One way to hold it: this is the place a town keeps for its own shared business. Civic points at the people of a town acting together, and a centre is where they come together. Picture a square with the council offices on one side and the library on the other, and everyone in town walking in at some point in the year. What changes between Britain and America is how wide the picture is drawn. In Britain it is the whole square and the buildings on it. In America it to one big hall, and instead of paperwork the town gathers there for concerts, games, and graduations.
可以想成：這是一個鎮留給「大家的事」的地方。civic 指的是市民共同的那一面，centre 是大家會聚在一起的位置。畫面是一個廣場，一邊是市政辦公室，一邊是圖書館，全鎮的人一年總會走進去一次。英式和美式的差別，在於這個畫面畫得多大。英國畫的是整個廣場和上面那些公家建築。美國把它縮成一棟大廳，聚在一起的理由也換了——不是辦手續，而是演唱會、球賽和畢業典禮。
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