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、解放廣場還有尼羅河了。埃及準(zhǔn)備拋棄開羅，建造一個閃亮新首都，如果埃及政府這一想法能順利實施的話。

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，以及跟不上時代的基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施等諸多壓力，埃及計劃與阿拉伯聯(lián)合酋長國的一個開發(fā)商合作，建設(shè)一個新首都。這個首都建設(shè)計劃可能是世界上最宏偉的公共建設(shè)項目之一。

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.
開發(fā)商和政府周五（3月13日）宣布，這個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（美國科羅拉多州最大的城市）的大小，大概能容納700萬名居民。

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)在的首都開羅，是一座既有歷史底蘊，又富有勃勃生機的城市。開羅市里常住人口超過1800萬，不管是住在城市里還是在城市中穿行，都會讓人感到煩悶不適。政府稱，考慮到開羅在未來十年里可能會增加一倍的人口，此舉是為了改善開羅市內(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)該是建在開羅的東邊。新首都會位于兩條主要交通干道——蘇因士和艾因城市公路——中間，比開羅更靠近紅海。

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.
這項工程非常宏偉。除了新大使館和政府大樓以外，還會在新首都建設(shè)一個比希斯羅機場（位于英國倫敦）更加大型的國際機場，還有太陽能農(nóng)場，4萬多間酒店住房，將近2000所學(xué)校和18所醫(yī)院，這些建筑會由6000多英里的新公路連接起來。

But if the dream is big, the bill will be bigger.
但是，夢想如果很宏偉，實現(xiàn)夢想的賬單數(shù)額，就會更加“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.
住房部長莫斯達?瑪?shù)虏祭碓谏衬飞骋梁眨ǖ囊粋€經(jīng)濟發(fā)展會議上聲稱，建設(shè)新首都的總造價預(yù)計將達到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.
這項建設(shè)新首都計劃的幕后支持者是一個自稱“專注于全球投資和發(fā)展的私人房地產(chǎn)投資基金會”的組織，該組織的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者是阿聯(lián)酋的地產(chǎn)開發(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的創(chuàng)始人，他最著名的項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想把首都從成熟的大都市搬遷至鄉(xiāng)村綠地的國家。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，還有一個瘋狂的搬遷首都例子，就是在一片沼澤地上建立一個都城，這在當(dāng)時看來簡直就是有錢的土地投機商的異想天開。

That city? Washington, D.C.
這是哪個城市？美國首都，華盛頓。

Vocabulary

ditch:拋棄

rendering：描繪，效果圖

pasture：草地

boondoggle：浪費時間金錢做的（無意義的）事

（翻譯：冉可SCNU 編輯：馬文英）