国外媒体:英国呼吁减少路标 美化市容

Britain being "overrun" by street signs

The British government has declared war on the profusion¹ of unnecessary road traffic signs, railings and advertising² boards, saying they blight³ towns' English character.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles⁴ and Transport Secretary Philip Hammond has written to local council leaders in England, calling on them to cut the number of unsightly signs and other "street clutter⁵."

Even traffic lights are in the firing line.

Ministers want the public to inform local authorities of particularly bad examples of excess signage, to clean up the national landscape.

"Our streets are losing their English character," Pickles said. "We are being overrun by scruffy⁶ signs, bossy⁷ bollards, patchwork⁸ paving and railed-off roads -- wasting taxpayers⁹' money that could be better spent on fixing potholes¹⁰."

The government says that in some cases traffic signs are installed by councils in the mistaken belief they are legally required, when they are not.

Hammond said the abundance of so-called street furniture often makes towns resemble "scrapyards," confusing motorists and obstructing¹¹ pedestrians¹².

For signs to be most effective, ministers say, they should be kept to a minimum.

When busy Kensington High Street in central London was stripped of excess road furniture, for example, it helped reduce accidents by 47 percent.

The Department for Transport is reviewing traffic signs policy and new advice on how to reduce clutter will be published later this year.

For more Bilingual News, please log on to our website at language.chinadaily.com.cn. For now, this has been Nelly Min.

日前，英国政府呼吁拆除过多的路标、栏杆和广告牌，称这些街道设施破坏了英国城镇的景观。

英国社区事务大臣埃里克?皮科尔斯和交通事务大臣菲利普?哈蒙德日前致信英格兰地方市政官员，要求展开整治市容工作，清除街道上的一些煞风景的标识和其它“多余的路面设施”。

甚至交通信号灯也在被拆范围之列。

两位大臣希望民众能将特别多余的路标告知地方政府，帮助整治英国的城镇景观。

皮科尔斯说：“我们的街道正逐渐失去英国风范。到处是零乱的路标、碍事的护栏、拼铺的小路和被栏杆围起来的马路，本可以用于修补坑穴的纳税人的钱都被浪费在了这些方面。”

英国政府称，有时地方政府错误地认为设立某些路标是应法律法规的要求，但实际上这些路标并不需要。

哈蒙德说，过多的街道设施常常把城镇变得像个“废品堆放场”，不仅会绕晕司机，还会给行人带来不便。

两位大臣称，街道路标的设立应有个度，才能起到指引作用。

比如，伦敦中部繁忙的肯辛顿大街拆掉了多余的道路设施后，交通事故数量减少了47%。

目前英国交通部正在审核交通路标的相关政策，有关如何减少道路设施数量的新建议将于今年晚些时候公布。

1 profusion   

n.挥霍；丰富

参考例句：

• He is liberal to profusion.他挥霍无度。
• The leaves are falling in profusion.落叶纷纷。

2 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

3 blight   

n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残

参考例句：

• The apple crop was wiped out by blight.枯萎病使苹果全无收成。
• There is a blight on all his efforts.他的一切努力都遭到挫折。

4 pickles   

n.腌菜( pickle的名词复数 )；处于困境；遇到麻烦；菜酱

参考例句：

• Most people eat pickles at breakfast. 大多数人早餐吃腌菜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I want their pickles and wines, and that.' 我要他们的泡菜、美酒和所有其他东西。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛

5 clutter   

n.零乱，杂乱；vt.弄乱，把…弄得杂乱

参考例句：

• The garage is in such a clutter that we can't find anything.车库如此凌乱，我们什么也找不到。
• We'll have to clear up all this clutter.我们得把这一切凌乱的东西整理清楚。

6 scruffy   

adj.肮脏的，不洁的

参考例句：

• Despite her scruffy clothes,there was an air of sophistication about her.尽管她衣衫褴褛，但神态老练世故。
• His scruffy appearance does not reflect his character.他邋遢的外表并不反映他的性格。

7 bossy   

adj.爱发号施令的，作威作福的

参考例句：

• She turned me off with her bossy manner.她态度专橫很讨我嫌。
• She moved out because her mother-in-law is too bossy.她的婆婆爱指使人,所以她搬出去住了。

8 patchwork   

n.混杂物；拼缝物

参考例句：

• That proposal is nothing else other than a patchwork.那个建议只是一个大杂烩而已。
• She patched new cloth to the old coat,so It'seemed mere patchwork. 她把新布初到那件旧上衣上，所以那件衣服看上去就象拼凑起来的东西。

9 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

10 potholes   

n.壶穴( pothole的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Potholes are also home to tiny desert animals. 洞穴也是弱小动物的家。 来自互联网
• If you're going to enjoy the good times, you've certainly got to deal with some potholes. 如果要享受甜美的胜利果实，当然要应付这些战绩不佳的指责压力。 来自互联网

11 obstructing   

阻塞( obstruct的现在分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止

参考例句：

• You can't park here, you're obstructing my driveway. 你不能在这里停车，你挡住了我家的车道。
• He was charged for obstructing the highway. 他因阻碍交通而受控告。

12 pedestrians   

n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Several pedestrians had come to grief on the icy pavement. 几个行人在结冰的人行道上滑倒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Pedestrians keep to the sidewalk [footpath]! 行人走便道。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》