直冲云霄
Reaching for the sky
Hello, I’m Rob and this is 6 Minute English and I’m joined this week by Callum. Hello Callum.
大家好，欢迎收听本期BBC六分钟英语。我是Rob，这是我本周的搭档Callum。你好，Callum。
Hello Rob.
你好，Rob。
Today we’re talking about tall buildings – very tall buildings in fact.
今天我们要讨论的话题与高层建筑有关，实际上是很高的大厦。
I suppose we could call them skyscrapers – because they’re so tall they almost touch the sky.
我觉得可以把它们称作摩天大楼，因为它们几乎快高到天边了。
They do. Many countries compete with each other in trying to earn the title of having the tallest building in the world.
恩，确实是。许多国家都在相互竞争，试图获得拥有最高建筑物的头衔。
And this month, London has opened its newest structure but unfortunately it’s not going to win the world record for being the highest.
伦敦也于本月开放了其最新建筑，可不幸的是它并不能赢得最高建筑的世界记录。
No, but it is now the European Union’s tallest building standing at 310 metres tall.
是的，可它是欧洲最高的建筑，海拔高达310米。
That’s high enough for me. I haven’t really got a head for heights! Anyway if you don’t know what this new building is called we’ll tell you in a moment but not before I’ve set today’s question for Callum.
对我来说已经够高了，因为我有恐高症。话说回来，如果你不知道这座新建筑的名字，那么我们将过一会告诉你。但在这之前，我要问Callum一个问题。
I suppose this is going to be about height?
和高度有关的？
Yes, that’s the long and short of it! According to the Guinness World Records, the first ever skyscraper was built in the USA, but in which city? Was it in: a) New York b) Chicago c) Detroit
没错，概括起来就是高度问题。据世界吉尼斯纪录记载，第一座摩天大楼建在美国，但是在哪个城市呢？是纽约、芝加哥还是底特律呢？
I don’t know this but I’m going to go for a: New York because I think there are many famous skyscrapers in New York. So I’m going to go a: New York.
我还真不知道答案，但我选a，纽约。因为我觉得那里有很多著名的摩天大楼。所以我选纽约。
Ok, well, I’ll let you know the answer at the end of the programme. But let’s talk more about London’s newest building, which has just opened to the public, and is called The Shard.
好的，节目最后会揭晓答案。现在我们来进一步谈谈伦敦的最新建筑，它刚刚向公众开放，叫做碎片大厦。
The Shard. That’s because of its shape. The structure narrows as it gets higher and comes to a point at the top. From a distance, with the sun reflecting on it, it looks like a shard – or a sharp, broken piece of glass, which is what a shard means.
把它称为碎片大厦是因为其形状。这种建筑越往高处越窄，到最后成了一个点。在阳光的反射下，它从远处来看就像是碎片，或者说像一块锋利、破碎的玻璃片，shard这个单词也正是此意。
Yes, and the steel structure is covered in glass which means that if you are inside you get a fantastic view over London.
没错，钢铁结构外面覆盖着玻璃，这样当你在建筑里面时，就可以看到整个伦敦的漂亮景色。
And if you don’t mind forking out lots of money you can go to the viewing platform on the 72nd floor for a birds-eye view of the city. That’s what these people did – what did they think of it?
而且如果你不介意花很多钱，那么你可以前往第72层的观景台俯瞰整座城市。下面这些游客就这样做了，一起来听听他们的感受吧。
I’m just a bit blown away to be honest; It’s what we needed really, isn’t it, against other capitals; I’ve been on the London Eye and look how much higher up we are.
说实话，我真的感觉很不错；同其他首都相比，我们正需要这种建筑；我曾去过伦敦眼，现在站在碎片大厦上，我想看看它高出多少。
Well, The Shard seems to have the wow factor for those people. In other words, they were very impressed. The first woman said she was ‘blown away’ or amazed by the experience.
那些人似乎对碎片大厦很满意。换句话说，他们的印象很深刻。第一名女子说这次经历令人惊讶，或者说她很称赞此行。
Someone else mentioned it was much higher than the London Eye – that’s another famous landmark. And somebody else commented that it was what London needed – but why?
有人提到碎片大厦比另一所著名的标志性建筑——伦敦眼高。还有人评论称这正是伦敦所需，但为什么呢？
A good question. A new skyscraper can create good publicity for a city – it’s an image that is seen all around the world and it can show a city as being prosperous and modern.
问得好。新式摩天大楼可为城市提供有力宣传。它是城市的形象，是城市繁荣现代的标志。
Yes, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates is a good example of this. It boasts the world’s tallest building – the Burj Khalifa – standing at 828 metres tall. 'Burj', by the way, is Arabic for tower.
没错，阿联酋首都迪拜便是个很好的例子。那里拥有世界最高的大厦哈利法塔，海拔高达828米。顺便讲一下，Burj在阿拉伯语里是塔的意思。
Other countries such as China, Malaysia and the USA all boast towers much taller than The Shard.
中国、马来西亚、美国等其他国家也拥有比碎片大厦高很多的塔楼。
Of course, the engineering involved is impressive. But what do you put inside these towers? Most contain luxury living accommodation, a hotel, offices, and, of course, an observation deck – that’s a viewing platform.
建塔工程固然让人印象深刻，但塔里面都放些什么呢？大多塔楼包括豪华生活设施、酒店、办公室，当然还有观景台。
But there is a problem for The Shard. At the moment only 20% of the office space is leased – which means only 20% is rented out. Jack Sidders from the Estates Gazette newspaper has his reasons for this:
但碎片大厦存在着一个问题。到目前为止，只有20%的办公地点得以租赁，换句话说，只有20%的办公地点被租了出去。对此，“庄园公报”的Jack Sidders如下解释道：
What they are trying to do is create an entire quarter here, to make it into more of an established office location but, you know, maybe if you’re a tenant, economy’s very dodgy, that added bit of risk, maybe that will put people off.
他们试图创建整套建筑，想让碎片大厦成为既定办公地点。但有时租客经济不可靠，增加了些许风险，所以他们就被排斥在外了。
So, the owners of The Shard want to make it an established office location – so, therefore, a good recognised location for business – but the current economic situation could be putting off tenants from moving in.
这么说来，碎片大厦所有者想让它成为既定办公地点，即良好的地理位置。但目前的经济形势使租客们无法租赁。
Yes, he said described the economy as dodgy – a slang word for uncertain or risky.
没错，他形容经济时用到了dodgy。这个词是俚语，是不确定的、冒险的意思。
That’s not the view of Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London. He’s proud of the new building and, together with other new constructions, he’s optimistic about the future. See if you can hear the names of some other London landmarks he mentions:
伦敦市市长Boris Johnson并不这么认为。他为这所大厦及其他新式建筑感到骄傲，对未来持有乐观态度。接下来让我们听一段话，看你能否听出他所提到的伦敦其他标志性建筑的名字。
You’ve got the Walkie Talkie going up, The Cheese Grater, the stuff that wasn’t happening four years ago, all those cranes stopped moving four years ago; they’re back on the scene now.
我们现在有“对讲机”，有“奶酪擦”，这些东西在四年前还没有。四年前，所有起重机都停下了工作；而如今，它们又回到了施工现场。
Some interesting names for buildings there – The Walkie Talkie and The Cheese Grater! This is, of course, because of the shape of the buildings, which look like the objects they are named after. I suppose these names make it easier to identify the buildings.
他提到了几个有趣的建筑名称，比如对讲机和奶酪擦。它们因其形状而得名，和被命名的物体很像。我觉得使用这些名称更易于识别建筑物。
Yes but I think I’d be quite embarrassed to tell people I work in The Cheese Grater! OK, well it’s time now to reveal the answer to today’s question.
那倒是，可我觉得告诉别人我在奶酪擦里工作会很尴尬。好了，到了揭晓本期答案的时间了。
Ah yes. You asked me, according to the Guinness World Records, the first ever skyscraper was built in the USA but in which city?
没错，你刚刚问我，据世界吉尼斯纪录记载，美国第一座摩天大楼建在哪个城市？
Yes, was it in: a) New York b) Chicago c) Detroit
是的，它在纽约、芝加哥还是在底特律呢？
And I said New York.
我当时选的a，纽约。
And you are wrong I'm afraid. The world’s first skyscraper was the Home Insurance Building in Chicago. Built between 1884 and 1885, the so-called “Father of the Skyscraper” towered all of ten storeys and was just 42 metres tall.
回答错误。世界第一座摩天大楼是芝加哥的国家保险大厦。它建于1884-1885年，虽然仅有10层，42米高，却是所谓的摩天大楼之父。
Not much of skyscraper by today’s standards, is it really?
要是参照当今标准，它就不能算是摩天大楼了吧？
Indeed. OK, well, it’s almost time to go but before we do, Callum could you remind us of some of the words we have heard today.
恩，的确如此。好了，节目也快结束了。Callum，你能带我们回忆下今天听到的词汇吗？
Yes. We heard: skyscrapers, a shard, forking out, the wow factor, landmark, prosperous, observation deck, leased, established, dodgy.
没问题。今天我们听到了以下词汇：skyscrapers（摩天大楼）、a shard（碎片）、forking out（支付，花钱）、the wow factor（令人印象深刻的，让人叫好的东西）、landmark（地标，标志性建筑）、prosperous（繁荣的，繁华的）、observation deck（观景台）、leased（租用的，租赁的）、established（既定的，确定的）、dodgy（不可靠的，冒险的）。
Thanks Callum. Well, that’s all we have time for today. Please join us again soon for 6 Minute English from bbclearningenglish.
谢谢你，Callum。以上就是本期BBC六分钟英语的全部内容。欢迎大家稍后登录bbclearningenglish收听我们的节目。
Bye.
再见。