常春藤生活英語：Megacities—Taipei超級城市─臺(tái)北

Legend has it that Taipei City began with just one immigrant nearly 200 years ago. On a dry lakebed, this man cleared some trees and bushes and built a farm. Soon, Taipei was rapidly growing in every direction. In 1949, two million people moved to Taiwan from China and the population began expanding quickly. This large amount of people helped turn Taipei into a world-class city.

Almost 50 years ago, farming made up 33 percent of Taiwan's economy. Nowadays, that figure is at two percent and falling fast. Most of the world only knew about China back then and had never even heard of Taiwan. Now, Taipei is known for producing semi-conductors, a necessary part in all kinds of computers. Taipei has found its place in the world because of these fingernail-sized chips. Very few places have come so far so fast. This month, National Geographic Channel looks at Taipei's rise in Megacities—Taipei.

傳說臺(tái)北市的發(fā)跡，是源自于近兩百年前僅僅一位移民者而已。在一個(gè)干凅的湖床上，這名男子把樹木、樹叢清理干凈，然后蓋了一座田。不久，臺(tái)北便朝各方面迅速發(fā)展。1949年，兩百萬人自中國遷移到臺(tái)北，人口開始快速增加。大量的人口幫助臺(tái)北轉(zhuǎn)變成世界級的城市。

大約五十年前，農(nóng)業(yè)占了臺(tái)灣經(jīng)濟(jì)活動(dòng)的百分之三十三。如今，這個(gè)數(shù)字只剩下兩個(gè)百分比，而且還在快速下降中。當(dāng)時(shí)世界上大部分國家只知道中國，根本沒聽說過臺(tái)灣?，F(xiàn)在，臺(tái)北因制造各種計(jì)算機(jī)所需的半導(dǎo)體而名聞遐邇。因?yàn)檫@些指甲般大小的芯片，臺(tái)北已在世界上找到立足之地。很少有地方能這么快就有這么長遠(yuǎn)的發(fā)展。本月份的國家地理頻道，將在《超級城市——臺(tái)北》中一探臺(tái)北的興盛。

Building Your Vocabulary

1.rapidly　adv. 很快地，迅速地

The maple leaves turned red rapidly this year.

今年楓葉很快就轉(zhuǎn)紅了。

2.expand　vi. 擴(kuò)展;增加

Our business is going to expand.

我們即將拓展生意。

Phrases for Learning

1.legend has it + that 子句　　據(jù)說……

Legend has it that this house is haunted.

據(jù)說這間房子鬧鬼。

2.turn A into B　　將 A 轉(zhuǎn)變成 B

The freezer turns water into ice.

冷凍庫將水結(jié)成冰。

3.make up...　　構(gòu)成∕占了……

Water makes up 70 percent of the human body.

人體百分之七十是由水分所構(gòu)成的。

4.be known for...　　以……聞名

Tainan is known for its temples.

臺(tái)南以廟宇聞名。

參考字詞

1.immigrant　n. 移民

2.lakebed　n. 湖床

3.economy　n. 經(jīng)濟(jì)

4.semi-conductor　n. 半導(dǎo)體

5.fingernail　n. 手指甲

6.chip　n. 芯片

7.megacity　n. 人口百萬以上的城市;大都市

Grammar Check

Taipei has found its place in the world because of...

(因?yàn)?hellip;…，臺(tái)北市臺(tái)北已在世界上找到立足之處。)

以下為您區(qū)分 because of 跟 because 的不同：

1."because of"在句中表『因?yàn)楱M由于』，為詞組介詞，接受詞后形成介詞詞組，作副詞，使用時(shí)常置于句首或句尾，用以修飾句中動(dòng)詞或主要子句。

I like Leo because of his good looks.

(我因李?yuàn)W帥氣的外表而喜歡他。)

2.because 則為副詞連接詞，用以連接兩個(gè)子句。

I like Leo because he is handsome.

(我喜歡李?yuàn)W，因?yàn)樗軒洝?