美国国家公共电台 NPR As Eclipse Madness Sweeps U.S., A Stonehenge Made Of Cars Prepares

（单词翻译）

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And we're going to turn now to Nebraska and a roadside attraction that mixes mysticism and Motown. It's Carhenge.

(SOUNDBITE OF AD)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Rising like monoliths from ancient times stands a formation of vintage American automobiles¹ which replicates² Stonehenge.

GREENE: I have to visit this place. It has been trapping tourists since the 1980s. And now, NPR's Geoff Brumfiel reports that Carhenge is gearing up for a moment in the sun, or rather, 2 minutes and 30 seconds in the shade. Carhenge is right in the path of this month's total solar eclipse.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

GEOFF BRUMFIEL, BYLINE³: So I never thought I'd be waiting on hold with the Visitors Bureau of Alliance, Neb., but these are unusual times.

KEVIN HOWARD: Hi, Geoff.

BRUMFIEL: Hello. Is that Kevin?

HOWARD: Yeah, this is Kevin. I'm sorry.

BRUMFIEL: Kevin Howard is in charge of eclipse planning, and his phone is ringing nonstop because later this month, the moon's shadow will fall on Carhenge.

HOWARD: Holy cow, man. Guess what? There's going to be an eclipse.

BRUMFIEL: He says the ancients who built Carhenge back in 1987 didn't know about this eclipse. It was a local named Jim Reinders who wanted to build a version of Stonehenge as a tribute to his dad. Now, the original Stonehenge in England was used to mark celestial⁴ events. It was built of giant rocks that prehistoric⁵ people dragged for miles from the quarries⁶. But Jim was an engineer, a practical-minded guy.

HOWARD: So he decided⁷, if we build it out of cars, the wheels on them would greatly simplify the logistics.

BRUMFIEL: During a family reunion, Reinders' relatives rolled up with a bunch of old jalopies and erected⁸ Carhenge. And people have been coming ever since.

HOWARD: Carhenge is one of the things that brought me to Alliance. I wanted to know - what's the magic? What's the thing that makes an upright junkyard into a tourist attraction?

BRUMFIEL: And how long have you been there now?

HOWARD: I've been there six years.

BRUMFIEL: Any insights?

HOWARD: I haven't figured it out at all.

BRUMFIEL: Howard says the town is expecting thousands to swarm⁹ Carhenge for the eclipse. They're planning concerts, a softball tournament. The local churches will put out all their best spreads.

HOWARD: And there's nothing better than a meal at the church. Those ladies put out the good stuff.

BRUMFIEL: You know what else Carhenge will have? Plenty of parking. Geoff Brumfiel, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF MASERATI'S "THIEVES")