Special Buildings

special buildings

特别的建筑

Wherever people dwell, there are buildings. Some buildings are houses, some buildings are barns. In the city, some buildings are very tall. Some buildings are plain, other buildings are special. On these buildings you can see faces, beautiful flowers, and other lovely things carved out of stone. Special buildings can make a neighborhood special too.

只要有人居住的地方就有建筑。有些建筑是住宅，有些是谷仓。 城市里有些建筑特别高。有些建筑平平无奇，有些则很特别。 在这些建筑上你能看到石头雕刻的人脸、美丽的花朵，还有其他可爱的图案。 特别的建筑也能让整个街区变得与众不同哦。

Here is a building with special things on it. This building is in New York City. It is 77 stories high. A story is another word for a floor in a building, so this building has 77 floors. The building was built by a company that makes cars. If you take a close look at the building, you will discover hidden shapes. What kinds of shapes do you think you will find on this building?

这栋建筑上有很多特别的图案，它坐落在纽约市，一共有77层高。“层”是建筑里楼层的另一种说法，所以这栋楼有77层。 这栋楼是一家汽车制造公司建的。如果你凑近仔细看，就能发现藏在上面的各种造型。你觉得你会在这栋楼上找到什么样的造型呀？

There are shapes of cars and car parts on the face of the building. Some people think the rounded parts look like hubcaps. A hubcap is a round cover that fits over the wheel of a car. Do you see the eagle heads? These shapes were used on the hoods of cars.

楼的外立面上有汽车和汽车零件的造型。 有些人觉得那些圆圆的部分看起来像轮毂盖。 轮毂盖就是盖在汽车轮子上的圆形盖子哦。 你看到那些老鹰头了吗？这些造型以前会用在汽车的引擎盖上。

Here is another building. It has a gargoyle on it. Gargoyles are scary -looking stone figures. They were often put on a building to help the rain run off the roof. When it rains, the water runs out of the gargoyle's mouth. Some people used to believe that gargoyles could scare away bad luck. Would you like to live in a building that has gargoyles on it?

这是另一栋建筑，上面有个滴水兽。滴水兽是看起来有点吓人的石像。 人们常把它们安在建筑上，帮屋顶排走雨水。下雨的时候，水会从滴水兽的嘴巴里流出来。 以前有些人相信滴水兽能赶走坏运气。你愿意住在有滴水兽的建筑里吗？

One famous building where you can see many gargoyles is in Washington D .C. It is a large church. It took more than 80 years to build this building. There are many different kinds of stone creatures on this building. You can see strange looking people, monkeys, fish, dogs and elephants.

有一栋能看到好多滴水兽的著名建筑坐落在华盛顿哥伦比亚特区，它是一座大教堂，人们花了80多年才把它建好。 这栋建筑上有各种各样的石像生物，你能看到长相奇怪的人、猴子、鱼、狗还有大象。