VOA标准英语2011--Preservationist Group Pinpoints 11 Endan

Preservationist Group Pinpoints² 11 Endangered Sites

We hear a lot about endangered species. But each year for 24 years, the National Trust for Historic Preservation¹ has been spotlighting³ 11 endangered places in the United States - from battlefields to state and national parks to the deteriorating⁴ homes of legendary⁵ Americans. Even eccentric old motels and gas stations have made the list.
The nonprofit trust was chartered by Congress in 1949. Ever since, it and some of its almost 400,000 members have been campaigning to spare architectural treasures from the wrecker's ball and natural sites from destruction.
The trust also bought 29 historic properties itself, including an entire Indian pueblo⁶ in New Mexico and President Abraham Lincoln's one-time summer cottage in Washington, D.C.
Each year, it focuses special attention on 11 "Endangered Places." Eleven rather than 10 because, several years ago, a trust president could not decide between two of the final candidates.
This year's finalists include the now-vacant and severely⁷ damaged Long Island, New York, home of jazz legend John Coltrane; Fort Gaines, a Civil War fortress⁸ on Alabama's Dauphin Island in Mobile Bay and China Alley⁹, a dilapidated former immigrant neighborhood in California's San Joaquin Valley.
Sometimes the threat to such places is direct and acute, as in the Coltrane home situation. Other times, the site may be stable but threatened by encroaching development.
For instance, a few years ago, the National Trust helped blunt the giant Walt Disney entertainment corporation's plan to create a theme park near Virginia's Civil War battlefields.
The trust says wind-farm and oil exploration threatens Bear Butte, one of this year's sites. The low mountain in the Black Hills of South Dakota is a place of prayer and meditation¹⁰ for as many as 17 American Indian tribes.
The proposed development, in the trust's words, "will negatively impact the sacred site and further degrade the cultural landscape."
According to the trust's calculations, financial contributions from its members and others have helped save just over half of the threatened sites from destruction since the endangered list started in 1988.

1 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

2 pinpoints   

准确地找出或描述( pinpoint的第三人称单数 )； 为…准确定位

参考例句：

• The bombs hit the pinpoints at which they were aimed. 炸弹精确地击中了目标。
• There's really no point in arguing about pinpoints. 为芝麻绿豆般的小事争论实在毫无意义。

3 spotlighting   

v.聚光照明( spotlight的现在分词 )；使公众注意，使突出醒目

参考例句：

4 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

5 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

6 pueblo   

n.（美国西南部或墨西哥等）印第安人的村庄

参考例句：

• For over 2,000 years,Pueblo peoples occupied a vast region of the south-western United States.在长达2，000多年的时间里，印第安人统治着现在美国西南部的大片土地。
• The cross memorializes the Spanish victims of the 1680 revolt,when the region's Pueblo Indians rose up in violent protest against their mistreatment and burned the cit

7 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

8 fortress   

n.堡垒，防御工事

参考例句：

• They made an attempt on a fortress.他们试图夺取这一要塞。
• The soldier scaled the wall of the fortress by turret.士兵通过塔车攀登上了要塞的城墙。

9 alley   

n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路

参考例句：

• We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
• The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。

10 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。