[背景介紹]

埃菲爾鐵塔是法國巴黎的重要景點和突出標(biāo)志。鐵塔于1889年建成，屹立在巴黎市中心的戰(zhàn)神廣場上。埃菲爾鐵塔得名于它的設(shè)計者，著名建筑師和工程師古斯塔夫·埃菲爾。為了迎接世界博覽會和紀(jì)念法國大革命100周年，法國政府決定修建一座永久性紀(jì)念建筑。經(jīng)過反復(fù)評選，埃菲爾設(shè)計的鐵塔被選中。埃菲爾鐵塔是現(xiàn)代主義作品，一反當(dāng)時盛行的古典主義風(fēng)格，體現(xiàn)了最大膽、最進(jìn)步的建筑工程藝術(shù)。鐵塔為鋼鐵鏤空結(jié)構(gòu)，建成后整個塔身高300多米，到1930年它仍然是全世界最高的建筑。

情景對話

Rosanna：I cant believe were here. Paris at last！

Tom：Hey， look！ There it is！

Rosanna：Oh yeah， the Eiffel Tower. It looks bigger on TV， doesnt it？

Tom：I dont think so. Its pretty tall. It was the worlds tallest building from when it was built until the 1930s. It held the record for 41 years.

Rosanna：Arent you a fount of knowledge！

Tom：I read the guide book on the train.

Rosanna：Why did they build it？

Tom：It was built as the entrance arch for the World Fair back in 1889. Can you imagine seeing it back then and walking underneath it？ It must have been awe?inspiring！

Rosanna：So how high is it？

Tom：Its 320 meters tall， which is similar to an 81?storey building.

Rosanna：Wow， thats impressive. Just think of the construction workers who had to climb up to build it.

Tom：They certainly needed a head for heights. I dont think I could work that high with just a harness for safety.

Rosanna：It mus8c0f497bdd3e776759911906a2c9908bt have taken a large workforce.

Tom：It says here that it took 300 men just over two years to complete it. Amazingly there was only one fatality （死亡） due to strict safety rules.

Rosanna：Thats really good. Was it popular with the locals when it was built？

Tom：There was some controversy when it was first built. A group of architects and artists created a petition against the tower and called it a “hateful column of bolted steel”.

Rosanna：Wow， strong words.

Tom：Yes， theres even an urban myth that once it was open， Guy de Maupassant， a famous French writer， ate lunch in the towers restaurant every day because it was the only place in Paris where he wouldnt have to see the tower！

Rosanna：Ha， thats funny. Does it still have a restaurant？ Shall we go and have lunch there ourselves？

Tom：OK， there are two restaurants in the tower. One of them even has a Michelin star！

Rosanna：Ah， in that case well go to the other one. That sounds expensive！

羅莎娜：真不敢相信我們到了這里。終于來到巴黎了！

湯姆：嘿，看啊！在那邊！

羅莎娜：噢，是呀，埃菲爾鐵塔。它在電視上看起來更大一些，對吧？

湯姆：我不這樣認(rèn)為。它挺高的呀。從它始建時到20世紀(jì)30年代，它都是世界上最高的建筑物，這個紀(jì)錄保持了41年。

羅莎娜：你真是萬事通??！

湯姆：我在火車上讀了旅游指南。

羅莎娜：他們?yōu)槭裁匆ㄔ爝@座鐵塔呢？

湯姆：建造它是為了給1889年舉辦的世界博覽會作入場大門。你能想象嗎，在那個年代，從埃菲爾鐵塔下面走過？那一定會令人感到宏偉壯觀、深受鼓舞！

羅莎娜：那么這座塔有多高呢？

湯姆：它有320米高，差不多和一座81層的樓一樣高。

羅莎娜：哇，那真令人嘆為觀止。想想建筑工人吧，他們要攀爬著去建造它。

湯姆：那當(dāng)然需要不恐高的人啦。我覺得，我可沒法僅僅系上一條安全帶就在那么高的地方干活。

羅莎娜：那一定需要很多勞動力。

湯姆：據(jù)說，300個工人僅花了兩年多的時間就把這座塔建成了。驚人的是，由于嚴(yán)格的安全規(guī)定，只有一個工人因工死亡。

羅莎娜：那真是不錯了。剛竣工時，這座塔在當(dāng)?shù)厥軞g迎嗎？

湯姆：始建時，這座塔引起了一些爭議。許多建筑師和藝術(shù)家請求不要建造此塔，稱它為“由鋼鐵鉚接起來的令人厭惡的柱子”。

羅莎娜：哇，好犀利的表達(dá)啊。

湯姆：是的。甚至還有一個都市傳說：這座塔剛一開放，法國著名作家莫泊桑每天都到塔上的餐廳吃午餐，因為只有在巴黎的這個位置他才不必看到這座塔！

羅莎娜：哈，那真有趣。塔上現(xiàn)在還有餐廳嗎？我們要不要去那里吃午餐呢？

湯姆：好啊，塔里有兩家餐廳。其中一家甚至還是米其林星級餐廳呢！

羅莎娜：啊，那樣的話，我們還是去另一家吧。那聽起來很貴呀！

[巧筆妙記]

harness n. 背帶；保護(hù)帶

workforce n. 勞動力；全體員工

controversy n. 爭論；爭議

petition n. 請求；請愿書

the World Fair 世界博覽會

a head for heights 不恐高