【在生活中學習語言】《中英對照讀新聞》Belgium celebrates 50 years of the Atomium 比利時歡慶原子塔50週年
◎羅彥傑

Belgium recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Atomium, an oddity of modern architecture touted as the "most astonishing building in the world."

比利時最近歡慶原子塔的50週年紀念。原子塔是當代建築的異數，被誇讚為「全球最令人震驚的建築」。

Built for the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels, the Atomium is a towering structure made up of nine giant aluminum-clad spheres linked with steel tubes. The sci-fi design represents an iron atom magnified 165 billion times.

為迎接1958年布魯塞爾世界博覽會而興建，原子塔的高聳結構是由9個巨大的鋁製圓球所組成，圓球間以鋼管連接。這項科幻式的設計概念來自於放大1650億倍後的鐵原子。

Originally planned as a temporary attraction, it became one of the best-known landmarks of the Belgium capital.

原本只打算保留一段時間的原子塔，結果卻變成比利時首都最著名的地標之一。

Belgium is marking the anniversary with fireworks, concerts, exhibitions and special showings of classic movies of the late 1950s including Alfred Hitchcock’s "Vertigo" and Jean-Luc Godard’s "Breathless."

比利時用煙火秀、音樂會、展覽及1950年代晚期的經典電影特展慶祝（原子塔）週年慶。展出的電影包括希區考克的「迷情記」及高達的「斷了氣」。

By the end of the century, the Atomium had fallen on hard times. Visitor numbers fell to just 120,000 in 2000. The building bounced back in 2006. After a two-year, euro 27 million facelift, it attracted 1 million visitors in 18 months.

在上世紀末，原子塔的人氣大減，2000年的參觀人數僅有12萬人。原子塔在2006年人氣回升。耗時2年、花費2700萬歐元的翻修後，18個月內就吸引了100萬人。

新聞辭典

oddity：名詞，怪人、怪事。To fart in public is still something of oddity.（公然放屁還是件怪事。）

towering：形容詞，高聳的、高大的。Towering skyscrapers can be seen everywhere in downtown New York.（紐約市中心到處都是高聳的大樓。）

facelift：名詞，整容、翻修；動詞，改善外觀、給…整容。Our old house could use a facelift.（我們舊家可能需要翻修了。）

來源：自由時報
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