(实用文体翻译练习2.docVIP

练习材料 第一单元 地理篇 No Giant Skyscrapers Chicago and New York are famous for their tall buildings. California cannot be. Its buildings have to be famous for their beauty or their historical importance1. California is earthquake country2. The San Andreas Fault3 is a cause of earthquakes. It is a long crack in the earth that stretches from Southern to Northern California. Rocks inside the earth move and the earth shakes. These earthquakes make the fault bigger4. The most famous earthquake in California happened in 1906. It destroyed most of the young city of San Francisco. People rebuilt the city. They looked at the buildings that did not fall in the earthquake5 and they learned more about building in California. Tall buildings can be dangerous6 in earthquakes. Today California has codes7 that say how a building must be built and how tall it can be. Los Angeles has several earthquakes each year. The tall buildings move8 a little and everyone takes a deep breath. Usually tourists and newcomers are the most frightened. People who grew up in California say, “We’re used to it!” Earthquakes do not stop the building industry in California, but they do make architects work a little harder9. The buildings they design have to look good and stand up in an earthquake. These buildings are good examples of modern California architecture. The Bonaventure Hotel is a few city blocks from the old Mission Church. The Century City Complex is near the ocean. It stands on the site of the old Twentieth Century Fox movie studios. These buildings show that people are not afraid to build in California. 水桥 在巴拿马，有一座世界闻名的“水桥”，那就是巴拿马运河。去年暑假，我跟着爸爸妈妈去巴拿马运河游览观光，至今还记忆犹新。 我们乘机抵达巴拿马城，然后搭上了一艘游轮，从巴尔博亚港进入运河。船行13公里后，便到了运河的第一组水闸1。巴拿马运河就是通过水闸的关与开，让船舰跨越陆地的一座“水桥” 2。 我们开始“上桥”了。船驶进闸池之后，厚2米，高、宽各20米，重数百吨的钢闸门便缓缓地关闭，闸池里开始注水。几分钟后，水涨船高3。游轮在两岸电力机车的牵引下缓缓前进。这样连升两级之后，船已经升高了16米。出闸后，再驶过一个小湖，又到了第二组水闸。经过这座水闸，船又升高了9.5米。这样，船已高出海平面26米，进入“桥顶” 4。我们的游船驶进了长达13公里的主航道，只见5两岸山6如刀削，绿树红花，景色十分秀丽7。 游船出了峡谷，驶入了宽阔的加通湖。湖水倒映着远山白云，美丽的