美国国家公共电台 NPR Puerto Rico's Christopher Columbus Statue Survives Hurricane Maria

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Puerto Ricans say it is taller than the Statue of Liberty. This is the tallest statue of Christopher Columbus in the world we're talking about. It's a towering, 350-foot tall bronze statue of the explorer, and it is perched on the island's waterfront. Now, while this statue survived Hurricane Maria, which hit Puerto Rico more than two weeks ago, the town it resides in was not as lucky. Here's NPR's Carrie Kahn.

CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE¹: It's tough to do justice to the huge sculpture. Luckily, I didn't travel alone to Arecibo, a beach town some 50 miles from the capital on Puerto Rico's northern coast.

This is NPR producer Liz Baker². You're going to have to help me describe this. That is one tall statue.

LIZ BAKER, BYLINE: It's tall. And compared to everything else around here, it really towers.

KAHN: The 350-foot tall statue sits on a huge base shaped like a ship. It's perched on a grassy³ hill. A thin-faced Christopher Columbus stands on top. His open right hand jets in the air. His left steadies a huge steering⁴ wheel.

BAKER: Yup.

KAHN: Then above him...

BAKER: Three big sails with crosses cut out of them so you can see the sky through it. I assume there's one for each of his ships, the Nina, the Pinta and Santa Maria. All right. My kindergarten teacher would be proud. (Laughter).

KAHN: This wasn't a very developed part of the northern coast to begin with, but since Hurricane Maria hit, there's even less left standing⁵, just a few restaurants and some battered⁶ homes, like Juan Mena's, right next-door to the statue.

JUAN MENA: (Speaking foreign language).

KAHN: "When they inaugurated the 600-ton statue last year, we all said, wow. We've never seen anything this big around here," he says. He got to ride the elevator up to the ship's observation deck, where he says he could see all the way down the coast. Plans were to develop the area with hotels, a golf course, even a few zip lines. Maria, however, blew a huge hole in those plans.

(SOUNDBITE OF SCRAPING METAL)

KAHN: At the gas station down the road, a crew is cleaning up. The front panels of all the pumps are blown off. The station's roof is on its side, and twisted metal litters the ground. Angel Carrion⁷ shovels⁸ up piles of mud. He says he isn't a fan of Columbus.

ANGEL CARRION: He colonized⁹ us. So from that point of view, I don't like him. But that's part of who we are.

KAHN: Carrion is more accepting of the statue, especially since it was bringing in tourists. But Puerto Rico's indigenous¹⁰ people, the Tainos, bitterly objected, citing Columbus's infamous¹¹ treatment of Indians here and throughout the Americas. The sculpture's modern-day journey to Arecibo was controversial, too. Its Russian creator originally offered it to several U.S. cities. All of them declined. Puerto Rico accepted but kept the huge pieces in storage for more than a decade. Ricardo Dominich, an Army veteran, says he's thrilled the statue finally landed in Arecibo. He just hopes his town sees better times soon. They still don't have water, electricity or cell service.

RICARDO DOMINICH: Right now is - we're on survival mode. And, you know, making do and trying to be, you know, as best of spirits with what we have.

KAHN: At least, he says, there's beer in the stores. And he plans to spend Columbus Day drinking a few at the beach with the town's huge statue towering over them. Carrie Kahn, NPR News, Arecibo, Puerto Rico.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

3 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

4 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

7 carrion   

n.腐肉

参考例句：

• A crow of bloodthirsty ants is attracted by the carrion.一群嗜血的蚂蚁被腐肉所吸引。
• Vultures usually feed on carrion or roadkill.兀鹫通常以腐肉和公路上的死伤动物为食。

8 shovels   

n.铲子( shovel的名词复数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份v.铲子( shovel的第三人称单数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份

参考例句：

• workmen with picks and shovels 手拿镐铲的工人
• In the spring, we plunge shovels into the garden plot, turn under the dark compost. 春天，我们用铁锨翻开园子里黑油油的沃土。 来自辞典例句

9 colonized   

开拓殖民地，移民于殖民地( colonize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The area was colonized by the Vikings. 这一地区曾沦为维京人的殖民地。
• The British and French colonized the Americas. 英国人和法国人共同在美洲建立殖民地。

10 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

11 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。