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The leaning Tower of Pisa
比薩斜塔
The Tower of Pisa was built to be the most beautiful bell tower in Italy.
比薩塔是整個意大利建造的最美麗的鐘塔。
It is the bell tower of the Pisa Cathedral.
是為比薩大教堂所建的鐘塔。
However, not only is the marble tower beautiful, it is perhaps the strangest tower in the world.
然而，這座大理石塔不僅美麗，大概還是世界上最奇特的。
It leans to one side and looks like it is going to fall over.
它斜向一邊，看上去好像要倒似的。
The building of the tower began in August 1173 and took nearly two hundred years to complete.
這座建筑始于1173年8月，歷時近200年。
Nobody is certain who designed the tower,
沒人確定是誰設計了這座塔，
but for many years it was said that Bonanno Pisano was the architect.
但是多年來人們視伯納諾·畢加諾為建筑師。
In 1319, all the floors were finished and years later,
1319年，鐘塔地面鋪設完畢。
work eventually began on the bell chamber at the top.
幾年后，塔頂鐘室的工程終于開始了。
It was officially opened after nearly 200 years of construction.
比薩塔在近200年的建造后正式開放。
The tower has eight floors. It is 54.5 metres tall with 294 steps up to the bell chamber.
塔高8層。這座塔到頂樓鐘室高54.5米，有294級臺階。
From the top, there is a very beautiful view.
站在頂樓，風景優美。
Italian scientist, Galileo, once did his famous experiments about gravity and falling objects from the top of the tower.
意大利科學家伽利略曾在這座塔頂上進行他著名的地心引力和物體下落實驗。
Why does the tower lean?
為什么塔斜了？
In fact, it was already leaning while they were building it.
其實，這座塔在建造時就開始傾斜了。
As soon as three floors had been built, by 1178, it began to lean as the ground beneath it sank.
1178年建造第三層時，塔就因為地面下陷開始傾斜。
The builders tried to make the tower straight again as they added more floors,
建造者在繼續建造過程中試圖把塔正過來，
but the lean only got worse as the tower grew.
但隨著塔的增高傾斜得更厲害了。
It continued to lean by about 1 millimetre every year until finally,
它每年都以1毫米的速度傾斜，
on 7 January 1990, it was closed to the public.
直到最后1990年1月7日停止向公眾開放。
For ten years, the rescue of the tower was a serious problem.
10年來，對這座塔的拯救是個嚴峻的問題。
The top was leaning over by 5 metres to the south and if its movement was not stopped,
塔頂向南傾斜了5米，如果移動不停止，
the tower would one day fall over.
這座塔有一天會倒塌。
Measurements taken in 1911 showed that the tower would collapse by 2050, if not sooner.
1911年的測量顯示這座塔最晚會在2050年倒塌。
After 10 years of hard work, it was officially reopened on 16 June 2001.
經過10年的努力，這座塔于2001年6月16日重新正式開放。
However it was not opened to the public until the end of 2001 and even now,
但是直到2001年底才對公眾開放，
the number of visitors is restricted.
而且即便現在參觀人數也是受限制的。
It is now safe for the next 300 years because engineers have reduced the lean by 50 centimetres
塔在今后的300年是安全的，因為工程師們將塔的傾斜度減小了50厘米，
to give it the same lean that it had in 1838.
回到了1838年時的傾斜角度。
