In the olden times the Nile used to overflow the banks only once a year, 过去，尼罗河每年只泛滥一次，

and the rest of the year the land would be dry and the people would have to climb down the banks to get water. 其他时候，土地非常干燥，人们不得不走下河岸去取水。

Not so long ago a huge dam was built far up the Nile at a place called Assuan. 就在不久以前，人们在尼罗河上游一个叫阿斯旺的地方修建了一座巨大的水坝。

This dam holds the water back and forms a deep lake. 大坝拦住河水，形成了一个很深的湖。

So now the Nile does not flood lower Egypt all at once; 所以，现在尼罗河下游就不会突发洪灾了。

the water is let out by doors in the bottom of the dam as needed. 需要的时候，大坝底部的闸门会打开放水。

One of the most beautiful of the old temples in Egypt was right in the way when the Assuan Dam was built, 阿斯旺水坝在修建的时候，埃及最漂亮的古老寺庙之一正好在大坝内，

but it could not be moved from there, so now the water almost covers it up. 但是又没法将它搬走，所以，现在河水几乎将它淹没了。

There was once a boy named Aleck. 曾经有个叫亚历克的小男孩。

You may know a boy named Aleck too, but this Aleck lived two thousand years ago. 你也许也认识一个叫亚历克的小男孩。但这个亚历克生活在两千年前。

He was a great Greek king whose full name was Alexander. 他是一位伟大的希腊国王，全名叫亚历山大。

He built a city where the Nile flows into the sea and called the city after himself, Alexandria. 他在尼罗河入海口建立了一座城市，并用他自己的名字来命名它——亚历山大市。

Alexander has been dead more than two thousand years, but his city still lives and is the chief seaport of Egypt. 亚历山大去世已经两千多年了，但他的城市依然屹立在那儿，现在是埃及主要的海港城市。

Near the beginning of the delta, up the river from Alexandria, is a city called Cairo. 在三角洲的起点附近，从亚历山大港，沿尼罗河向上游有一座城市叫开罗，

It is the largest city in Egypt and also the largest city in the whole of Africa. 它是埃及最大的城市，也是非洲最大的城市。

Even if you were flying over Cairo in an airplane you would know that most of the people there were not Christians but Mohammedans. 即使你乘飞机在开罗上空飞过，你也会知道大多数开罗人不是基督徒，而是伊斯兰教徒。

Can you guess how? In a Christian city you would see church steeples, 你能猜出原因吗？在一个基督教城市，你会看到教堂的尖塔，

but in Cairo you see saucer-shaped domes and candle-shaped minarets, for some of the most beautiful mosques in the World are there. 但是在开罗，你看到的是蝶状的圆顶和蜡烛状的光塔，因为世界上最漂亮的一些清真寺就在开罗。