Forget the pyramids, Tahrir Square and the Nile. Egypt is ready to ditch Cairo and build a shiny new capital if the government has its way.
先別想金字塔、解放廣場(chǎng)還有尼羅河了。埃及準(zhǔn)備拋棄開(kāi)羅，建造一個(gè)閃亮新首都，如果埃及政府這一想法能順利實(shí)施的話。

Fed up with pollution, traffic gridlock, a packed population with soaring rents and creaking infrastructure, Egypt is teaming up with a developer in the United Arab Emirates to build a city in what could be one of the world's most ambitious infrastructure programs.
由于原首都污染嚴(yán)重，交通擁堵，人口大爆炸，房屋租金高漲，以及跟不上時(shí)代的基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施等諸多壓力，埃及計(jì)劃與阿拉伯聯(lián)合酋長(zhǎng)國(guó)的一個(gè)開(kāi)發(fā)商合作，建設(shè)一個(gè)新首都。這個(gè)首都建設(shè)計(jì)劃可能是世界上最宏偉的公共建設(shè)項(xiàng)目之一。

The yet-to-be-named city will spread out over 150 square miles, or roughly the size of Denver, and could eventually be home to 7 million people, the developers and government announced Friday.
開(kāi)發(fā)商和政府周五（3月13日）宣布，這個(gè)尚未被命名的城市將占地150平方英里（388平方公里），大概就是丹佛市（美國(guó)科羅拉多州最大的城市）的大小，大概能容納700萬(wàn)名居民。

The current capital of Cairo, while full of history and vibrant charm, is home to more than 18 million people, and living in and getting around the city can be maddening and frustrating. The government says the idea is to reduce congestion in Cairo, which is projected to double in population in the coming decades.
現(xiàn)在的首都開(kāi)羅，是一座既有歷史底蘊(yùn)，又富有勃勃生機(jī)的城市。開(kāi)羅市里常住人口超過(guò)1800萬(wàn)，不管是住在城市里還是在城市中穿行，都會(huì)讓人感到煩悶不適。政府稱(chēng)，考慮到開(kāi)羅在未來(lái)十年里可能會(huì)增加一倍的人口，此舉是為了改善開(kāi)羅市內(nèi)的擁堵情況。

An exact location was not announced, but the city is expected to be built east of Cairo. It will be closer to the Red Sea -- between two major highways -- the Suez and the Ain Sokhna roads.
新首都的具體地址尚未公布，但是應(yīng)該是建在開(kāi)羅的東邊。新首都會(huì)位于兩條主要交通干道——蘇因士和艾因城市公路——中間，比開(kāi)羅更靠近紅海。

The ambitions are big. In addition to the new embassies and government buildings, it plans to have an international airport bigger than Heathrow, solar energy farms, 40,000 hotel rooms, nearly 2,000 schools and 18 hospitals -- all linked together by over 6,000 miles of new roads.
這項(xiàng)工程非常宏偉。除了新大使館和政府大樓以外，還會(huì)在新首都建設(shè)一個(gè)比希斯羅機(jī)場(chǎng)（位于英國(guó)倫敦）更加大型的國(guó)際機(jī)場(chǎng)，還有太陽(yáng)能農(nóng)場(chǎng)，4萬(wàn)多間酒店住房，將近2000所學(xué)校和18所醫(yī)院，這些建筑會(huì)由6000多英里的新公路連接起來(lái)。

But if the dream is big, the bill will be bigger.
但是，夢(mèng)想如果很宏偉，實(shí)現(xiàn)夢(mèng)想的賬單數(shù)額，就會(huì)更加“宏偉”。

The total cost is estimated at U.S. $45 billion, Minister of Housing Mostafa Madbouly announced at an economic development conference in Sharm el-Sheikh.
住房部長(zhǎng)莫斯達(dá)?瑪?shù)虏祭碓谏衬飞骋梁眨ǖ囊粋€(gè)經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展會(huì)議上聲稱(chēng)，建設(shè)新首都的總造價(jià)預(yù)計(jì)將達(dá)到450億美元。

The unveiling of the new capital was paired with a glitzy website with renderings showing a lush and technological urban scape of glass towers and pools.
新首都的揭幕是通過(guò)眩目的網(wǎng)站展現(xiàn)的，網(wǎng)站展現(xiàn)了一片既有城市綠化又有高科技設(shè)施的城市景觀，有玻璃樓塔，還有游泳池。

The plan is backed by a group that describes itself as "a private real estate investment fund by global investors focused on investment and development partnerships" led by Emirati developer Mohamed Alabbar.
這項(xiàng)建設(shè)新首都計(jì)劃的幕后支持者是一個(gè)自稱(chēng)“專(zhuān)注于全球投資和發(fā)展的私人房地產(chǎn)投資基金會(huì)”的組織，該組織的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者是阿聯(lián)酋的地產(chǎn)開(kāi)發(fā)商穆罕默德?阿拉巴。

Alabbar made his name as the founder of Dubai's Emaar Properties, primarily known for developing the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.
阿拉巴是迪拜的艾瑪哈集團(tuán)的創(chuàng)始人，他最著名的項(xiàng)目就是建造了世界上最高的建筑——迪拜塔。

Egypt is not the first country to plan on moving its capital from established big cities to rural greener pastures. Myanmar has only recently completed its move from crumbling Yangon to the new city of Naypyidaw. Nigeria moved to Abuja in the 1990's, and Brazil carved its capital Brasilia out of the wilderness over 50 years ago.
埃及并不是世界上第一個(gè)想把首都從成熟的大都市搬遷至鄉(xiāng)村綠地的國(guó)家。緬甸最近才完成把舊首都從衰敗的仰光到新城市內(nèi)比都的大遷移，尼日利亞在19世紀(jì)90年代把首都搬到阿布賈，巴西也在50年前在一片荒蠻之地上建起了首都巴西利亞。

And then there was another crazy idea of building a capital on a square of swampland that seemed mainly to be a boondoggle for wealthy land speculators at the time.
此外，還有一個(gè)瘋狂的搬遷首都例子，就是在一片沼澤地上建立一個(gè)都城，這在當(dāng)時(shí)看來(lái)簡(jiǎn)直就是有錢(qián)的土地投機(jī)商的異想天開(kāi)。

That city? Washington, D.C.
這是哪個(gè)城市？美國(guó)首都，華盛頓。

Vocabulary

ditch:拋棄

rendering：描繪，效果圖

pasture：草地

boondoggle：浪費(fèi)時(shí)間金錢(qián)做的（無(wú)意義的）事

（翻譯：冉可SCNU 編輯：馬文英）