全球社会热点新闻 苏黎世当选最佳居住城市（在线收听）

Zurich has beaten its fellow Swiss rival Geneva to become the most desirable place to live in the world, according to a survey released on April 10th, 2006，measuring quality of life in more than 200 cities worldwide.

根据2006年4月10日公布的一项衡量全球200多个城市生活质量的调查，苏黎世击败了自己的瑞士同胞兼竞争对手日内瓦，成为 世界上最适宜居住的城市。

Each city was judged on factors such as personal safety, the environment and access to public services such as health, education and transport.

被调査城市的参选项目包括个人安全、环境质量和公共设施 (卫生、教育和交通)等。

Zurich beat Geneva into second place, while Vancouver in Canada was third. The British Columbian city is consistently voted as one of the most desirable cities in the world to live. Surrounded by water on three sides and overlooked by mountains, it is a diverse city with a high standard of living, relatively low crime and a mild climate.

被苏黎世击败的日内瓦排名第二，而加拿大的温哥华排名第 三。英国哥伦布市是世界上最适宜居住城市票选排行榜上的常客。 它三面环水，隐藏在群山之下，是一个多元化的城市|拥有较髙的生 活水准，相对较低的犯罪率以及温和的气候。

Zurich is situated where the river Limmat issues from the north-western end of Lake Zurich, about 30 km north of the Alps. Zurich is surrounded by wooded hills. The river Sihl meets with the Limmat at the end of Platzspitz, which borders the Swiss National Museum. The geographic (and historic) center of the city is the Lindeuhof, a small natural hill on the west bank of the Limmat, about 700 meters north of where the river issues from Lake Zurich. Today the incorporated city stretches somewhat beyond the natural hydrographic confines of the hills and includes some neighborhoods to the northeast in the Glatt Valley and to the north in the Limmat Valley.

苏黎世位于利马特河西北部的源头苏黎世湖，距阿尔卑斯 山约30公里。苏黎世四周都是树木茂盛的山丘。Sihl河与利马特 河在临近瑞士国家博物馆的Platzspitz相汇。林登霍夫是城市的 地理（与历史）中心，它是利马特河西岸的一座小山，距河北部 的源头苏黎世湖约700米。今天，城市的扩展不受自然山川的限 制，已延伸至周边地区，其中包括东北的Glatt谷地和北部的利马 特河河谷。

For the second year in a row living standards in Dublin were rated above those of London and Paris. The Irish capital came 24th in a survey of 215 cities compared to London which trailed 15 places behind on 39th, the same spot as last year, and Paris which came in at 33rd.

爱尔兰首都都柏林的生活质量连续两年超过伦敦和巴黎。在参与评选的215座城市中，都柏林位于第24位:伦敦落后15个名次，屈 居第39位，与2005年的名次持平，巴黎处于第33位。

The continuing success of Dublin is largely due to economic growth that has spawned one of Europe’s most successful emerging economies, often referred to as the “Celtic Tiger9’'

都柏林继续取得成功的主要原因是经济的增长，在那诞生了欧洲最成功的新兴经济体之一， 其通常被称为“凯尔特之虎”。

In a similar survey last year, the Economist magazine^ intelligence unit rated Ireland top in its Uqual-ity of life” index rating of 111 countries citing “high GDP, low unemployment” and a society holding on, so far, to traditional values.

在去年一个类似的调査中,《经济学家》杂志的情报部门将爱尔兰排在了其111个国家“生活质 量”指数评价的首位。原因是该国“国内生产总值髙,失业率低”，并将其传统的价值观维持到现在。

Glasgow and Birmingham, the only British cities apart from London to make it into the table，ranked joint 55th along with Los Angeles and Tsukuba in Japan.

英国除了伦敦之外，只有格拉斯哥和伯明翰人榜,与洛杉矶和日本筑波一起排在第55位。

The latest survey, by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, revealed almost half of the world's 30 most desirable cities for expatriates to live in are situated in western Europe. Germany and Switzerland dominate the table with three contenders each in the top 10. Zurich, Geneva, Bern,Frankfurt, Dsseldorf and Munich accounted for six of the top 10 entries alone.

最近的调査是由美世人力资源顾问公司做的。世界上30个最适合移民居住的城市中有近一半 在西欧。德国、瑞士以及其他3名竞争对手当选最令人向往的国家,包揽最适于居住城市排行榜前 10名,苏黎世、日内瓦、伯尔尼、法兰克福、杜塞尔多夫和慕尼黑占据前6名的宝座。

The “quality of life” survey based its table on criteria ranging from political, social and economic factors, which aimed to establish the best and worst cities for expatriates.

“生活质量”调査的评选标准参考了政治、社会、经济等诸多因素，目的是评选出最适合或最不 适合移民居住的城市。

Researchers also found a rise in living standards in the capitals of those eastern European states that recently joined the EU with Ljubljana, Vilnius and Tallinn all improving.

研究人员还发现最近加入欧盟的东欧国家的生活水平有所提髙,这其中包括卢布尔雅那、维 尔纽斯和塔林。

Slagin Parakatil, a senior researcher at Mercer said: 6The standard of living in many eastern European cities is gradually improving as the countries that most recently joined the EU attract greater investment."

美世的一位高级研究员Slagin Parakatil说最近加人欧盟后，东欧的许多城市吸引了更多 的投资,其生活水平正在逐步改善。”

Not surprisingly, Baghdad was deemed the worst place to live in, closely followed by Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo, a city scarred by years of civil war where many houses are in ruins and electricity and water supplies are erratic.

不足为奇的是，巴格达被视为是最不适合居住的城市。紧随其后的是刚果共和国的布拉柴维 尔，由于长年内战这座城市已经伤痕累累,很多住宅成为废墟,水电供应极不稳定。