酷兩倍DoubelCool

Think of the UK and you’ll probably think of London. Picture France and you’ll no doubt conjure up images of Paris and its iconic Eiffel Tower. To many, capital cities define a country. They’re often the seat of power, the economic and political hub and sometimes the home to royalty - along with millions of city dwellers. For a place with so much influence, it’s important to get its location right.

說到英國，你可能就會馬上想到倫敦，在法國拍張照片，毫無疑問地就會想到巴黎與著名的地標，艾菲爾鐵塔。現今許多的首都城市都直接定義了一個國家，它們通常都是政府的所在地，經濟與政治的中心，有時候也可能是百姓圍繞著王室的家族地。對於影響力如此之大的地方來說，確保其位置正確是非常重要的。

Sometimes we have to look into history to find the reasons why a capital city ended up where it did. The site of what is now London was by the river: easy to settle, easy for trading and easy to defend. However, it’s not located in the country’s centre and there’s often criticism from far-flung corners of the nation that they are forgotten by the decision makers in the capital. Other countries have taken a different approach by establishing their capitals in the geographical centre so they can exert control and project unity, like Madrid in Spain for example.

有時我們必須去探究歷史，找出為什麼一個首都最終會坐落在某處，倫敦的位置就坐落在河邊，易於定居、貿易及防禦。然而，他並不位於國家的中心，且常常會有來自偏遠角落的批評，說首都的決策者常常忘記他們。其他國家在採取建立首都的方針中，有不同的做法，例如西班牙的馬德里，選擇在地理位置上的中心建立首都，有利於控制與統一。

Occasionally, there have been reasons to relocate a capital. St Petersburg, founded by Peter the Great in 1703, was Russia’s capital from 1712-1918, before the government changed it to Moscow. This was partly because Moscow was more central, and the government decided it was less likely to be invaded by another country.

偶爾，有一些首都會因為一些理由被搬遷。例如，由彼德大帝1703年建立的聖彼得堡，在1712至1918年一直都是俄羅斯的首都，之後才被政府遷移到莫斯科。這一部份的原因是莫斯科更靠近俄羅斯中心，而且政府相信這個決定會讓其他國家更難以入侵。

And now in Indonesia there are plans to move its capital, Jakarta. Its new location is yet to be decided, but the reason for the move is that this megacity is sinking at one of the fastest rates in the world. It’s been built on very swampy land and isn’t helped by lots of groundwater being extracted to use for drinking water and washing. The city is overcrowded too and roads are often gridlocked.

現在，印尼正在計畫遷移首都雅加達，但是新的地點還沒有確定，這麼做的原因是因為雅加達正在以全世界最快的速度下沉中。以往的城市都建立在濕軟的陸地上，而且地下水不能被用來喝或是洗東西，這個城市的人口與交通也都已經非常壅塞了。

Of course, if you can’t move your capital city, why not construct a brand new one? Brazil moved its capital from coastal, crowded Rio de Janeiro to inland Brasilia in 1961 - the idea being to build a brand new capital "to bring progress to the interior of Brazil", as architect Oscar Niemeyer described it. And more recently, Nay Pyi Taw was built in 2005 as Myanmar’s new capital. This remote city is four times the size of London and has huge roads, golf courses and a zoo – but few people.

當然，如果你不能移動你們的首都，為什麼不修整一番或是乾脆建一個新的呢？巴西從海岸線把首都移往內陸，在1961年把首都里約熱內盧，改至巴西利亞，這個想法來自於建立一個新首都，一位建築師Oscar Niemeyer將這事件描述成"為巴西的內陸帶來進步"，還有最近，緬甸在2005年也建立了新首都，奈比多，這個遙遠的城市是倫敦的四倍大，有寬廣的道路、高爾夫球場還有動物園，但是只有一些人而已。

單字

● iconic 標誌性的，非常出名的

● seat of power 政府所在地

● hub 中心

● royalty 王權

● city dwellers 城市居民

● influence 影響力

● site 地點，位置

● settle 定居

● trading 貿易

● defend 保護，防衛

● far-flung 遙遠的

● geographical 地理上的

● approach 方法、途徑

● Occasionally 偶爾

● relocate 遷移，搬遷

● central 中心的

● megacity （人口超過1000萬的）大城市

● swampy （地面）濕軟的

● sinking 下沉

● groundwater 地下水

● gridlocked 交通擁堵不堪的

● construct 修建

● architect 建築師

● remote 遙遠的