VOA标准英语2012--Covered Bridges Make River Crossings a Treat
时间：2018-12-16 作者：英语课 分类：VOA标准英语2012年(十月)
Covered Bridges Make River Crossings a Treat
It’s fall in the United States, the season when millions of Americans take to country roads to check out pumpkin 1 patches, apple-cider stands - and covered bridges.
These structures stand year-round, of course, but they take on an especially quaint 2 character against a canopy 3 of vividly 4 colored autumn leaves.
Covered bridges originated in China and can be found throughout Central Europe. But not in the concentrations you’ll find in America’s Upper Midwest and New England.
Interest in these nostalgic bridges grew in 1992 with the publication of the best-selling book, "The Bridges of Madison County."
That would be Indiana, with more than 150 of them. And here’s how much Indianans care about them:
Back in 1986, the 19,000 or so people living in rural Rush County would have been alarmed if you told them there were “activists” in their midst.
But there were, by the hundreds: indignant crusaders who sprang up like summer thunderstorms in towns such as Rushville, Moscow and Homer.
When they finished, the object of their unhappiness - the three members of the county’s Board of Commissioners 5 - had lost their seats.
That’s because they had approved the destruction of four of the county’s six historic covered bridges in favor of ordinary concrete-and-steel spans.
Arsonists 6 took care of the oldest and most dilapidated, built in 1873. But that only heightened the residents’ resolve to save and restore the other five.
The bridges’ elaborately decorated wooden superstructures did more than protect the stream crossings from rot.
Embellished 7 with vinelike wooden tendrils and eye-catching overhung roofs, they resembled country cottages.
Not only did Rush County’s bridge-lovers save the spans, they inspired bridge festivals and bluegrass-music jamborees.
And cars and trucks and tractors still rumble 8 across these picturesque 9 covered bridges, demonstrating that historic structures can be a working part of modern day-to-day life.
- They ate turkey and pumpkin pie.他们吃了火鸡和南瓜馅饼。
- It looks like there is a person looking out of the pumpkin!看起来就像南瓜里有人在看着你！
- There were many small lanes in the quaint village.在这古香古色的村庄里，有很多小巷。
- They still keep some quaint old customs.他们仍然保留着一些稀奇古怪的旧风俗。
- The trees formed a leafy canopy above their heads.树木在他们头顶上空形成了一个枝叶茂盛的遮篷。
- They lay down under a canopy of stars.他们躺在繁星点点的天幕下。
- The speaker pictured the suffering of the poor vividly.演讲者很生动地描述了穷人的生活。
- The characters in the book are vividly presented.这本书里的人物写得栩栩如生。
- The Commissioners of Inland Revenue control British national taxes. 国家税收委员管理英国全国的税收。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The SEC has five commissioners who are appointed by the president. 证券交易委员会有５名委员，是由总统任命的。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
- The factory was destroyed in a fire started by arsonists. 工厂在纵火犯引起的火灾中烧毀了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Australian Attorney-General Robert McClelland said suspected arsonists could face murder charges. 澳大利亚总检察长罗伯特麦克莱兰说，怀疑纵火犯可能面临谋杀指控。 来自互联网
- The door of the old church was embellished with decorations. 老教堂的门是用雕饰美化的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The stern was embellished with carvings in red and blue. 船尾饰有红色和蓝色的雕刻图案。 来自辞典例句
- I hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.我听到远处雷声隆隆。
- We could tell from the rumble of the thunder that rain was coming.我们根据雷的轰隆声可断定，天要下雨了。
- You can see the picturesque shores beside the river.在河边你可以看到景色如画的两岸。
- That was a picturesque phrase.那是一个形象化的说法。