第一课

Lesson One

Paris:

Dear Pat,

I want to tell you a little about Paris before you arrive. I’m sure you know it is the capital of France, and it’s on the River Seine. It’s a large city with a population of about 8 million. The people a very nice and friendly.

Parisgoes back to the Romans. The called it Lutertia. The first Christian king was Clovis. The famous cathedral of Notre Dame was begun in the 12^th century, and finished in the 19^th century.

Parisis a very busy town. People work in offices, banks, restaurants, etc. But shops are closed on Mondays. You’ll see that the buses are smaller and noisier than the ones in London. You can travel by an underground railway, too—the Metro.

When you are here you must see the Loure. It’s the biggest museum in the world. You can go up the Eiffel Tower (it’s 1,000 feet tall). You’ll get a wonderful view of Paris from the top. And you can go on excursions to some very interesting places---Chantilly, Versailles and Fontainebleau. We’re looking forward to seeing you.

                                                   Love

                                                     Chris

                             巴黎

亲爱的帕特：

我想在你到达之前给你谈谈巴黎的情况。你肯定知道巴黎是法国的首都，它位于塞纳河上。它是一座拥有八百万人口的城市。这里的人都很和蔼友好。

巴黎可追溯到罗马时期，罗马人把它称作鲁特西亚。第一位基督教国王的克洛维斯。著名的圣母院大教堂是十二世纪开始修建的，于十九世纪建成。

巴黎市一座热闹的城市。人们在机关、银行、餐馆等处工作。星期一店铺都关门。你会看到这里的公共汽车比伦敦的小，也更吵人一些。你也可乘坐地铁火车，成为Metro.

等你到了这里，你一定要去餐馆卢浮宫。这是世界上最大的博物馆。你还可登上埃菲尔铁塔（有1，000英尺高），从顶上可以俯瞰整个巴黎，景色十分壮观。你还可以到一些有意思的地方郊游，如象香迪里、凡尔赛和枫丹白露。我们都盼望见到你。

祝好

                                                          克里斯

                            New York City

New York City consists of five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island. The population is about 7.5 million and 1.5 million live in Manhattan.

Manhattan, the centre of the city, is on an island between the Hudson River and the East River. Most of the famous buildings such as the Empire State and the United Nations and other skyscrapers are in Manhattan. Some of its districts are: Broadway, which has many theatres and cinemas; Fifth Avenue, with stores and apartments; Greenwich Village, where many artists and writers have lived; and Central Park, with a small zoo and a skating rink. From Manhattan you have to cross to the other boroughs through a tunnel or over a bridge. The bridge from Brooklyn to Staten Island is the longest in the world.

New York is the second biggest port in the world and it has two airports. The people who live there come from all over the world and speak many different languages. There are 324,000 Germans and 390,000 Poles as well as people from Greece, Scotland, Ireland, Italy and Romania. People call one district “Little Italy” and another “Chinatown”.

                            纽约市

纽约市分为五个区，即曼哈顿、布鲁克林、昆士区、布朗克斯和斯台登岛。人口约七百五十万，有一百五十万住在曼哈顿。

曼哈顿在市中心，在哈德森河和东河之间的一座岛上。大多数著名建筑，像帝国大厦、联合国大厦和其他的摩天大楼都在曼哈顿区。它下面的小区由百老汇（里面有许多剧院和电影院）、第五大道（两边有商店和住宅楼）、格林威治村（许多画家和作家曾住在这里）和中央公园（里面有一个小的动物园和一座溜冰场）。从曼哈顿到其他地区必须通过隧道或大桥。从布鲁克林斯台登岛经过的大桥是世界上最长的桥。

纽约是世界上第二大港口，有两个飞机场。居住在那里的人来自世界各地，讲许多不同的语言。有324，000德国人、390，000波兰人，还有希腊人、苏格兰人、爱尔兰人、意大利人和罗马尼亚人。有一个地区被人们叫作“小意大利”，另一个地区则称作“唐人街（中国城）”。

At a Hotel

A: Here's your room, ma'am. Um. . . after you.

B: Thank you. Oh, what a nice, large room!

A: Oh yes, all the rooms here at the hotel are quite large, and the rooms on this side

of the building have a lovely view.

B: Oh, you're right! The view is wonderful!

A: You'll find information about the facilities at the hotel in the directory, which is

next to your telephone. The TV is across the room in the corner and you'll find

your radio on the nightstand by the bed.

B: Fine, I see. Thank you.

A: In the directory you'll find information about room service, our restaurants, and

coffee shop. The two restaurants are on the second floor, and the coffee shop's in

the lobby. There's also a hairdresser and a newsstand just off the lobby.

B: Oh that's wonderful. Thank you very much.

A: You can call the housekeeper if you need your clothes pressed or your laundry

done. There is a pool and sauna in the basement. The hours I think you'll find in

the directory there.  It's on the last page.

B: I see. Well, thank you so much. I'll be fine.