VOA标准英语2010年-Now You See It, Now You Don't

Perhaps you've seen or heard of David Copperfield and other illusionists who seem to make entire buildings disappear right before your eyes.

Well, some people in St. Louis, Missouri - and in other U.S. cities as well - are going them one better. They're making whole blocks vanish, seemingly overnight.

This is happening in the poorest, most decrepit² parts of town, where huge mansions³ and apartment buildings on street after street have been completely abandoned.

country_boy_shane, Flickr Creative Commons
Bricks there for the picking, quite literally⁴.
Once among the most prestigious⁵ local addresses, they're now easy pickings for thieves, who strip them practically bare, stealing every lighting⁶ fixture⁷, every piece of copper¹ pipe and, as the saying goes, everything else that isn't nailed down. Stuff that is, too.

It's an all-too-familiar story in St. Louis, where at least 8,000 buildings stand empty. And after the human vultures have picked them clean, the buildings themselves are disappearing. Many are made of prized St. Louis brick, dating to a time when the rich, bottomland soil along the Mississippi River produced some of the finest clay in the land.

Builders and renovators in southern cities, especially, covet⁸ that brick, and fast-moving thieves are grabbing it for them.

How do they do it? In the middle of the night, they set fire to the old buildings. Fire crews rush in and train high-pressure hoses on the burning structures. Not only does this knock down most of the weakened walls that haven't already collapsed⁹, it also washes away much of the mortar¹⁰ that held the bricks in place. Left behind in heaps on the ground are classic St. Louis bricks, ready for scavenging.

Barbara Buck¹¹, who owns a used-brick store in town, told the New York Times that she figures at least eight whole tractor-trailer loads of stolen brick leave the city each week, heading south.
 

1 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

2 decrepit   

adj.衰老的，破旧的

参考例句：

• The film had been shot in a decrepit old police station.该影片是在一所破旧不堪的警察局里拍摄的。
• A decrepit old man sat on a park bench.一个衰弱的老人坐在公园的长凳上。

3 mansions   

n.宅第，公馆，大厦( mansion的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Fifth Avenue was boarded up where the rich had deserted their mansions. 第五大道上的富翁们已经出去避暑，空出的宅第都已锁好了门窗，钉上了木板。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Oh, the mansions, the lights, the perfume, the loaded boudoirs and tables! 啊，那些高楼大厦、华灯、香水、藏金收银的闺房还有摆满山珍海味的餐桌！ 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

4 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。

5 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

6 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

7 fixture   

n.固定设备；预定日期；比赛时间；定期存款

参考例句：

• Lighting fixture must be installed at once.必须立即安装照明设备。
• The cordless kettle may now be a fixture in most kitchens.无绳电热水壶现在可能是多数厨房的固定设备。

8 covet   

vt.垂涎；贪图(尤指属于他人的东西)

参考例句：

• We do not covet anything from any nation.我们不觊觎任何国家的任何东西。
• Many large companies covet these low-cost acquisition of troubled small companies.许多大公司都觊觎低价收购这些陷入困境的小公司。

9 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。

10 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

11 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。