PBS高端访谈:美国基础设施收到差评

 　　HARI SREENIVASAN, PBS NEWSHOUR WEEKENDANCHOR: The nation's infrastructure¹ received an overall grade of "D- plus" in a report card published this week by the American Society of Civil Engineers, the same grade the group issued in 2013. Among the 16 categories graded: bridges received a "C-plus"; roads, dams and airports, a "D"; while mass transit² came in with a "D-minus."

　　The group's senior managing director, Casey Dinges, joins me now from Washington to explain these very low grades.

　　Mr. Dinges, these are not grades that we would want to see on any child's report card. Yet, I guess we tolerate them at such crucial things as the roads and bridges we drive on and the water that we drink.

　　CASEY DINGES, SENIOR MANAGING DIRECTOR, AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS: I think the way the issue may play out is that the degradation³ is maybe so imperceptible to the public users, the traveling public you know, the water main break, even though it happens every 2 1/2 minutes in the United States, people my say, "Well, it's just not happening in my neighborhood, so I'm not thinking about it." Traffic congestion⁴ is a huge issue in major metropolitan⁵ areas. Pavement issues you'll find in regions all across the country affect people, but maybe not enough to make it a top-of-mind issue.

　　So, at this point, we are somewhat encouraged to see presidential leadership being exerted on the infrastructure issue. But funding is the key thing. That would be the heavy lift for the Congress.

　　美国基础设施收到差评

　　SREENIVASAN: The trillion-dollar plan that President Trump⁶ has alluded⁷ to and perhaps will propose in writing is not enough to cover the kinds of upgrades that you're saying our infrastructure needs today.

　　DINGES: It's not. You know, the gap we identify is $2 trillion over 10 years. That's how we have the $200 billion-a-year number. But if $1 trillion were to come forth⁸ from the federal government in a number of years in orderly fashion, that's OK.

　　But you have state and local government have a huge role to play and then also the private sector⁹. You've probably heard there's a lively discussion going on about how we can use more public-private partnerships¹⁰ —

　　SREENIVASAN: Sure.

　　DINGES: — in some of these infrastructure categories.

　　SREENIVASAN: How do you change the thinking about this? Because it's not very sexy to fund a new water main or a waste water system that's crucial. And yet, we start to think about this in very specific terms when there's a dam that's about to break or when there's a bridge that just collapsed¹¹.

　　DINGES: It's easy to take for granted your water supply, your bridges, your tunnels, until they're suddenly not there. Certainly in this region, we've seen a number of — I should point out transit was the lowest graded, "D-minus," across the country, certainly here in the Washington area, the capital of the United States, just a 40-year-old system that's showing signs of complete breakdown¹² after decades of under-investment and ignored maintenance.

　　So, it's a wake-up call for the country. People need to realize, this issue is already costing each family $9 a day. And what our economic studies suggest is that for an investment of just $3 per day per family, you could eliminate that drag on the economy and if we don't we're putting at risk 2.5 million jobs by the year 2025, and nearly $4 trillion in U.S. GDP. That's the equivalent of Germany's GDP.

　　SREENIVASAN: All right. Casey Dinges from the American Society of Civil Engineers — thanks so much.

　　DINGES: Good to be with you.

1 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

2 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

3 degradation   

n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变

参考例句：

• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。
• Gambling is always coupled with degradation.赌博总是与堕落相联系。

4 congestion   

n.阻塞，消化不良

参考例句：

• The congestion in the city gets even worse during the summer.夏天城市交通阻塞尤为严重。
• Parking near the school causes severe traffic congestion.在学校附近泊车会引起严重的交通堵塞。

5 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

6 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

7 alluded   

提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In your remarks you alluded to a certain sinister design. 在你的谈话中，你提到了某个阴谋。
• She also alluded to her rival's past marital troubles. 她还影射了对手过去的婚姻问题。

8 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

9 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

10 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

11 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

12 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。