VOA慢速英语2021 墨西哥古城面临违章建筑威胁

An illegal building project is threatening one of North America's greatest treasures: the ancient pyramids in central Mexico. The project may harm the remains¹ of temples and about 24 other ancient buildings.

一个非法建筑项目正在威胁北美最大的瑰宝之一：墨西哥中部的古金字塔。该建筑项目可能会损害寺庙遗迹和其它约24座古建筑。

The illegal project is next to the Teotihuacan archeological area. Building anything new there is illegal. The owner of the land, however, has ignored orders from Mexico's antiquities² organization (INAH) to stop for the past two months. Many Mexicans are angry that officials are failing to protect the ruins of Teotihuacan, a place visited every year by large numbers of people.

该非法项目毗邻特奥蒂瓦坎古城。在那里建筑任何新项目都是非法的。然而，这片土地的所有者过去两个月一直无视墨西哥文物组织的停工命令。许多墨西哥人对有关官员未能保护每年有大量人来参观的特奥蒂瓦坎遗址感到愤怒。

Reuters news agency was unable to find or question the owner, whose name has not been made public.

路透社未能找到或是询问这位土地所有者，他的名字尚未被公开。

Rogelio Rivero Chong is the director of Teotihuacan's archeological area. He said the failure by police to stop the project showed the property owner's "total impunity³."

Rogelio Rivero Chong是特奥蒂瓦坎古城的负责人。他说，警方未能阻止该项目，表明这位业主没有受到任何惩罚。

In late April, the INAH brought a complaint to the government. Federal prosecutors⁴ charged the owner with "damage to archeological patrimony⁵." In recent weeks, the INAH documented ongoing⁶ building in the area by 60 workers. That information came from Mexico's Cultural Ministry⁷. However, the prosecutors' office did not answer Reuters' questions about the case.

今年4月下旬，墨西哥文物组织向政府发起投诉。联邦检查官指控这位业主破坏考古遗址。最近几周，墨西哥文物组织证实有60名工人在该地区继续建设。这些信息来自于墨西哥文化部。然而，检查官办公室没有回应路透社关于此案的提问。

Teotihuacan is about 50 kilometers northeast of Mexico City. It once was home to about 100,000 people who mostly lived in colorful stone houses.

特奥蒂瓦坎古城位于墨西哥城东北约50公里处。它曾经是大约10万人的家园，他们大多住在五颜六色的石头房子里。

People lived in that city at about the same time that Mayan culture had reached a high level to the south. But Teotihuacan is known for its own art and architecture. It grew rich for a period of 600 years until about 550 because of trading with other cities. It had an economy built on creating goods such as clothing and metal blades, or knives.

居住在这座城市的人们大约跟在南方达到高水平的玛雅文化是同一个时期。但是特奥蒂瓦坎以其自身的艺术和建筑而闻名。由于跟其它城市贸易，它在600年的时间里变得富有，直到大约550年。它的经济建立在诸如制作服装、金属刀具之类的商品上。

Rivero Chong said officials have struggled for years to stop illegal building. The building is often done at night and local government officials often arrive too late, he said.

Rivero Chong表示，有关官员多年来一直在努力阻止非法建筑。他说，这些建筑通常在晚上施工，当地政府官员通常来得太晚。

A tall wall surrounds the illegal building area. It is in what is believed to be one of the ancient city's oldest parts. A past archeological report said the area held at least three temples and 25 other ancient buildings.

一堵高墙围绕着违章建筑区域。它位于被认为是古城最古老的一部分。过去的考古报告称，该地区至少有3座寺庙和25座其它建筑。

Teotihuacan was named a world heritage⁸ site by the United Nations cultural agency, UNESCO, in 1987. The naming requires government protection of the area, said Rivero Chong.

特奥蒂瓦坎于1987年被联合国教科文组织认定为世界遗产。Rivero Chong，该认定要求政府对该地区进行保护。

In recent days, a number of leading archeological experts have asked the government to act. "For me, this really hurts," said Linda Manzanilla. She is a Teotihuacan archeologist with Mexico's National Autonomous⁹ University.

近日，一些权威考古专家要求政府采取行动。琳达·曼萨尼拉表示：“对我来说，这真的很心痛。”她是墨西哥国立自治大学的特奥蒂瓦坎考古专家。

During one of her projects there in the 1980s, she found a housing complex in Oztoyahualco where workers once lived. It was next to a workshop near the three temples that are now under threat.

上世纪80年在该地的一个项目期间，她在欧兹托雅胡科发现了一个住宅区，这里曾经是工人居住的地方。它紧挨着现在受到威胁的3座寺庙附近的一处作坊。

She said the latest illegal building is in an area just west of the Moon Pyramid. Near the illegal work, other research has found beautifully colored ancient buildings that were created around the central spaces of the city.

她说，最新的非法建筑位于月亮金字塔以西的一个区域。在非法项目附近，其它研究发现了围绕城市中心建造的色彩鲜艳的古建筑。

"It's very likely that there are very large complexes there," she said.

她说：“那里可能有非常庞大的建筑群。”

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 antiquities   

n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 )；古迹；古人们；古代的风俗习惯

参考例句：

• There is rest and healing in the contemplation of antiquities. 欣赏古物有休息和疗养之功。 来自辞典例句
• Bertha developed a fine enthusiasm for the antiquities of London. 伯沙对伦敦的古迹产生了很大的热情。 来自辞典例句

3 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

4 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

5 patrimony   

n.世袭财产，继承物

参考例句：

• I left my parents' house,relinquished my estate and my patrimony.我离开了父母的家，放弃了我的房产和祖传财产。
• His grandfather left the patrimony to him.他的祖父把祖传的财物留给了他。

6 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

7 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

8 heritage   

n.传统，遗产，继承物

参考例句：

• The ancient buildings are part of the national heritage.这些古建筑是民族遗产的一部分。
• We Chinese have a great cultural heritage.我们中国人有伟大的文化遗产。

9 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。