埃及公布建设新首都计划

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.
先别想金字塔、解放广场还有尼罗河了。埃及准备抛弃开罗，建造一个闪亮新首都，如果埃及政府这一想法能顺利实施的话。

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.
由于原首都污染严重，交通拥堵，人口大爆炸，房屋租金高涨，以及跟不上时代的基础设施等诸多压力，埃及计划与阿拉伯联合酋长国的一个开发商合作，建设一个新首都。这个首都建设计划可能是世界上最宏伟的公共建设项目之一。

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.
开发商和政府周五（3月13日）宣布，这个尚未被命名的城市将占地150平方英里（388平方公里），大概就是丹佛市（美国科罗拉多州最大的城市）的大小，大概能容纳700万名居民。

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.
现在的首都开罗，是一座既有历史底蕴，又富有勃勃生机的城市。开罗市里常住人口超过1800万，不管是住在城市里还是在城市中穿行，都会让人感到烦闷不适。政府称，考虑到开罗在未来十年里可能会增加一倍的人口，此举是为了改善开罗市内的拥堵情况。

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.
新首都的具体地址尚未公布，但是应该是建在开罗的东边。新首都会位于两条主要交通干道——苏因士和艾因城市公路——中间，比开罗更靠近红海。

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.
这项工程非常宏伟。除了新大使馆和政府大楼以外，还会在新首都建设一个比希斯罗机场（位于英国伦敦）更加大型的国际机场，还有太阳能农场，4万多间酒店住房，将近2000所学校和18所医院，这些建筑会由6000多英里的新公路连接起来。

But if the dream is big, the bill will be bigger.
但是，梦想如果很宏伟，实现梦想的账单数额，就会更加“宏伟”。

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.
住房部长莫斯达•玛德布理在沙姆沙伊赫（的一个经济发展会议上声称，建设新首都的总造价预计将达到450亿美元。

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.
新首都的揭幕是通过眩目的网站展现的，网站展现了一片既有城市绿化又有高科技设施的城市景观，有玻璃楼塔，还有游泳池。

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.
这项建设新首都计划的幕后支持者是一个自称“专注于全球投资和发展的私人房地产投资基金会”的组织，该组织的领导者是阿联酋的地产开发商穆罕默德•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.
阿拉巴是迪拜的艾玛哈集团的创始人，他最著名的项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个想把首都从成熟的大都市搬迁至乡村绿地的国家。缅甸最近才完成把旧首都从衰败的仰光到新城市内比都的大迁移，尼日利亚在19世纪90年代把首都搬到阿布贾，巴西也在50年前在一片荒蛮之地上建起了首都巴西利亚。

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，还有一个疯狂的搬迁首都例子，就是在一片沼泽地上建立一个都城，这在当时看来简直就是有钱的土地投机商的异想天开。

That city? Washington, D.C.
这是哪个城市？美国首都，华盛顿。

Vocabulary

ditch:抛弃

rendering：描绘，效果图

pasture：草地

boondoggle：浪费时间金钱做的（无意义的）事