书城外语英语PARTY——时尚之国·美国
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第6章 城市导航City Guide(3)

In addition to these museums, the city is also home to a vast array of spaces for opera, symphony, and dance performances. The largest of these is Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, which is actually a complex of buildings housing 12 separate companies, including the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Opera, the New York City Ballet, and Jazz at Lincoln Center. Other notable performance halls include Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Colleges, Universities, and Scientific Research

New York City is served by the publiclyrun City University of New York (CUNY), the largest urban university in the United States, which has a number of campuses throughout the five boroughsborough n.自治的市镇, 区. The city is also home to a number of other institutions of higher learning, some of national or even international reputation, including Columbia University, Fordham University, New York University, and Cooper Union, among many others.

New York City is also a major center of academic medicine. Manhattan contains the campuses of the worldclass Rockefeller University, Weill Cornell Medical College, and Memorial SloanKettering Cancer Center, as well as ColumbiaPresbyterian Medical Center and NYU Medical Center and their medical schools. In the Bronx, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University is a major academic center. Jonas Salk, developer of the vaccine for polio, was an intern at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Upper Manhattan. Brooklyn also hosts one of the country,s leading urban medical centers: SUNY Downstate Medical Center, an academic medical center, the oldest hospitalbased medical school in the United States. Professor Raymond Vahan Damadian, the discoverer of the MRI, was part of the faculty from 1967~1977 and built the first MRI machine, the Indomnitable, there.

Dedication to the sciences starts early for many New Yorkers, who have the chance to attend such selectiveselective adj.选择的, 选择性的 specialized high schools as the Bronx High School of Science (which boasts the largest number of graduates who are Nobel Laureates of any United States High School), and its rivals, Manhattan,s Stuyvesant High School and Brooklyn Technical High School.

Los Angeles, California四季阳光洛杉矶

洛杉矶给人的第一印象,是个四季洒满阳光,巨星云集的大都市。椰树海滩、好莱坞、比佛利山、主题公园、购物中心,随时随地可以找到丰富你的感观世界的东西。

洛杉矶有1200平方公里的面积和各种肤色的人口。洛杉矶的历史从18世纪末西班牙探险家踏上这块土地开始。之后,墨西哥神父移居此地,并在现在的圣地亚哥等多处地方开设传道馆;因此,有很多墨西哥人来投靠。1779年,44名信徒迁到此地,组成集居村落,并以“我们的天使中女王的广场(El pueblo de Nuestra Senola la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula)”命名。这就是现在使用的“洛杉矶”地名的由来。这样开始的洛杉矶,到了1781年成为西班牙的正式的殖民地,受到西班牙总督的支配,过不久转到从西班牙独立出来的墨西哥手中。再过约30年后的1848年,由美国政府买入,到1850年被合并为美国的第13个州。由此可以看出,西班牙和墨西哥的文化对洛杉矶的形成具有重要的意义,如今,加利福尼亚的地名多带有西班牙系的名字;在街头经常遇到墨西哥人也可以看出这一点。

从小村落开始,洛杉矶逐渐发展成港口城市,1848年,Sierra Nevada山脉的北侧发现金矿以后,迎来了所谓的“淘金热”。接着便开通横贯大陆的铁路,涌进很多抱着梦想和希望,想要一朝致富的人们,城市也变得热闹起来。 随着人口的增长,城市发展速度也加快了。现在连Long Beach,Pasadena,Santa Monica,Santa Ana等临近小城市 也加入进来,形成大洛杉矶(Great Los Angeles)都市圈,到今天,已发展成人口达一千万的大城市。行政区域也达1200多平方公里,是汉城面积两倍的巨大城市。

洛杉矶的天气一年四季温暖舒适。从六月到十月和我国的夏天气温相近,但是温度相对较低,比较舒服。因为几乎不下雨,不用携带雨伞。平时服装有T恤和裤子就够了。晚上可能稍微凉一点,需要长袖衣服一件。冬天有时也刮起冷风,或有时也下小雨,可能需要风衣或皮衣。

到了洛杉矶这个好莱坞之城,就应该来个追星之旅。中国戏院位于好莱坞大道上,开张于1927年,最吸引人的地方是戏院前庭有173位明星留下的足印和手印。这些明星都是受邀而留,第一个纪念足印和手印是在1927年4月30日,由Mary Pickford和Douglas Fairbanks这对夫妇留下的。有趣的是,Betty Grable在此留下了腿印,Jimmy Durante则留下鼻印,而唐老鸭也留下了可爱的脚印。早期的纪念印旁都会写上“to sid”的字,因为中国戏院的创建人是Sid Grauman。1973年制作人Ted Mann成为百分之百的独立拥有者,所以将名字从Chinese Theater改成Manns Chinese Theater。

洛杉矶有很多电影院,大都位于购物中心,如着名的华纳影城,不但可以参观其声光效果的卓越,还能抢先目睹各类片子的首映。

有梦幻天堂之称的比佛利山(Beverly Hills),聚集了明星的豪宅,也是观光客的一大追星热点。可以参加“明星之家”的旅行团,在中国戏院门口就有售票和咨询。比佛利山的各街道有明星地图出售,按图索骥,就可以找到明星现居或曾经居住过的房子。

想睹明星风采,还可以到明星开的店去。施瓦辛格的店Schatzi on Main ,位于Santa Monica大街,因他来自奥地利,所以主推奥地利大餐。其他还有B. B. King,s Blues Club,是“蓝调之王”黑人吉他手B. B. King开的;好莱坞星球餐厅(Planet Hollywood)是黛米摩尔等好几人一起开的。

The City of Los Angeles (from Spanish Los ángeles, meaning The angels), also known as L.A., is the second largest city in the United States in terms of population, as well as one of the world,s most important economic, cultural, and entertainment centers. It was incorporatedincorporated 组成公司的,合成一体的 as a city in California on April 4, 1850 and is the county seat of Los Angeles County. As of the 2000 census, it has a population of 3,694,820, but a May 1, 2005 California Department of Finance estimate shows the city,s population at 3,957,875, with the metropolitanmetropolitan adj.首都的, 主要都市的, 大城市 area at 17,545,623. The city is also large by geographic standards since it sprawls over more than 465 square miles (1200 square kilometers), making it physically larger than New York City, New York or Chicago, Illinois. In addition, Los Angeles can be considered to be an “Alpha” world city since it has hosted two Olympic Games and is home to worldrenowned scientific and cultural institutions.

Los Angeles is governed by a 15member council. The Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles Public Library System and Los Angeles Unified School District are among the largest such organizations in the country. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power provides service to city residents and businesses.

The economy of Los Angeles is driven by agriculture, petroleum, entertainment (motion pictures, television, and recorded music), aerospace, international trade, and tourism. It is one of the largest entry points for immigrants to the United States, and it contains people from every nation, making it one of world,s most culturally rich places. People are attracted to the city for its balmybalmy adj.芳香的, 温和的, 止痛的, (空气)温和的 weather, its vibrant lifestyle, its unique energy, and the opportunity to realize the “American Dream”.

Culture