The Sydney Opera House悉尼歌剧院

2019-09-10刘建霞

疯狂英语·读写版 2019年3期

刘建霞

背景介绍

悉尼歌剧院是悉尼市的标志性建筑，也是世界著名的表演艺术中心。歌剧院于1973年落成，建筑风格独具特色，2007年被联合国教科文组织评为世界文化遗产。歌剧院的外形犹如即将乘风出海的白色风帆，与周围海景融为一体。悉尼歌剧院从1955年起向全世界公开征求设计作品，有32个国家233个作品参选，最后丹麦建筑师约恩·乌松的设计中选。从1959年3月开始建造， 1973年10月竣工。悉尼歌剧院可以举办交响乐、室内乐、歌剧、舞蹈、合唱、流行乐、爵士乐等多种演出。

情景對话

Dennis：It's quite amazing when you think about it; the Sydney Opera House is celebrating its 46th birthday this year.

George：Yes， that's true. It is quite an achievement， considering the way it started out.

Dennis：What do you mean？Are you talking about the beginning of the project？

George：Yes， that's what I was referring to. But all that has been washed out of the history books now， and the politics， the corruption and the massive cost overruns are all but forgotten.

Dennis：But you've got to admire the engineering feat that has gone into the construction. It was a marvel（奇迹） of innovation and ingenuity. George：From the engineering standpoint， it has certainly been an outstanding project in many ways， irrespective of the cost.

Dennis：Well， Sydney and Australia have finished up with one of the architectural wonders of the world so， that's a pretty good result.

George：Yeah， I suppose we should get some benefit from a project that was 10 years overdue and cost 14 times more than the original budget.

Dennis：Is that right？I had no idea there was that sort of history involved.

George：The original project started in 1959， and was scheduled to be finished in time for Australia Day in 1963; and at a cost of 7 million dollars.

Dennis：So what was the final result？

George：The Opera House was finally finished in 1973， but at a cost of 102 million dollars. That is nearly a billion dollars in today's money.

Dennis：How did that happen？There must be a pretty good reason to justify those sorts of overruns？

George：Actually， it was a combination of things， with the politics involved， but mainly it was trying to translate an architectural concept into a practical engineering solution.

Dennis：You mean building the unique shells that make the Opera House so distinctive？

George：That is exactly what the problem was， and in part， plus the politics， is what led to Utzon's resignation in 1966.

译文助读

丹尼斯：想想真令人惊讶呀，今年是悉尼歌剧院建成46周年庆了。

乔治：是呀，确实是的。想想它始建时的情形，这的确是一项杰出的成就。

丹尼斯：你指什么呢？是指工程刚刚开始的时候吗？

乔治：是的。不过那些事都没有被载入现在的史书中，当时的政治环境、腐败现象以及大量的超标开销几乎都被人们忘记了。

丹尼斯：不过你不得不欣赏它的建筑成就啊。它是一个富有独创性的奇迹。

乔治：从建筑工程的角度来说，虽然这项工程耗资巨大，但它当然是一项卓越的工程，有许多可圈可点之处。

丹尼斯：嗯，悉尼和澳大利亚完成了一个世界建筑奇迹，这个结果是好的。

乔治：是呀，我想，这项工程超期10年才完成，实际开销超出最初预算14倍，我们得好好享用这个成果。

丹尼斯：是吗？我还不知道有这样一段历史。