VOA慢速英语2014 AS IT IS 2014-03-25 Businessman Buys Famous Car Factory in Detroit 商人购买底特律著名的汽车工厂

 

AS IT IS 2014-03-25 Businessman Buys Famous Car Factory in Detroit 商人购买底特律著名的汽车工厂

Hello and welcome back to a special program of As It Is…a way for you to learn and improve your American English. 

I’m Jim Tedder¹ in Washington.

Today we take you to Detroit, Michigan, and visit what was once a large part of America’s industrial strength.  

The Packard Plant was once the most modern automobile² production center in the world.  Now, the former factory buildings are in disrepair.  And police and fire officials in Detroit say the factory grounds are a danger to the community.

Detroit is known as the 'Motor City.'  It is home to car makers⁴ Ford⁵, Chrysler and General Motors.  Before these businesses became world famous, the Packard Motor Car Company was the best-known car maker³ in Detroit.

 

The Packard plant was known for its big, strong buildings.  These structures were famous for their open spaces and use of sunlight.  The Packard Plant influenced the design of factories around the world.  But by 2012, the Detroit Free Press was describing the Packard Plant as, big, ugly and dangerous.

Today, visitors are not permitted inside the old buildings.  Some structures are collapsing⁶.  Roads within the 18-hectare property are damaged.  Industrial wreckage⁷ and waste cover the grounds. But after the city of Detroit seized the property, many people wanted to buy the old Packard Plant.  The city took control of the land because the owner had failed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes.

The Detroit city government first attempted to sell the Packard Plant in October of 2012.  A Spanish-born businessman, Fernando Palazuelo, was the third person to make an offer at a government auction⁸.  The first person offered six million dollars, but failed to make the full payment.  A man who had offered two million dollars for the property also failed to pay.  Finally, in 2013, the city accepted Mr. Palazuelo’s offer.  He reportedly paid only $405,000 for the Packard Plant. 

The story of the Packard Plant begins in 1903 with two American brothers and a German immigrant.  The brothers -- William and James Ward⁹ Packard -- thought they could build a better car.  The immigrant -- architect Albert Kahn -- thought he could design a better factory.

The Packard brothers moved some of their business operations to Detroit in 1903.  They asked Kahn to design new factory buildings for the Packard Motor Car Company.  His design included tall windows that gave factory workers plenty of light and fresh air.  Kahn made the “daylight factory” popular.  He used wood, brick and other traditional building materials in the first eight buildings.  Then the architect began using reinforced concrete.  This material helped protect buildings from being destroyed by fire.  It is for this reason that the Packard plant has survived longer than the company that built it.

Packard cars were the favorite cars of the rich in the early 20th century.  In 1921, Warren G. Harding was the first American president to drive to his swearing-in ceremony.  President Harding declared that America was in the age of what he called “the motor car.”

In 1932, Americans elected Franklin Roosevelt as president.  Roosevelt set up programs to keep people working during the Great Depression.  In 1935, radio listeners could hear a Packard advertisement with the words, “Give A Man A Job.  Buy A New Car.”

Packard stopped making cars during World War II to build engines for military airplanes and ships.  One day in 1943, production at the plant came to a halt.  About 25,000 people walked off the job.  White factory workers were protesting the naming of three African-Americans to new positions. 

Their appointments meant that the white workers would be working directly with African-Americans.  The strike lasted three days.  Later that summer, there were deadly race riots¹⁰ across Detroit.  The unrest stopped war production for two weeks.

After the war, the Packard Company began to lose business.  The company was losing out to other companies.  By 1959, production stopped and the Packard Plant was officially closed.

Ownership of the Packard Plant has changed over the years.  Since the early 1990s, the plant has been almost unoccupied.  People continue to steal anything from the property that can be sold.

Many musicians and visual artists have seen beauty and meaning in the wreckage of the Packard Plant.  The British graffiti artist Banksy left two versions of his work on Packard Plant buildings in 2010.  Detroit rapper Eminem has used the plant as a setting.  The music video for his song 'Beautiful' shows him walking through the grounds.

The new owner of the Packard plant has employed a security company to protect the property.  Fernando Palazuelo plans to build a stronger fence to stop criminals and other individuals.  Then he will begin the huge job of removing collapsed¹¹ buildings and small mountains of old car tires.

Mr. Palazuelo started his property development business in Spain.  He sold and bought houses.  Then, during the international economic crisis¹² of 2008, he lost everything.  He moved to Lima, Peru.  The businessman bought old structures in the historic¹³ center of the Peruvian capital.  He redeveloped the buildings and persuaded people to live and work in them.  He says his experience in Lima will help him in Detroit.

Mr. Palazuelo believes it will cost around $350 million to save some of the old buildings and develop new structures.  He wants to create space for new factories, offices, and homes.  He also plans to include performance and art spaces.  He estimates it will take between 10 and 15 years to redevelop the Packard Plant.

This has been a special As It Is program about a part of America that was once called “the industrial heartland.”  It was a manufacturing center like no other.  The people of Detroit, Michigan, are proud of their history, and dream of a day when their hometown will once again help drive America forward.

Thank you for listening.

1 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网

2 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

3 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

4 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

6 collapsing   

压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The rocks were folded by collapsing into the center of the trough. 岩石由于坍陷进入凹槽的中心而发生褶皱。

7 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

8 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

9 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

10 riots   

n. 暴乱, 骚乱, 暴动 vi. 骚乱, 闹事

参考例句：

• the instigators of the riots 煽动骚乱的人
• The riots are a clear manifestation of the people's discontent. 骚乱清楚地表明了人们的不满情绪。

11 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

12 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

13 historic   

adj.历史上著名的，具有历史意义的

参考例句：

• This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
• We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。