CCTV9英语新闻10月：首条横跨欧亚的铁路海底隧道在土耳其开通

Turkey has opened the world’s first trans-continental underwater rail tunnel linking Asia and Europe.
 土耳其开通了世界上第一条贯通欧亚大陆的海底铁路隧道。
 
The Marmaray tunnel was opened on Tuesday. The tunnel is over 13 kilometres in length, with 1-point-4 kilometres running under the Bosphorus Strait. The Strait connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and divides Istanbul between Asia and Europe. Turkish officials say that at more than 55 meters deep, it is the deepest submerged railway tunnel of its type in the world.
 
马尔马拉隧道于周二开通。这条隧道总长超过13公里，水下部分1.4公里。 博斯普鲁斯海峡沟通黑海和马尔马拉海，把伊斯坦布尔分隔成亚洲和欧洲两部分。土耳其政府官员表示，该隧道位于海床下方超过55公尺深，是全球最深的海底铁路隧道。
 
It will transport over one million commuters per day between the continents in four minutes. Officials hope it will ease some of Istanbul’s chronic¹ traffic, particularly over the two bridges that currently² connect the two sides of the city. The project started in 2005, and was scheduled to be completed in four years, but was delayed by important archaeological finds.
 
该隧道一日可载客一百多万人，从亚洲到欧洲只需4分钟。土耳其政府官员希望该隧道的建成能使伊斯坦布尔拥堵的交通大为缓解，尤其是连接该城市的两座大桥的。 这项工程2005年动工，原计划四年内完工，但由于有重大考古发现而延期。
 

1 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

2 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。