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The Crown Prince’s Sandbox Projects 杜拜棕榈岛：奢华之梦

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Kilometers above the Middle East, a satellite gazes down at the sea off the coast of Dubai, one of the richest places in the Arab world. ___1___

中东上空数公里处，人造卫星正自空中观测杜拜沿海地区──阿拉伯世界最富裕的地区之一。突然间，高倍数的镜头捕捉到一个令人难以置信的影像：一株长达四百多公里的巨型棕榈树竟平躺在海面上。

This is The Palm, Dubai’s new paradiseresort. ___2___ Aware that the kingdom’s oil wealth is finite, the Crown Prince of Dubai knew that he would need a future source of revenue. ___3___ Instead of future riches gushing out of the ground, the kingdom will tap into the pockets of the world’s wealthiest, hoping that they will flock to its luxurious houses and hotels.

这就是杜拜新的度假天堂──棕榈岛休闲度假区。正如它的名字所显示，这个度假区是由七个岛组成，排列成棕榈树的形状。深知自己王国的石油资源总有耗尽的一天，杜拜王子体认到拓展未来新财源的必要性。藉由这个案子和其他多项计划，他希望能将杜拜打造成世界顶级的观光胜地，让未来王国的财源不再是地底涌出的石油，而是在世界顶级富豪口袋里，希望能吸引他们前来杜拜，享受极尽奢华的豪宅与酒店。

___4___ To erect the 11.5 kilometer breakwater (the wall that protects the islands from the ocean), 5.5 million cubic meters of rock were required, enough, in fact, to build two Egyptian pyramids.

休闲度假区的人工岛是以九千四百多亿立方米的沙石填海建造而成，光是岛上11.5公里的防波堤（译注：防止海水倒灌的护堤）就用掉了五千五百立方米的沙石。事实上，光这些砂石就足以建造两座埃及金字塔。

In 2006, after five years of construction, The Palm finally opened to the public. ___5___ Encouraged by this success, the little kingdom that thinks big is now embarking upon a project to build a series of artificial islands that, seen from above, resemble ….. the world’s continents.

经过五年的动工兴建，棕榈岛休闲度假区终于在2006年对外开放，岛上的豪宅在推出不到三天，便销售一空。受到这个案子成功的鼓舞，这个具有强烈企图心的小国又推出了另一项计划，打算填海建造一系列的人工岛屿，从空中鸟瞰，这些岛屿会像是……世界七大洲！

−by J. Michael Cole

A.          More than 94 million cubic meters of sand were used to build the artificial islands.

B.          All the houses in the islands were sold within three days.

C.          Suddenly, its powerful lens captures an incredible image: that of a gigantic palm tree, more than four kilometers out at sea.

D.         As its name suggests, it consists of a series of islands arranged in the shape of a palm tree.

E.          With this project, and others, he hopes to transform Dubai into one of the world’s premier tourist destinations.

Vocabulary

resort [rɪˋzɔrt] n. 度假胜地

revenue [ˋrɛvə͵nju] n. 收入，收益

tap into:  挖掘；接入

erect [ɪˋrɛkt] v. 树立；建立，设立

embark upon: 从事；开始做 to start something new or important

premier [ˋprimɪɚ] adj. 首位的；首要的

More Information

gaze [gez] v. 凝视，注视，盯

finite [ˋfaɪnaɪt] adj. 有限的

crown prince 王储

gush [gʌʃ] v. 喷，涌

breakwater [ˋbrek͵wɔtɚ] n. 防波堤

think big 雄心勃勃

Dubai - The Palm Jumeirah

Answer