小故事

Romantic Venice
浪漫水都——威尼斯
What images come to mind when you think of a trip to Venice? No doubt you imagine yourself taking a romantic gondola ride along narrow canals and under delicate bridges. Perhaps you picture the beautiful old buildings and famous works of art that have made the city one of Europe's leading tourist spots.
想到威尼斯一游，你的脑海中会浮现出什么画面？毫无疑问你一定会想象自己乘坐浪漫的平底船，沿着窄窄的运河航行，从一座座别致的桥下穿梭而过。也许你还会在脑海中勾勒出那些让威尼斯成为欧洲一流旅游胜地的美丽古老建筑和艺术名作。
Venice was built on more than 100 islands and has about 150 canals. The best-known of these, the Grand Canal, functions as the "main street" in the part of the city most popular with visitors. The canal winds through each of the six districts that comprise this historic city center before reaching Venice Lagoon.
威尼斯建在100多个小岛上，拥有大约150条运河。最有名的运河就是“大运河”，它位于市区游客最多的地方，并发挥“大街”的功能。这条运河在构成这个历史上的市中心的六个行政区间蜿蜒穿流，最后流入威尼斯湖。
One of these districts, San Marco, is home to many of Venice's main attractions, including St.Mark's Basilica. This spectacular church has five main arches and some extraordinary onion-shaped domes. It is decorated with priceless treasures, many of which were stolen from other countries when medieval Venice was a leading sea power.
行政区之一的圣马可是许多威尼斯主要旅游景的中心，包括圣马可大教堂。这座雄伟的大教堂有五道大拱门和数座壮观的洋葱形圆顶。教堂用很贵重的珠宝装饰，其中许多是在中世纪威尼斯称霸海权时从其它国家掠夺来的。

重点讲解

重点讲解：
1. no doubt
无疑地；必定；
eg. There was no doubt in his mind that the man was serious.
在他看来，这个人无疑是认真的。
eg. They have the usual quota of human weaknesses, no doubt.
毫无疑问，他们身上也有人所共有的弱点。
2. work of art
（绘画、雕塑等）艺术品；
eg. This tapestry is a work of art.
这张挂毯是件艺术品。
eg. She is capable of judging works of art.
她有鉴赏艺术品的能力。
3. best-known
众所周知的，著名的；
eg. It is, perhaps, the best known of his works.
大概那是他最著名的作品了。
eg. He became one of the best known actors of his day.
他成了他那个时期最著名的演员之一。
4. function as
发挥功能；起作用；行使职责；
eg. On weekdays, one third of the room functions as workspace.
在工作日，房间的1/3用作办公区域。
eg. A typical PDA can function as a mobile phone, fax sender, and personal organizer.
典型的掌上电脑具有移动电话、传真发送机和个人文件夹的功能。
5. steal from
偷；窃取；
eg. Bridge stole the money from clients' accounts.
布里奇从客户的账户里偷了钱。
eg. She has since been jailed for six months for stealing from the tills.
后来她因从现金出纳机里偷钱而被判了 6 个月的监禁。