TED演讲:美国废弃的购物中心(1)

 In the last couple of years, I have produced what I call "The Dead Mall Series," 32 short films and counting about dead malls. 在过去的几年里，我制作了所谓的“废弃的商场系列”。32部关于废弃商场的短片，数量还在增加。

Now, for those of you who are not familiar with what a dead mall is, it's basically¹ a shopping mall that has fallen into hard times. 如果你们不熟悉什么是废弃的商场，它就是一座商场，陷入了艰难的境地。

So it either has few shops and fewer shoppers, or it's abandoned and crumbling² into ruin. No sale at Penny's. 所以要么它里面的商店和顾客越来越少，要么它被弃置，坍塌成一片废墟。Penny's不打折了。

I started producing this series in early 2015 after going through kind of a dark period in my life 我开始制作这个系列的时候是2015年初，在我经历了人生中的低谷之后，

where I just didn't want to create films anymore. 我那时候不想再做电影了。

I put my camera away and I just stopped. So in 2015, I decided³ to make a short film about the Owings Mills⁴ Mall. 我收起了相机，直接甩手不干了。在2015年，我决定做一个介绍Owings Mills商场的短片。

Owings Mills Mall opened in 1986. I should know because I was there on opening day. Owings Mills商场开业于1986年。我应该知道这个，因为开业那天我就在现场。

I was there with my family, along with every other family in Baltimore, 我和我的家人一起，和巴尔的摩的每家每户一起，

and you had to drive around for 45 minutes just to find a parking spot. 你得开车绕来绕去45分钟，就为了找到一个停车位。

So if you can imagine, that's not happening at the malls today. 所以你能想象，今天的任何一个商场开业都不会再有这样的盛况了。

My first mall job that I had as a teenager was at a sporting goods store called Herman's World of Sports. Maybe you remember. 我少年时期的第一份商场的工作是在一家叫“Herman的体育世界”的运动用品店里。可能你记得。

Herman's World of Sports. You guys remember that? Herman的体育世界。你们记得这个吗？

Yeah, so I worked in a lady's shoe store. I worked in a leather goods store, and I also worked in a video store, 是的，我在女鞋店里工作过。也在皮革制品店里工作过，还在影像店里工作过，

and not being one who was very fond of the retail⁵ arts -- I got fired from every single job. 作为一个并不是很喜欢销售艺术的人--每一份工作我都被炒鱿鱼了。

1 basically   

adv.基本上，从根本上说

参考例句：

• His heart is basically sound.他的心脏基本上健康。
• Basically I agree with your plan.我基本上同意你的计划。

2 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。

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 mills   

n.磨坊( mill的名词复数 )；磨粉机；作坊；工厂

参考例句：

• He was tall, dark and handsome, like a Mills and Boon hero. 他个头高大、皮肤黝黑、相貌堂堂，像通俗爱情小说的男主角。
• The captain wants to play Mills as defence in our next game. 队长想让密尔斯在下次比赛中打后卫。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。