Lesson 90
Brasilia
巴西利亚
Though Brazil is one of the richest countries in the world, much of it has not yet been developed. It was mainly for this reason that the Brazilian government decided to have a new city built 600 miles north-west of Rio de Janeiro. Designed by the great architect Lucio Costa, the new city, Brasilia, replaced Rio de Janeiro as the capital of Brazil in 1960. Brasilia has been carefully planned for modern living. Its wide roads, which can take fourteen lanes of traffic, have been kept away from living areas. Children do not have to across busy streets to go to school. Housewives can visit shopping centers on foot, for in these specially designed living areas, cars are unnecessary. At first, the government had great difficulty in persuading people to leave Rio and to settle in Brasilia. Since 1960, however, the population has been growing all the time. Brasilia has quickly established itself as the capital of the country. The idea to have the capital moved so far inland will have a great effect on the future of Brazil.
New words and expressions 生词和短语
Brazil n. 巴西
Brasilia n.巴西利亚（巴西的首都）
Rio de Janeiro 里约热内卢（巴西城市名）
architect n. 建筑师
replace v. 代替
lane n. 行车道，里弄，小巷
traffic n. 交通、往来
unnecessary a. 不必要的
population n.人口
establish v.建立，确立
参考译文
虽然巴西是世界上最富饶的国家之一，但是它的许多地区尚未开发。正是由于这个主要原因，巴西政府决定在里约热内卢西北600英里的地方建造一座新城市。巴西利亚这座新城市是伟大的建筑师卢希奥•考斯塔所设计的。它于1960年取代了里约热内卢，成了巴西的首都。巴西利亚经过周密的设计，适合于现代生活。它的宽阔马路有十四条车道，而且远离生活区。孩子们上学不用穿越繁忙的街道。家庭主妇可以步行去商业中心，不需要小汽车，因为在这些特别设计的生活区，小汽车是不需要的。开始时，政府很难说服人们离开里约热内卢去巴西利亚落户。然而自从1960年以来，巴西利亚的人口一直增长。巴西利亚很快被人们承认为国家首都。把首都迁往内地的计划，将对巴西的未来产生巨大的影响。