US capital’s arbor ardor unabated despite outage outrage 儘管發生大停電，美國首都對樹木的熱情絲毫不減

◎俞智敏
 Power utilities and regulators alike blame downed trees as the main culprit for recent power outages across the U.S. capital region, but the area’s love affair with a green canopy shows no signs of abating.

雖然電力公司和主管機關都把美國首都地區最近發生的大停電主因歸咎於路樹倒塌，但當地居民對綠蔭的熱愛卻未出現絲毫減退跡象。

 Washington has a long history of tree lovers. It includes former presidents such as George Washington, despite the legendary story about him chopping down a cherry tree, and Thomas Jefferson, who ordered poplars planted on Pennsylvania Avenue between the Capitol Building and the White House. Arboreal fervor went into overdrive in the 1870s when Alexander "Boss" Shepherd, who served as Washington’s leader, ordered the planting of 60,000 trees.

 華府愛樹人的歷史非常悠久。這些愛樹人包括了傳說中曾砍倒櫻桃樹的華盛頓，以及下令在國會山莊與白宮間的賓州大道上種植白楊木的傑佛遜等多位前總統。華府對樹木的熱情更在1870年代達到最高潮，當時的華府市長謝波德下令在市區遍植6萬株樹木。

 These days even as extreme storms in both summer and winter knock down trees contributing to power outages that last several days, residents say keeping large trees is a price worth paying.

 近年來雖然夏季和冬季發生的強大暴風雨經常吹倒路樹，導致電力中斷長達數日，但華府居民仍表示，為了保存大樹，這是值得付出的代價。

 Trees are certainly not the only cause of power outages and they are not the only reason why it takes the region so long to get power restored.

 樹木絕非造成停電的唯一原因，更不是當地電力恢復進度緩慢的唯一理由。

 Regulators will study the causes of this outage. But Paula Carmody, who represents consumers as the People’s Counsel for Maryland, said utilities have long tried to make trees take the fall for the power woes. "The utility companies try to blame the victim and that just doesn’t work." （Reuters）

 主管機關將研究此次大停電的可能原因。但根據代表消費者權益的馬里蘭州人民顧問卡莫蒂女士表示，電力公司過去就一直試圖把停電問題推到路樹身上。「電力公司試圖怪罪受害者，這根本行不通。」（路透）

 新聞辭典 love affair：名詞，指對某事抱有極高的熱忱，例句：Her love affair with ballet began when she was ten.（她自10歲起就深深愛上芭蕾。） go into overdrive：overdrive指汽車的加速檔，本文中指開始加倍努力、認真工作，或以激動的方式開始做某事，例句：With her exams only two weeks away, she’s gone into overdrive and is studying ten hours a day.（距離考試只有2週時間，她開始加倍認真，每天讀書10小時。） take the fall（for sb/sth）：片語，指替人承擔責任，為某事負責，例句：The team’s general manager takes the fall when the team loses but gets a lot of credit when they do well.（當球隊輸球時，經理必須負起責任，但當球隊贏球時，經理也會獲得許多讚賞。）