意大利北部城市-米兰
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Milan (Italy)

The hard-working Milanese(米兰人)run their busy metropolis1 with efficiency and aplomb2(沉着、冷静). It is the country's economic engine room, home to Italy's stock market and business centres. This stylish3 city is also the world's design capital and rivals Paris as a leading fashion centre.

Milan is all about worldly pleasures. Shopping is of almost religious significance. Theatre and cinema flourish in this fashionable milieu5(环境), as does a hopping4 club scene and a slew6 of tempting7 restaurants. Apart from a few gems8, the city is not renowned9 for its looks; it's the lifestyle that counts.

Milan is a sprawling10 metropolis, but most of its attractions are concentrated in the city centre, between the duomo(大教堂)(cathedral) and the Castello Sforzesco(斯弗克斯可城堡). The duomo is best place to begin exploring the city and is within strolling distance of dozens of historic sites.

Apart from the city center, another area deserving your attention is the Brera, immediately north of the duomo, with its posh galleries and fashionable shopping streets.

Milan is said to have been founded by Celtic tribes(凯尔特部落), who settled along the Po river in the 7th century BC. In 222 BC, Roman legions marched into the territory, defeated the locals and occupied the town, which they called Mediolanum (middle of the plain). The city's key position on the trade routes linking Rome with northwestern Europe ensured its continued prosperity, and it was here in 313 AD that Constantine I(君士坦丁一世,拜占庭帝国皇帝)made his momentous11 edict granting Christians12 freedom of worship.

The city endured centuries of chaos13 caused by waves of barbarian14 invasions. It formed a commune (town council) in the 11th century, leading the city into a period of rapid growth. Perhaps because of this success, the city did not get along well with its neighbors.

From the mid-13th century, the city was governed by a succession of important families: the Torrianis, the Viscontis and the Sforzas. Under the latter dynasties, Milan enjoyed considerable wealth and power. The city came under Spanish rule in 1535 and was given to Austria in 1713 as part of the Treaty of Utrecht(乌特勒克条约). Austrian power-broker Maria Theresa left her mark on the city; the facades15 of La Scala and the Palazzo Real remain her favorite shade of yellow. Napoleon made Milan the capital of his Cisalpine Republic in 1797 and his Italian Republic five years later. It hosted his coronation as King of Italy in 1805.Austria regained17 control of the city from 1814-1859. It wasn't long before troops under Victor Emmanuel II and Napoleon III wiped up the Austrian forces at the Battle of Magenta18. Milan was incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy in 1860.

During WWII central Milan was heavily bombed, and the opera house in particular was blown to smithereens(碎屑). Fittingly, Mussolini's career also ended in Milan - his corpse19 was hung upside down from the roof of a petrol station on Piazzale Loreto after he was shot trying to flee the country.

The post-war industrial boom - led by car manufacturing - and greater access to northern Europe via the new Alpine16 tunnels led to a spurt20 of growth accompanied by industrial unrest. The Red Brigades terrorised Milan and other centres of industry throughout the 1970s. In the 1990s, local political elites21 were torn apart by kickback22 scandals that went to the top of the region's political, administrative23 and commercial elites. Extremist parties such as the nationalist Lega Nord benefitted from the resultant political vacuum.

Organised crime continues to be the perpetual scourge24 of Milanese civic25 life. In January 1999, nine people were murdered in nine consecutive26 days, prompting the Milanese mayor to adopt a New York-style 'zero tolerance27' policy. It did little to discourage the criminals - in December 2000, a bomb was discovered on the roof of Milan's Duomo.

In 2002, a small plane crashed into the 25th floor of the city's 30-storey Pirelli skyscraper28 building, killing29 two lawyers inside.



点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 metropolis BCOxY     
n.首府;大城市
参考例句:
  • Shanghai is a metropolis in China.上海是中国的大都市。
  • He was dazzled by the gaiety and splendour of the metropolis.大都市的花花世界使他感到眼花缭乱。
2 aplomb GM9yD     
n.沉着,镇静
参考例句:
  • Carried off the difficult situation with aplomb.镇静地应付了困难的局面。
  • She performs the duties of a princess with great aplomb.她泰然自若地履行王妃的职责。
3 stylish 7tNwG     
adj.流行的,时髦的;漂亮的,气派的
参考例句:
  • He's a stylish dresser.他是个穿着很有格调的人。
  • What stylish women are wearing in Paris will be worn by women all over the world.巴黎女性时装往往会引导世界时装潮流。
4 hopping hopping     
n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式
参考例句:
  • The clubs in town are really hopping. 城里的俱乐部真够热闹的。
  • I'm hopping over to Paris for the weekend. 我要去巴黎度周末。
5 milieu x7yzN     
n.环境;出身背景;(个人所处的)社会环境
参考例句:
  • Foods usually provide a good milieu for the persistence of viruses.食品通常为病毒存续提供了一个良好的栖身所。
  • He was born in a social milieu where further education was a luxury.他生在一个受较高教育就被认为是奢侈的社会环境里。
6 slew 8TMz0     
v.(使)旋转;n.大量,许多
参考例句:
  • He slewed the car against the side of the building.他的车滑到了大楼的一侧,抵住了。
  • They dealt with a slew of other issues.他们处理了大量的其他问题。
7 tempting wgAzd4     
a.诱人的, 吸引人的
参考例句:
  • It is tempting to idealize the past. 人都爱把过去的日子说得那么美好。
  • It was a tempting offer. 这是个诱人的提议。
8 gems 74ab5c34f71372016f1770a5a0bf4419     
growth; economy; management; and customer satisfaction 增长
参考例句:
  • a crown studded with gems 镶有宝石的皇冠
  • The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。
9 renowned okSzVe     
adj.著名的,有名望的,声誉鹊起的
参考例句:
  • He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
  • She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。
10 sprawling 3ff3e560ffc2f12f222ef624d5807902     
adj.蔓生的,不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 );蔓延;杂乱无序地拓展;四肢伸展坐着(或躺着)
参考例句:
  • He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
  • a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇
11 momentous Zjay9     
adj.重要的,重大的
参考例句:
  • I am deeply honoured to be invited to this momentous occasion.能应邀出席如此重要的场合,我深感荣幸。
  • The momentous news was that war had begun.重大的新闻是战争已经开始。
12 Christians 28e6e30f94480962cc721493f76ca6c6     
n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
  • His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。
13 chaos 7bZyz     
n.混乱,无秩序
参考例句:
  • After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后,城市一片混乱。
  • The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。
14 barbarian nyaz13     
n.野蛮人;adj.野蛮(人)的;未开化的
参考例句:
  • There is a barbarian tribe living in this forest.有一个原始部落居住在这个林区。
  • The walled city was attacked by barbarian hordes.那座有城墙的城市遭到野蛮部落的袭击。
15 facades 4181fbc91529cee0be1596dded899433     
n.(房屋的)正面( facade的名词复数 );假象,外观
参考例句:
  • Terraces of asphalt are placed by the building's south and west facades. 沥青露台位于建筑的南面和西面。 来自互联网
  • Preserving historic buildings or keeping only their facades (or fronts) grew common. 保存历史建筑或是保持它们普通的正面增长。 来自互联网
16 alpine ozCz0j     
adj.高山的;n.高山植物
参考例句:
  • Alpine flowers are abundant there.那里有很多高山地带的花。
  • Its main attractions are alpine lakes and waterfalls .它以高山湖泊和瀑布群为主要特色。
17 regained 51ada49e953b830c8bd8fddd6bcd03aa     
复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 ); 赢回; 重回; 复至某地
参考例句:
  • The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
  • She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻,但很快恢复了镇静。
18 magenta iARx0     
n..紫红色(的染料);adj.紫红色的
参考例句:
  • In the one photo in which she appeared, Hillary Clinton wore a magenta gown.在其中一张照片中,希拉里身着一件紫红色礼服。
  • For the same reason air information is printed in magenta.出于同样的原因,航空资料采用品红色印刷。
19 corpse JYiz4     
n.尸体,死尸
参考例句:
  • What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
  • The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。
20 spurt 9r9yE     
v.喷出;突然进发;突然兴隆
参考例句:
  • He put in a spurt at the beginning of the eighth lap.他进入第八圈时便开始冲刺。
  • After a silence, Molly let her anger spurt out.沉默了一会儿,莫莉的怒气便迸发了出来。
21 elites e3dbb5fd6596e7194920c56f4830b949     
精华( elite的名词复数 ); 精锐; 上层集团; (统称)掌权人物
参考例句:
  • The elites are by their nature a factor contributing to underdevelopment. 这些上层人物天生是助长欠发达的因素。
  • Elites always detest gifted and nimble outsiders. 社会名流对天赋聪明、多才多艺的局外人一向嫌恶。
22 kickback kpyzjE     
n.酬金;佣金,回扣
参考例句:
  • Mike got a kickback from a merchant.麦克从商人那里得到了回扣。
  • The company had to kickback a lot to the corrupt officer.这家公司必须给腐败的政府官员很大一笔佣金。
23 administrative fzDzkc     
adj.行政的,管理的
参考例句:
  • The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
  • He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。
24 scourge FD2zj     
n.灾难,祸害;v.蹂躏
参考例句:
  • Smallpox was once the scourge of the world.天花曾是世界的大患。
  • The new boss was the scourge of the inefficient.新老板来了以后,不称职的人就遭殃了。
25 civic Fqczn     
adj.城市的,都市的,市民的,公民的
参考例句:
  • I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
  • The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。
26 consecutive DpPz0     
adj.连续的,联贯的,始终一贯的
参考例句:
  • It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
  • The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。
27 tolerance Lnswz     
n.宽容;容忍,忍受;耐药力;公差
参考例句:
  • Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
  • Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。
28 skyscraper vxzwd     
n.摩天大楼
参考例句:
  • The skyscraper towers into the clouds.那幢摩天大楼高耸入云。
  • The skyscraper was wrapped in fog.摩天楼为雾所笼罩。
29 killing kpBziQ     
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财
参考例句:
  • Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
  • Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
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