Suzhou Classical Gardens

刘永宏

Many people in the world enjoy going to parks， where they can have fun， observe nature and relax. Now maybe Suzhou Classical Gardens are your best choice.

Suzhou is a well-known historic and cultural city as well as a tourist city of national importance. Praised as “garden city” since ancient time， Suzhou enjoys a high reputation worldwide due to its possession of favourable location and excellent talents. With a long history of two thousand old years， Suzhou classical gardens take a unique historic position in the world gardening history and become examples of Oriental gardening art. Suzhou classical gardens are also artistic treasures of Chinese nation. In December， 1997， Suzhou classical gardens were listed as world cultural heritage by UNESCO Heritage Committee. Famous scenic areas， such as Tiger Hill， Tianpin Hill and Stone Lake， enjoying the same high reputation as Suzhou gardens， are also great tourist attractions of the world through the ages.

The earliest gardens of Suzhou， belonging to the King of  Wu， can date far back to the Spring and Autumn period in the 6th century B. C. The Pijiang Garden was recorded as the earliest private garden-house dating from the 4th century Eastern Jin Dynasties. More gardens were built in the following centuries， during the prosperous Ming and Qing Dynasties， from the 16th to the 18th century in particular. Dozens of them have survived to the present and are kept in a good state of protection.

With their numerical superiority and artistic perfection， the classical gardens of Suzhou has had a good reputation in this part of China，popularly known as “the earthly paradise”.

Exercise

I. Translate the Chinese into English using the words mentioned in the passage.

1. 我們幸福的童年应归功于父亲的辛勤工作。

2. 它成为我们的家产已有很多年了。

3. 此城堡建于古罗马时代。

4. 总统健康状况不佳。

5. 列举三个理由说明你为什么喜欢那个电影。

II. 根据解释，写出短文中出现过的词语。

1. ______ n. the character， quality or worth of a person as it is judged by other people

2. ______ adj. wealthy

3. ______ n. the state of owning; something you own

4. ______ n. store of gold， silver， jewels， money， or other valuable things

5. ______ n. something that makes you want to come nearer， look at it， etc.

6. ______ adj. concerning one or a few people only—not people in general; not public

7. ______ n. the state of being guarded

8. ______ n. place where you are totally happy

9. ______ adj. best; what people have thought is the best for many years

10. ______ adj. very good