Big Ben and gorilla surprise 维修大本钟，大猩猩生子

Big Ben and gorilla surprise 维修大本钟，大猩猩生子

本集内容 London's Big Ben to stop chiming for repairs 伦敦大本钟停止报时 进行维修

Gorilla surprise at Prague Zoo 布拉格动物园大猩猩生子 众人惊喜

Here in London, the chimes of Big Ben are going to fall silent next year because the famous parliamentary clock tower – the Elizabeth Tower – needs essential repairs. This sound has chimed almost uninterrupted for about 150 years but it's only going to be reserved for special occasions. It's part of a project that's going to cost more than $US40m. The tower is going to be partially cladin scaffolding for about three years… the last significant repair work on Big Ben – that was more than 30 years ago.

位于伦敦的大本钟明年将“静音沉默”，这是因为著名的议会塔楼，也被称为伊利莎白塔，需要大规模的必要维修。大本钟已经几乎连续不断地报时150年之久，但在维修期间除了特殊庆典以外，大本钟将停止运转。整个维修工程将耗资4000多万美金。从明年开始，在接下来的三年内，塔楼外部部分区域会搭起脚架。大本钟最后一次接受大型维修工作是30多年前。

Let's go to Prague Zoo, because visitors have had their first glimpse of this little baby gorilla. Her birth took everyone by surprise. Nobody had even noticed that her 24-year-old mum Shinda was pregnant. Shinda had already had a number of miscarriages – being a little overweight she wasn't expected to ever have a baby. The delivery went well. She and her new-born baby are said to be doing very well.

让我们来布拉格动物园看看。游客们第一次看到了这只大猩猩幼崽。她的降生让所有人出其不意。此前，没有任何人注意到她24岁的妈妈辛达已怀孕。人们并没期待略有超重的辛达能有朝一日诞下幼崽，此前她还有过数次流产。分娩过程很顺利。据说，现在辛达和她的新生宝宝身体状况良好。

词汇 fall silent

停止报时，静音

scaffolding

脚架

glimpse

匆匆一面

delivery

分娩，生产

练习 请从以下词汇中选择适当的答案来完成句子。注意：你可能需要改变单词的时态来完成句子。

fall silent / scaffolding / glimpse / delivery

1. The strong winds caused the ________ to collapse, damaging cars on the street below.

2. I was with my wife when she ________ our second child.

3. Millions of people ________ to remember those who had died in war.

4. Crowds lined the streets of Windsor to catch a ________ of the Queen on the eve of her 90th birthday.

答案 1. The strong winds caused the scaffolding to collapse, damaging cars on the street below.

2. I was with my wife when she delivered our second child.

3. Millions of people fell silent to remember those who had died in war.

4. Crowds lined the streets of Windsor to catch a glimpse of the Queen on the eve of her 90th birthday.