下6课

Lesson Six  The Beauty of Britain 108

which of the three geographical characteristics of Britain impress you most ?why

4.1) The exquisite balance between Nature and Man impresses me most. I think the balance between the natural and the artificial isn't easy to maintain. In a lot of beauty spots here in China, we often find structures that don't fit into the landscape. For instance, there are too many eating places and merry-go-rounds in too many nature parks. Besides, in certain places of historical interest, too many modern buildings have been constructed, and they don't go with nearby old temples or pagodas. I hope this situation will be changed.我印象最深的是人与自然之间微妙的平衡。我认为自然和人工之间的平衡是不容易维持的。在中国的很多景点，我们经常发现一些建筑与风景不相适应。例如，在太多的自然公园里有太多的饮食场所和旋转木马。此外，在某些历史名胜，太多的现代建筑已经被建造，它们与附近的古庙或宝塔不相配。我希望这种情况会有所改变。

Do you think your hometown/village is a beautiful place?

4.2  My hometown, Hangzhou, is known as "a paradise on earth". If you have been there, you'd agree it deserves to be called a paradise. It has an exquisite beauty of its own. We have hills and lakes here. They are not large, but very delicate, and nothing seems out of all proportion to the size of the city itself. The landscape, with the West Lake, the weeping willows around it, and distant hills, is just like a traditional Chinese painting.我的家乡杭州被誉为“人间天堂”。如果你去过那里，你会同意那里值得被称为天堂。它本身就有一种精致的美。我们这里有山和湖。它们不大，但非常精致，似乎没有什么东西与城市本身的大小不成比例。西湖、垂柳环绕、远山环绕的风景就像一幅中国画。

Another charm of the city is the harmonious combination of the modern with the traditional. You find ancient temples and pagodas with shining fellow roofs standing side by side with tall buildings of glass and steel. A modern hotel may have a gate in traditional style, which is often decorated with red lanterns, as if to welcome its guests to a modernized Chinese city.这个城市的另一个魅力是现代与传统的和谐结合。你会发现古老的寺庙和宝塔与闪闪发光的屋顶并列在一起，还有高大的玻璃和钢铁建筑。一个现代的酒店可能会有一个传统风格的大门，经常装饰着红灯笼，好像是欢迎客人来到一个现代化的中国城市。

translate the following into english

5  Britain is a small but very beautiful country. One of its charms lies in its variety. Within its 240,500 square kilometres, it has mountains, plains, rivers and lakes, like any big country. One might say that the mountains there are merely mountains in miniature. But low as they are, they have the air of great mountains. Another feature is that the country is full of happy surprises. A traveller is constantly astonished by what he sees. On a rolling plain, he might suddenly find before him mountains with very steep slopes. In a highly industrialized district, he might unexpectedly encounter a bit of rough heath country However, what strikes a traveller most is probably the compromise between Nature and Man, between the countryside and the city. This feature is most clearly shown in the suburbs, where the residents enjoy both the civilization of the city and the easy life of the country gentlemen. 

英国是一个很小但非常美丽的国家。它的魅力之一在于它的多样性。在其24.05万平方公里内，像任何大国一样，有山脉、平原、河流和湖泊。我们可以说，那里的山不过是山的缩影。虽然地势低，但却有高山的气息。另一个特点是这个国家充满了惊喜。旅行者常常会对他所看到的感到惊讶。在起伏的平原上，他可能会突然发现前面有陡峭的山坡。在一个高度工业化的地区，他可能会意外地遇到一些粗糙的荒地。然而，最打动一个旅行者的可能是自然与人，乡村与城市之间的妥协。这一特点在郊区表现得最为明显，那里的居民既享受着城市的文明，又享受着乡村绅士的安逸生活。