经济学人293:梦中的吊车 中世纪以来最大的建造活动

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　　牛津

　　Dreaming cranes

　　梦中的吊车

　　It is the biggest construction boom since the Middle Ages

　　这是中世纪以来最大的建造活动

　　IN HIS book “Notes from a Small Island”, Bill Bryson, an American author, took exception to some of Oxford's 20th-century architecture. It is, he wrote, as though the city had said to itself, “We've been putting up handsome buildings since 1264; let's have an ugly one for a change.”

　　美国作家Bill Bryson在书中如此写道“源自一个小岛的记录‘。他把牛津地区20世纪的一些建筑物当做特例。他写道，“1264年以来我们已经建造了许多美观的建筑；为了改变，来造一个丑陋的吧。”

　　牛津建筑.jpg

　　Much of Oxford is beautiful. A quarter of the university is listed. Some buildings date back to 1424. But in the 1960s planners added ugly shopping centres, offices and even college buildings that drain the beauty from the city centre. Now a building programme is under way that aims to avoid such errors, and even reverse a few.

　　牛津有许多漂亮建筑。这所大学四分之一的建筑物都名列在册。一些的建筑日期可以追溯到1424年。不过在20世纪60年代，设计者新建了难看的商业中心、办公楼，甚至学院建筑都叫城市中心失去美丽。现在有一个建筑计划正在施行，这个计划将避免上述错误，并且可以挽救些许失去的美好。

　　Some of the construction is driven by the need to upgrade facilities in order to keep Oxford globally competitive. In 2014 it was ranked Britain's top research university, yet some departments are still housed in converted Victorian houses. Post-war buildings in the Science Area have been demolished². Their replacements⁴ will encourage inter-disciplinary work. There is a push, too, for links with business, as pioneered by Oxford's old rival, Cambridge, where builders have also been busy. One new hub outside Oxford city centre, the BioEscalator, promotes commercial research in life sciences alongside academia; another, the Innovation Accelerator, focuses on advanced engineering.

　　有些建筑之所以修建，是为了更新设施以保证牛津大学在全球的竞争力。在2014年，尽管它有些部门还在维多利亚时代的屋子中办公，它还是英国最顶尖的研究型大学。战后科学区修建的建筑已经拆掉了。继而修建的建筑将促进跨学科研究的发展。将之与商业联系在一起也是有推力的，牛津的老对手剑桥早就开始这么做了，剑桥的建筑修建活动也在热火朝天地进行。位于牛津城市中心之外的一个新实验中心，BioEscalator，加强了生命科学的学术研究的同时也加强了其商业研究；另外，Innovation Accelerator则将注意力集中在先进引擎技术上。

　　Other buildings are being renovated⁵. On March 21st the Weston Library (formerly the New Bodleian) opened to the public. In September a shiny new China Centre opened in the grounds of St Hugh's College. Construction is about to begin on the Beecroft physics building. The boldest newcomer, located next to the new Mathematical Institute, will be the Blavatnik School of Government (pictured), a glass-and-metal spaceship designed by the architects responsible for the “bird's nest” Olympic stadium in Beijing.

　　其他的建筑正在改造中。在3月21日，韦斯顿图书馆（前身是新牛津大学图书馆）对公共开放。10月在圣·休学院，将成立一座崭新的中国中心。Beecroft物理楼也要开始进行改造。位于新数学研究所旁最大胆的建筑，Blavatnik政府学院（图示），是由设计建造北京奥运会建筑“鸟巢”的建筑家负责督造的玻璃-金属建筑。

　　Private funding has been crucial, the names on the buildings reflecting those following in the footsteps of Balliol, Bodley and Wadham—from Ukrainian businessmen to British financiers. The university plans to spend another 1.8 billion (2.7 billion) over the next decade, says William James, the pro-vice chancellor⁶ for planning. He hints at bigger projects to come.

　　私人募捐变得十分关键。建筑上的名字如Balliol、, Bodley 、Wadham反映了从乌克兰生意人到不列颠金融家的脚步。牛津大学计划在下一个十年花费18亿英镑（27亿美金），该计划前副经理William James说。他暗示未来将有更大的项目。

　　Oxford City Council is building, too, redeveloping Oxpens, a down-at-heel area near the railway station, into homes and offices. It has demolished the monstrous⁷ Westgate car park to make way for a 500 million shopping centre. The railway station is getting a 200m refit, with plans for a “continental boulevard” outside to greet some of the 9.5m tourists who arrive in Oxford each year. A second railway station is under construction in the north of the city. Separately, an old branch line that links to the Mini factory in Cowley should open for passengers by 2020.

　　牛津城市议会也在建设中。这次将改建Oxpens区，把这个临近火车站的糟烂区域改造成住宅区和办公区。这次改造拆除了巨大丑陋的Westgate汽车公园，将修建价值5亿英镑的购物中心。火车站获得了2亿英镑的重修费用，计划在火车站外周建成一个“大陆林荫道”，以此吸引每年来牛津旅游的9500万游客中的一部分。在这个城市北部，第二座火车站正在建设中。另外，在2020年，通往Cowley的Mini工厂的一条旧支线也将向游人开放。

　　Yet if all this makes Oxford more attractive, it will accentuate⁸ another problem. Many people want to live or study there. Commuting⁹ to London is rising. Hedge funds are setting up in the city centre. The number of graduate students has doubled (to 10,000) since 2001. And yet the green belt around the city does not permit Oxford to expand, driving house prices higher than anywhere in the country, proportional to income. Local opposition¹⁰ to a development of badly needed graduate student accommodation near Port Meadow, a beauty spot, has led to the biggest town-gown bust-up in years.

　　不过尽管所有这些都让牛津更富魅力，这种情形导致了另外的问题。很多人希望在此学习或者生活。往返伦敦的费用一直上扬。Hedge基金正落户在这个城市的中心。毕业学生的数量自2001年以来翻倍。环绕这座城市的绿化带限制了牛津城的扩张。这使得房屋价格相对于收入的比例而言高于全国其他地方。当地人反对发展靠近Port Meadow的毕业生居住区。这本是一个漂亮的景点，这些年已经成为最大的城镇增长点。

　　Oxford has many articulate, conservation-minded residents. It is surrounded by pretty countryside and hemmed¹¹ in by decades-old planning regulations. Its building boom is impressive. But growth will always be uncomfortable.

　　牛津有许多口齿清晰、内心保守的居民。它为漂亮的乡村所环绕，也被数十年陈旧的管理所束缚。蓬勃的建造工程颇具震撼。但增长的同时总是带来不适。

　　1.put up v.举起；张贴；建造；提高

　　He'd put up a real fight to keep you there.

　　他曾努力争取让你留在那儿。

　　He's useless at DIY. He won'teven put up a shelf.

　　他自己动手能力太差，甚至连搭个架子都不会。

　　2.date back to 追溯到…,从…开始

　　The community's links with Syria date back to biblical times.

　　这个团体与叙利亚的关系可以追溯到《圣经》时代。

　　The progenitor¹² of this class of problems may date back to pre - Greek times.

　　这类问题的先驱可以追溯到希腊以前的时间。

　　3.aim to 计划，打算；目标在于…

　　More famous than this is the well - known replacement³ of " aim at " by the American " aim to ".

　　这方面更著名的例子是:众所周知美国用 aim to取代 aimat(意图,打算)。

　　The Oxford Chemistry Primers aim to cover important topics in organic chemistry.

　　《牛津化学初级读本》丛书旨在论述有机化学中的重要问题。

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