The Golden Gate Bridge金門大橋

王雪楊

The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most famous bridgesin the world. It is a symbol of San Francisco， standing as one ofthe worlds most beloved landmarks. Its tall frame， two largetowers， and orange color make the bridge easy to recognize. Yetas the Golden Gate Bridge was being built， people disagreedabout what the bridge should look like.

金門大橋是世界上最著名的橋梁之一。它是舊金山的象征，作為世界上最受喜愛的地標(biāo)之一矗立著。它那高高的框架、兩座巨大的塔樓和橙色外觀使這座橋十分醒目。然而，在金門大橋建造過程中，人們對(duì)其外觀頗有爭(zhēng)議。

People were worried that San Franciscos thick fog wouldmake the bridge hard to see. The U.S. Navy wanted the bridge tostand out， so ships and airplanes wouldnt collide with it. Theywanted the bridge to have wideblack and yellow stripes， like abumblebee！ Irving Morrow wasone of the bridge designers. Hedid not like the idea of a striped?bridge. Morrow did not want a plain black or gray bridge either，though. He thought a dark bridge would make the Golden Gateseem smaller than it was.

人們擔(dān)心，舊金山的大霧會(huì)使大橋難以看清。美國海軍希望大橋的外觀能醒目一些，這樣船只和飛機(jī)就不會(huì)與之相撞。他們希望大橋有寬寬的黑、黃相間的條紋，就像一只大黃蜂！歐文· 莫羅是其中一位橋梁設(shè)計(jì)師。他不喜歡把橋刷上條紋的想法。不過，莫羅也不想要一座平常的黑色或灰色的橋。他認(rèn)為，一座深色的橋會(huì)讓金門看起來比原來更小。

When the bridges parts were delivered to San Francisco，they had an orange color. The bridge workers were supposed topaint a new color over the orange. But Morrow was still unsureof what color that would be. He looked at the orange bridge partsand decided that the color would be perfect！ Morrow thought theorange would stand out well against the ocean and the sky.

當(dāng)大橋的部件被運(yùn)送到舊金山時(shí)，它們呈橙色。本來設(shè)想橋梁工人在橙色上涂上一種新顏色。但莫羅仍然不確定那會(huì)是什么顏色。他看了看橋上的橙色部分，斷定這個(gè)顏色一定會(huì)很完美！莫羅認(rèn)為，橙色在大海和天空的襯托下會(huì)很顯眼。

Finally， the difficult decision had been made. A red-orangeGolden Gate Bridge was bright enough for ships and planes to see.The color made the bridge appear grand and tall.

最后，這個(gè)艱難的決定做出來了。一座橙紅色的金門大橋亮得足以讓船只和飛機(jī)看到。這種顏色使這座橋顯得雄偉而高大。

Golden Gate Bridge opened to traffic on May 28， 1937. Overthe years， fresh paint has been needed. But the color remains thesame orange that was supposed to be painted over many yearsago.

金門大橋于1937 年5 月28 日通車。多年來，金門大橋一直需要刷新的油漆。但它的顏色仍然是多年前刷的那種橙色。

The Golden Gate Bridge is not only a vital transportationlink but a work of art， admired by millions of visitors every year.

金門大橋不僅是一條重要的交通紐帶，也是一件藝術(shù)品，每年都有數(shù)百萬游客去觀賞。

Notes：

golden adj. 金色的

gate n. 大門；門

symbol n. 象征

San Francisco （地名）舊金山

beloved adj. 受到愛戴的

landmark n. 地標(biāo)

frame n. 框架

tower n. 塔；塔樓

disagree v. 不同意

fog n. 霧

stand out 顯眼；醒目；突出

collide v. 碰撞

stripe n. 條；帶；條（帶）狀

bumblebee n. 大黃蜂

plain adj. 平淡的；很一般的

deliver v. 分發(fā)；發(fā)送

perfect adj. 完美的

ocean n. 海洋

decision n. 決定

appear v. 出現(xiàn)

grand adj. 雄偉的；雄壯的

remain v. 保留

vital adj. 關(guān)鍵的；至關(guān)重要的

admire v. 欣賞；觀賞

I. Rewrite the following sentences by filling in the blanks.

II. Fill in the blanks with the correct forms of the words given.

1. The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most famous bridges in the world. It is a symbol of San Francisco.

The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most famous bridges in the world， ________ is a symbol of San Francisco.

2. People disagreed about what the bridge should look like.

People ________ ________ about what the bridge should look like.

3. Morrow did not want a plain bridge.

Morrow wanted a ________ bridge.

4. Morrow was still unsure of what color that would be.

Morrow was still ________ ________ of what color that would be.

5. He decided that the color would be perfect！

He made the __________ that the color would be perfect！

1. Yuan Longping is one of the ________ （many） famous scientists in the world.

2. I was ________ （worry） you wouldnt come.

3. This tree looks much ________ （tall） than it was last year.

4. And ________ （final）， I would like to thank you all for coming here today.

5. Reading is of vital _________ （important） in language learning.

Keys to The Golden Gate Bridge

I. 1. which 2. didnt agree 3. unique 4. not sure 5. decision

II. 1. most 2. worried 3. taller 4. finally 5. importance