VOA慢速英语2020 美国汽车影院历史性一季走向落幕

With temperatures dropping across the United¹ States, drive-in theaters do not have much time left. Still, many drive-ins, or places where people watch movies in their cars, are staying open beyond their usual closing date for the season.

随着美国各地气温下降，汽车剧院能够经营的时间也所剩无几。然而，许多汽车影院仍然保持营业，超过了这一季它们通常关闭的时间。

The Northfield Drive-in, near Hinsdale, New Hampshire, went two months past its closing date. The drive-in has played an important part in the community. Along with movies, it has held graduation ceremonies for everyone from young students to doctors of medicine.

新罕布什尔州欣斯代尔附近的诺斯费尔德汽车影院已经比它的关闭时间超出了两个月。这家汽车影院在社区中发挥了重要作用。除了电影，它还为从年轻学生到医学博士的所有人举行了毕业典礼。

Northfield held its final event last weekend. Visitor Julia Wiggins called the drive-in "a major community service project. "

诺斯费尔德影院上周举行了它的最后一场活动。访客朱莉娅·威金斯称该汽车影院是“一项大型的社区服务项目。”

Hundreds of miles away, Jay Mowery operates the Cumberland Drive-in in Newville, Pennsylvania. Mowery has held a wedding there, a trick-or-treating event and other activities. He also closed the drive-in for the season last weekend. But, like other drive-in owners, he expects to continue socially-distanced events when he re-opens in the spring.

几百英里以外的杰伊·莫里在宾夕法尼亚州纽维尔经营了坎伯兰汽车影院。莫里在那里举行了婚礼、万圣节等活动。上周他也关闭了这一季的汽车影院。但是，跟其它汽车影院老板一样，他希望当春天重新营业后能够继续进行保持社交距离的活动。

"It's been a lot better than being closed, and it's certainly helped the community. It's given them a place to gather," says Mowery.

莫里表示：“这比完全封闭要好多了，而且肯定对社区有帮助。它给大家提供了一个聚会的地方。”

John Vincent is president of the United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association². Vincent estimates³ more than 200 drive-ins were still operating through last weekend.

约翰·文森特是美国汽车影院老板联合会的会长。文森特估计，上周仍然有200多家汽车影院营业。

Showing movies is only part of what these drive-ins do - especially since Hollywood⁴ film companies stopped releasing⁵ their big films.

放映电影只是这些汽车影院所做工作的一部分，尤其是自好莱坞电影公司停止发行大片以来。

Marcella Snyder runs the Tibbs Drive-in in the midwestern city of Indianapolis, Indiana. Snyder usually holds one or two private events a year. This year, she held 50. And, she says, the requests are still coming for November and December.

玛塞拉·斯奈德在印第安纳州印第安纳波利斯这个中西部城市经营Tibbs汽车影院。斯奈德通常每年举行一两次私人活动。今天她举行了50次。她还表示，仍然不断收到11月和12月的活动申请。

"If it starts snowing, what am I going to do?" asked Snyder.

斯奈德表示：“如果开始下雪，我该咋办？”

Like indoor theaters, drive-ins are limiting visitor numbers by about half to make safe social distancing possible.

跟室内影院一样，汽车影院会将访客人数限制在一半左右，以保证安全的社交距离。

This fall, most drive-ins are seeing much higher attendance⁶ than normal. Drive-ins like Tibbs now use online ticketing and food ordering.

今年秋天，大多数汽车影院都接待了远超往常的客流。像Tibbs之类的汽车影院现在采用网络售票和订餐。

"We built our whole business on nostalgia⁷ and it's nice that we've turned a corner. We've kind of brought it into the 21st century," says Snyder.

斯奈德表示：“我们基于怀旧打造了我们整个生意，很高兴我们已经转过弯来。我们已将它带入了21世纪。”

Some American drive-ins have even more to offer. Just outside the city of Detroit, Michigan, is the Ford⁸ Wyoming Drive-In. It has five large screens and is open all night, from sundown to sunrise.

一些美国汽车影院还提供更多服务。福特怀俄明汽车影院就在密歇根州底特律市郊外。它有5个大屏幕，从天黑到日出彻夜开放。

The Ford Wyoming does not have a "season." Its operator⁹ also owns a building company, so the drive-in has snow-clearing equipment available nearby. The drive-in is open year round.

福特怀俄明汽车影院没有“季”这种说法。它的运营商还有一家建筑公司，所以这家汽车影院附近有除雪设备可供使用。这家影院全年开放。

Co-owner William Clark admits the Ford Wyoming is "unusual" for drive-ins. He says ticket sales this October were about two times higher than usual.

这家影院的合伙人威廉·克拉克承认，福特怀俄明是一家不同寻常的汽车影院。他说，今年10月的售票额比以往高出大约两倍。

"We never close," he says, unless "there's a 10-inch snowstorm¹⁰ right before the movie goes on the screen."

他说：“我们不停业，除非在电影刚上映前下10英寸的暴风雪。”

1 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

2 association   

n.联盟，协会，社团；交往，联合；联想

参考例句：

• Our long association with your company has brought great benefits.我方和贵公司的长期合作带来了巨大的利益。
• I broke away from the association ten years ago.我10年前就脱离了那个团体。

3 estimates   

估计

参考例句：

• Unofficial estimates put the figure at over two million. 非官方的估计数字为200万以上。
• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 Hollywood   

n.好莱坞；美国电影业

参考例句：

• She dreamed of becoming a Hollywood screen goddess.她梦想成为好莱坞的银幕女神。
• The film has a Hollywood happy ending.那部电影有一个好莱坞式的美满结局。

5 releasing   

v.释放( release的现在分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• Releasing his arm, she laid her hand upon his shoulder. 她放掉他的胳膊，却把手放到了他的肩上。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
• The drag operation is still terminated by releasing the mouse button. 释放鼠标按键时，拖动操作将立即终止。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

6 attendance   

n.出席，出席人数，护理，照料

参考例句：

• The attendance of this class never dropped off.这个班的出席人数从未下降。
• The young man danced attendance on his rich aunt.这个年轻人小心侍候他有钱的姑妈。

7 nostalgia   

n.怀乡病，留恋过去，怀旧

参考例句：

• He might be influenced by nostalgia for his happy youth.也许是对年轻时幸福时光的怀恋影响了他。
• I was filled with nostalgia by hearing my favourite old song.我听到这首喜爱的旧歌，心中充满了怀旧之情。

8 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

9 operator   

n.（机器、设备等的）操作员；电话接线员

参考例句：

• He is a computer operator.他是个电脑操作员。
• The telephone operator connected us.话务员给我们接通了电话。

10 snowstorm   

n.雪暴，暴风雪

参考例句：

• After several weeks of travel,snowstorm hit us first.我们旅行了几个星期，初次碰上了暴风雪。
• A severe snowstorm blocked up railroads.一场暴风雪使铁路中断。