阿拉伯联合酋长国一共有七个弟兄，前三个叫得出名字：阿布扎比、迪拜、沙迦，后面的基本上都没有翻译，可以统称为小四至小七。
        话说这七个城邦组成阿联酋的时候，为了决定由谁来当国王这件事情，费了好大的工夫。本来是投票，结果大家都写自己的名字，也分不出个高下。于是按块头决定座次——阿布扎比最富有，面积最大，成了首都，其酋长自然成了国王。国家有统一的宪法、地方自治，因此既统一又相对自由和独立，这种制度也就延续至今。

There are seven brothers in the United Arab Emirates. The first three which I know the names are: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah. The last four are not translated. We can name them No.4 to No.7.

It is said that when the seven countries united，they spent a lot of efforts in deciding who will become the king. At first, they voted. But the result was that each country voted for itself.
Therefore, they decided to make the order according to the size. Abu Dhabi was the richest and biggest. Therefore, it became the capital. The emir of Abu Dhabi thus became the king. The country has a unified constitution and local autonomies which is unified and relatively free and independent. This system has been carried on till today.

        阿联酋虽然靠临印度洋，却是成片的沙漠地带。冬天平均气温20来摄氏度，夏天能够达到40-50度，终年少雨、干燥，只有1月份前后会有些降水。这么说起来，这个地方极为不适合人类、动物、植物生存。而就是这样一个地方、连带上几十万的人口，在1980年以前的几百年时间里，大部分还是生活在沙漠里的部落，另外少数人基本靠捕鱼为生。突然间受到了自古以来供奉的真主阿拉的垂青——发现了大量的石油储备，于是如同全国人民都中了"五百万"彩票一样，自此一发不可收拾，彻底将沙漠改造，建立了一座"违背自然规律"的顶级世界大都市。
        踏出机场大门，有点温热的空气迎面扑来，感觉尚好，虽然不是十分清新，倒也自然。路边是栽养的棕榈树，一棵接着一棵，全部采用地灌。地灌的水源也全部是海水净化，每棵树每年的花费大约在几千美元。道边的鲜花更是夸张，常年盛开——不是因为花的品种特殊，只是每当花谢了，就会用正在盛开的鲜花替换。而所有这些鲜花，都是100%从国外进口。类似"烧包"的事情还有很多。 

Although the United Arab Emirates is near to the Indian Ocean, it has a lot of deserts. In winter, the average temperature is about 20 centigrade. In summer, the average temperature can reach 40-50 centigrade. It rains little all year round. It only rains around January. In this case, this place does not seem suitable for human beings, animals and plants to live. However, this place, with a population of less than 1 million, and the majority of whom living in tribes in desert and a small number of them basically feeding on fishing during hundreds of years before 1980, suddenly, received the favor of Allah, who has been worshipped since ancient times. A great amount of oil reserve has been found here. Therefore, the whole population seemed to have won a lottery of five million dollars. Afterwards, they decided to totallytransform the desserts and build a world-class metropolitan which is totally against the order of nature.
When you walk outside of the airport, you will feel the warm air around your face. Although it is not totally fresh, it feels pretty natural. The palm trees are planted on each side of the road, one after another. All of them are watered by drip irrigation. The water source for drip irrigation is purified from seawater. It costs several thousand dollars to plant a tree here each year. The flowers on the sides of the roads are even more amazing. They are blossoming all year around, not because they are special species. When flowers are not blossoming any longer, they will be replaced by new flowers in full bloom. All the flowers are 100% imported. Similar extravagant examples can easily be found.

        阿布扎比还是一个尚在建设中的城市，可供游览的景点不是很多。值得一提的是阿联酋最大的清真寺，从2008年起才面向公众开放。外观一袭白色，从屋顶到墙壁到广场的石砖，都是一致的白。进入清真寺内，女士要穿上黑色的袍子，男士则可稍随意一些。由此可见，伊斯兰教对于女性的约束还是相当强的。清真寺的大厅中有3盏巨大的水晶灯，水晶全部由施华洛世奇提供，每盏灯耗资近千万人民币。墙壁上雕刻的纹路极具阿拉伯的风格和色彩，地毯也是纯手工制造，可谓精致、考究到了每一个细微的角落。整个大厅能够容纳6000多人同时朝拜，也是我见过的所有宗教寺庙中最宽敞的了。

Abu Dhabi is still a city in construction. There are not many places of interest for tourists to visit. However, its biggest mosque is worth mentioning. This mosque in the United Arab Emirates opened to the public in 2008. The whole mosque is in white, from roof to wall to the stone bricks on the square. When entering the mosque, ladies have to wear black robes, but gentlemen can wear clothes more casually. Therefore, Islam has quite strict restrictions on women. There are 3 huge crystal chandeliers in the hall of the mosque, which were all provided by Swarovski. Each of them costs nearly 10 million RMB. The carved patterns on the wall are of Arabic style and color and full of exotic aroma. The carpets are all handmade. The subtlety and refinement have reached each corner of the place. More than 6000 people can worship in the hall at the same time. It is the most spacious among all the religious temples I have ever seen.

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• therefore [´ðeəfɔ:]   ad.&conj.因此；所以   (初中英语单词)
• constitution [,kɔnsti´tju:ʃən]   n.宪法；体格；体质   (初中英语单词)
• system [´sistəm]   n.系统，体系，制度   (初中英语单词)
• indian [´indiən]   a.印度的 n.印度人   (初中英语单词)
• suitable [´su:təbəl, ´sju:-]   a.合适的，适当的   (初中英语单词)
• amount [ə´maunt]   n.总数；数量 v.合计   (初中英语单词)
• amazing [ə´meiziŋ]   a.惊人的；惊奇的   (初中英语单词)
• construction [kən´strʌkʃən]   n.建设；修建；结构   (初中英语单词)
• crystal [´kristəl]   n.水晶 a.水晶的   (初中英语单词)
• worship [´wə:ʃip]   n.&v.崇拜；敬仰   (初中英语单词)
• decided [di´saidid]   a.明显的；决定的   (高中英语单词)
• relatively [´relətivli]   ad.比较地；相对地   (高中英语单词)
• transform [træns´fɔ:m]   v.转化，转变；改造   (高中英语单词)
• species [´spi:ʃi:z]   n.(生物的)种，类   (高中英语单词)
• extravagant [ik´strævəgənt]   a.奢侈的；过度的   (高中英语单词)
• strict [strikt]   a.严厉的；精确的   (高中英语单词)
• spacious [´speiʃəs]   a.广阔的，宽敞的   (高中英语单词)
• fishing [´fiʃiŋ]   n.钓鱼；捕鱼；渔业   (英语四级单词)
• totally [´təutəli]   ad.统统，完全   (英语四级单词)
• metropolitan [,metrə´pɔlitən]   a.大城市的 n.大城市人   (英语四级单词)
• irrigation [,iri´geiʃən]   n.灌溉；水利   (英语四级单词)
• refinement [ri´fainmənt]   n.精炼；精制；文雅   (英语四级单词)
• lottery [´lɔtəri]   n.抽彩，抓阄，彩票   (英语六级单词)
• subtlety [´sʌtlti]   n.敏锐；巧妙；微妙   (英语六级单词)