Sinkholes, collapsing canal walls, rickety bridges: Amsterdam is crumbling
天坑惊现、运河墙倒塌、桥梁摇晃：坍塌中的阿姆斯特丹
Amsterdam, with its scenic canals lined with picturesque, 17th- and 18th-century buildings, a major European tourist destination, is slowly crumbling. Sinkholes are appearing in its small streets, and nearly half its 1,700 bridges are rickety and need repairs.
阿姆斯特丹风景秀丽的运河河畔，坐落着一排古色古香的 17、18 世纪建筑；而这个欧洲主要的旅游胜地如今正在慢慢坍塌。天坑出现在城市的街头巷尾，这里 1700 座桥梁中有近一半正摇摇欲坠，亟待修缮。
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Like much of the Netherlands, Amsterdam lies below sea level. Built on a swamp and heavily expanded in the 17th century, the city sits atop millions of wood pilings that serve as foundations.
和荷兰的大部分地区一样，阿姆斯特丹位于海平面以下。这座城市（最早）建于沼泽之上；17 世纪，开始经历大规模扩建；数百万根木桩成为了这座城市的地基。
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"At the time these were built to carry the weight of horses and carriages, not of 40-ton cement trucks and other heavy equipment," said Egbert de Vries, the alderman in charge of what promises to be an enormous rebuilding project. As modern life changed the city, many houses were fortified with cement and concrete, but the underpinnings of streets and canal walls were ignored.
“那个时候，地基是为了承载马匹和马车的重量而建的，而非为了现在重达 40 吨的水泥卡车和其他重型设备。”阿姆斯特丹的市议员埃格伯特·德弗里斯这样说道；他负责了一个有望成为大型重建工程的项目。此外，现代生活也改变了这座城市；人们用水泥和混凝土来加固许多房屋，却忽视了街道下方的地基和运河墙。
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Something had to be done, and soon. The reconstruction will take at least 20 years and cost 2 billion euros, and perhaps even more, experts have calculated.
人们必须得做点什么，而且要快。专家计算，重建项目至少要花上 20 年，耗资 20 亿欧元，甚至可能更多。
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Engineers are trying to prevent the collapse of the canal walls the bridge is connected to, while at the same time disentangling a web of electricity and internet cables, phone lines and other services that use the bridge.
目前，工程师们正努力防止那些和桥梁相连的运河墙倒塌；同时，还在解缠绕着的电线、网线、电话线以及大桥上提供其他服务的线路。
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Along several of the city's most beautiful canals, historic trees have been cut down to ease pressure on the canal walls. Steel sheet piles shore up walls deemed to be in danger of imminent collapse.
在这座城市最美的几条运河沿线，历史悠久的老树惨遭砍伐，以减轻运河墙的压力。那些被认为即将倒塌的运河墙也由钢板桩支撑着。
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Marlies Pinksterboer, an Amsterdam-based jewelry designer, stood next to the closed-off bridge by a sinkhole. She burst out singing a popular Dutch children's song: "Amsterdam, big city / It is built on piles / If the city would collapse / Who would pay for that?"
Marlies Pinksterboer 是阿姆斯特丹的一位珠宝设计师，她站在天坑边被封锁的桥梁旁，突然唱起了一首家喻户晓的荷兰童谣：“阿姆斯特丹，大城市 / 它建在木桩上 / 如果城市坍塌 / 谁将为此买单？”
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"I guess we are," Pinksterboer said.
“我想是我们（这一代）。” Pinksterboer 说。
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主编：Felicity
品控：Felicity
审核：桃子、虾仁
重点词汇
sinkhole
/ˈsɪŋk.hoʊl/
n. 天坑，渗穴
相关词汇：hole（n. 洞穴）
相关词汇：sink（n. 洼地，渗坑；洗涤槽，水槽）
canal
/kəˈnæl/
n. 运河
搭配短语：the Panama Canal
rickety
/ˈrɪk.ə.t̬i/
adj. 摇摇晃晃的，摇摇欲坠的；脆弱不堪的
英文释义：(of a structure or piece of equipment) poorly made and likely to collapse
搭配短语：a rickety chair
搭配短语：a rickety economic system
crumble
/ˈkrʌm.bəl/
v. 坍塌，损坏；（使）破碎，（使）成碎屑
英文释义：to break into crumbs
相关词汇：crumb（n. 面包屑，饼干屑）
例句：Crumble the cheese over the pizza.（vt. 使成碎屑）
例句：The stone started to crumble.（vi. 碎裂，崩裂）
例句：The ancient castle had crumbled to ruins.（v. 坍塌）
例句：Why do marriages crumble? （v.（关系）破裂）
be lined with…
排列着……
相关词汇：line（v.（沿……形成行（或列、排）））
词性拓展：line（n. 一排，一列）
例句：The road is lined with trees on both sides.
相关短语：a tree-lined road
picturesque
/ˌpɪk.tʃərˈesk/
adj. 古色古香的，古雅的；风景如画的
相关词汇：picture（n. 图画）
词根词缀：-esque（像……一样的）
近义词：picture-postcard（adj. 风景如画的）
英文释义：pretty, especially in a way that looks old-fashioned
搭配短语：a picturesque country cottage
lie
/laɪ/
v. 坐落于，位于；躺，平卧
搭配短语：to lie in
近义词：to be located / situated in…（坐落于……）
例句：The town is located / situated in a wooden valley.
例句：The town lies in a wooden valley.
swamp
/swɑːmp/
n. 沼泽（地）
词性拓展：swamp（v. 淹没；使应接不暇，使疲于应对）
例句：The boat was swamped by an enormous wave.（淹没）
例句：He's swamped with work.（使应接不暇）
近义词：overwhelm（v. 淹没；使应接不暇，使招架不住）
例句：He's overwhelmed with work.（使应接不暇）
sit
/sɪt/
v. 坐落于，位于
例句：The town sits in a wooden valley.
piling
/paɪlɪŋ/
n.（房屋、桥梁等的）桩，桩结构
搭配短语：stone pilings（石桩）
fortify
/ˈfɔːr.t̬ə.faɪ/
v. 加固；筑防御工事，设防
例句：The warehouse was heavily fortified.
underpinning
/ˈʌn.dɚˌpɪn.ɪŋ/
n. 地基，支承结构
词根词缀：under-
disentangle
/ˌdɪs.ɪnˈtæŋ.ɡəl/
v. 解开……的结，理顺
词根词缀：dis-（表示“相反的动作”）
相关词汇：entangle（v. 缠住，纠缠；使陷入困境，使卷入复杂的情况）
搭配短语：to be entangled with sth.（与……纠缠在一起）
例句：He was entangled in legal disputes.（使陷入、卷入……）
shore up
（用支撑物）支撑
相关词汇：shore（v.（用支撑物）支撑）
词性拓展：shore（n. 海滨，河岸；支柱，支撑物）
例句：The fence fell over, so we shored it up with more posts.（支撑）
搭配短语：to shore up the financial industry（扶持，支持）
deem
/diːm/
v. 视为，认为
近义词：regard；consider
例句：The show was deemed a great success.
例句：The show was deemed successful.
imminent
/ˈɪm.ə.nənt/
adj. 即将发生的，迫近的
英文释义：about to happen
搭配短语：to be in imminent danger of sth.（濒临……的危险）
例句：Some species are in imminent danger of extinction.
burst out
突然做……
相关词汇：burst（v. 爆裂，崩裂）
例句：The audience burst out laughing.（突然大笑）
搭配短语：to burst out crying（突然大哭）
近义词组：to burst into sth.（突然做……）
例句：The audience burst into laughter.（突然大笑）
搭配短语：to burst into tears（突然大哭）
