024 比萨斜塔

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The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the architectural wonders of the world, and permanently fascinating to people

比萨斜塔是世界建筑奇迹之一，一直令人着迷。

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The famous bell tower has stood for over six centuries

这座著名的钟楼已经矗立了六个多世纪。

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But it hasn't ever stood straight — at one point in history, the tower tilted about 4.5 meters from the vertical!

但它从未直立过——在历史上某个时期，塔身偏离垂直方向约4.5米！

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Pisa is an ancient city in Tuscany, Italy

比萨是意大利托斯卡纳的一座古老城市。

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Located on the river Arno, with easy access to the sea, the city became a major port of trade

它位于阿诺河畔，便于出海，因此成为了重要的贸易港口。

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In the eleventh century, merchants from across the Mediterranean and as far away as the Middle East came to buy and sell goods

在十一世纪，来自地中海各地乃至远至中东的商人都来这里买卖商品。

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The city's inhabitants, the Pisans, often had to defend their city against outside forces

这座城市的居民——比萨人，经常不得不抵御外来势力，保卫自己的城市。

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They also made their own conquests. In 1063 they sailed to the island of Sicily and attacked the city of Palermo

他们也进行过自己的征服行动。1063年，他们航行至西西里岛，攻击了巴勒莫城。

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The defeat of Palermo made the Pisans rich and confident in their power

击败巴勒莫使比萨人变得富有，并对自己的实力充满信心。

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They decided to build a large cathedral to show off their treasures

他们决定建造一座大教堂来炫耀他们的财富。

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A large piece of open land sat in the middle of the city, which the Pisans called the Square of Miracles

城中央有一大片开阔地，比萨人称之为奇迹广场。

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They decided to build the cathedral on the square, as a tribute to Pisa's conquests and rich heritage

他们决定在广场上建造大教堂，以纪念比萨的征服伟绩和丰厚遗产。

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The front of the building was covered with stones stolen from ancient Roman ruins

建筑正面所用的石材，都是从古罗马废墟中盗取来的。

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Even today you can read ancient Roman inscriptions, some of which are upside down or sideways, in the marble stones of the cathedral

时至今日，你仍能在大教堂的大理石板上，看到一些上下颠倒或歪斜的古罗马铭文。

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The building took a very long time to complete, almost three hundred years

这栋建筑耗时极长，花了将近三百年才完工。

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The Pisans also decided to build a cemetery and a tall bell tower in the square

比萨人还决定在广场上修建一座墓地和一座高高的钟楼。

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Construction of the bell tower, which would later become known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, began in 1173

这座后来被称为比萨斜塔的钟楼，于1173年开始动工。

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Not long after the workers had laid the foundation and built the first three floors, they noticed that the building was sinking on the south side

工人们打好地基并建完最初三层后不久，就注意到建筑的南侧正在下陷。

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This was not surprising because the soil underneath the Square of Miracles was very marshy

这并不奇怪，因为奇迹广场下方的土质非常松软泥泞。

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It was a common problem for buildings in the area

这是该地区建筑普遍面临的问题。

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In fact, the name Pisa means " marshy land " in Greek

其实，“比萨”这个名字在希腊语里就是“沼泽地”的意思。

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Around this time war broke out, and construction on the bell tower stopped for nearly one hundred years

大约在这个时候，战争爆发了，钟楼的建造因此中断了将近一百年。

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This long interruption turned out to be good for the tilting tower

这次漫长的停工，结果反倒对这栋倾斜的建筑有好处。

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It gave the building's foundation time to settle, and probably even prevented it from collapsing long ago

它给了建筑地基时间去夯实，甚至很可能防止了它在很久以前就倒塌。

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Experts believe that when construction on the tower restarted, an engineer named Bonanno Pisano was in charge of the challenging project

专家们认为，当钟楼重新开始建造时，是一位名叫波南诺·皮萨诺的工程师，负责这项极具挑战的工程。

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In order to compensate for the building's tilt, Pisano decided to make the columns and arches on the south side a little longer

为了弥补建筑的倾斜，皮萨诺决定把南面的柱子和拱门造得稍微长一点。

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He believed that this would level out the tower

他相信这样做能让钟楼变得水平。

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But Pisano's solution only worsened the problem

但是，皮萨诺的解决方法反而加重了问题。

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The extra weight made the tower sink some more!

额外的重量让钟楼下沉得更多了！

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As years passed, other engineers and builders took on the challenge of finishing the building, and fixing its tilt

随着时间一年年过去，其他的工程师和建造者接下了这个挑战，试图完成这座建筑，并修正它的倾斜。

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By 1350 the tower's bell chamber had been constructed, and the rest of the tower was finally completed around 1372

到1350年，塔的钟室已建造完毕，塔的其余部分也最终在1372年左右完工。

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When the tower was finished, many people were glad that all the builders had not quit the project

当塔完工时，许多人都很高兴，因为所有建造者都没有放弃这个工程。

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It was truly an architectural wonder, with beautiful arches and two hundred marble columns

这真是一个建筑奇迹，有着美丽的拱门和两百根大理石柱子。

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But by now the tower's tilt was very noticeable

但此时，塔的倾斜已经非常明显了。

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The tilt fascinated people, yet it worried them too; one day the tower could collapse

这种倾斜让人们着迷，但也让他们担忧；说不定哪一天塔就会倒塌。

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Over time many efforts were made to save the tower

随着时间的推移，人们为拯救这座塔付出了许多努力。

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Some of the solutions were realistic, while others were almost comical

有些解决方案很现实，而另一些则近乎滑稽可笑。

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One person suggested draining all of the water beneath the foundation of the tower; another suggested leaving the water there but freezing it!

有人建议抽干塔地基下所有的水；另一个人则建议留着水，但把它冻起来！

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Other ideas included moving the tower to another location or rebuilding it

其他的想法还包括把塔移到另一个地方，或者干脆重建。

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In the 1920s experts tried injecting cement into the foundation of the tower in order to stabilize it, or at least slow the rate at which it was tilting

在1920年代，专家们尝试向塔的地基注入水泥，以稳定它，或至少减缓它倾斜的速度。

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Despite all these engineering efforts, the tower continued sinking

尽管付出了所有这些工程努力，塔还是继续下沉。

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By the 1960s the Italian government was so concerned about the tower

到了1960年代，意大利政府对这座塔感到非常担忧，

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they announced that they were looking for suggestions to solve this puzzling problem

他们宣布正在寻求解决这个棘手难题的建议。

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Finally, in 1990, it was decided to close the building for safety reasons

最终，在1990年，出于安全原因，决定关闭这座建筑。

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A major project was eventually launched to straighten the tower

一项旨在扶正斜塔的重大工程最终启动了。

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This time engineers slowly removed earth from underneath the foundation on its north side

这一次，工程师们慢慢地从塔北侧地基的下方移除土壤。

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When the tower reopened in 2001, the tilt had been reduced by about 44 centimeters!

当斜塔在2001年重新开放时，倾斜度已经减少了大约44厘米！

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And over time the tilt decreased even more

而且随着时间的推移，倾斜度又进一步减小了。

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The tall tower, with its unusual tilt, has fascinated not just builders and tourists

这座高塔及其不寻常的倾斜，不仅让建造者和游客着迷。

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Galileo Galilei, a former resident of Pisa, was born about two hundred years after the tower was finished

伽利略·伽利莱，曾居住在比萨，出生于这座塔完工后大约两百年。

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He used it to conduct many important scientific experiments

他利用这座塔进行了许多重要的科学实验。

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In one famous story, Galileo wanted to prove his theory that all objects fall at the same speed

在一个著名的故事中，伽利略想证明他的理论：所有物体都以相同的速度下落。

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So he climbed to the top of the Tower of Pisa and dropped two balls at the same time

于是他爬上了比萨斜塔的顶端，同时扔下了两个球。

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According to the story, both balls hit the ground at the same time even though they differed in weight

据这个故事说，尽管两个球重量不同，但它们同时击中了地面。

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Today the bell tower continues to draw tourists and admirers from around the world

今天，这座钟楼继续吸引着来自世界各地的游客和仰慕者。

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Engineers believe, due to recent measurements, that the building will remain stable now for at least two hundred years

根据最近的测量，工程师们相信，这座建筑现在将至少保持稳定两百年。

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So for generations to come, people can continue to look in amazement at the Leaning Tower of Pisa

因此，在未来的世代里，人们可以继续惊叹地仰望比萨斜塔。