White House Gets Taller, Tougher Fence to Stop Intruders

为阻拦入侵者 白宫升级防护栏

 

American President Donald Trump is finally getting his wall, but it is not along the southern border with Mexico. It is around the White House.

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普终于要筑墙了，但这面墙并未修在与墨西哥接壤的南部边界，而是围绕着白宫。

The White House fence is being rebuilt under the direction of the U.S. Secret Service and the National Park Service. The move comes after several security problems over the years, including a 2014 incident in which a Texas man climbed the fence. He was able to enter the White House without being stopped.

白宫围栏正在美国特勤局和国家公园管理局的指导下进行重建。在经历了多年来数起安全问题后，白宫做出了这一举动。其中一起事件为2014年一名德克萨斯男子翻过围栏闯入白宫，且这名男子是在未受到阻拦的情况下进入了白宫。

These days, a temporary white barrier interferes with tourists’ view of the White House, as the building of the new fence continues.

现如今由于新围栏在建设中，临时使用的白色栅栏似乎阻挡了游客欣赏白宫的视野。

The first part of the new barrier is already up. At almost four meters tall, it is nearly two times the size of the former fence. It is also equipped with anti-climb technology.

新围栏的第一部分已经完工。它高约四米，几乎是之前围栏的两倍，同时新围栏还配备了防攀爬技术。

“Everything, all the pieces, had to be beefed up,” says Thomas Luebke. He is secretary of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, which advised the Secret Service and the Park Service on the design of the new fence.

“所有一切，每一个护栏都必须进行加固强化。”美国美术委员会秘书托马斯·吕布克说道。该委员会就新围栏的设计为特勤局和公园管理局提供了相关建议。

The new fence is much different from the very first White House fence. It was made of wood and put up by Thomas Jefferson in the early 1800s. A few years later, he replaced the wooden fence with a stone wall. By 1819, parts of the fence were made of iron.

新围栏与最初的白宫围栏有很大不同。最初的围栏是用木制的，由托马斯·杰斐逊在19世纪初期亲手设立。几年后，他用石墙代替了木栅栏。到1819年，围栏的一部分已换成铁制护栏。

The early fences were designed to keep out animals, not people. Visitors often freely walked around the White House.

早期的围栏是为了防止动物闯入，并非是为了防范人类。当时人们经常在白宫周围自由漫步。

 

“It was relatively easy to get inside and go upstairs to the second floor. That’s where the president worked before the West Wing was built,” says Matthew Costello. He is with the White House Historical Association.

“当时进入白宫内部并登上二楼相对容易。二楼是西翼大楼建造之前总统工作的地方。”马修·科斯特洛说道。他在白宫历史协会任职。

President Abraham Lincoln had a doorway cut between his office and his private living area so that he could avoid the crowds waiting outside his office door.

亚伯拉罕·林肯总统在他的办公室和私人起居区之间砌了一个门廊，这样他就可以避开等在他办公室外面的人群了。

Until the 1920s, presidents decided how open to keep the land around the White House.

直到20世纪20年代，总统们才考虑界定对白宫外围环境保持多大的开放力度。

In the 1880s, President Grover Cleveland kept the White House completely open, until strangers tried to pick up his children.

19世纪80年代，格罗弗·克利夫兰总统保持白宫完全开放，直到有陌生人试图抱走他的孩子。

President Theodore Roosevelt decided to reopen the White House grounds in the early 1900s, but changed his mind when people kept walking over to the West Wing to see him.

西奥多·罗斯福总统在20世纪初重新将白宫对外开放，但由于人们不断跑到西翼大楼去见他，他最终改变了主意。

All the presidents up until John Tyler in the 1840s used their own employees to guard the White House.

一直到19世纪40年代约翰·泰勒总统前，所有总统都用自己的雇员来守卫白宫。

The U.S. Secret Service took control of security after three sitting presidents were killed between 1865 and 1901.

在1865年至1901年间三位任职总统被杀后，美国特勤局控制了白宫的安保工作。

“Between Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, James Garfield’s assassination, William McKinley’s assassination, if you had been born in 1840, over the course of your lifetime, you would have witnessed three presidential assassinations,” says Costello.

科斯特洛说：“如果某人生于1840年，那么在他的一生中将目睹三次总统暗杀，分别是亚伯拉罕·林肯被暗杀，詹姆斯·加菲尔德被暗杀，威廉·麦金莱被暗杀。”

During the presidency of Calvin Coolidge in the 1920s, the White House grounds were closed for good to wandering visitors. Since then, anyone who wants to visit the White House must have an appointment.

在20世纪20年代加尔文·柯立芝担任总统期间，白宫永久不再对闲逛的游客开放。从那时起，任何人访问白宫都必须进行预约。

For the new fence, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts worked to help balance security improvements to the new fence while keeping the barrier pleasant to look at.

对于新围栏，美国美术委员会从中协作平衡其强化安保的功能与美观性。

“You actually have to start rethinking the pieces, what they’re made of, how well they work together,” says Luebke.

吕布克说：“事实上我们不得不重新思考每一个护栏的样子，应该使用什么材质，它们搭配在一起是否协调。”

The new fence is expected to be completed by 2021.

新围栏预计将于2021年竣工。

I’m Susan Shand.

苏珊·尚德报道。

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