【新闻摘要】
美国基建速度从"超人"变"树懒"——1931年帝国大厦410天拔地而起，胡佛水坝提前2年竣工。如今？去年半数建筑公司遭遇项目烂尾，加州高铁从洛杉矶到旧金山，说好2020年通车，结果至少要再等十年。这效率落差，怕不是当年建筑工人喝了"速度药水"？
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**T he Empire State Building , finished in 1931, was erected in just 410 days.**
1931年竣工的帝国大厦仅用410天就拔地而起。
**That same year construction began on the Hoover Dam. It was meant to take seven years, but was built in five.**
同年开建的胡佛水坝原计划耗时七年，最终五年完工。
**Such feats now seem hard to imagine.**
如此工程奇迹如今已难以想象。
**Last year half of America’s construction firms reported that commercial projects they were working on had been delayed or abandoned.**
去年美国半数建筑企业报告其商业项目遭遇延期或烂尾。
**In 2008 Californian voters approved a high-speed-rail line connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco, to be finished by 2020. It will be at least a decade late.**
2008年加州选民批准的洛杉矶至旧金山高铁项目，原定2020年完工，如今至少要推迟十年。
（翻译说明：
1. 地标建筑名保留标准译名"帝国大厦""胡佛水坝"
2."erected"译为"拔地而起"增强画面感
3."delayed or abandoned"译为"延期或烂尾"使用工程术语
4. 时间对比数据严格对应原文
5."decade late"译为"推迟十年"保留原文强调语气
6. 整体保持基建报道的历史纵深感与现实批判性）
