If you ask people what makes a neighbourhood comfortable, many will not talk about shopping centres. They will talk about small things: where to buy vegetables, where a child can read after school, and how far an old parent must walk for a hot meal. A recent report said that more than ninety per cent of Chinese cities at the prefecture level and above are now building fifteen-minute life circles. The goal is simple. A resident should be able to finish the ordinary errands of a day within a quarter of an hour on foot.
The work is often less about new roads than about filling gaps. In Changsha county, an unused office building became a shared space for children. In Tianjin, cheap canteens cook meals and send them to elderly people who cannot go out easily. In Beijing, a line of small shops turned into a street that mixes medical care, culture and food. In Wuhan, old commercial space reopened as neighbourhood centres with sport, health checks and places to sit.
What makes these projects different is where the ideas come from. Before rebuilding one street in Beijing, workers gave out questionnaires and collected more than eight thousand suggestions from nearby residents. They then started with the ones mentioned most often. Anyone who has watched such plans fail knows that a swimming pool nobody asked for can sit empty for years, while a bench near the bus stop is used every day. Asking first costs almost nothing and saves a great deal.
So far, more than nine thousand five hundred circles have been built, serving over one hundred and ninety million people. Little of it is spectacular. It makes no great engineering record. But it quietly decides how much of a day goes to living rather than to travelling, and that may be the most practical progress a city can offer.
Words to know:
- resident (居民)
- errand (跑腿的杂事)
- elderly (上了年纪的)
- goal (目标)
- neighbourhood (社区；街区)
- bench (长椅)
- ordinary (平常的；普通的)
长难句拆解 · what 引导的宾语从句 · 冒号后的三个并列从句
主句是 many will not talk about shopping centres，前面的 if 引导条件状语从句。 在条件句内部，ask people 后面跟着一个由 what 引导的宾语从句 what makes a neighbourhood comfortable，其中 what 在从句里作主语，意思是「让社区住得舒服的东西」。 注意 ask sb. sth. 双宾语结构：people 是间接宾语，what… 从句是直接宾语。中文习惯说「问人们什么让社区舒服」，语序正好一致。 直译：如果你问人们什么使一个社区舒适，很多人不会谈论购物中心。
长难句拆解 · what 主语从句 · What makes… is… 强调结构
整个 What makes these projects different 是主语从句，what 在从句中作主语，字面是「让这些项目不同的东西」。 主句的系动词是 is，后面跟表语从句 where the ideas come from，表示「点子来自哪里」。 这种「What… is…」结构把新信息放到句末，中文翻译时通常要反过来，先说「……的地方在于……」。 直译：使这些项目不同的是这些想法来自哪里。
同义替换 · 雅思阅读利器
下面每组左边是原文表达，右边是可以在写作和阅读中互换的说法，点一下即可自测。
- the ordinary errands of a day → the everyday chores of daily life → errand 指跑腿办的杂事
- within a quarter of an hour on foot → a short walk away / no more than fifteen minutes of walking → 描述距离与时间的常用替换
- less about new roads than about filling gaps → not so much building roads as covering what is missing → less about A than about B 表示「与其说 A 不如说 B」
- started with the ones mentioned most often → began with the issues raised most frequently → the ones 指代前面提到的 suggestions
- costs almost nothing and saves a great deal → is very cheap and prevents much waste → a great deal 表示「大量」
- It makes no great engineering record → It sets no impressive engineering milestone → make a record 表示创下纪录
- quietly decides how much of a day goes to living → silently shapes how much time is left for life → decide 在这里不是「决定」，而是「决定性地影响」
阅读自测 · 3 题
- True / False / Not Given: Every Chinese city has finished building its fifteen-minute life circles.
- Short answer: What did workers do before rebuilding the street in Beijing?
- Short answer: Why does the writer mention the empty swimming pool and the busy bench?
参考答案与解析
- False。原文是 more than ninety per cent of cities… are now building，即「九成以上城市正在建设」。题目把「正在建设」偷换成「已经完成」，又把「九成以上」扩大成「每一座」，是典型的偷换结论加扩大范围。
- They gave out questionnaires and collected more than eight thousand suggestions from nearby residents. 依据是 Before rebuilding one street in Beijing, workers gave out questionnaires and collected more than eight thousand suggestions。
- To show that asking residents first saves money and prevents waste, since a facility nobody asked for may stay empty. 依据是末段前的 Asking first costs almost nothing and saves a great deal。干扰项常写成「因为游泳池造价高」，那是把重点从「先问」偷换成了「成本」。
中文译文
如果问人们什么让社区住得舒服，很多人不会提购物中心。他们提的是些小事：去哪里买菜，孩子放学后能在哪里看书，年迈的父母要走多远才能吃上一顿热饭。最近的一份报道说，全国超过九成的地级及以上城市正在建设「一刻钟便民生活圈」。目标很简单：一位居民应该能在步行一刻钟的范围内办完一天里那些平常的小事。
这项工作常常不是修新马路，而是补上缺口。在长沙县，一栋闲置的办公楼变成了孩子们共享的空间。在天津，平价食堂把饭做好，送到那些出门不方便的老年人家中。在北京，一排小店变成了一条把医疗、文化和餐饮混在一起的街道。在武汉，原有的商业空间重新开放为邻里中心，里有运动、健康检查，还有可以坐下来歇脚的地方。
让这些项目与众不同的，是点子从哪里来。在改造北京的一条街道之前，工作人员发放问卷，从附近居民那里收集到八千多条建议。然后他们从被提到最多的几条做起。看过这类规划失败的人都知道，一个没人要求的游泳池可能空上好几年，而公交站旁的一张长椅每天有人用。先问一句几乎不花成本，却能省下很多。
到目前为止，全国已建成九千五百多个生活圈，服务一亿九千多万人。这其中没有多少是壮观的。它不创造什么工程纪录。但它悄悄决定了一天里有多少时间花在生活上、而非花在路上，而这或许就是一座城市能提供的最实在的进步。