美語情景對話 第371期:Bay Area Bridges 海灣地區的大橋

The Golden Gate Bridge is perhaps the most famous bridge in the world. It is famous for its size, location, and color. It is nearly 9,000 feet long, and above water its towers are 740 feet tall. Its unique color is officially known as "orange vermillion." Thousands of ships sail under it every year, and believe it or not, the U.S. Navy originally wanted it to be painted black and yellow so it would be easy to see.

金門大橋可能是世界上最著名的大橋。這座大橋因規模、位置和顏色而出名。大橋的長度接近9000英尺，水上高度740英尺。大橋獨特的顏色被正式命名爲朱橙色。每年有數千艘船隻從橋下航行，信不信由你，美國海軍曾經想把這座橋刷成黑色和黃色，這樣很容易看到。

People often think the Golden Gate Bridge is named after the color of its paint. In actuality, the bridge is named for the color of the water in the bay. On a clear day, when the sun sets at dusk, the water turns from blue to gold, due to light from the sun reflecting off the water. When this happens, the entire inlet, or "gate" of water, becomes golden.

人們通常認爲金門大橋是由顏色而命名的。實際上，這座大橋是以海灣的海水顏色而命名的。晴天太陽在黃昏日落時，海水會從藍色變成金色，原因是太陽光會反射到水面上。而在這種情況下，整個海灣或是水閘都會變成金色。

The bay is not always golden. San Francisco has large amounts of fog, especially in summer. Fog is like a cloud close to the ground. When warm air blows over cold water, it tends to create fog, so when the warm California air meets the cold Pacific Ocean, fog is formed, and the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge disappears!

海灣並不總是金色的。舊金山有大量的霧，夏季尤爲嚴重。霧氣就像籠罩在地面上的雲。溫暖的空氣拂過冰冷的海水，就會產生霧，溫暖的加州天氣會遇上寒冷的太平洋，霧就形成了，而美麗的金門大橋就消失了！

Because of the fog, rain, and moisture from the water, the bridge collects a lot of rust. Rust is the red stuff that collects on metal after being exposed to moisture, or water. So in order to protect the bridge from rust, it is continually being painted. It is rumored that the bridge is being painted 365 days a year. As soon as they finish painting it, they immediately start all over again.

由於霧、雨水和海水帶來的水氣，大橋便會生鏽。鏽是金屬物質接觸到水氣或是水分而形成的紅色物體。爲了保護大橋不生鏽，大橋會一直被粉刷。有傳言稱，這座大橋一年365天都會被刷漆。工人們在完成一次粉刷工作後，便會立即開始另一次粉刷。

San Francisco Bay has three tall bridges: the Golden Gate, its most famous bridge, the Richmond Bridge, its longest, and the Bay Bridge, its busiest. The Bay Bridge connects the large cities of Oakland on the East Bay and San Francisco on the west. Because the bridge is between two major cities, it is almost always busy and the traffic is often bad.

舊金山海灣有三座高橋：其中最著名的是金門大橋，最長的橋是里奇蒙橋，最繁忙的橋是海灣大橋。海灣大橋連接了東灣地區奧克蘭州最大的城市和西灣地區的舊金山。因爲這座大橋位於兩大城市之間，所以這座大橋一直處於繁忙狀態，交通情況非常糟糕。

The Golden Gate Bridge is beautiful to look at, but the Bay Bridge is a beautiful bridge to look from. At night, the tall buildings of San Francisco are all lit up and bright, and from the Bay Bridge, the city is a truly beautiful thing to see.

金門大橋看起來非常美，而海灣大橋是適合觀賞景色的美麗橋樑。晚上，舊金山大樓的燈會亮起來，從海灣大橋看上去，這座城市真的很漂亮。

重點講解：
1. believe it or not
（強調剛纔所述之事令人吃驚）信不信由你；
eg. That's normal, believe it or not.
那很正常，信不信由你。
eg. Believe it or not, this information can transform your life.
信不信由你，認識到這一點能徹底改變你的人生。
2. in actuality
真實地；實際上；
eg. In actuality, Teddie did not have a disorder but merely a difficult temperament.
實際上，小特迪並非哪不正常，而僅僅是屬於困難型氣質。
eg. The woman he had seen performing on stage was in actuality quite older than she had seemed.
他所見的那個在舞臺上表演的女人實際年齡比看上去要大很多。
3. be exposed to
使受…的影響（或薰陶）；使接觸；使遭受；
eg. Two ended up dying and hundreds were exposed to various levels of radiation.
兩名工人最終死亡，數百人遭受不同程度的輻射。
eg. Doses of nanoparticles used in the study were higher than anything a human might be exposed to.
研究中所使用的納米粒子劑量高於任何人在日常生活中可能會接觸到的劑量。
4. as soon as
一…就…；
eg. I sent him an e-mail as soon as I got his letter.
我一收到他的信就給他發了一封電子郵件。
eg. He said that he would let me know as soon as he got the information.
他說他一得到消息就立即讓我知道。
5. light up
照亮；發亮；
eg. On September 5, at the end of the festival, a massive display of fireworks will light up the sky around Broadlands.
9月5日，也就是慶祝活動的最後，會有大型焰火表演照亮布羅德蘭附近的夜空。
eg. A brilliant sun lit up their rooms.
燦爛的陽光照亮了他們的屋子。