楊舟

On July 08， 1951， Paris， the capital city of France， celebrated its 2，000th birthday. In fact， a few more candles wouldve technically1 been required on the birthday cake， as the City of Lights was most likely founded around 250 B.C.

1951年的7月8日這一天，法國的首都巴黎慶祝了它的2000歲的生日。事實上，生日蛋糕上嚴(yán)格來說還需要多加幾支蠟燭，因為光明之城（巴黎的別稱）很有可能是在公元前250年左右建立的。

The history of Paris can be traced back to a Gallic tribe known as the Parisii， who sometime around 250 B.C. settled an island （known today as Ile de la Cite） in the Seine River， which runs through present-day Paris. By 52 B.C.， Julius Caesar and the Romans had taken over the area， which eventually became Christianized2 and known as Lutetia， Latin for “midwater dwelling3”. The settlement later spread to both the left and right banks of the Seine and the name Lutetia was replaced with “Paris.” In 987 A.D.， Paris became the capital of France. As the city grew， the Left Bank earned a reputation4 as the intellectual district while the Right Bank became known for business.

巴黎的歷史可以追溯到一個叫做巴黎西人的高盧部落，大約在公元前250年左右，他們在貫穿了今天的巴黎的塞納河中的一個島嶼（今天被稱為西岱島）上定居下來。到公元前52年前，尤利烏斯·凱撒和羅馬人占領(lǐng)了這一地區(qū)，該地區(qū)最終被基督教化，并被稱為盧泰西亞，拉丁語中意為“水中的居所”。后來，定居點擴展到了塞納河的兩岸，盧泰西亞的名字被“巴黎”所替代。公元987年，巴黎成為了法國的首都。隨著城市的發(fā)展，塞納河左岸贏得了“知識區(qū)”的美譽，而右岸則以商業(yè)聞名。

During the French Renaissance5 period， from the late 15th century to the early 17th century， Paris became a center of art， architecture and science. In the mid-1800s， Napoleon III hired civic planner Georges-Eugene Hausmann to modernize Paris. Hausmanns designs gave the city wide， tree-lined boulevards6， large public parks， a new sewer7 system and other public works projects. The city continued to develop as an important hub8 for the arts and culture. In the 1860s， an artistic movement known as French Impression emerged， featuring the work of a group of Paris-based artists that included Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

在法國文藝復(fù)興時期，從15世紀(jì)末到17世紀(jì)初，巴黎成為了藝術(shù)、建筑和科學(xué)的中心。19世紀(jì)中期，拿破侖三世聘請了市政規(guī)劃師喬治·尤金·豪斯曼，使巴黎現(xiàn)代化。豪斯曼的設(shè)計賦予了這座城市寬闊而綠樹成蔭的林蔭大道、大型公共公園、新的下水道系統(tǒng)和其他公共工程項目。這座城市繼續(xù)發(fā)展成為了重要的藝術(shù)和文化中心。19世紀(jì)60年代，興起了一個被稱為“法國印象派”的藝術(shù)運動，以一群巴黎藝術(shù)家，包括克勞德·莫奈和皮埃爾·奧古斯特·雷諾的作品為代表。

Today， Paris is home to some 2 million residents， with an additional 10 million people living in the surrounding metropolitan9 area. The city retains its reputation as a center for food， fashion， commerce and culture. Paris also continues to be one of the worlds most popular tourist destinations， renowned for such sights as the Eiffel Tower （built in 1889 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution）， the Arc de Triomphe， the Champs-Elysees， Notre Dame Cathedral （built in 1163）， Luxembourg Gardens and the Louvre Museum， home to Leonardo da Vincis painting “Mona Lisa.”

如今，巴黎有大約200萬居民，另外還有1000萬人居住在周邊的大都市地區(qū)。這座城市保留了其作為食品、時尚、商業(yè)和文化中心的美譽。它仍然是世界上最受歡迎的旅游勝地之一，以埃菲爾鐵塔（建于1889年以紀(jì)念法國大革命100周年）、凱旋門、香榭麗舍、巴黎圣母院（建于1163年）、盧森堡花園和擁有萊昂納多·達(dá)·芬奇的作品《蒙娜麗莎》的盧浮宮博物館等著名景點而聞名。