離開
進入《中英對照讀新聞》Hungry mice thwart fix for Brussels’ traffic chaos 飢餓的老鼠阻撓布魯塞爾解決交通亂象
◎周虹汶
As if the European Union does not have crises enough, now traffic chaos in its congested capital Brussels is being blamed on... hungry mice.
好像歐洲聯盟危機還不夠多一樣，其擁擠的首都布魯塞爾目前的交通亂象竟被怪到……飢餓的老鼠頭上。
EU leaders gathering for a summit on Thursday to deal with the refugee crisis and British threats to quit the bloc find a city struggling to cope with repeated closures of key road tunnels caused by crumbling concrete and years of decay.
週四齊聚於一場高峰會以處理難民危機及英國脫離集團威脅的歐盟領導人，發現這個城市疲於應付主要道路隧道因混凝土坍塌和經年朽壞而反覆封閉。
Now the Belgian capital’s regional parliament has been told that repairs are being held up because original construction plans have been destroyed － apparently eaten by rodents.
現在，比利時首都的地方議會被告知，修復工作受到延誤是因為原本的施工計畫被破壞——顯然是被老鼠吃掉。
The tunnels provide vital arteries across what is often described as Europe’s most traffic-congested city. But for decades the plans for their construction were stored in the pillars under a motorway bridge, for want of space elsewhere.
這些隧道提供了穿越常被形容為歐洲交通最壅塞之城的重要渠道。但數十年來，它們的建造計畫因為缺乏放置處，被儲存在一條公路橋下的樑柱內。
"They may have been eaten by mice," the former head of the city’s infrastructure agency told city lawmakers on Wednesday.
該市基礎建設局前局長週三告訴市議員：「它們可能是被老鼠吃掉。」
The state of the roads in the city of 1.2 million, home to the European Union and NATO headquarters, has become a hot political issue in Belgium, with an estimated bill of some 1 billion euros to repair all the tunnels.（Reuters）
布魯塞爾做為歐盟與北大西洋公約組織總部，這個擁有120萬人口都市的道路狀態，已在比利時成為熱門政治議題，估計約需10億歐元才能修好全部隧道。（路透）
新聞辭典
thwart：名詞，指獨木舟的橫樑；動詞，指反對、阻礙、橫過；形容詞，指橫放的、固執的；副詞，指橫跨地。例句：He intended to thwart my plans.（他企圖破壞我的計畫。）
hold up：片語動詞，指攔路搶劫、舉起、妨礙、延誤、放晴。例句：It will hold up tomorrow.（明天會放晴。）
for want of：介係詞片語，指因缺乏。例句：For want of other things to do, he continued to sleep. （因為沒其他事可做，他只好繼續睡覺。）
