The iconic symbol of Paris， the Eiffel Tower opened to the public in 1889， and the graceful metal structure has continued to captivate the world for 130 years.

But some little-known facts about the Eiffel Tower may surprise you. Weve put together a list.

埃菲爾鐵塔是巴黎的標(biāo)志性建筑，于1889年向公眾開放。130年以來，這座宏偉的金屬結(jié)構(gòu)建筑一直吸引著全球的目光。

但是關(guān)于埃菲爾鐵塔一些鮮為人知的事實(shí)可能會(huì)讓你驚訝。我們一起來看看。

It was supposed to be torn down in 1909

原本打算1909年就把埃菲爾鐵塔拆掉

The original intention was for the structure， which was built for the 1889 Worlds Fair， to be demolished after 20 years. But engineer Gustave Eiffel later arranged to have a radio antenna and transmitter placed in the tower， and the importance of the tower to communications spared it from demolition. Currently 120 antennas broadcast radio and television transmissions from the tower.

埃菲爾鐵塔是為1889年世界博覽會(huì)修建的，人們最初打算在建成20年后把它拆掉。后來，設(shè)計(jì)師古斯塔夫·埃菲爾在塔上安裝了無線電天線和發(fā)射機(jī)，鐵塔的通信作用使之保留了下來。目前塔上有120根無線電廣播和電視信號(hào)傳輸天線。

The Eiffel Tower once housed a newspaper printing plant

埃菲爾鐵塔上曾經(jīng)有一家報(bào)紙印刷廠

During the 1889 Worlds Fair， the newspaper Le Figaro set up a small printing operation on the third floor that produced a daily commemorative edition for visitors to buy.

在1889年的世界博覽會(huì)期間，法國(guó)《費(fèi)加羅報(bào)》在埃菲爾鐵塔三樓設(shè)立了一家小型印刷廠，每天為游客提供紀(jì)念版報(bào)紙。

Its one of the worlds most visited paid tourist attraction

埃菲爾鐵塔是全世界游客付費(fèi)最多的旅游景點(diǎn)之一

Almost seven million visitors each year pay the admission fee to visit the Eiffel Tower. Since the structure opened in 1889， nearly 300 million people have experienced the tower.

每年有近700萬游客購(gòu)買門票參觀埃菲爾鐵塔。自鐵塔1889年開放以來，已有近3億人前往參觀。

Theres an apartment at the top

鐵塔頂部有一間公寓

A private apartment that Gustave Eiffel used as an office was created at the top of the tower. Eiffel entertained dignitaries there， and today visitors to the apartment will see it as it looked in Eiffels day， with life-like wax models of Eiffel and Thomas Edison.

鐵塔設(shè)計(jì)師古斯塔夫·埃菲爾用作辦公的私人公寓位于塔頂，他在那里招待貴賓。如今，去塔頂公寓參觀的游客能見證埃菲爾的一天，那里還有埃菲爾和托馬斯·愛迪生的仿真人版蠟像。

You could send a postcard by balloon from the Eiffel Tower

你可以在埃菲爾鐵塔上用氣球寄明信片

As a promotion during the 1889 Worlds Fair， visitors could buy a commemorative postcard that was attached to a balloon and a small parachute. Visitors would write an address on the postcard and release it into the air from the tower. The postcard was supposed to fall back to earth gently due to the parachute， but its not known how many of these postcards ever made it to their intended addresses.

作為1889年世界博覽會(huì)期間的宣傳推廣活動(dòng)，游客可以購(gòu)買一張附在一個(gè)氣球和小型降落傘上的紀(jì)念明信片。游客在明信片上寫下地址，再將氣球從鐵塔上放到空中。明信片會(huì)隨著降落傘緩慢落地，但不知道這些明信片中有多少能到達(dá)預(yù)期的地址。

The paint color of the Eiffel Tower presents an optical illusion

埃菲爾鐵塔的油漆顏色造成視錯(cuò)覺

Because the taller sections of the tower are against the brighter sky， the bronze paint color is shaded slightly darker than the color closer to the ground. This is to give the impression that the tower is painted in a single shade.

因?yàn)殍F塔的較高部分與較亮的天空相對(duì)，所以那部分用的青銅漆顏色比靠近地面部分的顏色略深。這樣做的目的是讓鐵塔的整體顏色看上去是一致的。

You can enjoy some bubbly at the top

你可以在塔頂享用香檳酒

The Eiffel Tower has a champagne bar at the top level. There are a couple of options available， starting at about $15 for a glass of bubbly.

埃菲爾鐵塔頂層設(shè)有香檳酒吧，飲品有多種選擇，一杯香檳酒起價(jià)約15美元。

The Eiffel Tower is a naked Statue of Liberty

埃菲爾鐵塔是裸體版的自由女神像

So to speak. Gustave Eiffels company designed the metal structure that holds the Statue of Liberty together. You can think of the Eiffel Tower as a Statue of Liberty without the skin， though the shapes of the two structures are quite different.

可以這么說。古斯塔夫·埃菲爾的公司也為自由女神像設(shè)計(jì)了金屬結(jié)構(gòu)。你可以認(rèn)為埃菲爾鐵塔就是除去外部附著的自由女神像，盡管兩座建筑的形狀大相徑庭。

Its much less crowded at night

晚上鐵塔沒有那么擁擠

Visitors to Paris may not be as romantic as we thought. Although Paris is known as the City of Light and its illuminated attractions can easily be seen at night， the Eiffel Tower has much fewer visitors in the evening than during the day. The tower is open year-round until 11：45 pm， with the last admissions at 11 pm， 10：30 pm to visit the top. During the height of summer， the tower stays open for another hour.

去往巴黎的游客可能沒我們想的那么浪漫。盡管巴黎以“光之城”著稱，晚上很容易看到眾多的照明景觀，但埃菲爾鐵塔晚上的游客比白天少得多。鐵塔全年開放，每日關(guān)閉時(shí)間為晚上11點(diǎn)45分，最后入場(chǎng)時(shí)間為晚上11點(diǎn)，塔頂最后入場(chǎng)時(shí)間是晚上10點(diǎn)半。在夏季旅游高峰期，鐵塔還延長(zhǎng)開放一小時(shí)。

19th-century elevators are still in operation

19世紀(jì)的電梯仍在運(yùn)行

Two of the original elevator cars， and the 1899 hydraulic equipment， are still functioning in the Eiffel Tower elevators that go to the third floor in the east and west pillars. The equipment has been updated， but it is essentially the same technology that was used more than a century ago.

兩臺(tái)建塔時(shí)原有的電梯廂以及1899年的液壓設(shè)備仍在運(yùn)行，可以將游客送到東部和西部鐵柱的三層。電梯設(shè)備雖然經(jīng)過更新，但基本上與一個(gè)多世紀(jì)以前使用的技術(shù)相同。

Word Study

iconic /a?'k?n?k/ adj. 符號(hào)的;圖標(biāo)的

captivate /'k?pt?ve?t/ v. 迷住;使著迷

The children were captivated by her stories.

demolish /d?'m?l??/ v. 拆毀，拆除（建筑物）

The factory is due to be demolished next year.

release /r?'li?s/ v. 放開;松開

He refused to release her arm.

function /'f??k?n/ v. 正常工作;運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)

Despite the power cuts， the hospital continued to function normally.