A town is generally accepted as any region bigger than a village and smaller than a city. It has its own government, name, and boundary, complete with marketplaces and people spread throughout the area. However, some towns have turned out to be very unique, including those built to look like other towns, and those built and then not inhabited. Some towns have only one resident, while the residents of other towns all live under one roof.
“城镇”普遍被认为是比村庄大而比城市要小的地方。它有自己的政府、名称和边界，连同集市和遍布周边的居民。然而，有些城镇却非常独特：比如有的城镇是模仿别的城镇建成的；有些城镇设施齐全，却无人居住；有些城镇只有孤零零一个居民；而在另外一些城镇，所有居民住在了同一屋檐下。
10.佛罗里达村落
The Villages is a town in Florida that was built for retired people. It covers an area larger than Manhattan, and has over 100,000 inhabitants—most of whom move around in golf carts. In fact, it holds the Guinness World Record for assembling the longest golf cart parade in the world, with 3,321 total golf carts. The town—where children are forbidden—is also home to controversies and scandals. Old men and women have been caught making out in golf carts, and the men are known to fight over women. There is also a black market for Viagra, which costs about $12 for a single pill.
村落(The Villages)是佛罗里达州为退休人士所建的小镇。它的占地面积比曼哈顿还要大，拥有超过10万居民——其中大多数以高尔夫球车代步。事实上，那里曾以3321辆车参加高尔夫球车游行而创下了吉尼斯世界纪录。在这座禁止儿童入内的城镇中也制造了不少争议，滋生了不少丑闻——比如老年男女在高尔夫球车里亲热，老头为争夺老太而打架等。这里还有交易伟哥的黑市，一片的售价高达12美元。
Unsurprisingly, the town—which has 10 women for every man—has also seen a massive rise in sexually transmitted diseases. In 2006, a gynecologist said she encountered more cases of herpes and human papillomavirus in the town than she did when she worked in Miami. Inhabitants are also known to drive under the influence (in golf carts), use illegal drugs, and engage in bar fights.
毫不意外地，这座男女比例为1:10的小镇里，性传染疾病的病例数量也在显著增加。2006年，一位妇科医生表示，她在这里遇到的疱疹和人乳头状瘤病毒的病例比在迈阿密工作时还要多。居民们还因开高尔夫球车酒驾，服用违禁药物以及在酒吧斗殴等“事迹”出名。
9.Busingen Am Hochrhein Germany
9.德国高莱茵河畔布辛根
Busingen am Hochrhein is a German town in Switzerland. The town is separated from mainland Germany by a narrow strip of land, which measures about 700 meters (765 yards) at its narrowest point. Considering its unusual location, Busingen am Hochrhein is more of a Swiss town than a German one. It also enjoys public services from both Switzerland and Germany. It has a Swiss postal code (8238 Busingen) and a German postal code (78266 Busingen). It also has two telephone codes: +49 7734 (for Germany) and +41 52 (for Switzerland).
高莱茵河畔的布辛根是一座位于瑞士境内的德国小镇。一条狭长的走廊将它与德国领土隔离开来，距离最短的地方相隔约为700米（765码）。从它特殊的地理位置来看，高莱茵河畔的布辛根更像是属于瑞士而非德国。它同时享受瑞士与德国两国提供的公共服务。它拥有一个瑞士邮编（8238布辛根）和一个德国邮编（78266布辛根）；还有两个电话区号：+497734（德国）和+4152（瑞士）。
In case of an emergency, the Swiss or German police can be called in, although the Swiss police usually arrive first. Everybody living in Busingen is allowed to work and own properties in Switzerland, even if they do not possess Swiss citizenship. And, if a German citizen lives in Busingen for more than 10 years, he or she receives a special status similar to Swiss citizenship. The town's football team—FC Busingen—also plays in the Swiss football league.
在紧急情况下，居民呼叫瑞士或德国的警察都可以，尽管瑞士警察通常来得快一些。所有住在布辛根的人都可以在瑞士工作并置业，哪怕他们并不具有瑞士的公民身份。同时，如果一位德国公民在布辛根居住10年以上，他或她就能获得一个类似瑞士公民的特殊身份。这座城镇的足球队——FC布辛根队——参加瑞士的足球联赛。
But the town never started off like this. Back in the 14th century, it was ruled by Austria. After the Lord of Busingen was killed by members of a nearby Swiss town, Austria vowed not to hand over the town to Switzerland. They later handed it over to a neighboring German town, and it was eventually claimed by Germany. In 1919, 96 percent of the locals voted to leave Germany and join Switzerland, but the Swiss wouldn't offer anything in return, so the German government threw a fit and refused to let them go.
不过这里最初并不是这样的。14世纪的时候，这里曾由奥地利统治。在布辛根领主被附近瑞士城镇的人们杀死之后，奥地利发誓不会将其交给瑞士。后来他们将其交给了一座相邻的德国小镇管辖，所以德国对其拥有主权。1919年，96%的居民投票赞成布辛根脱离德国加入瑞士，但瑞士不肯给予德国任何回报，于是德国政府大发雷霆，拒绝让他们离开。
8.阿拉斯加惠蒂尔
Almost all of the 200-plus inhabitants of Whittier, Alaska live inside a single 14-story building called Begich Towers. The rest live in their vehicles, boats, or another, similar building. Begich Towers was built in 1956. Back then, it served as an army barracks, but today, it is a town complete with a police station, post office, store, church, video rental shop, playground, and health center—all located inside the building.
阿拉斯加（州）惠蒂尔镇的200多名居民几乎都住在一幢叫做“贝吉克塔”的十四层建筑内，剩下的人住在自己的车里、船里或其他相似的“贝吉克塔”一样的建筑里。贝吉克塔建于1956年，当时是作为军营使用，而如今它成了一个完整的小镇——楼内警察局、邮局、商店、教堂、录像带租赁店、操场、医疗中心应有尽有。
The only way to access the town is either via sea or through a 4-kilometer (2.6 mi) one-lane tunnel which has gates that open twice every hour, allowing cars in or out of the town. The tunnels close at night and do not reopen until the next day. Before 2001, the tunnel could not accommodate vehicles, and the only way to get to the town was a 100-kilometer (60 mi) train ride. Then, trains ran only few times a week. During summer months, Whittier gets about 22 hours of sunlight, and during winter, it could get covered in over 6.35 meters (250 in) of snow.
前往小镇仅有的两条途径，通过海路或是穿过4千米（2.6英里）长的铁路隧道（只有一条车道）。入口每小时开启两次，供车辆进出小镇。隧道在晚上关闭，直到第二天才重新开启。在2001年以前，隧道尚未通车，所以要到达这里只能搭乘火车，路程要100公里，而火车一周只有几趟。在夏季，惠蒂尔大约有22小时是白昼，而在冬天则可能会有6.35米（250英尺）厚的积雪。
7.加利福尼亚科尔马
The town of Colma, California has more dead people than living people, with 1,500 living inhabitants and over 1.5 million dead inhabitants. The history of the town can be traced back to the Gold Rush of 1849 which led hundreds of thousands of people to migrate to nearby San Francisco. They brought diseases and, subsequently, death. By the 1880s, the 26 cemeteries in the town had been almost filled and, by the late 1880s, cemetery owners began constructing cemeteries in southern Colma because it was easily accessible.
在加利福尼亚州的科尔马小镇，亡魂比活人多：这里有1500位居民，却有超过150万在此死去。这座小镇的历史可以追溯到1849年的淘金热，成千上万人为此移居到旧金山附近。人们带来了疾病，也因而带来了死亡。到了19世纪80年代，镇上的26片墓地几乎已被填满；1880年代末期，管理者开始在科尔马南部修建墓地，因为那里进出方便。
In March 1900, San Francisco's government banned new burials within the city. They said this was necessary because the land was too valuable to be used as cemeteries. Later on, in January 1914, cemetery owners were ordered to remove all bodies buried in San Francisco. Politicians said that the cemeteries spread disease, but the cemetery operators believe it was because of the rising cost of real estate. Nevertheless, the operators removed the bodies, and moved them to Colma, leaving it sprawling with graveyards. Today, over 73 percent of Colma's land is destined to become cemeteries.
1900年3月，旧金山政府下令禁止在城里埋葬死者。他们认为此举很有必要，因为这里的土地太过珍贵，不应该被用作墓地。后来，在1914年1月，墓地所有者受令将所有埋葬在旧金山的尸体转移。政客们声称墓地会带来传染病，不过墓地经营者则认为背后的原因是上升的地产价格。经营者们将尸体转移到科尔马，任由这里坟墓丛生。如今，科尔马超过73%的土地都逃脱不了成为墓地的命运。
6.内布拉斯加莫诺维
Monowi was founded by Czech migrants in northeast Nebraska, and it has only one resident: 77-year-old Elsie Eller. Population-wise, Monowi is the smallest jurisdiction in the US. Elsie runs the town's only tavern and library, which is made up of about 5,000 books owned by her late husband, Rudy. She also serves as the town's mayor, clerk, and treasurer. She also runs the council. In the 1930s, the town had a population of about 150 people, but by 2000, it had two: Elsie and her husband, Rudy. Elsie's husband passed away in 2004, leaving Elsie as the town's lone resident. Every year, Elsie pays tax to the town to maintain its four streetlights and provide other basic amenities. Several abandoned buildings in the town are covered with grass, slowly fading into obscurity, while others have collapsed.
莫诺维位于内布拉斯加州东北部，由捷克移民者建立，莫诺维只有一位居民：77岁的艾尔西·艾勒。从人口数量来看，莫诺维是全美最小的辖区。艾尔西经营着那里仅有的酒馆和图书馆，后者收藏了她前夫大约5000本藏书。她同时也担任小镇的市长，书记员及会计，还负责管理（市）议会。在1930年代这座小镇尚有150人口，不过到了2000年时就仅剩艾尔西和她的丈夫鲁迪两人了。艾尔西的丈夫在2004年去世，留下她一人独守这座小镇。艾尔西每年都会交税来维持小镇的四盏路灯以及其他基础设施的运作。许多废弃建筑都已是藤蔓丛生，渐渐地隐匿无踪，其他的则已颓然倒塌。
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