遇到这种车道请第一时间绕开（NO29受不了这种）

遇到这种车道请第一时间绕开（NO29受不了这种）他们认为：从城市生活意义上来讲，电梯在美国历史上的地位不亚于汽车。In that sense，they argue，the elevator’s role in American history has been no less significant than that of cars.Dr. Christopher Wilk is a member of a small group of elevator experts who consider this a misunderstanding. Without the elevator，they point out，there could be no downtown skyscrapers or tall buildings，and city life as we know it would be impossible.克里斯托弗·

【高中/大学英语无障碍阅读1000篇将陆续上传。材料来源/适用对象/使用说明/使用效果等详见“高中/大学英语无障碍阅读NO 1”。疑似生词汉语加注也许不能完全解决您的生词问题，但你可以自己借助词典进行补充查阅（相信这样的生词应该不会很多）。】

1 For most city people，the elevator is an unremarkable machine that inspires none of the enthusiasm or interest that Americans afford trains，jets，and even bicycles.

对大多数城市人来说，电梯是一个很不起眼的机器或机械，它丝毫没有激起人们的热情或兴趣，远远比不上美国人掏钱乘火车和飞机，或花钱买自行车骑的热情或兴趣。

elevator电梯/升降机/升降舵n，unremarkable平凡的/不显著的/不值得注意的a，enthusiasm热心/热忱/热情n

Dr. Christopher Wilk is a member of a small group of elevator experts who consider this a misunderstanding. Without the elevator，they point out，there could be no downtown skyscrapers or tall buildings，and city life as we know it would be impossible.

克里斯托弗·沃肯博士是电梯专家小组的一员。这些专家认为（人们对电梯的认识）是一种误解。他们指出：没有电梯，就不会有市中心的摩天大楼或高楼大厦，也就不可能有我们所知道的城市生活。

skyscraper摩天大楼/超高层大楼/特别高的东西n

In that sense，they argue，the elevator’s role in American history has been no less significant than that of cars.

他们认为：从城市生活意义上来讲，电梯在美国历史上的地位不亚于汽车。

significant重大的/有效的/有意义的/值得注意的/意味深长的a

In fact，according to Wilk，the car and the elevator have been locked in a ‘secret war” for over a century，with cars making it possible for people to spread horizontally(水平地)，and elevators pushing them toward life in close groups of towering vertical (垂直的)columns.

事实上，根据威尔克的说法，汽车和电梯在一个多世纪以来一直处于一场“秘密战争”之中，汽车使人们能够横向活动，而电梯（则以一根根密集的高耸的垂直圆柱的形式）把人们推向生活。

lock锁/陷入v，towering高耸的/卓越的/激烈的a

2 If we tend to ignore the significance of elevators，it might be because riding in them tends to be such a brief， boring， and even awkward experience one that can involve unexpectedly meeting people with whom we have nothing in common，and an unpleasant awareness of the fact that we’ re hanging from a cable in a long passage.

我们常常会（倾向于）忽略电梯的意义 有可能是因为我们有过乘坐电梯的时间极其短暂、无聊、甚至是尴尬的经历（包括遇到和你完全不相关不搭界/毫无关联或共同点的人）。挂在长长的垂直的电缆通道上，我们感到很不爽。

brief简明扼要的a，awkward尴尬的/笨拙的/棘手的/不合适的a，cable缆绳/电缆/海底电报n

3 In a new book，Lifted，German journalist and cultural studies professor Andreas Bernard directed all his attention to this experience，studying the origins of elevator and its relationship to humankind and finding that riding in an elevator has never been a totally comfortable experience.

在一本名为《我们被电梯吊上去了》的新书中，德国记者兼文化研究教授安德烈亚斯·伯纳德将他所有的注意力（研究重点）都放在了这种体验上。他研究了电梯的起源及其与人类的关系，发现乘坐电梯从来都不是一种完全舒适的体验。

lift电梯n/举起-抬高-吊起v，direct把...对准(某方向/某人)/管理-监督-指导-导演(电影)，origin起源/原点/出身/开端n，totally完全地a

“After 150 years， we are still not used to it”，Bernard said. “We still have not exactly learned to cope with the mixture of closeness and displeasure.” That mixture，according to Bernard，sets the elevator ride apart from just about every other situation we find ourselves in as we go about our lives.
“150年过去了，我们仍然不习惯它，”伯纳德说。“我们还没有真正学会如何处理乘电梯时拥挤加不舒服的状况。伯纳德认为，这种拥挤加不舒服的感觉让电梯之旅有别于我们日常生活中遇到的几乎所有其他情况。

cope with处理，应付【= deal with】，mixture混合/混合物/混合剂n，closeness亲密/接近/密闭/严密n，displeasure不愉快/不满意/悲伤n， go about着手做/四处走动/传开/从事v.

4 Today，as the world’s urban population explodes，and cities become taller and more crowded，America’s total number of elevators — 900，000 at last count，according to Elevator World magazine’s “2012 Vertical Transportation Industry” 一are a force that’s becoming more important than ever.

今天的世界，随着城市人口的大爆炸，城市变得更高更挤。根据《电梯世界》杂志中刊登的文章“2012垂直交通运输业”，最近的一次统计表明，美国电梯总数是900000，这是一个比以往任何时候都变得越来越重要的力量（交通工具）。

urban城市的/住在都市的a.，explode爆炸/爆发/激增/使爆炸/推翻， last count最近一次计算， transportation运输/运输系统/运输工具/流放n

And for the people who really，really love them， it seems like high time that we looked seriously at just what kind of force they are.

对真正非常喜欢他们的人而言，似乎该是我们认真看看他们是什么样的力量的时候了。

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