Dialogue 1

Jingjing and Mark are at the Washington Monument.
京晶和馬克在華盛頓紀念碑下

Mark: Well Jingjing, what do you think? It's a lot less crowded than the White House.
馬克：京晶，怎么樣，這里比白宮人少多了。
Jingjing: It is a lot less crowded than the White House. There's a lot more open space at least.
京晶：可不是嗎！人少太多了！這里至少還有更多的空地。
Mark: Would you like to try to get in?
馬克：想不想試一下進去看看？
Jingjing: Yeah. Let's go see what we're dealing with.
京晶：好，讓我們?nèi)タ纯次覀兌夹枰獞?yīng)付些什么.

Mark goes to have a look and then comes back to talk with Jingjing.
馬克去看了一下，回來繼續(xù)和京晶說

Mark: Bad news: the lift is closed for repairs. There was an earthquake several years ago, and its still being fixed. The good news is not too many people want to climb all the stairs.
馬克：壞消息，電梯關(guān)閉維修了。幾年前發(fā)生過一場地震，這里還在修繕中。好消息是，沒有太多人愿意一路爬上去。
Jingjing: Do you feel like getting a workout?
京晶：想要來一場鍛煉嗎？
Mark: I'm up for it, if you'd like to see a spectacular view.
馬克：我行啊。如果你想看那壯觀的景色。
Jingjing: It's probably worth it. Let's deal with security and get started on those stairs.
京晶：也許是值得的。我們先對付通過安檢這事吧，然后開始爬樓。

Jingjing and Mark are climbing.
京晶和馬克在爬樓中

Jingjing: Wow, it didn't look that tall from the outside. How much farther?
京晶：哇哦，外面看著沒那么高啊！還有多遠？
Mark: You know what? I didn't bother to check before we started. There was a big plaque with lots of information. I only remember some of it.
馬克：你知道嗎，我們開始爬樓之前我都沒有費那個事去確認一下。那兒有一個大牌子上面有詳細介紹，我只記得其中一些了。
Jingjing: Well, you'd be helping me keep my mind off my knees if you told me some of that stuff.
京晶：你最好幫我把注意力從膝蓋（費力攀登）上移開，如果你能跟我講講那些怎么介紹的。
Mark: Sure. It took forty years to build this. Most of that time was a stall in construction though.
馬克：沒問題。這座紀念碑花了40年建成，其中大部分時候都是在建的臺基狀態(tài)。
Jingjing: Really, I heard it's still the tallest obelisk in the world.
京晶：是嗎，我聽說它仍然是世界上最高的方尖紀念碑。
Mark: Yeah, and it was the tallest structure in the world for just about one year.
馬克：是的，它成為世界上最高的建筑也就維持了一年多時間。
Jingjing: Ha ha. It took such a long time to set a record for such a short time. What ended up being taller?
京晶：哈哈，花了那么長的時間來創(chuàng)造了一個記錄，只保持了那么短的時間。那后來哪個比它更高呢？
Mark: The Eiffel Tower. Oh, look, there's more light up ahead. I think we're finally near the top.
馬克：埃菲爾鐵塔。瞧，前面更輕松了。我想我們終于快到頂了。

New words: 習(xí)語短語：

open space 沒有太多人或建筑的開闊區(qū)域
(a big area, indoors or outdoors, that is not too crowded with people or objects)
what we're dealing with 我們正面對的，要處理
(what we're faced with)
deal with 面對，處理
(face, handle)
You know what? 你知道發(fā)生了什么嗎？（通常用于告知對方壞消息之前引起對方注意）
(This is usually used before another sentence with some bad news. "You know what? I forgot to bring that book you wanted to borrow.")
keep my mind off something 讓我不去想什么事情，為了讓我的思緒從某事上解脫出來
(keep me from thinking about something)
obelisk 方尖紀念碑
(a tall, four sided, narrow tapering monument with a pyramid on the top)
set a record 創(chuàng)紀錄
(do something better than ever before)

Dialogue 2

Jingjing and Mark are at the top of the Washington Monument.
馬克和京晶站在華盛頓紀念碑頂

Jingjing: Wow, what an incredible view!
京晶：哇哦！這風景也太美了吧！
Mark: Yeah, we take for granted being able to go to the top of tall buildings. But people a hundred years ago only had this as their chance to be 170 meters off the ground.
馬克：是呀，我們現(xiàn)在能登上高樓已經(jīng)習(xí)以為常了。但是一百多年前的人們只有這一個機會上到離地170米的地方。
Jingjing: This and the Eiffel Tower, right?
京晶：這個和埃菲爾鐵塔都是，對嗎？
Mark: Yeah. It's too bad we can only see through these narrow slits in the stone.
馬克：是的。很可惜我們只能從這些石頭的窄縫里往外看。
Jingjing: Hmm, but the good thing is there aren't so many other tall buildings around. I can see the whole city.
京晶：嗯，不過好在周圍沒有太多其他的高樓，我能看見全城。
Mark: The land in Washington D.C. is at a pretty low elevation. I read that they had to drain a swamp to build the city here.
馬克：華盛頓地區(qū)的海拔挺低的。我讀到過為了在這里建城需要抽干沼澤。
Jingjing: That would explain why there are so many lakes and waterways.
京晶：這就能解釋為什么這里有許多湖泊與河渠。
Mark: Jingjing, come over to this side. You can see the Lincoln Memorial.
馬克：京晶，到這邊來，你能看見林肯紀念堂。
Jingjing: Wow, it looks so small from up here. And, when we were there just half an hour ago, it looked huge.
京晶：哇，從這個高度看，它看上去好小啊。而且，我們半小時前在那兒的時候，看著簡直是巨大。
Mark: There's still one more side to view. Oh, the Capitol building is not that far away either.
馬克：還有一面可以看風景呢。國會大廈也在不遠處。
Jingjing: Would you like to head over there next?
京晶：你想不想接下來去那兒？
Mark: Sure, if you can put off eating until afterwards. We'll probably catch it in the afternoon light if we start walking soon.
馬克：可以啊。如果你可以等去完以后再吃飯的話。如果我們馬上就走，也許我們能趕在下午光線最好的時候游覽它。
Jingjing: Alright. Let's get started on the way down those stairs.
京晶：好。那我們開始下去吧。

New words: 習(xí)語短語：

take for granted 習(xí)以為常，理所當然
(expect to be able to do something, or expect to see something most of the time)
elevation 海拔
(distance, from a point on the ground, from sea level—NOT used for height of buildings)
head over there 去……地方
(go over there, start making the trip casually)
put off 推遲 (postpone)
catch 趕上看 (see something or meet someone)
afternoon light 下午最適合攝影的光線