聊一聊埃菲爾鐵塔的歷史，它具有什么政治意義

今天的這段對話，在討論埃菲爾鐵塔，

聊一聊埃菲爾鐵塔的歷史，它具有什么政治意義

來聽今天的講解:

A:  What's that you are looking at?

你在看什么呀？

B: It's a postcard of The Eiffel Tower,  my friend went to France last month.

是一張埃菲爾鐵塔的明信片。我朋友上個月去了法國。

A: Do you know its history or anything at all about it?

你知道它的歷史或其他相關(guān)信息嗎？

B: I'm sorry to say. I only know the history written on the back of this postcard.

很遺憾，我只知道明信片背面印的歷史簡介。

A: Well, I was born in France and I can tell you anything you need to know.

我在法國出生，可以告訴你任何你想知道的東西。

B: Well, that's great. When was it built? It looks like a modem building.

那就太好了。它是什么時候建的？看上去像現(xiàn)代建筑。

A: The Eiffel Tower was built for the International Exhibition of Paris of 1889 commemorating the centenary of the French Revolution

埃菲爾鐵塔是1889年為了召開巴黎國際博覽會而建的，是為了紀(jì)念法國大革命一百周年。

B: So it has a big political idea,  French folks feel the Eiffel Tower made them free?

所以它具有偉大的政治意義，是木是法國人覺得埃菲爾鐵塔使他們獲得了自由？

A: Yes, but they invited the Prince of Wales, later King Edward V[I of England, co attend the ceremony. Of the 700 proposals submitted in a deS1gn competition. Gustave Eiffel's was unanimously chosen.

是的，但是他們卻請了威爾士王子，也就是后來的英國國王愛德華七世來為開幕盛典捧場。在此塔的設(shè)計大賽提交的700多個方案中，居斯塔夫•埃菲爾的設(shè)計最終受到一致推選。

B: But, it's also pretty to look at! I think that he was a man of viS1on and ahead of his time.

不過埃菲爾鐵塔看上去也很漂亮。我想居斯塔夫•埃菲爾不僅有眼光而且走在了時代的前面。

A: Yes, I agree! Eiffel was an excellent deS1gner and the perfect choice for a project so large. However it was not accepted by all at first, and a petition of300 names-including those of Maupassant, Emile Zola, Charles Gamier who was an architect of the Opera Gamier, and Dumas the Younger-protested its construction.

是的，我贊成你的說法。居斯塔夫•埃菲爾是一個出色的設(shè)計師，也是這個大項目的最佳人選。不過，他的最初設(shè)計并沒有被一致通過，有300人聯(lián)名請愿反對采用他的設(shè)計，其中包括莫泊桑，埃米爾•左拉，加尼葉歌劇院的設(shè)計者查爾斯•加尼葉，以及小仲馬。

B: But why? Didn't they think he was good enough?

這是為什么呢？難道他們認(rèn)為他不能勝任嗎？

A: Oh, I think they all thought he was a good architect but they saw the Tower as "useless and monstrous".

哦，我認(rèn)為他們都公認(rèn)他是個優(yōu)秀的建筑師，但這座塔常被嘲笑為“毫無用處”和 “怪異丑陋”。

B: I think the construction of the Eiffel Tower is important for all French people.

我覺得埃菲爾鐵塔的建設(shè)對所有法國人民都非常重要。

A: Also, during its lifetime, the Eiffel Tower has also witnessed a few strange scenes, including being scaled by a mountaineer in 1954, and parachuted off in 1984 by two Englishmen .

而且埃菲爾鐵塔自建成之日起，也見證了很多奇聞逸事。例如1954年有一個登山運動員曾經(jīng)攀登過埃菲爾鐵塔．1984年又有兩個英國人帶著降落傘從塔頂上往下跳。

B: Oh yes, and I read that in 1923 a journalist rode a bicycle down from the first level. Some accounts say he rode down the stairs, other accounts suggest the exterior of one of the tower's four legs which slope outward.

是的，我還讀到過1923年有一個記者從埃菲爾鐵塔塔頂騎自行車下來。有些報道說他是從樓梯騎下來的，另外一些說飽是從向外傾斜的4個塔柱之一下來的。

A: Well, whatever he did,  he must have been crazy ! Anyway, the Eiffel Tower doesn't have a really long history, but it's an interesting one.

不論他從哪里下來的，我都覺得他肯定是瘋了。不管怎么說，埃菲爾鐵塔的歷史并不算長，但挺有意思的。