原文标题:Year of the ratHamelin on the HudsonEric Adams, New York’s Pied Piper, declares war on rats鼠年哈德逊河畔的哈梅林纽约有号召力的埃里克·亚当斯,向老鼠宣战The mayor vows to fight the city’s latest plague市长宣告要与这座城市最新的“瘟疫”作斗争

[Paragraph 1] ASIDE FROM the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building, is there a more quintessential image of New York than a rat carefully, nay heroically, carrying a slice of pizza down some subway stairs? 除了自由女神像和帝国大厦之外,还有什么比老鼠更能代表纽约形象?老鼠会小心翼翼而又大摇大摆地带一片披萨下地铁楼梯。The horror and admiration of New Yorkers sent footage of “Pizza Rat” viral in 2015. Little admiration has been directed at rats of late. 2015年,纽约人对老鼠既害怕又欣赏的情绪让《披萨鼠》视频在网上走红。最近,很少有人会对老鼠表示欣赏。

Rat sightings, as reported to the city’s 311 customer-service number, rose by more than 70% in the first nine months of the year against the same period in 2020. 据纽约市的市民热线服务“311”的报告,今年前9个月,老鼠的数量相比2020年同期,增长率超过70%。Eric Adams, the mayor, said recently his administration will make the Big Apple liveable by “fighting crime, fighting inequality, fighting rats”.市长埃里克·亚当斯最近表示,政府将通过“打击犯罪、打击不平等、打击老鼠”,让纽约变成一个更宜居的城市。

纽约防鼠(外刊双语鼠患严重)(1)

[Paragraph 2] Mr Adams and Jessica Tisch, the Department of Sanitation commissioner, have a plan to end rodents’ “all-night, all-you-can-eat-buffet”.

为了结束纽约啮齿动物“通宵达旦吃无限量自助餐”的状况,亚当斯先生和卫生部部长杰西卡·蒂希制定了一项计划。

Rubbish, now left on the curb for up to 14 hours, will be picked up within four.

现在留在路边的垃圾长达14个小时,未来4小时内就会被捡走。

After all, Ms Tisch says, “rats don’t run this city, we do.”

蒂希女士说,毕竟,“老鼠不是这个城市的主人,我们才是。”

The city has hired McKinsey, a consulting firm, to study scalable rat-proof trash containers.

该市聘请了咨询公司麦肯锡,他们在研究可伸缩的防鼠垃圾箱。

“People think it’s so easy, ‘why not copy and paste Barcelona [which has underground containers]?’” says Ms Tisch.

蒂希女士说:“人们认为这很容易,‘为什么不抄巴塞罗那(有地下集装箱)的作业?’”。

But New York is a far denser city, so more trash below its streets would compete for space with sewers, fibre-optic cables and the subway.

但纽约的人口密集度远远高于巴塞罗那,因此大量的地下垃圾会与下水道、光纤电缆和地铁争夺空间。

Mr Adams will soon announce more anti-rat schemes. 亚当斯先生将很快宣布更多的灭鼠计划。[Paragraph 3] Last month the city council passed a rat pack(age) of bills, which includes designating areas with high infestation as mitigation zones, allowing targeted rodent management.

上个月,市议会通过了一揽子法案,其中包括将鼠害严重的地区指定为缓解区,允许有针对性地管理啮齿动物。

Another bill requires the use of licensed exterminators as a condition for construction permits.

另一项法案要求建筑施工许可的条件之一就是请持证的职业灭鼠人采取相应灭鼠行动。

“They may be our neighbours, but they are not our friends,” says Shaun Abreu, who co-sponsored the package. “If we don’t take the war to them, they’ll take it to us.”

该法案的共同发起人肖恩·阿布鲁说:“它们可能是我们的邻居,但它们不是我们的朋友。如果我们不向它们宣战,它们就会向我们宣战。”

Some New Yorkers have taken matters into their own hands. One long-established group of rat vigilantes, called the Ryders Alley Trencher-Fed Society (RATS), hunt the vermin with their dogs.一些纽约人已经在自己动手灭鼠了。一个创建已久的灭鼠小分队“赖德巷猎犬会”,他们用狗捉老鼠。[Paragraph 4] But all these efforts may not be enough. Controlling rats will require everyone who lives or works in the city to play a role.

但所有这些努力可能还不够。控制老鼠需要每个在城市生活或工作的人参与。

Therein lies the problem, says an urban rodentologist. “One bad property-owner on a block of ten beautiful homes can cause the entire block to experience sightings of rats.” Rats take advantage of weakness.一位城市啮齿动物学家说,问题就出在这里。“10栋漂亮房子组成的街区里,1个糟糕的业主可能会让整个街区都鼠满为患。”老鼠会钻空子。[Paragraph 5] They are tenacious and bold. They eat what people eat, be it pizza or caviar.

他们顽强且大胆。人类吃什么,它们吃什么,无论是披萨还是鱼子酱。

They can squeeze through a hole the size of a coin and can fall five storeys without injury.

它们可以挤进硬币大小的洞里,从五层楼高的建筑物掉下也会毫发无损。

They chew through pipes and cinder blocks and gnaw on wires.

它们会咬坏管道和煤渣块,咬断电线。

And rat puns aside, rats are no joke. They carry disease and parasites.

撇开老鼠的双关语不谈,老鼠可不是闹着玩的。它们会携带疾病和寄生虫。

A Columbia University study in 2014 found that New York City rats carry 15 pathogens and 18 viruses never seen before in the city.哥伦比亚大学2014年的一项研究发现,纽约市老鼠携带了15种病原体和18种前所未见的病毒。[Paragraph 6]

As bad as it is, the Big Apple is not the worst.

尽管鼠患很严重,但纽约并不是最严重的城市。

Chicago has been America’s rattiest city for eight consecutive years, according to Orkin, a pest-control company.

据害虫防治公司Orkin称,芝加哥已连续八年成为美国鼠害最严重的城市。

New York, which ranks second, can only hope that Mr Adams lives up to his new moniker, “the Verminator”, to ensure a happy twist in the tail.排在第二位的纽约只能希望亚当斯先生不辜负他的新绰号“老鼠终结者”,以确保在灭鼠行动上能扭转乾坤。(恭喜读完,本篇英语词汇量576左右)原文出自:2022年11月12日《TE》United States版块。

精读笔记来源于:自由英语之路

本文翻译整理: Irene

本文编辑校对: Irene仅供个人英语学习交流使用。


【补充资料】(来自于网络)哈梅林Hamelin:德国的城市,以魔笛手的故事闻名。彩衣魔笛手的故事:在中世纪的一个夏日里,一个穿彩衣的陌生人大步走进德国的哈梅林镇。他听说这个镇里老鼠成灾,表示可以消灭它们---不过要收一笔费用。当市民们感激地表示同意时,陌生人立即拿出一支笛子,吹出了一种神奇的曲调。这曲调对老鼠有不可抗拒的诱惑力。于是老鼠从镇里的各家各户成群地跑了出来,跟着彩衣魔笛手来到威悉河岸,跟着他走进激流之中,统统淹死在河里。可是市民们却拒不付钱给他,于是他想了一个办法报复他们。他再次把笛子拿到唇边,吹出了另一种曲调---这个曲调不是引诱老鼠而是引诱孩子的。父母们无奈地望着彩衣魔笛手吹起了欢快的笛声,带着所有的孩子走出了哈梅林镇。人们从此再没见到孩子们的踪影。

美国311市民服务系统由马里兰州的巴尔的摩市在1996年第一次创立。从那之后,美国大多数大型城市的加入了“311”系统。“311”市民服务系统是以城市为单元,每个城市所建设的“311”系统基本可以联动所有的政府管理相关部门,为市民提供各类政府信息和服务咨询,市民也可以通过“311”服务系统向政府反映意见、提出建议、投诉控告等。“纽约311”是由纽约前市长迈克尔·布隆伯格提议建立的24小时全年无休人工呼叫中心发展的,于2003年推出,提供3600多种非紧急政府服务的信息咨询和访问。仅2018年一年,纽约市“311”系统就接收到超过4400万个投诉,平均每天有超过12万个投诉,平均每个居民每年投诉5次,投诉量在全美城市中排第一。

纽约灭鼠“小分队”叫作“赖德巷猎犬会”(Ryders Alley Trencher-fed Society)。值得一提的事,这个协会的缩写就是RATS(老鼠),似乎是对纽约人人喊打的生物的无声挑衅。

【重点句子】(3 个)Rubbish, now left on the curb for up to 14 hours, will be picked up within four.现在留在路边的垃圾长达14个小时,未来4小时内就会被捡走。But all these efforts may not be enough. Controlling rats will require everyone who lives or works in the city to play a role.但所有这些努力可能还不够。控制老鼠需要每个在城市生活或工作的人发挥作用。They can squeeze through a hole the size of a coin and can fall five storeys without injury.它们可以挤进硬币大小的洞里,从五层楼高的建筑物掉下也会毫发无损。

纽约防鼠(外刊双语鼠患严重)(2)

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