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VOA常速英语:Branson: a Can't-Miss, Not Can't-Find, Place
2010-04-09来源:和谐英语
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Branson was so tiny, it was not even on a Missouri road map as late as 1950. A few strangers did find their way down the two-lane highway into town on their way to catching bass or trout at one of three nearby, world-class fishing lakes.
And in 1960, a little amusement park brought in a few more visitors, and a local musical group started offering live shows for anyone who happened through.
But Branson's fortunes changed dramatically in 1983, when country singer, guitar master, and songwriter Roy Clark opened a theater there and invited his friends to come perform with him.
Soon, musical stars started making a pilgrimage across Missouri's backroads to this flyspeck of a town. Some, like Andy Williams, Wayne Newton, the Osmonds, and Mickey Gilley opened their own clubs as well. The Branson phenomenon had begun.
Now the two-lane road is a four-lane expressway, often packed with buses full of tourists from all across the Midwest. They're the same crowd that regularly checks out rock-'n'-roll legend Elvis Presley's mansion over in Tennessee, even though the King has been dead for almost 33 years.
A lot of the old-time stars who put Branson on the map have died or moved on. Some visitors complain that the music and jokes in the clubs are getting a bit too racy for them to bring the kids. But the fishing's still great, prices at the all-you-can-eat buffets reasonable, and Branson's still a boomtown. There's even a two-story Titanic museum shaped like the ill-fated luxury cruise ship that sank in the North Atlantic in 1912.
About 7,500 people live in Branson today, and there's a good-sized dot next to the Branson name on the Missouri map.
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