Walt： Do you think so？ I’m not so sure。 Anyway， tell me your plans for an Australian holiday。 How long do you think we should spend there？
沃尔特：是吗？我不太清楚。无论如何，告诉我你的澳洲计划吧。你觉得我们得在那儿待多久？
Lily： I think we should go for two weeks。 We could spend a week in Sydney and a week at the Great Barrier Reef， including a few days on the beach。
莉莉：我想我们应该去两个礼拜。在悉尼玩一个礼拜。去大堡礁玩一个礼拜。这样可以在沙滩上放松几天。
Walt： That doesn’t sound too bad。 I’d certainly like to go diving。 That’s one reason I wanted to go to the Caribbean。
沃尔特：听起来不错。我想要潜水。这也是我要去加勒比海的一个原因。
Lily： We could hire a car and travel around for several days。 If we hire a car， we can go where we like。
莉莉：我们可以租辆车四处旅游几天。有车的话，就可以想去哪儿就去哪儿了。
Walt： We’d have to plan our drive before we leave。 Let’s get a good guidebook from the bookstore when we go shopping tomorrow。
沃尔特：我们得在出发前计划一下行车路线。我们明天出去买东西的时候在书店买本导游手册吧。
Beijing’s Hutongs
北京的胡同
进入现代化的北京城，人们感兴趣的往往不是那鳞次栉比的高楼大厦、四通八达的宽马路，而是那曲折幽深的小小胡同，温馨美丽的四合院。因此，有人称北京的古都文化为“胡同文化”或“四合院文化”，此话实不为过。北京有多少胡同呢？老字号人说：“大胡同三千六，小的多如牛毛。”意思是说多得数不清。北京的胡同形成于元朝，明、清以后又不断发展，所以具体数目也不一样。
Realize Beijing＇s Hutongs
认识北京的胡同
1认识北京的胡同
A hutong is an ancient city alley or lane typical in Beijing， where hutongs run into the several thousand。 Surrounding the Forbidden City， many were built during the Yuan （1206－1341）， Ming （1368－1628） and Qing （1644－1908） dynasties。 In the prime of these dynasties the emperors， in order to establish supreme power for themselves， planned the city and arranged the residential areas according to the etiquette systems of the Zhou Dynasty。 The center of the city of Beijing was the royal palace—the Forbidden City。
One kind of hutongs， usually referred to as the regular hutong， was near the palace to the east and west and arranged in orderly fashion along the streets。 Most of the residents of these hutongs were imperial kinsmen and aristocrats。 Another kind， the simple and crude hutong， was mostly located far to the north and south of the palace。 The residents were merchants and other ordinary people。
The main buildings in the hutong were almost all quadrangles－－a building complex formed by four houses around a quadrangular courtyard。 The quadrangles varied in size and design according to the social status of the residents。 The big quadrangles of high－ ranking officials and wealthy merchants were specially built with roof beams and pillars all beautifully carved and painted， each with a front yard and back yard。 However， the ordinary people’s quadrangles were simply built with small gates and low houses。 Hutongs， in fact， are passageways formed by many closely arranged quadrangles of different sizes。 The specially built quadrangles all face the south for better lighting； as a result， a lot of hutongs run from east to west。 Between the big hutongs many small ones went north and south for convenient passage。
Hutong represents an important culture element of Beijing city。 Thanks to Beijing’s long history and status as capital for six dynasties， almost every hutong has its anecdotes， and some are even associated with historic events。
2北京有名胡同的表达方式
Hutongs are a type of narrow streets or alleys， most commonly associated with Beijing，China。 In Beijing， hutongs are alleys formed by lines of siheyuan， traditional courtyard residences。Many neighbourhoods were formed by joining one siheyuan to another to form a hutong， and then joining one hutong to another。 The word hutong is also used to refer to such neighbourhoods。
Sanmiao Street三庙街
Baidai Hutong百代胡同
Gongwangfu恭王府
Bada Hutong八大胡同
Dongjiaomin Xiang东交民巷
Lingjing Hutong灵境胡同
Baocha Hutong宝钞胡同
Erduoyan Hutong耳朵眼胡同
the Pulp Street烟袋斜街
Baozi Hutong报子胡同
Dongtiao Alley东条胡同
Big Stone Tiger Alley大石虎胡同
现在，北京胡同文化发展已经开发出了一项旅游新项目——蹿胡同。 来自四面八方的外国朋友乘坐北京古老的交通工具人力三轮车，经什刹海西沿，过银锭桥到鼓楼，登楼俯看北京旧城区和四通八达的胡同，然后前往后海地区，参观京城古老的南北官房胡同、大小金狮胡同、前后井胡同。走进普通的四合院，和北京人聊一聊，了解普通北京人的生活，最后沿柳荫街到有“红楼大观园”之称的恭王府，体验旧时王公贵族的居住环境和御花园。
Key words ＆ Sentences
关键词句全知道
The majority of Beijing’s hutongs were built between the 13th and 19th centuries during the Yuan， Ming and Qing Dynasties。
北京的胡同大部分建于13到19世纪的元、明、清三个朝代。
According to experts， the word hutong originated from mongolian language meaning“well”。
专家认为，“胡同”这个词来源于蒙古语，意思是“井”。
So the original meaning of Hutong should be“a place where people gather and live。”
古时候人们生活和聚集在井的周围，所以“胡同”一词的本意应是“人们生活聚集的地方”。
Hutong first appeared in Beijing during the Yuan Dynasty。
胡同在北京第一次出现是在元朝。
With the growth of the population， many old Hutongs have disappeared to make way for high－rise apartments。
随着人口的增长，一些老胡同被拔地而起的高楼取代。
Most of today’s Hutong were formed during the Ming and Qing Dynasties that followed。
今天我们看到的大多数胡同是明清两代的产物。
Nobody knows exactly how many Hutongs there are in nowadays Beijing。
没有人能够确切地说出北京有多少胡同。
Or to make it clear， it could build a highway from Seattle to Boston， all across America。
说得更清楚些，相当于从西雅图修一条高速路直达波士顿，这可是横穿美国大陆啊！
Today you can find various Hutongs with different shapes， lengths or directions。
今天您可以发现不同形状、长度和方向的胡同。
The shortest one is only 40 centimeters wide。
最窄的胡同仅40厘米宽。
And some Hutongs have more than 20 turns。
还有些胡同有20多个弯。
As we walk through the Hutongs， you may find most of them look almost the same with gray－colored walls and bricks。
当我们进入胡同时，您也许会发现几乎所有的墙和砖都是灰色的。
Actually inside those walls are the courtyard houses， where people live。 In Chinese we call them “siheyuan”。
其实，在这些墙的后面就是居民的家，我们称其为“四合院”。
“Si”literally means four，“he”means to surround，and“yuan”refers to the courtyard。
“四”的字面意思是4，“合”就是围起来，而“院”就是后院的意思。
So a rectangular wall enclosing four houses， one built on each side facing into the center，is called a Siheyuan。
也就是一个长方形的围墙围着四间屋子，每间屋子的门朝着院子中间。
When they were first built， usually one Siheyuan was owned by only one family， but nowadays， with the growth of the population， most Siheyuans are shared by 4 to 10 families。
过去，一个四合院只属于一个家庭，而现在随着人口的增长，大多数四合院住四至十户人家。
Hutongs are the countless little alleyways that connect the courtyards of traditional houses。
胡同是无数条连接北京四合院的小巷子。
The hutongs not only link Beijing’s streets and communities but also its past and present。
胡同不仅连通了北京的街道和社区，它还联系着北京的过去和现在。
Hutongs are still an integral part of Beijing life。
胡同仍然是北京生活的一部分。