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The Golden Gate Bridge 漫步在金门大桥

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 For a thrilling perspective of San Francisco, walk its iconic bridge  漫步著名大桥，是眺望旧金山的刺激新方式 

The day I walked it, the sky was as blue as vintage china. There was no wind, just the slight breeze from traffic. It was pleasantly cool. A few cyclists sped by, a couple of runners, a handful of walkers. With every step, the orange towers loomed larger. With every step, I felt smaller, a tiny dot above San Francisco Bay.

走上金门大桥那一天，天空蓝得有如上等瓷器的颜色。没有风，只有车行过扬起的轻微气流。天气凉爽宜人，有一些自行车骑士呼啸而过，两位慢跑人士，还有几位安步当车的行人。每走一步，橘色桥塔更形巨大；每走一步，我就自觉更加渺小，有如旧金山湾上方的一个小点。

Walking the Golden Gate Bridge isn’t on everyone’s to-do tourist list. But when this city’s fabled fog parts for sunshine, it could be one of the most memorable experiences you will ever have.

漫步金门大桥并不是所有人观光必做之事。然而，当这个城市的著名浓雾为阳光让路时，这可能会是毕生难忘的经验。

Opened in 1937, the 1.7-mile orange bridge connecting San Francisco to Marin County is one of the few big bridges in the world that welcome walkers and bicycle traffic.

这座橘色大桥长一点七哩，连接旧金山市与马林郡，一九三七年通车，是世界上少数欢迎行人与单车族穿梭其上的大型桥梁。

Unlike Michigan’s 5-mile-long Mackinac Bridge, which allows pedestrians only on Labor Day, the Golden Gate span has a dedicated pedestrian/cycle lane.

金门大桥和密西根五哩长的麦金纳大桥不同，前者有行人与自行车专用道，而后者只在劳动节那一天对行人开放。

The celebrity bridge also has its own visitor’s center, gift shop, gardens and café, located at the foot of the span on the San Francisco side. From there, it’s just a few steps up to the walkway.

这座著名的大桥有自己的游客中心、纪念品店、花园和咖啡馆，就位于旧金山侧桥头处，距离人行步道只有数步之遥。

The perspective from the bridge  从桥上远眺

Once on the bridge, the incline is steady but not steep.

上桥之后，会有点斜度，但角度并不至于太过陡峭。

Tourists usually see the Golden Gate Bridge from below on a tour boat, or by bus, car or bike. But standing quietly on the bridge, a walker absorbs both the experience of being on the span itself and the sights beyond its cables and steel.

观光客欣赏金门大桥的角度，通常是从下方的观光船，或是坐在巴士、汽车、自行车上。然而安静地站在桥上，行人可亲自体会站在桥面并欣赏缆线与钢筋以外的风景的经验。

Look down. See the roiling water of San Francisco Bay more than 200 feet below. Look north and east, and see the undulating green of Marin County, melancholy Alcatraz Island and the tidy San Francisco skyline.

往下看，下方两百多呎是旧金山湾的滚滚洪涛；往北、往东远眺，可以看见马林郡连绵起伏的绿野、伤感的恶魔岛监狱、以及简洁利落的旧金山天际线。

At the same time, up close, you can see that each rivet is the size of a salad plate. The orange paint is slightly ocher. The pavement beneath your feet vibrates a bit from the traffic.

同时，近在眼前的是色拉盘大小的铆钉，橘色油漆有点偏赭色，脚下的路面会因过往车辆而略略震动。

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loom [lum] v. 隐约出现[耸现]

to-do list 执行表；计划表

fabled [ˋfeb!d] adj. 寓言[传奇]中著名的 made known or famous by fables; legendary

part [pɑrt] v. 使分开; 使分离 separate

span [spæn] n. 全长

dedicated [ˋdɛdə͵ketɪd] adj. 专用的

melancholy [ˋmɛlən͵kɑlɪ] adj. 忧郁的，郁闷的; 令人沮丧的；可悲的

Alcatraz [ˈælkəˌtræz] Island 阿卡特茲島(恶魔岛) a small island in the middle of San Francisco Bay, famous for being a maximum-security prison until 1963

tidy [ˋtaɪdɪ] adj. 整齐的；井然的; 【口】相当大的

rivet [ˋrɪvɪt] n. 铆钉 a metal pin used to fasten flat pieces of metal, or other thick materials such as leather, together

ocher [ˋokɚ] n. 黄土色；赭色 a yellowish orange color, or a substance obtained from the Earth which is used for giving this color to paints

pavement [ˋpevmənt] n. 人行道

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More than 1.8 billion vehicles have crossed the Golden Gate Bridge since it opened in 1937. Bridge officials don’t keep track of how many pedestrians use the bridge, but there can be as many as 6,000 on a busy summer day, says Mary Currie, spokeswoman for the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District.

自一九三七年通车以来，已经有超过十八亿车辆行驶过金门大桥。金门大桥公路暨交通局发言人玛莉．柯理表示，管理当局并未计算过桥行人的数量，但在夏天旺季时，一天可能高达六千人。

In the early 20th century, ferries were the only way across the Golden Gate straits. Why? Nobody thought it was possible to build an earthquake-proof bridge there.

二十世纪初期，渡轮是来往金门海峡的唯一方式。原因何在呢？这是因为大家认为那里不可能盖得出一座防震大桥。

Then, engineer Joseph Strauss and colleagues came up with an idea: a suspension bridge able to move with the wind and anchored securely against peril.

然后工程师约瑟夫．史特劳斯和同事们想出了一个主意：吊桥，可以随风摇动，却又稳稳固定住而不致发生危险。

It worked. For 73 years, the Golden Gate Bridge has withstood storms and earthquakes, even the 1989 Loma Prieta quake that cracked the nearby Bay Bridge. It can sway (side to side) 27.7 feet and flex (up and down) 10.8 feet. Can a pedestrian feel it sway? I tried to. I didn’t. But then again, it was a quiet day.

这个想法果真成功了。七十三年来，金门大桥挺过了暴风雨及地震，就连毁坏附近海湾大桥的一九八九年洛马普利塔大地震，也撼动不了它。金门大桥左右摇摆幅度可达二十七点七呎、上下震动弯曲幅度可达十点八呎。行人在桥上感觉得到桥在摇晃吗？我试过了，答案是感觉不出来。不过话又说回来，这一天是风平浪静的日子。

At the bridge’s highest point, walkers stand 271 feet above the water, while the art deco-style towers loom another 500 feet straight up.

在桥的最高点，行人所在位置距离水面两百七十一呎，而装饰艺术感十足的桥塔，又高出了五百呎。

Other ways to see the bridge  欣赏金门大桥的其他方式

By foot: 徒步：

Most sightseeing tours stop only for a minute for a photo op. But San Francisco City Guides leads free walking tours of the bridge every Thursday and Sunday at 11 a.m.

大多数观光团都是来这里拍个照就走，但旧金山市导览协会在每周四与每周六早上十一点钟，推出金门大桥免费徒步导览行程。

By bike: 自行车：

Bike and Roll bike rental has a tour [featuring] a 9-mile ride offered daily from San Francisco to Sausalito. Cyclists ride over the bridge, then take a ferry back.

Bike and Roll自行车出租公司每天都有从旧金山到苏沙利多的九哩单车游览行程，单车族骑过金门大桥后，再搭渡轮回来。

By boat:  搭船：

The Red and White Fleet has a one-hour Golden Gate Bridge tour. It’s narrated by an audiotape, which is filled with tales of hair-raising San Francisco events: earthquakes, fired, Alcatraz prison escapes, runaway horses, collapsing buildings – but nothing bad about the bridge, which is good, since your little tour boat passes right under it.

红白渡轮公司提供一小时的金门大桥游览行程。导览内容以录音带播放，都是有关旧金山令人毛骨悚然的事件：大地震、大火灾、恶魔岛监狱逃亡、奔窜的马匹、倒塌的建筑，倒是没有任何有关大桥的坏话，那是好事一桩，因为你所搭的小小观光船正通过大桥底下呢。

−by Ellen Creage

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ferry [ˋfɛrɪ] n. 渡轮，联运船

anchor [ˋæŋkɚ] v. 使固定，系住

peril [ˋpɛrəl] n.（严重的）危险

narrate [næˋret] v. 讲述，叙述

suspension bridge 吊桥 a bridge which is supported by strong steel ropes hung from a tower at each end of the bridge

art deco 装饰艺术 a style of decoration that was especially popular in the 1930s and uses simple shapes and lines and strong colors

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vintage [ˋvɪntɪdʒ] adj. 古色古香的；古老的 of high quality and lasting value, or showing the best and most typical characteristics of a particular type of thing, especially from the past

roil [rɔɪl] v. 彻底搅拌, 搅浑 to make liquid murky by stirring up mud or other substances

undulating [ˋʌndjə͵letɪŋ] adj. 波浪起伏的；波浪形的 describing or having small hills and slopes that look like waves

flex [flɛks] v. 屈曲；收缩 to bend

fleet [flit] n. 船队 a group of ships

hair-raising [ˋhɛr͵rezɪŋ] adj. 令人恐惧的 very frightening

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