66号公路—最棒的高速公路

Route 66: 'The Highway That's The Best' 66号公路—最棒的高速公路

On November 11, 1926, a 3,900-kilometer long highway was established in the United States.

It was not the first American highway. It was not the longest either. And it might not have been the fastest. But the road inspired musicians, writers and filmmakers. It appealed to explorers and dreamers. It’s known as Route 66.

How did this road become a major symbol of freedom and adventure in America? Why does this road, now unofficial, continue to draw so many onto its well-worn path?

VOA Learning¹ English took the long drive from Illinois to California to find the answers to those questions. For the next three months, we will share what we learned² when we motored west down "the highway that’s the best.”

A journey west

In 1946, the songwriter Bobby Troup and his wife drove across the country to Los Angeles on Route 66. Troup wrote a song about the experience. Singer Nat King Cole recorded “(Get Your Kicks) on Route 66.” It became a huge hit.

Route 66 crosses eight states, “from Chicago to L.A.,” as the song goes. Between Illinois and California there is Missouri, a little Kansas and a lot of Oklahoma. After a brief stretch in Texas come New Mexico, Arizona, and finally, California.

The road cuts through cornfields, deserts, mountains and unique red rock formations³ of the west.

As the scene outside the car window changes, so, too, do the people and cultures found along the road. Route 66 connects farm communities, small towns and major urban centers. For the traveler, it opens up the worlds of cowboy culture, Native American life, Mexican traditions and more.

From dust to road of dreams

The idea for Route 66 started in Oklahoma. Citizens there wanted to link their state with states to the east and west. U.S. federal⁴ officials also saw the benefit of connecting state roads to provide a more direct and faster way across the country.

Oklahoma businessman Cyrus Avery is credited⁵ with developing the plan to connect existing state roads into one long national highway. He is known as the father of Route 66.

It was disaster that fueled the road’s early success. A series of powerful dust storms in the 1930s destroyed a huge amount of farmland across the prairie states. Hundreds of thousands of mostly poor farm workers and their families began to leave.

The migrants headed west on Route 66, hoping the path would lead to a better life in California, the land of opportunity.

American writer John Steinbeck immortalized the road in 1939 with his novel “The Grapes of Wrath⁶.” The book also gave Route 66 its most famous nickname⁷, the Mother Road.

Steinbeck wrote, "66 is the path of a people in flight, refugees⁸ from dust and shrinking⁹ land … 66 is the mother road, the road of flight."

The (car) king of the road

Exploring the open road has long been an important part of the American experience. And Route 66 became even more popular as the car culture exploded in the 1940s and 50s.

By the 1960s, large parts of Route 66 were not fit for driving. And by 1985, the road was officially decommisioned from the national highway system.

The U.S. government built bigger highways, with faster speed limits and fewer traffic lights. These new interstates bypassed¹⁰ small towns, the heart of Route 66. Many of these small towns had depended on Route 66 for business and income. The economies of bypassed small towns suffered.

When the traffic stopped on Route 66, so did many of the towns themselves. Along the road today, run-down motel¹¹ signs, abandoned service stations, and empty houses are signs of these forgotten towns.

Jeannie Tait is from Lebanon, Missouri. She has lived her whole life right along Route 66. She remembers clearly what the road did for her small community.

"It changed a lot...it changed a lot of lives for Lebanon, because …so many businesses, it made the industry, it made it more attractive for industry. It made the city grow, because people wanted to be here. But its just, it’s one of the hotspots of Route 66."

Today, Jeannie Tait is concerned about an historic¹² part of the road, the Hazel Green Bridge on the edge of town. The state of Missouri, she said, does not want to pay money for the repairs the bridge needs. It has been closed now for many months.

"I would like to see them repair it and not tear it down and build a new one. We need to hang on to what we have, even though it might not be as modern. But modern isn’t always the best anyway."

Renewed¹³ interest

While most American motorists may have forgotten Route 66, foreign tourists have not. International interest in the road is growing each year.

People come from places as far as Brazil and Germany, Japan and China, to fulfill¹⁴ what they consider a lifelong dream.

Ednilso Gablak is from Brazil. We met him at the Santa Monica Pier¹⁵, the official end of Route 66. He and 15 other Brazilians had just finished traveling the Mother Road.

“We just finish(ed) our dream trip. We start, like, 15 days ago. Well, it's kind of a dream. We saw movies, we saw on the television, magazines…saw photos. Today, we can see the Internet so many videos, so, I think everybody knows something about Route 66, right?” 

Fran Huston has worked along the road for more than 20 years in Adrian, Texas. The town is considered the midpoint of the original Route 66.

Fran owns the Sunflower Station gift shop along Route 66. She said the number of tourists traveling the Mother Road has been growing year by year.

“It has grown bigger every single year. We are seeing this year tons of people from China, which we had not see a few years ago. We see them from Japan, New Zealand, Italy, as our friends back there are from. It's all over the world and it is wonderfully gratifying.”

Interest among American tourists is growing as well, thanks in part to the 2006 movie "Cars." Fran herself was represented in the film. She was the inspiration¹⁶ for the character Flo.

“We are now, because of the movie "Cars" seeing more and more Americans, all looking for Radiator¹⁷ Springs.”

'Very much alive'

Bryan Rodriguez works¹⁸ at a Route 66 information booth¹⁹ on the Santa Monica Pier. He recently took his first trip along part of the Mother Road.

“I ended up finding²⁰ out that Route 66 is very much alive. It just kind of like is kind of like the movie Cars. He’s just racing²¹ in the fast world, and then he finds out about 66, and it teaches him to slow down. And in L.A., unfortunately, that's how the world is in L.A., everything is just so fast-paced. You forget to slow down, and enjoy  the everyday life.”  

For supporters of Route 66, its future is as important as its storied past. Small communities may have been bypassed by high-speed interstates, but the towns can still thrive²².

Galena, Kansas, is an example of that. The small town went from a population of 1,500 in 2006 to a little over 3,000 today.

Melba Riggs lives in Galena. She and her siblings²³ opened the Cars on the Route café in 2006. Melba knows people all up and down Route 66, both locals and fellow business owners. And people all along Route 66 know all about Melba, or “Melba the Mouth” as she is known. Her fast-talking ways earned her the nickname.

The people along Route 66 share a connection. Whether they live in California, or Texas, Missouri or Kansas, they support each other. They want Route 66 to thrive. Melba the Mouth sums up their common bond²⁴ with these seven words: “Friends don’t let friends take the interstate.”

Words in This Story

adventure - n. an exciting or dangerous experience

get your kicks - expression have fun

opportunity - n. an amount of time or a situation in which something can be done: chance

immortalize - v. to cause (someone or something) to be remembered forever

decommission - v.  to officially stop using (a ship, weapon, dam, etc.) : to remove (something) from service

abandoned - adj. left by the owner

gratifying - adj. giving pleasure or satisfaction

fast-paced - adj. happening very quickly

thrive - v. to grow or develop successfully; to succeed

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

3 formations   

n.形成( formation的名词复数 )；构成；形成物；编队

参考例句：

• Clouds are formations of condensed water vapour. 云是由凝聚的水蒸气构成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• New word formations have not regularity. 新词的构成没有规律。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 federal   

adj.联盟的；联邦的；(美国)联邦政府的

参考例句：

• Switzerland is a federal republic.瑞士是一个联邦共和国。
• The schools are screaming for federal aid.那些学校强烈要求联邦政府的援助。

5 credited   

v.记入贷方；信用

参考例句：

• Cook is credited with discovering Hawaii. 人们把发现夏威夷的功劳归于库克。
• The cheetah is generally credited as the world's fastest animal. 猎豹被公认是世界上跑得最快的动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 wrath   

n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒

参考例句：

• His silence marked his wrath. 他的沉默表明了他的愤怒。
• The wrath of the people is now aroused. 人们被激怒了。

7 nickname   

n.绰号，昵称；v.给...取绰号，叫错名字

参考例句：

• She called me by my nickname.她叫我的外号。
• Why do you fasten such a nickname on her?你为什么给她取这样一个绰号？

8 refugees   

n.避难者，难民( refugee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The UN has begun making airdrops of food to refugees. 联合国已开始向难民空投食物。
• They claimed they were political refugees and not economic migrants. 他们宣称自己是政治难民，不是经济移民。

9 shrinking   

a.畏缩的，犹豫不决的

参考例句：

• She purposely made the dress larger to allow for shrinking when it was washed. 她故意把衣服做大一些，以防洗时缩水。
• I can't imagine why a dynamic young woman like her is marrying a shrinking violet like him. 我不能想像，像她这样一个充满活力的年轻女子为什么会嫁给他这样一个胆怯害羞的人。

10 bypassed   

绕过，避开( bypass的过去式和过去分词 )； 不顾

参考例句：

• The question can be bypassed. 这个问题可以撇开不管。
• He bypassed his colleagues on the board and went ahead with the deal. 他未征求董事会中同事的意见就做了这笔交易。

11 motel   

n.汽车游客旅馆

参考例句：

• Late that night he landed at a motel.那晚他到了一家汽车旅馆。
• The motel manager showed the guests to their room.汽车旅馆经理把旅客领到他们房间。

12 historic   

adj.历史上著名的，具有历史意义的

参考例句：

• This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
• We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。

13 renewed   

adj. 更新的，重建的，复兴的，重申的 动词renew的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• They regrouped their forces and renewed the attack. 他们重新聚集兵力，再次发动进攻。
• The army renewed its assault on the capital. 军队重新发动对首都的攻击。

14 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

15 pier   

n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱

参考例句：

• The pier of the bridge has been so badly damaged that experts worry it is unable to bear weight.这座桥的桥桩破损厉害，专家担心它已不能负重。
• The ship was making towards the pier.船正驶向码头。

16 inspiration   

n.灵感，鼓励者，吸气

参考例句：

• These events provided the inspiration for his first novel.这些事件给了他创作第一部小说的灵感。
• What an inspiration she was to all around her!她对于她周围所有的人是一种多么大的鼓舞！

17 radiator   

n.暖气片，散热器

参考例句：

• The two ends of the pipeline are connected with the radiator.管道的两端与暖气片相连接。
• Top up the radiator before making a long journey.在长途旅行前加满散热器。

18 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

19 booth   

n.小房间，公用电话亭，岗亭；货摊

参考例句：

• Where can I find a telephone booth?我在哪儿可以找到电话亭？
• Let's walk around to each booth.我们到每个摊子转一转吧！

20 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

21 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

22 thrive   

v.兴旺，繁荣，茁壮成长

参考例句：

• These animals thrive on the leaves of certain trees.这些动物靠吃某些树的叶子长壮。
• This flowering plant will thrive and bloom wherever you plant it.这种花随便你种在哪儿都能活。

23 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

24 bond   

n.结合，债券，契约，粘合剂，保证人，键，关栈保留；vt.存入关栈，粘着；vi.结合

参考例句：

• This glue makes a good firm bond.这种胶水粘得很结实。
• His word is his bond.他是讲信用的。