土坯房引領美國新墨西哥文化

　　11月13日VOA聽力：土坯房引領美國新墨西哥文化

　　As the largest city and the state of New Mexico,Albuquerque is one of the fastest-growing high-techcenters in the U.S.

　　Yet you rarely see skyscrapers here.

　　Instead you will find small, dirt-walled houseseverywhere.

　　With flat roofs-often with projecting beams-steppedlevels and round-edged walls, they are called adobe houses, and they are one of Albuquerque'sdefining characteristics.

　　Quentin Wilson, director of the Adobe Construction Program at Northern New Mexico College.

　　"In the desert parts of the world, adobe is the wonderful material that everyone wants tochoose.

　　Because of the big thick walls, they work very well with the desert climate.

　　It will store coolness, or they will store heat.”

　　Adobe means a building material makes of earth and straw.

　　American Indians started building houses with adobe in the 1400s.

　　Spanish elements were added when the Spanish conquered the region in the 1600s.

　　Northern Europeans took over later.

　　Yet, Wilson says, all three groups of people saw the beauty of adobe.

　　“First of all, everybody embraced it and saw it as a valuable material, and they didn't just comein and tear it down and try some other kind of construction,”

　　The big massive walls are important in New Mexico's desert climate.

　　During the summer, people open the doors at night to let the walls store coolness and closethe doors during daytime.

　　It's like living in an air-conditioned room.

　　Kris Linton bought three of the houses and turned them into adobe-style Airbnbs.

　　Her goal is to let people see what a house was like in the city's early days.

　　“The feeling of seeing it come together and giving it a whole new life is exciting,"

　　We have not repurposed them.

　　We have kept what they were here for, is to live in.”

　　And adobe houses are still being built.

　　Alan and Joyce Weitzel live in a contemporary version.

　　“They are quiet of the adobe structure.

　　It is solid. It's very quiet-kind of leaves a very soothing, calm feeling in the house.”

　　One down side is that the thick adobe walls can weaken cellphone signals.

　　But this is a compromise the Weitzels are willing to make.

　　They also need to keep an eye on the adobe walls, applying mud finish every other year to keepthem dry and in shape.

　　But in spite of such shortcomings, with committed fans like Linton and the Weitzels, adobearchitecture will be preserved and remain a symbol of New Mexico.

　　點擊下一頁檢察譯文