Listen to the tape then answer the question below.

听录音，然后回答以下问题。

How is the bridge supported?

Verrazano, an Italian about whom little is known, sailed into New

York Harbour in 1524  and named it Angoulême. He described it as ‘a very agreeable situation located within two small hills in the midst of which flowed a great river’. Though Verrazano is by no means considered to be a great explorer, his name will probably remain immortal, for on November 21st, 1964, the longest suspension bridge in the world was named after him.

The Verrazano Bridge, which was designed by Othmar Ammann, joins Brooklyn to Staten Island. It has a span of 4, 260 feet. The bridge is so long that the shape of the earth had to be taken into account by its designer. Two great towers support four huge cables. The towers are built on immense underwater platforms made of steel and concrete. The platforms extend to a depth of over 100 feet under the sea. These alone took sixteen months to build. Above the surface of the water, the towers rise to a height of nearly 700 feet. They support the cables from which the bridge has been suspended. Each of the four cables contains 26, 108  lengths of wire. It has been estimated that if the bridge were packed with cars, it would still only be carrying a third of its total capacity. However, size and strength are not the only important things about this bridge. Despite its immensity, it is both simple and elegant, fulfilling its designer's dream to create ‘an enormous object drawn as faintly as possible’.

New Words and Expressions生词和短语

suspension(title)/s+s'penM+n/n. 悬，吊

concrete（1．11）/'k&Rkri:t/n. 混凝土

agreeable（1．3）/+'gri:+b+l/adj. 宜人的

suspend（1．13）/s+s'pend/v. 悬挂

situation（1．3）/?sitM('eiM+n/n. 地点，地方

length（1．14）/leRI/n. 根，段

locate（1．3）/l+('keit/v. 位于

estimate（1．14）/'estimeit/v. 估计

immortal（1．6）/i'm&:tl/adj. 永生的，流芳百世的

capacity（1．15）/k+'p$siti/n. 承受量

Brooklyn（1．8）/'bruklin/n. 布鲁克林（纽约一区名）

immensity（1．16）/i'mensiti/n. 巨大

Staten（1．8）/'st$t+n/n．斯塔顿（岛）

elegant（1．16）/'elig+nt/adj. 优美别致的

span（1．9）/sp$n/n. 跨度

faintly（1．17）/'feintli/adv. 微细地

cable（1．10）/'keib+l/n．缆索

Notes on the text课文注释

1  describe…as…作“把……描绘成……”、“认为……”讲。

2  located within two small hills in the midst of which flowed a great river, 位于两座小山之间，一条大河滔滔流过。

located…是过去分词短语作定语，修饰situation;in the midst of which引导一个定语从句，which指two small hills。in the midst of, 在……之中。

3  by no means, 无论如何，决不。

4  be named after sb. , 以某人的名字命名。

5  be taken into account, 被考虑到。

6  It has been estimated…, 据估计，……。

7  be packed with…作“挤满……”、“装满……”解。

参考译文

1524年，一位鲜为人知的意大利人维拉萨诺驾船驶进纽约港，并将该港命名为安古拉姆。他对该港作了这样的描述：“地理位置十分适宜，位于两座小山的中间，一条大河从中间流过”。虽然维拉萨诺绝对算不上一个伟大的探险家，但他的名字将流芳百世，因为1964年11月21日建成的一座世界上最长的吊桥是以他的名字命名的。