9月18日凌晨，横亘沪亭北路路中央14年的“上海最牛钉子屋”被拆，未来该路段将从两车道变为四车道。不少市民留影称：“还路于民，这是好事。”

Shanghai demolishes 'nail house' blocking road and traffic

A famous Shanghai "nail house" that has been blocking traffic on a wide road for 14 years has been demolished.

上海最牛的一个“钉子户”阻碍了交通14年，终于被拆除。

The residents had refused every offer since 2003 to move, saying the compensation was insufficient.

自2003年开始搬迁时，这家人就拒绝所有的条件，称补偿款不够。

They have now agreed to a compensation package worth about 2.7m yuan ($412,000), state media said.

国家媒体称，他们现在同意了270万元（41.2万美元）的拆迁赔款。

"Nail houses" are common in fast-developing China. The term is used to describe them because they refuse to be hammered down.

在快速发展的中国，“钉子户”并不少见。这个词用来形容他们是因为他们拒绝被拆除。

In the case of the Shanghai building, it had stood in the way of a road development, forcing traffic on a wide four-lane road onto two lanes in order to bypass the house.

在这栋上海楼房事件中，它阻碍了一段道路的建设，为了通过这栋楼，宽阔的四车道被迫变成了两车道。

The demolition was done overnight and took about 90 minutes, state news agencies said.

拆除工作零点之后进行，花了90分钟就完成了，据国家媒体报道。

As the excavators moved in to take the house down, water was sprayed on the site to reduce the dust.

随着挖掘机驶入房子开工，现场被洒上水以减少灰尘。

"Nail houses" often end up surrounded by rubble or with developers just going ahead and building around them.

“钉子户”通常在瓦砾堆里，或者是开发商不顾其存在，直接在其周围动工。

The owners often go to extraordinary lengths to* keep their properties intact, even as skyscrapers and shopping centres rise above them or roads are planned to run through them.

钉子户户主们通常不惜一切代价以保住他们的房子，哪怕是房子上方建造了摩天大楼、购物中心，或者是有道路从此通过。

*go to great/any/extraordinary lengths: to try very hard to achieve something 竭尽全力，全力以赴 

Some people go to great lengths to make their homes attractive. 

有些人不遗余力地装修自己的房子。 

He'll go to any lengths to get what he wants. 

他会竭尽全力去争取自己想要的东西。

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