Verrazano, an Italian about whom little is known,

1524年 一位鲜为人知的意大利人维拉萨诺
sailed into New York Harbour in 1524 and named it Angouleme.
驾船驶进纽约港 并将该港命名为安古拉姆
He described it as
他对该港作了这样的描述
'a very agreeable situation located within two small hills
地理位置十分适宜 位于两座小山的中间
in the midst of which flowed a great river.'
一条大河从中间流过
Though Verrazano is by no means considered to be a great explorer,
虽然维拉萨诺绝对算不上一个伟大的探险家
his name will probably remain immortal,
但他的名字将流芳百世
for on November 21st, 1964,
因为1964年11月21日建成的
the longest suspension bridge in the world was named after him.
一座世界上最长的吊桥是以他的名字命名的
The Verrazano Bridge, which was designed by Othmar Ammann,
维拉萨诺大桥由奥斯马·阿曼设计
joins Brooklyn to Staten Island.
连结着布鲁克林与斯塔顿岛
It has a span of 4,260 feet.
桥长4260英尺
The bridge is so long
由于桥身太长
that the shape of the earth had to be taken into account by its designer.
设计者不得不考虑地表的形状
Two great towers support four huge cables.
两座巨塔支撑着4根粗大的钢缆
The towers are built on immense underwater platforms
塔身建在巨大的
made of steel and concrete.
水下钢盘混凝土平台上
The platforms extend to a depth of over 100 feet under the sea.
平台深入海底100英尺
These alone took 16 months to build.
仅这两座塔就花了16个月才建成
Above the surface of the water,
塔身高出水面
the towers rise to a height of nearly 700 feet.
将近700英尺
They support the cables from which the bridge has been suspended.
高塔支撑着钢缆 而钢缆又悬吊着大桥
Each of the four cables contains 26,108 lengths of wire.

4根钢缆中的每根由26108股钢绳组成
It has been estimated that if the bridge were packed with cars,
据估计 若桥上摆满了汽车
it would still only be carrying a third of its total capacity.
也只不过是桥的总承载力的1/3
However, size and strength
然而 这座桥的重要特点
are not the only important things about this bridge.
不仅是它的规模与强度
Despite its immensity, it is both simple and elegant,
尽管此桥很大 但它的结构简单 造型优美
fulfilling its designer's dream
实现了设计者
to create 'an enormous object drawn as faintly as possible'.
企图创造一个 尽量用细线条勾画出一个庞然大物 的梦想