Passage 42

学霸导读　帝国大厦是美国纽约的地标建筑物之一，是保持世界最高建筑地位最久的摩天大楼。电影拍摄者的青睐也为它增添了独特的人文色彩。

The Empire State Building （ 帝国大厦 ） has held a special place in the hearts of Americans since it was completed in 1931. It r 1 more than 443 meters into the sky. For more than forty years， it was the tallest building in the world.

It has one hundred and two levels and six thousand f ive hundred windows. Visitors can ride in one of seventy-three elevators that take them from the b 2 to very near the top of the building. Some of these elevators are very fast, reaching the eightieth f loor in only forty-f ive seconds.

The heads of government of almost every n 3 in the world have visited the Empire State Building. These important people are just a few of million who have ridden to the observation area near the top of the building each year. From there, visitors can see almost all of New York City. They can see the view a 4 the Hudson River into the state of New Jersey. They also can see ships in the East River.

Even if you have never visited New York， there is a good chance for you to see the Empire State Building. It has been photographed c 5 times. It has even played parts in movies. One is about a huge ape （ 猿 ） that escapes and climbs to the top of the building. The movie is King Kong （ 《金刚》 ）. It was made in 1933. The Empire State Building also appeared in the love story An Affair to Remember （ 《金玉盟》 ）. Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr play a man and a woman who meet and fall in love on a ship. They are looking at the New York City skyline from the ship when they plan a future meeting in the Empire State Building.

More recently， in Sleepless in Seattle （ 《西雅图夜未眠》 ）， two people in love agree to meet at the Observation Deck of the Empire State Building on Valentine’s Day. B 6 do arrive， but one is a little later. They almost m 7 each other.

In the early nineteen seventies， the Empire State Building lost its place as the tallest building in New York. People in the city then had the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center to look up to. Tragically that all changed on the morning of September 11， 2001. Terrorists hijacked （ 劫持 ） passenger airplanes into the Twin Towers and destroyed them. The Empire State Building again has become the city’s tallest building.

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高频词汇

skyline /'skaɪlaɪn/　n. 天际线　tragically /'trædʒɪkli/　 adv. 悲惨地