探索不列颠多元文化研究：威斯敏斯特宫

The Palace of Westminster，also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace，in London，is where the two Houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom meet.The palace lies on the north bank of the River Thames in the London borough of the City of Westminster，close to the government buildings of Whitehall.

伦敦的威斯敏斯特宫，又称国会大厦，是英国上下议院集会的地方。其地处伦敦的威斯敏斯特城，泰晤士河北岸，紧邻以白厅为中心的其他政府建筑物。

The palace contains around 1,100 rooms，100 staircases and 4.8 kilometres of corridors.The building includes four floors; the ground floor includes offices，dining rooms and bars.The "first floor" houses the main rooms of the Palace，including the Chambers，the lobbies and the libraries.A lthough the building mainly dates from the 19th century，remaining elements of the original historic buildings include Westminster Hall，used today for major public ceremonial events such as lyings in state，and the Jewel Tower.

威斯敏斯特宫包括约1 100个房间、100座楼梯和4.8千米长的走廊。大厦分为四层，首层有办公室、餐厅及酒吧。二层为宫殿主要厅室，如议会厅、议会休息室和图书厅。尽管这座宫殿始建于19世纪，但目前仍保留了初建时的许多建筑物，今天用作重大的公共庆典仪式，如用于国葬前陈列遗体的威斯敏斯特厅，还有宝石塔等。

Westminster remained the monarch's chief London residence until a fire destroyed part of the structure in 1512.In 1530，King Henry VIII used it as his principal residence.

1512年一场大火焚毁部分建筑物之前，威斯敏斯特宫一直都是国王在伦敦的主要住所。1530年，亨利八世把这里定为自己的主要寝宫。

On 16 October 1834，a fire broke out in the palace.In the resulting conflagration both houses of Parliament were destroyed along with most of the other buildings in the palace complex.In 1836，Charles Barry's plan was chosen for a Gothic-style palace.Although most of the work had been carried out by 1860，construction was not finished until a decade afterwards.The sumptuous and distinctive Gothic style features the interiors.

1834年10月16日，宫殿失火。大火烧毁了议会大厅和宫殿里的许多其他建筑群。1836年，查尔斯·巴里的哥特式宫殿方案被采纳。虽然大部分工程都在1860年前得以实施，但整个工程却在此后持续了10年。建筑内部装饰采用了华丽独特的哥特式风格。

During the Second World War，the Palace of Westminster was hit fourteen times by bombs.The worst of these was on 10 May 1941，when the Commons Chamber was destroyed and three people were killed.The chamber was re-built and the work was completed in 1950.

“二战”期间，威斯敏斯特宫遭受过14次炸弹袭击。最严重的一次发生在1941年5月10日，下议院的议政厅被毁，3人遇难。该议政厅的重建工作于1950年完成。

Palace of Westminster includes several towers.The tallest is the 98.5-metre Victoria Tower，a square tower at the south-western end of the Palace.Over the middle of the Palace，stands the octagonal Central Tower.It is 91.4 metres tall，making it the shortest of the three principal towers of the Palace.Unlike the other towers，the Central Tower possesses a spire，and was designed as a high-level air intake.At the north-eastern end of the Palace is the most famous of the towers，the Clock Tower，commonly known as Big Ben.The Clock Tower is 96.3 metres tall.

威斯敏斯特宫包括数座塔，最高的当属方形的维多利亚塔，塔高98.5米，位于宫殿西南角。宫殿中部向上矗立着一座八角形中央塔，高91.4米，是威斯敏斯特宫三座主要塔中最矮的一座。不同于另外两座，中央塔有一个尖顶，被设计成高层进气口。宫殿东北角就是最为著名的钟楼，通常称为大本钟，高96.3米。(www.xing528.com)

The Clock Tower houses a large，four-faced clock—the Great Clock of Westminster.The tower also houses five bells，which strike the Westminster Chimes every quarter hour.The largest and most famous of the bells is Big Ben，which strikes the hour.This is the third-heaviest bell in England，weighing 13.8 tonnes.Although Big Ben properly refers only to the bell，it is colloquially applied to the whole tower.

钟楼顶部是一座巨大的四面时钟，被称为威斯敏斯特大钟。钟楼拥有5座时钟，每过一刻都会报时。其中最大、最著名的就是大本钟，每过一小时击打一次。它也是英格兰第三重的钟表，重达13.8吨。尽管“大本钟”原指该钟表本身，但今天人们已经习惯用它来称呼整座塔楼。

The Big Ben is located in the tower at the eastern end of the Houses of Parliament，Westminster，Greater London.It was designed by Edmund Beckett and Baron Grim thorpe.

大本钟位于大伦敦威斯敏斯特区议会大厦最东头的塔上，由埃德蒙·贝克特和巴伦·格里姆索普共同设计而成。

The Big Ben is very famous throughout the world，but nobody really knows why it is called Big Ben.There are two hearsays about this.Some people say that it was named after Benjamin Caunt，a boxer，who was called Big Ben.More people believe it was called after Welshman，Sir Benjamin Hall.He was the commissioner of the work at the time ofits installation in 1859.A story was told that during a debate in the Commons on what to call the bell，Sir Benjamin was about to give his ideas when a MP who sat behind the front bench shouted，"Let's call it Big Ben! "Then this name came into being.

大本钟世界闻名，但没有人真正知道其名字由来。对此有两种传闻。一些人说它是以一个叫本杰明·康特的人命名的，那人是个拳击手，人们管他叫“大本”。更多的人认为，它是因威尔士本杰明·霍尔爵士而得名，他是1859年安装大本钟时的工务大臣。有这样一个故事，说在下议院讨论给这个大钟取什么名字时，本杰明爵士正要说出自己的想法，一个坐在第二排的议员喊道：“咱们就叫它‘大本钟’吧。”这个名字即由此而来。

The bell hasn't gone through a smooth road since the beginning ofits design.Because there was great disagreement about the design of the clock，it took fifteen years to build.In 1857，the bell was completed and tested on the ground，but a four-foot crack appeared and the bell had to be cast again.Finally，the clock started ticking on 31 May，1859，and struck its first chime on 11，July.Then in September，the bell cracked again.It was silent for four years but was eventually turned a quarter of a revolution.In this way，the crack was not under the striking hammer.Craftsmen made a square above the crack to stop it graving longer and it can still be seen today.

大本钟从设计开始就经历着各种不顺。由于在设计上存在巨大分歧，所以建此大钟花了15年时间。1857年，大钟完工并在地上试用，但因为出现了一个4英尺长的裂缝，这口大钟不得不重新铸造。1859年5月31日，它终于开始嘀嗒计时，并于7月11日发出了第一声钟鸣。但在9月份，钟又出现了裂缝，随后便沉默了4年。最后人们把钟旋转了1/4圈，这样一来，裂缝就避开了击锤部分。工匠们在裂缝上方做了一个方形支架来阻止其延伸，现在人们依然可以看到那个方形支架。

The Big Ben is famous not only for its 13-tonweight，but also for its accuracy which is a result ofits precise mechanism.Even one extra penny's weight on the balance will cause a gain of two fifths of a second in twenty four hours.Although there have been several problems，the bell is still striking today.Its chimes can be heard all over the world on the BBC.

大本钟之所以举世闻名，不仅在于它13吨的重量，还在于它的精确度。它的机械装置非常精密，哪怕钟摆上多一分重量，就会让其在24小时内快2/5秒。虽然大本钟出现过几次故障，但时至今日它仍然能为人们准确报时。大本钟的钟声通过英国广播电台传向了全世界。