《瘋狂英語》精選輯:走近未來海上都市
Vision of the Future
For nearly all of his 86 years, architect Jacque Fresco has been designing cities of the future. Fresco’s structures all derived from a simple form that 1)fascinated him as a boy.
Fresco: When I was about 12 years old I was looking at a 2)gear on a table. And I saw the cities of the future. I think all my inventions are based upon experiences like that, I don’t think they come out of nowhere.
Fresco believes that 3)civilization will be forced to 4)colonize the sea if land becomes 5)uninhabitable.
Fresco: The earth can only support so many people, comfortably, and if the population exceeds the capacity of the land, we’re going to have to move seaward and build cities through out the sea.
Working from his Florida studio, Fresco has spent decades making detailed drawings of his futuristic ocean cities. He also builds 6)prototypes, experimenting continually with new materials; he even lives in one.
Fresco’s even developed plans for transporting the structures out to sea. They’ll be constructed out of 7)modular sections, 8)assembled on land by robots and then towed to their final ocean destinations. Other structures will be made from high tech materials called memory metals.
Fresco: These memory metals can be 9)distorted, 10)twisted, pulled out of shape and then when a certain temperature is provided that memory metal goes right back to its original shape.
So buildings made from memory metals can be compressed into small cubes for towing and then snapped back to size upon arrival.
Fresco: And almost 11)instantaneously you will see a building 12)erected before your eyes, and no humans working on it all.
Fresco’s vision goes beyond architecture; he sees his cities as tools for 13)fostering humanistic values.
Fresco: I feel that environment shapes our values, the people we know, the people we identify with. What will drive people in the future? A world without war, without hatred, without 14)bigotry, without 15)prejudice. The future must extend an invitation for all people to join in because the problems effect everybody.
注釋：
1) fascinate v. 迷住
2) gear n. 齒輪
3) civilization n. 文明, 文明社會
4) colonize v. 開拓殖民地
5) uninhabitable a. 不適合人類居住的
6) prototype n. 模型；模型
7) modular a. 組件的
8) assemble v. 裝配
9) distort v. 歪曲，扭曲
10) twist v. 扭曲，擰, 扭
11) instantaneously ad. 瞬間的
12) erect v. 建起, 建立
13) foster v. 培養(yǎng), 促進(jìn)
14) bigotry n. 頑固, 執(zhí)拗
15) prejudice n. 偏見
走近未來海上都市
將近86年來，建筑師雅克·費(fèi)雷斯科一直在從事未來城市的設(shè)計。費(fèi)雷斯科的設(shè)計全源自兒時見過的一個令他著迷的簡單物件。
費(fèi)雷斯科：12歲時我看著桌上的一個齒輪，眼前就浮現(xiàn)出未來城市的景象。我認(rèn)為我所有發(fā)明都是從那樣的經(jīng)歷得來的，并不是憑空而來的。
費(fèi)雷斯科認(rèn)為若陸地變得不適宜居住，文明社會便被迫向海洋擴(kuò)張。
費(fèi)雷斯科：陸地只能讓這么多人舒適地生活，一旦人口超出土地的承載能力，我們便不得不向海洋擴(kuò)張，建立海上城市。
費(fèi)雷斯科在佛羅里達(dá)州的工作室花了幾十年來繪畫細(xì)致的未來海上城市的藍(lán)圖。他還建造了多個未來城市的模型，并且不斷地嘗試使用新的物料；甚至自己就住在其中一個未來城市的模型中。
費(fèi)雷斯科甚至構(gòu)想出把建筑架構(gòu)運(yùn)輸?shù)胶Ｉ系姆桨?。建筑物將由預(yù)制部件組成，并由機(jī)械人在陸地上組裝，然后拖到海上的目的地。其它建筑物則由被稱為“記憶金屬”的高科技材料建造而成。
費(fèi)雷斯科：這些記憶金屬可被扭曲變形，然后當(dāng)溫度達(dá)到某個程度溫度，記憶金屬便可以恢復(fù)到原來的形狀。因此用記憶金屬建造的建筑物在搬運(yùn)時能壓縮成小立方體，到達(dá)目的地后便能迅速回復(fù)到原來的大小。
費(fèi)雷斯科：一眨眼功夫，就能在你面前矗立起一座建筑物，而無須任何人去搭建。
費(fèi)雷斯科的觀點(diǎn)超越了建筑學(xué)，他視其海上城市為提升人類價值的工具。
費(fèi)雷斯科：我認(rèn)為我們的價值觀、我們認(rèn)識和認(rèn)同的人，都是由我們所處的環(huán)境所塑造的。未來將由什么力量來推動人類前進(jìn)呢？答案是：一個沒有戰(zhàn)爭、仇恨、偏執(zhí)和偏見的世界。未來的建設(shè)需要全人類的共同參與，因為這些問題影響著我們每一個人。
