英语博客:The Space Needle

This past weekend, I took my children to Seattle to have a break from our home town, and to take in a few of the famous sights. "A change is as good as a rest," is a saying in England which I agree with. Sometimes if you are worn down a little, instead of resting, it is actually good to go and see something new; it is good to be refreshed. So, I booked a hotel that is fairly close to the downtown area of the city. We set off Saturday morning. Travelling over the Cascades² was beautiful; mist was all over the forest. We finally made it to the hotel at lunch time. The children wanted to go swimming in the pool at the hotel before doing anything else. So, of course, that's what we did. I know that children are not as enthusiastic about site seeing as adults are; they need lots of physical fun too. When they were good and tired from splashing around, we got ready and headed off to the Space Needle. It is the landmark³ of Seattle. It was built for the 1962 World's Fair, and has been quite an attraction ever since. It is 605 feet tall, has a restaurant inside that turns 360 defrees every hour, and was built to widthstand winds of up to 200 miles per hour, and earthquakes of up to 9.1 magnitude. A lot of thought went into the building; you could say that it was built to last. We zoomed⁴ up in the elevator to the observation deck where you can find lots of binoculars⁵, spotting scopes, and multi-media that talk about the interesting places that you can see from the Needle. And there is a lot to see. Not only is the city all around, but on a clear day, you have spectacular views of the Olympic and Cascade¹ Mountains, Mount Ranier, Mount Baker⁶, Elliot Bay, and lots more. Unfortunately it was a drizzly⁷ day, so we couldn't see the mountains, but there was so much to see that we could have been up there for hours. Well, there was a lot more exploring to do, so we took some photos and headed back down in the elevator. We must return on a clear day to take in the views.

Grammar notes.

Related vocabulary: worn down, to site see, good and ...., to head.

1. That stone step is so old; you can see where it has been worn down with use.

2. We went site seeing; we saw so many historical buildings that I got dizzy!

3. After running a mile, the dogs were good and tired  OR

    If you wait for Thanksgiving dinner, you will be good and hungry.

4. *Meaning is similar as 'to go'or 'to set off': We headed down the mountain, and they headed off in their boat. OR

    They got on the boat and headed out to the island.

 

1 cascade   

n.小瀑布，喷流；层叠；vi.成瀑布落下

参考例句：

• She watched the magnificent waterfall cascade down the mountainside.她看着壮观的瀑布从山坡上倾泻而下。
• Her hair fell over her shoulders in a cascade of curls.她的卷发像瀑布一样垂在肩上。

2 cascades   

倾泻( cascade的名词复数 )； 小瀑布（尤指一连串瀑布中的一支）； 瀑布状物； 倾泻（或涌出）的东西

参考例句：

• The river fell in a series of cascades down towards the lake. 河形成阶梯状瀑布泻入湖中。
• Turning into the sun, he began the long, winding drive through the Cascades. 现在他朝着太阳驶去，开始了穿越喀斯喀特山脉的漫长而曲折的路程。 来自英汉文学 - 廊桥遗梦

3 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

4 zoomed   

v.（飞机、汽车等）急速移动( zoom的过去式 )；（价格、费用等）急升，猛涨

参考例句：

• Traffic zoomed past us. 车辆从我们身边疾驰而过。
• Cars zoomed helter-skelter, honking belligerently. 大街上来往车辆穿梭不停，喇叭声刺耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 binoculars   

n.双筒望远镜

参考例句：

• He watched the play through his binoculars.他用双筒望远镜看戏。
• If I had binoculars,I could see that comet clearly.如果我有望远镜，我就可以清楚地看见那颗彗星。

6 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

7 drizzly   

a.毛毛雨的(a drizzly day)

参考例句：

• This section of the country is drizzly in the winter. 该国的这一地区在冬天经常细雨蒙蒙。
• That region is drizzly in winter. 那个地区冬天常下小雨。