书城外语英语PARTY——时尚之国·美国
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第10章 城市导航City Guide(7)

Holme also planned five public parks, one at the intersection of High and Broad Streets in the very center of the city (now occupied by City Hall) and four others (now called Washington Square (Philadelphia), Rittenhouse Square, Logan Square and Franklin Square) surrounding it. The eastern edge of Rittenhouse Square is on 18th St., four blocks west of City Hall, while the western edge of Washington Square is between 7th and 8th, about six and a half blocks east of City Hall. Both are the same distance south of City Hall. Concurently both Logan Square and Franklin Square are located the same distances east and west of City Hall as Washington and Rittenhouse and four blocks north of Market Street, reflecting the southern squares.

San Francisco, California黄金之都——旧金山

旧金山位于加利福尼亚州西北部,美国西海岸中点,是太平洋沿岸仅次于洛杉矶的第二大港市。市区面积119平方公里,大市区包括附近4个县和奥克兰、伯克利等城镇,面积7475平方公里。城市坐落在宽不足10公里的半岛北端,介于太平洋和圣弗朗西斯科湾之间,北临金门海峡。市域内丘陵起伏,有双峰山、戴维森山,最着名者为诺布山;沿海地带较为平坦。南流的萨克拉门托河和北流的圣华金河在城市附近汇合后,向西注入圣弗朗西斯科湾。

旧金山是美国与太平洋地区贸易的主要海港,素有“西海岸门户”之称。港口自然条件优越。内侧的圣弗朗西斯科湾长104公里,宽6.4~16公里,面积1160平方公里,港区平均水深30~35米;通向太平洋的出口金门海峡最窄处仅610米,主航道水深16.7米;湾内潮差小。港口设施优良,码头、泊位和仓库等主要分布在海湾以东的里士满和奥克兰附近。有3条横贯大陆铁路通达,港区有铁路专用线107公里,水陆联运称便。公路网稠密。建有横跨海湾的金门大桥(长2734米)和圣弗朗西斯科奥克兰湾大桥(长2.74公里)等,并有海底隧道。高速电气铁路运输系统贯通整个海湾地区。位于市南11公里处的大型国际机场,为美国最繁忙的航空港之一。

旧金山的经济以服务业、商业和金融业为主,约占市区就业人口的2/4以上,工业仅占15%。批发、零售商达2.6万余家。旧金山为美国西部金融中心,有40家银行及其147家分行,是太平洋岸证券交易所和美国最大的银行美洲银行总部所在地。工业以传统的食品、服装、印刷等为主。新兴的宇航、电子、炼油、造船、汽车装配、化学等工业部门在圣何塞和奥克兰等地有较大发展。城郊农业发达,盛产蔬菜和亚热带水果,也是重要花卉产区。

旧金山城区中心街道呈格子状向东西、南北伸展。住宅区房屋密集程度很高。马基特大街为最繁华的商业街,从市中心伸向城东北隅山腰;金门路一带高层建筑林立;蒙哥马利街及其附近地区为金融区,有“西部华尔街”之称,高52层的美洲银行大厦就耸立在这里。城东北部为主要住宅区,房屋盘山而建,街道迂回曲折,坡度较大,使用独特的交通工具缆车。伯克利为大学城,有加利福尼亚大学和各种科研机构。公共图书馆系统规模很大,并多教堂、剧院。滨海山城的优美景色,丰富多彩的风情,以及金门公园、水上世界公园、海滩、电报山等旅游点,每年吸引数以百万计的游客。

The City and County of San Francisco (estimated population 799,263) is the fourth largest city in the state of California, United States, in terms of population. It is a consolidated citycounty (the only one in California) situated at the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula that forms San Francisco Bay. The citycounty also includes several islands in the bay and the Farallon Islands 27 miles offshoreoffshore adj.向海面吹的, 离岸的, 海面上的 in the Pacific Ocean.

The city is a focal point of the San Francisco Bay Area, and part of the greater San JoseSan FranciscoOakland Combined Statistical Area (CSA), whose population is over 7 million. U.S. census data show that San Francisco has the highest population densitydensity n.密度 of any major U.S. city aside from New York City.

The first Europeans to settle in San Francisco were the Spanish, in 1776. The city grew rapidly due to the California gold rush starting in 1848.

The city was devastated by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, but was rebuilt quickly. The phoenix on the city,s flag represents San Francisco,s “rebirth” from the ashes of the fire that resulted from the quake. Long enjoying a bohemian reputation the city became a counterculture magnet in the second half of the 20th century. It was a center of the dotcom boom at the end of the century.

Widely recognized landmarks include the San Francisco cable car system, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Transamerica Pyramid.

Because of the California gold rush, San Francisco became and remains the banking and financial center of the U.S. West Coast. It is the home of the twelfth district of the U.S. Federal Reserve as well as major production facilities for the U.S. Mint. The Pacific Exchange, a regional stock exchange, is located in the financial district. Many major American and international banks and venture capital firms have all set up their regional headquarters in the city.

Some 65 km (~ 40 miles) south of San Francisco is the Silicon Valley, which holds much of the computing business in the world. Apple Computer and Symantec are based in Cupertino. Electronic Arts and Oracle Corporation are based in Redwood City. Sun Microsystems, Intel, Applied Materials, and McAfee are headquartered in Santa Clara. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale. Google is headquartered (at the “Googleplex”) in Mountain View. Cisco Systems and Adobe Systems are headquartered in San Jose. Intel is headquartered in Santa Clara. Hewlett Packard is in Palo Alto near Stanford University.

Outside of Silicon Valley, in the East Bay, Pixar Animation is located in Emeryville. ChevronTexaco (fomerly of San Francisco) and IPIX are based in San Ramon, Safeway is based in Pleasanton, and C & H Sugar Company is based in Crockett. LucasArts is located in Marin County, though the company plans to relocate to the Presidio in the next few years.

In recent years, the region also hosts some notable biotechnologybiotechnology n.生物工艺学 companies, such as Chiron in Emeryville and Genentech in South San Francisco.

Parks and Museums

There are many parks in San Francisco, California, USA. The bestknown, as well as biggest, park is Golden Gate Park which is 174 acres larger than New York,s Central Park. Another notable park is The Presidio, which is just one part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which also includes Alcatraz. Buena Vista Park located in the HaightAshbury, is the city,s oldest, established in 1867. A large freshwater lake, Lake Merced, is located in the south west corner of the city near San Francisco State University and Fort Funston.

Museums include San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the California Palace of the Legion of Honor and the Cable Car Museum, along with offbeat museums such as Ripley,s Believe it or Not Museum and the Tattoo Art Museum. Between Portola and Glenview streets lies San Francisco,s high school SOTA (School of the Arts), dedicateddedicated adj.专注的, 献身的 to the performing arts.

In terms of performing arts, San Francisco boasts the San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Ballet. San Francisco,s Ballet and Opera are the some of the oldest continuning performing arts companies in the United States. The American Indian Film Institute which organizes the annual American Indian Film Festival is based in San Francisco.

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