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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Learn English for the 2008 Olympics
Foreigner: Beijing is developing so fast that in effect, it is a completely new city. Impressive as your new skyscrapers2 are, they are changing the face of Beijing completely, turning it into a nondescript1 city like any other modern city in the world. I find it such a great pity.
Chinese: It is a problem, I admit. And it’s not only the face of Beijing that’s changing, it’s the way of living which has a greater effect on the Beijing people. People are forced out of their traditional courtyard2 homes to live in apartment houses. Despite the modern conveniences of the new apartments, many old Beijingers still prefer to live in the old courtyard houses.
Foreigner: Besides the historical edifices3 like the Imperial4 Palace and the Temple of Heaven, the traditional hutongs and courtyard houses of Beijing are part of the attraction for foreign tourists, and that’ s why we are sorry to see them disappear. But that’s the price of modernization5 I suppose; the old has to give way to the new.
Chinese: That’s only partly true. The destruction of the old is not a must. Some of it should, and can be preserved. I believe there was a debate among the top leaders and city planners on whether or not to preserve the old Beijing and build a new city beside the old in the early days of Liberation6. In fact there was a part of the suburbs called New Beijing, which apparently7 was to be developed into the new metropolis8.
Foreigner: That would have been ideal. You should, and could have preserved your city walls and all those city gates, which now exist only in name.
Chinese: I couldn’t agree with you more. I don’t know why the original plan of building a New Beijing didn’t materialize4. Instead, construction and development centered around the old city, and so, the walls and gates had to go to make way5 for the new roads and modern traffic. But even so, I think this regrettable destruction could have been avoided if the planners and architects set their minds to it.
Foreigner: I don’t think that’s the point. They were merely carrying out the orders of the policy makers9. The most they could do was to make suggestions, or even to voice a different opinion. The decision rested on the policy? makers, whoever they might be.
Chinese: You know when I was visiting London last summer, I couldn’t help comparing it with Beijing. Both are ancient cities, and while as you’ve just said, modernization has changed the face of Beijing completely, I found London has hardly changed at all.
Foreigner: That couldn’t be true. Actually London has changed a lot, so what do you mean by saying that it has hardly changed?
Chinese: Well, even from the air, I found it was the old familiar buildings such as St. Paul’ s Cathedral, the Westminster Abbey, the Tower Bridge etc. that dominated10 the landscape. On the ground, I found the streets and the houses looked almost exactly the same as in the photos before the Second World War, except that there are more cars on the roads now.
Foreigner: I see what you mean, but if you go underneath11 the surface, you will find the changes you don’t see from the outside. The houses may look the same as before, but if you go inside, you’ll find that many have been turned into apartment houses, or flats as they are called in Britain, with each family occupying one flat. So the old saying “The Englishman’s house is his castle” no longer holds true, I’m afraid.
注释：
1.nondescript [5nCndis5kript] adj. (因无特征而)难以归类的；难以形容的
2.courtyard [5kC:tjB:d] n. 院子，庭院；天井
3.edifice3 [5edifis] n. (巨大而雄伟的)建筑物(如大教堂、宫殿、庙宇)
4.materialize [mE5tiEriElaiz] vt. 使具体化；实现
5.make way 让路；腾出地方(或位置)
备战奥运
新老城市
外国人：北京发展如此之快，以至它实际上已完全是一座新城市了，虽然你们新的摩天大楼令人难忘，但它们正完全改变着北京的面貌，将其变成了一座毫无特色的城市，就像世界上任何其他现代城市一样。真是很可惜。
中国人：我承认这是个问题。不只是北京的面貌在改变，新的生活方式对北京人有更大的影响。人们被迫搬出传统的四合院去住单元房。虽然新单元房有便利的现代化设备，但是，很多老北京还是宁愿住传统的四合院。
外：除了像故宫、天坛这样的历史建筑外，北京传统的胡同和四合院对外国游客也具有吸引力，所以看到它们正在消失我们感到很遗憾。不过我想这是现代化的代价；旧的不去，新的不来。
中：倒也不尽然。旧的并不是必须都拆掉，其中有些是应该并且可以保留下来的。我想解放初期高层领导和城市规划者曾商讨过，是否保留老北京而在附近建一座新城市。确实，当时有一部分郊区叫新北京，显然是为了建设成新首都的。
外：那样做的话就太理想了。你们应该并能够保留你们的城墙和全部城门，而这些城墙城门现在只是有名无实。
中：我完全同意你的话。我不知道为什么当初建设一个新北京的计划没有实现，而建设和发展是以老北京为中心进行的，所以城墙和城门要为新马路和现代化交通让路。尽管如此，我认为只要规划者和工程师们下决心多动脑子，这种使人痛心的毁坏本来是可以避免的。
外：我认为这不是问题之所在。他们只是在执行决策者的命令。他们能做到的只是提建议，甚至提点不同意见，但决定权是在决策者手里,不管他们是谁。
中：我去年夏天访问伦敦时，很自然地将它与北京相比较。它们都是古老的城市，正如你所说，现代化已使北京面目全非，而我发现伦敦几乎没有任何改变。
外：那不可能。其实伦敦已经变了很多。你说伦敦几乎没有变是什么意思？
中：从飞机上望下去，我发现还是那些老的熟悉的建筑，像圣保罗教堂、威斯敏斯特大教堂、伦敦塔桥等最显眼。下飞机后，我发现伦敦的街道和房屋几乎和二战前照片里的一模一样，除了现在街上的汽车多了。
外：我懂你的意思,但是如果你透过表面往深层看,你会发现从外面看不到的变化。房屋看起来也许和从前一样,但一进去你就会发现很多都变成了公寓式的套间房,也就是英国人所谓的层套间。每家只住一套间。所以我想那句老话“英国人的家就是他的堡垒”恐怕已经过时了。
收听单词发音 |
1
versus
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| prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下 | |
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2
skyscrapers
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| n.摩天大楼 | |
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3
edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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4
imperial
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| adj.帝王的，至尊的；n.特等品 | |
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5
modernization
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| n.现代化，现代化的事物 | |
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6
liberation
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| n.解放，解放运动（为获得平等权利和地位的行为） | |
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7
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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8
metropolis
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| n.首府；大城市 | |
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9
makers
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| n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式） | |
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10
dominated
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| 受控的 -tive | |
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11
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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