London Bridge （August 3：美国历史上的今天）

内容提要：位于美国亚利桑那州的伦敦桥的由来。

On August 3, 1831, London Bridge opened to traffic across England's Thames River泰晤士河. It served as a crossing for almost 140 years. In 1962, London Bridge was falling down. It was sinking into the clay粘土 river bottom. A new bridge was being planned. The city of London decided to put the old bridge up for sale.

Robert McCulloch bought the bridge in 1968 for 2.5 million dollars. He was building a city in Arizona亚利桑那州 called Lake Havasu City. He wanted the bridge for a special tourist旅游的 attraction吸引力. It would connect the city to an island in the lake.

The bridge was taken apart拆开 piece by piece in London. Each stone was carefully marked. All the pieces were sent by ship 10,000 miles to California. Then trucks carried them to Lake Havasu City in Arizona.

It took three years to take the bridge down and rebuild it. By following the numbers on the stones, London Bridge rose again to look just like it did before. In October 1971, it was dedicated为（建筑等）举行落成典礼 before a crowd of 100,000. A royal盛大的 banquet宴会 was held on the bridge. Special guests from England and the United States celebrated the grand opening. 

London Bridge proved to be the tourist attraction McCulloch hoped it would be. Hundreds of thousands of visitors go there every year. They can drive or walk on the bridge. They can also explore a London village at the foot of the bridge. 

Over 25,000 people now live in Lake Havasu City. There are over 1,000 businesses, two newspapers, and a college.

本文内容选自上海外语教育出版社引进出版的《听读美国小故事》第7册（7月）。如需购买，可到当当、亚马逊、京东等网上书城去看看。