每天跟Kelly 学英语-世界建筑奇观 Mount Rushmo
Kelly 自言自语： 我其实很喜欢做英译汉，也喜欢做翻译。这里的中文是网上的一些英语爱好者翻译的，大概对的我就没改了，有些翻的不正确，或者不流畅的，我就做了修改。翻译是很考文字功底的，直译和意译要相结合，才会生动，符合我们的习惯。这只是我的浅见，欢迎朋友们指正。
每天跟Kelly 学英语-世界建筑奇观 Mount Rushmore
Located in the Black Hills of South Dakota, Mount Rushmore is a monumental sculpture carved into the side of a mountain, depicting four of the most famous and influential presidents in the history of the United States of America:
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.
The idea for the sculpture was suggested in 1923 as a way to bring visitors to South Dakota, and sculptor Gutzon Borglum was selected to create it.
Congress approved the project in 1925, but work didn't begin until October 4, 1927.
Over the next 14 years, 400 workers blasted more than 400,000 tons of rock off the mountainside using dynamite, finishing the details with jackhammers and chisels.
Despite the dangerous conditions, no one died during the construction of Mount Rushmore!
The face of George Washington was finished first in 1934, followed by Thomas Jefferson in 1936.
Thomas Jefferson had been planned to stand on Washington's right, but when the rock on that side was found to be bad for carving, all the carving that had been done was blown off with dynamite and he was moved to the other side.
Abraham Lincoln's face was finished in 1937, and Theodore Roosevelt was the last one done in 1939.
Mount Rushmore cost less than one million dollars to complete.
Originally, the sculptures were supposed to show the presidents down to their waists, but the builders ran out of money and so they just made the heads.
The heads of the presidents are 60 feet or 18 meters tall — that's the height of a six-story building!
Their eyes are each 11 feet or 3.3 meters across and their noses are 20 feet or 6 meters long.
Today Mount Rushmore is carefully maintained to prevent cracking.
每天跟Kelly 学英语-世界建筑奇观 Mount Rushmore
Each year trained mountain climbers scale the monument and seal tiny cracks before they can grow and cause parts to break off!
Between two and three million people visit Mount Rushmore each year, to see the colossal presidents, making it the most popular tourist attraction in South Dakota.
拉什莫尔山位于南达科他州的布莱克山，是一座雕刻在山边的纪念碑，描绘了美国历史上最著名、最有影响力的四位总统: 乔治·华盛顿、托马斯·杰斐逊、亚伯拉罕·林肯和西奥多·罗斯福。
这个雕塑的想法是在1923年提出的，作为一种将游客带到南达科他州的方法，而雕塑家Gutzon Borglum被选中来创作它。
国会在1925年批准了这个项目，但直到1927年10月4日才开始工作。
在接下来的14年里，400名工人用炸药炸毁了山坡上40多万吨的岩石，用手提钻和凿子完成了细节。
尽管条件很危险，但在拉什莫尔山的建造过程中没有人死亡!
乔治·华盛顿(George Washington)的头像在1934年首次完成，随后是1936年的托马斯·杰斐逊(Thomas Jefferson)。 托马斯·杰斐逊原计划站在华盛顿的右边，但当那一侧的岩石被发现是不好的雕刻时，所有的雕刻都被炸毁了，他被移到了另一边，
亚伯拉罕·林肯的脸在1937年完成，西奥多·罗斯福是1939年的最后一个。 拉什莫尔山造价不到100万美元。 最初，这些雕塑要建到齐腰，但是建造者没有钱了，所以他们只是做了头。
总统的头像是60英尺或18米高——这是相当于一栋六层楼高。 它们的眼睛分别是11英尺或3.3米，鼻子长20英尺或6米长。
今天，拉什莫尔山被小心地维护以防止裂缝。 每年都有训练有素的登山者攀登这座纪念碑。将细小的裂痕封死以免它们继续扩大甚至脱落。
每年有两百到三百万人访问拉什莫尔山，去看那些伟大的总统，使之成为南达科他州最受欢迎的旅游景点。
monumental a.纪念碑的，不朽的
depict v.描绘，描画，描述
dynamite v.炸毁，摧毁，破坏
chisel n.凿子，口凿
despite n.辱骂，憎恨，怨恨 prep.尽管，不顾
blown a.吹制的，膨胀的，喘气的
waist n.腰，腰部
crack n.分裂，分解 adj.很快的，很好的
climber 脚扣
seal v.密封，封锁
colossal 巨大的、庞大的
