritage is a gold mine. You cannot exploit it and then just leave the mine and go to another one. It is something you really have to cherish,” she said.

Quaedvlieg-Mihailovicis指出了这种尊重的重要性。“文化遗产是一座金矿。你不能利用完就弃之不顾，转寻其他。这是你必须要珍惜的遗产，”她说。

Words in This Story

undermine – v. to lessen⁷ the effectiveness or ability of someone or something

tourism – adj. of or relating to businesses and operations of vacations and places of interest

heritage – n. valued objects and qualities, such as historic buildings

bell – n. a musical instrument, usually made of metal

library – n. a building containing a collection of books and sometimes videos, for people to read or borrow

dozen – n. a group of 12

restoration – n. the act of returning something to its former place or condition

maintenance – n. the act or process of keeping something in good condition

austerity – n. economic conditions designed to reduce a budget deficit⁸

cherish – v. to feel or show great love for (someone or something)

1 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。

2 indifference   

n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎

参考例句：

• I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。
• He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 lessen   

vt.减少，减轻；缩小

参考例句：

• Regular exercise can help to lessen the pain.经常运动有助于减轻痛感。
• They've made great effort to lessen the noise of planes.他们尽力减小飞机的噪音。

8 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。