Big Ben and gorilla surprise 維修大本鐘，大猩猩生子
本集內容
London's Big Ben to stop chiming for repairs 倫敦大本鐘停止報時 進行維修
Gorilla surprise at Prague Zoo 布拉格動物園大猩猩生子 眾人驚喜
文字稿
Here in London, the chimes of Big Ben are going to fall silent next year because the famous parliamentary clock tower – the Elizabeth Tower – needs essential repairs. This sound has chimed almost uninterrupted for about 150 years but it's only going to be reserved for special occasions. It's part of a project that's going to cost more than $US40m. The tower is going to be partially cladin scaffolding for about three years… the last significant repair work on Big Ben – that was more than 30 years ago.
位于倫敦的大本鐘明年將“靜音沉默”，這是因為著名的議會塔樓，也被稱為伊利莎白塔，需要大規模的必要維修。大本鐘已經幾乎連續不斷地報時150年之久，但在維修期間除了特殊慶典以外，大本鐘將停止運轉。整個維修工程將耗資4000多萬美金。從明年開始，在接下來的三年內，塔樓外部部分區域會搭起腳架。大本鐘最后一次接受大型維修工作是30多年前。
Let's go to Prague Zoo, because visitors have had their first glimpse of this little baby gorilla. Her birth took everyone by surprise. Nobody had even noticed that her 24-year-old mum Shinda was pregnant. Shinda had already had a number of miscarriages – being a little overweight she wasn't expected to ever have a baby. The delivery went well. She and her new-born baby are said to be doing very well.
讓我們來布拉格動物園看看。游客們第一次看到了這只大猩猩幼崽。她的降生讓所有人出其不意。此前，沒有任何人注意到她24歲的媽媽辛達已懷孕。人們并沒期待略有超重的辛達能有朝一日誕下幼崽，此前她還有過數次流產。分娩過程很順利。據說，現在辛達和她的新生寶寶身體狀況良好。
詞匯
fall silent
停止報時，靜音
scaffolding
腳架
glimpse
匆匆一面
delivery
分娩，生產
練習
請從以下詞匯中選擇適當的答案來完成句子。注意：你可能需要改變單詞的時態來完成句子。
fall silent / scaffolding / glimpse / delivery
1. The strong winds caused the ________ to collapse, damaging cars on the street below.
2. I was with my wife when she ________ our second child.
3. Millions of people ________ to remember those who had died in war.
4. Crowds lined the streets of Windsor to catch a ________ of the Queen on the eve of her 90th birthday.
答案
1. The strong winds caused the scaffolding to collapse, damaging cars on the street below.
2. I was with my wife when she delivered our second child.
3. Millions of people fell silent to remember those who had died in war.
4. Crowds lined the streets of Windsor to catch a glimpse of the Queen on the eve of her 90th birthday.
