密歇根新闻广播 密州基础设施体系正走向破碎的边缘

Imagine bringing Abraham Lincoln back to life today. What do you suppose he would find most shocking about life in today's America?

Airplanes? Same-sex marriage? A black president?

It might be modern plumbing¹. But I can tell you one area where he would be puzzled, dismayed, and angry.

And that would be that we are letting our infrastructure² fall apart. While we think of Lincoln primarily as a great moral and military leader, the focus of much of his career was on what then were called “internal improvements. "Today, we call this infrastructure, the often forgotten underpinnings of our civilization.

That means roads and bridges and wiring; water and sewer³ pipes and systems. We built these decades ago, when we were an expanding civilization and believed in ourselves.

Now, they are falling apart. Thirty years ago, there might have been some controversy⁴ over how to pay for new roads if we needed them, but there was never any real question about whether to do so. Now, we are literally⁵ letting our country fall apart.

Last night, I had the privilege of moderating an Issues and Ale event Michigan Radio hosted in Lansing. Our panelists were three people who really know this state's infrastructure: Charles Ballard, a professor at Michigan State who specializes in our state's economy.

Aarne Frobom, a longtime planning specialist with MDOT, the Michigan Department of Transportation. And Mike Nystrom of the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association, which is essentially⁶ a lobbying group for the construction industry.

We met at an excellent place called the Beer Grotto⁷, a stone's throw from the Capitol Dome⁸, where decisions that will lead to the saving or neglecting of this state's underpinnings are made.

Earlier that day, the American Society of Civil Engineers released a report saying that over the next decade, the nation is projected to spent $1.4 trillion—that's a thousand billion—dollars less than needed on our infrastructure. This gap is only expected to widen.

In Michigan, the situation is worse, especially for our neglected roads. The legislature did finally pass a bizarrely complex plan last year, which eventually is supposed to generate another $1.2 billion a year for our roads.

But the panelists agreed all this will do is cause our state to fall apart a little more slowly; the real amount needed is more than $3 billion.

The fact that a nation still as rich as ours is allowing our foundations to crumble⁹ is baffling—until you understand that economics have nothing to do with it; this is driven by ideology¹⁰ in its worst form, plus the destructive effects of term limits and gerrymandering.

Economist¹¹ Ballard said as a joke that he wasn't sure whether carpet bombing would be worse than term limits for our state. I'm not sure it is a joke. Fully¹² twenty percent of the legislature has signed a no-tax pledge which has resulted in the mindless rejection¹³ of proposals that would make save us serious dollars in the long run.

There is one bit of good news. As Mike Nystrom noted¹⁴, for the first time, polls show that infrastructure needs are now the number one issue in Michigan. So all we need now is a responsible government that really cares about our people and our future.

Good luck in getting there.

Jack¹⁵ Lessenberry is Michigan Radio's political analyst¹⁶. Views expressed in his essays are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Radio, its management or the station licensee, The University of Michigan.

1 plumbing   

n.水管装置；水暖工的工作；管道工程v.用铅锤测量（plumb的现在分词）；探究

参考例句：

• She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche. 她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。
• They're going to have to put in new plumbing. 他们将需要安装新的水管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

3 sewer   

n.排水沟，下水道

参考例句：

• They are tearing up the street to repair a sewer. 他们正挖开马路修下水道。
• The boy kicked a stone into the sewer. 那个男孩把一石子踢进了下水道。

4 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

5 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

6 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

7 grotto   

n.洞穴

参考例句：

• We reached a beautiful grotto,whose entrance was almost hiden by the vine.我们到达了一个美丽的洞穴，洞的进口几乎被藤蔓遮掩著。
• Water trickles through an underground grotto.水沿着地下岩洞流淌。

8 dome   

n.圆屋顶，拱顶

参考例句：

• The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。
• They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。

9 crumble   

vi.碎裂，崩溃；vt.弄碎，摧毁

参考例句：

• Opposition more or less crumbled away.反对势力差不多都瓦解了。
• Even if the seas go dry and rocks crumble,my will will remain firm.纵然海枯石烂，意志永不动摇。

10 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

11 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

12 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

13 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

14 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

15 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

16 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。