纽约地铁车厢将用于维护大西洋生态环境

 

 

NY Subway Cars to Help Atlantic Ecosystem¹

Barbara Schoetzau

New York

20 Aug 2001 03:06 UTC

 

Some 400 New York City 1)subway cars are heading to a final resting place on the bottom of the ocean off the 2)shores of the small state of Delaware. The retired² cars will still be working - this time for an environmental cause.

The dark red cars, called Redbirds by subway train workers and fans, were a part of New York's image for more than 40 years.

Introduced between 1959 and 1964, the Redbirds carried tens of millions of locals and tourists around the five counties that make up New York City, from Coney Island, at the tip of Brooklyn, to the Queens County site of the 1964 World's Fair.

Last year the Redbirds did double-duty, carrying 3)baseball fans back and forth³ between Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and Shea Stadium, the Queens home of the New York Mets, when New York's two baseball teams vied for the baseball 4)championship in the famous "subway series."

Now the 30-ton cars are being shipped by barge⁴ to Delaware where they will be taken out to sea and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean. New York City transit⁵ official Albert O'Leary says they will be used to create an 5)artificial 6)reef, helping⁶ to rebuild a 7)marine 8)ecological system on the 9)barren floor of the ocean. "People who like to dive, people who like to fish - this is going to be the Disney World of the Eastern 10)seaboard in a couple of months," said Mr. O'Leary.

Times change and technology moves forward. The subway fare was fifteen cents when the Redbirds first took to the New York City tracks. It is now ten times that. A new fleet of brightly-lit, air-conditioned cars with 11)automated public address systems are replacing the old cars. Still, the Redbirds will be missed by long-time transit workers such as Joseph Hoffman, who says "they have been a part of my life. I feel bad about it. I started two tracks over and two cars down in 1970, doing 12)overhauls. I put in most of these components⁷ that we have taken out."

Transit workers are cleaning the old cars and removing any items that could harm divers⁸ or damage the environment.

"We went out of our way," says Mr. Hoffman, "taking 13)painstaking measures to make sure there is absolutely no grease on these cars, nothing that could float to the top, nothing that could damage the environment. These cars are inspected both by the Coast Guard and by the state of Delaware before we put them on the 14)barge."

The first shipment of 20 cars will be sunk on Tuesday. City transit officials say it is far cheaper to ship the subway cars to Delaware than to dispose of them in a 15)landfill.

 

 

(1)      subway[5sQbweI]n.地道, <美> 地铁

(2)      shore[FC:(r)]n.岸, 海滨, 支撑柱vt.支撑, 支持

(3)      baseball[5beIsbC:l]n.棒球, 棒球运动

(4)      championship[5tFAmpIEnFIp]n.锦标赛

(5)      artificial[B:tI5fIF(E)l]adj.人造的, 假的, 非原产地的

(6)      reef[ri:f]n.暗礁, 收帆v.收(帆)

(7)      marine[mE5ri:n]n.舰队, 水兵, 海运业adj.海的, 海产的, 航海的

(8)      ecological[9i:kE`lCdVIkEl]adj.生态学的, 社会生态学的

(9)      barren[5bArEn]adj.不生育的, 不孕的, 贫瘠的

(10)      seaboard[5si:bC:d]n.海岸, 沿海地方

(11)      automate[5C:tEmeIt]v.使自动化, 自动操作

(12)      overhaul[5EJvEhC:l]v.检查

(13)      painstaking[5peInzteIkIN]n.苦干, 辛苦adj.辛苦的, 辛勤的, 艰苦的

(14)      barge[bB:dV]n.驳船, 游艇vt.用船运输vi.蹒跚, 闯入

(15)      landfill[ `lAndfIl ]n.垃圾掩埋法, 垃圾

 

 

1 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

2 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

3 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

4 barge   

n.平底载货船，驳船

参考例句：

• The barge was loaded up with coal.那艘驳船装上了煤。
• Carrying goods by train costs nearly three times more than carrying them by barge.通过铁路运货的成本比驳船运货成本高出近3倍。

5 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

8 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。