Almost everyone has read about the Taj Mahal in India. It is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. Over three hundred years ago Shah Jehan2 built the Taj Mahal as a tomb for his wife.
　　Shah Jehan wanted his wife's tomb to be perfect. He did not care about time or money. He brought together workmen3 from all Asia. Altogether, over 20,000 men worked on the building, and it took them over seventeen years to finish it.
　　The building rests on4 a platform of red sandstone5. Four thin white towers, or minarets6, rise from the corners of the platform. A large dome7 rises from the center of the building. Around this large dome there are four smaller domes. The building is made of fine white marble8 with inlays9 of colored marble. It has eight sides and many open arches10. There is an open corridor11 just inside the outer walls. From this corridor the visitor looks through carved12 marble screens to a central room. The bodies of Shah Jehan and his wife lie in a tomb below this room.
 　　A beautiful garden surrounds the Taj Mahal. The green trees make the marble look even whiter. In front of the main entrance to the building there is the reflection13 of Taj Mahal in the  water of a narrow pond.

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几乎所有的人都听说过印度的泰姬·迈哈尔陵。它是世界上最漂亮的建筑之一。三百多年前，沙·杰汗建造了泰姬陵作为妃子的陵墓。
　　沙·杰汗想让他妃子的坟墓尽善尽美，他不惜花费金钱与时间，将全亚洲的能工巧匠召集到印度。总共有20，000人参与此项工程的建设，工程历时17年之久。
　　陵墓坐落于一块红色砂岩平台上。台面的角落耸立着四个白色的细塔，也叫宣礼塔。一个巨大的穹顶耸立在整个建筑的中央，四边环绕着四个小型的穹顶。泰姬陵用精美的大理石砌成，其上又镶嵌有彩色大理石，它共有八个侧面和许多敞开的拱门。走进外墙，是一条开放式的廊道。从廊道游客们可以透过雕花大理石屏风直接看到正厅，沙·杰汗及其妃子的遗体就陈列于该厅下方的墓穴里。
　　美丽的花园环绕着泰姬陵。在绿树的映衬下，大理石更加洁白如玉。泰姬陵正门前有一方狭长的池塘，美丽的泰姬陵便倒映其中。

 

1. The Taj Mahal  泰姬·迈哈尔陵
2． Shah Jehan  沙·杰汗（古印度国王）
3． workman  n． 工匠
4． rest on 停放；座落于
5． sandstone  n． 沙岩
6． minaret  n． 宣礼塔（伊斯兰教寺院的尖塔）
7． dome  n． 穹窿，圆屋顶
8． marble  n． 大理石
9． inlay  n． 镶嵌物
10． arch  n． 拱门
11． corridor  n． 走廊，通道
12． carve  v． 雕刻
13． reflection  n． 倒映，反射