英語聽力小短文走遍全世界79: 開羅

　　Few other countries are so dominated by their capital: for Egyptians to speak of one is to speak of the other. The "Mother of the World" nurtures more than 16 million Egyptians, Arabs, Africans and sundry international hangers-on in a collision of East and West, old and new, African and Arabic.

　　很少有其他國家的首都是像開羅這樣占據(jù)著國家大部分的資本：開羅就是埃及的代名詞。對于埃及人來說，兩者的意義是等同的。有“世界母親”之稱的埃及培育了超過1,600萬人口，包括埃及人、阿拉伯人、非洲人和其他人種。各種各樣的碰撞在這里發(fā)生，東與西，新與舊，非洲和阿拉伯。

　　She's overburdened with one of the world's highest population densities, which makes for a seething mass of people, buildings and cacophonous traffic.

　　作為世界上人口密度最高的國家，埃及不堪重負，這些造就了這里復(fù)雜的人口、建筑以及嘈雜的交通環(huán)境。

　　Cairo has been the heart of Egypt for more than 1,000 years. Here the medieval world and thecontemporary Western world clash in a confusion of mud-brick houses and towering modern office buildings, of flashy cars and donkey-drawn carts.

　　開羅成為埃及的心臟已經(jīng)超過1,000年。這里是中世紀世界和當(dāng)代西方世界沖突的集中體現(xiàn)。泥磚屋的混亂和高聳的現(xiàn)代化辦公大樓、遲鈍的驢車和浮華小車都形成鮮明的對比。

　　Cairenes see nothing strange in this. They aren't driven by the Western obsession to update and upgrade. The resulting pervasive sense of timelessness is one of the city's great charms. At the end of the day, it's a city travelers either love or hate; few come away indifferent.

　　但在開羅人眼里，這些都不足為奇。他們不是癡迷于西方世界的更新和升級。由此普遍產(chǎn)生的永恒感是這個城市的巨大魅力之一。一天下來，要么喜歡這里要么討厭這里，很少有旅客對這里的一切無動于衷。

　　Finding your way about Cairo's vast sprawl is not as difficult as it may seem. Midan Tahrir is at the center. Northeast of Tahrir and centered on Sharia Talaat Harb is Downtown, a bustling commercial district.

　　尋找你對開羅的巨大張力的方式并不是像看起來那么困難。塔利爾是在中心。東北塔利爾和沙里亞·塔拉特·哈布為中心城區(qū)，是一個繁華的商業(yè)區(qū)。

　　The city' main train station at Midan Ramses marks Downtown's northernmost extent. Heading east, Downtown ends at Midan Ataba and the old medieval heart of the city known as Islamic Cairo takes over.

　　米丹·拉美西斯火車站是市區(qū)的最北端。向東，市區(qū)結(jié)束于米丹·阿塔巴，這里是中世界的中心，之后被伊斯蘭開羅接管。

　　Bordering Downtown to the west is the Nile River, which is obstructed by two sizeable islands. The more central of these, connected directly to Downtown by three bridges, is Gezira, home to the Cairo Tower and the Opera House complex.

　　市區(qū)的西面是尼羅河，它被兩個相當(dāng)大的島阻礙著。這里是更加中央的位置，其中三座橋直接連接到市中心，是吉齊拉，也是開羅塔河復(fù)雜的開羅歌劇院的地址所在。

　　The west bank of the Nile is less historical and much more residential. The primary districts are Mohandiseen, Agouza, Doqqi and Giza, all of which are light on charm and heavy on concrete. Giza covers by far the largest area of the four, stretching some 20km (12.4mi) west on either side of the long, straight road that ends at the foot of the Pyramids.

　　尼羅河西岸有著更短的和少得多的住宅。主要地區(qū)是Mohandiseen, Agouza, Doqqi和吉薩，所有這些都帶著明亮、深層的魅力。吉薩到目前為止，包括四大領(lǐng)域，在長直路的兩側(cè)向西延伸20千米，一直伸展到金字塔的腳下。

　　注釋：

　　1. collision n. 碰撞;沖突

　　例句：The collision foundered the ship.

　　相撞使這條船沉沒。

　　2. take over 接管;接收

　　例句：He will take over Class 9801 next week.

　　下星期他將接管 9801 班。

　　3. sizeable adj. 大的，相當(dāng)大的

　　例句：Oman – or Muscat and Oman as it used to be called – is a sizeable country, not atiny strip of desert.

　　阿曼過去也稱為馬斯喀特和阿曼，她不是一片小小的沙漠，而是一個相當(dāng)大的國家。