Final Designs for London's New Buses Unveiled伦敦推出最新版巴士设计

What is red but green, open but closed and old but new? Answer: London's stunning new double-decker buses.

The traditional red double-deckers are a symbol of London. Their iconicstatus was sealed in 2008 when one bus made the longer-than-usual trip to Beijing to collect a very special passenger: the Olympic Flame.

Now a new bus design has been unveiled and it has been wowing Londoners.

The new bus uses more efficient green technology and has two staircases and an open platform, enabling people to hop onandhop off. It also has a uniqueasymmetric design for the front end, which gives it a futuristic look.

Despite its innovations the design is not all new. Its exterior is very reminiscentof London's faithful old double-decker, the Routemaster.

In December 2005 the original Routemaster was withdrawn from general service for accessibility and environmental reasons, but it can still be seen on two heritage routes in London.

In July 2008 a competition was launched by the London Mayor, Boris Johnson, to design a new Routemaster bus for the capital. There were over 700 entries, with several designers jointly winning the £25,000 (244,000 Yuan) prize.

The new double-deckers, which have three doors to speed up boarding, are expected to be in service in 2012.

Mr Johnson said: "This iconic new part of our transportsystem is not only beautiful, but also has a green heart beating beneath its stylish, swooshingexterior".

He expects cities around the globe to be "beside themselveswith envy" for what he described as a "stunning red emblem" of 21st-century London.

However, Mr Johnson has not yet persuaded everyone to climb on board. The mayor has been criticised by some for the high cost of the new buses. A normal double-decker bus costs around £190,000 (around 1,900,000 Yuan) but it has cost £7.8m (76,000,000 Yuan) to design and build five new ones.

• platform [´plætfɔ:m]   n.(平)台；讲台；站台   (初中英语单词)
• faithful [´feiθfəl]   a.忠实的；可靠的   (初中英语单词)
• competition [,kɔmpi´tiʃən]   n.比赛；竞争   (初中英语单词)
• transport [træn´spɔ:t]   n.运输；流放   (初中英语单词)
• system [´sistəm]   n.系统，体系，制度   (初中英语单词)
• everyone [´evriwʌn]   pron.=everybody 每人   (初中英语单词)
• normal [´nɔ:məl]   a.正规的 n.正常状态   (初中英语单词)
• symbol [´simbəl]   n.符号；象征   (高中英语单词)
• efficient [i´fiʃənt]   a.有效的，有能力的   (高中英语单词)
• unique [ju:´ni:k]   a.唯一的 n.独一无二   (高中英语单词)
• traditional [trə´diʃənəl]   a.传统的，习惯的   (英语四级单词)
• status [´steitəs]   n.身份；情形；状况   (英语四级单词)
• exterior [ik´stiəriə]   n.&a.外表(的)   (英语四级单词)
• withdrawn [wið´drɔ:n]   withdraw过去分词   (英语四级单词)
• heritage [´heritidʒ]   n.遗产，继承物   (英语四级单词)
• winning [´winiŋ]   n.&a.胜利(的)   (英语四级单词)
• beating [´bi:tiŋ]   n.敲；搅打；失败   (英语六级单词)