Most often， canals13 are man-made waterways in or around a city. And there are streets on one or both sides. For centuries， the canals have been a feature of Dutch life. Many Dutch cities were built around canals. And the canals in the Netherlands are still very much in use. Most canals have fresh water， a few with salty water. Canals are graceful. In the past， they were used for transport and defense14. Now they are more for fun.

Today， canals are also part of the iconic15 Dutch city view. Of course， Amsterdam has the best-known canals. There are 165 canals in Amsterdam. A lot were built in 17th century， and are on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The city has even been nicknamed the “Venice of the North”. The Amsterdam canal tours are the most popular of all tourist attractions. About 3 million passengers take the canal tours each year.

Want to enjoy summer in the busy city？ Rent a little boat and explore16 the city on the beautiful canals. Its peaceful. If you take a cruise17 on the canal， its lovely to see the city from the water and enjoy a nice Dutch meal.

The Dutch and their water are closely connected. The canals have shaped the Netherlands， and they will always remain an important part of Dutch culture.

大多數(shù)情況下，運(yùn)河是城市里或城市周圍的人造水道。運(yùn)河的一邊或兩邊都是街道。幾百年來(lái)，運(yùn)河一直是荷蘭人生活中不可或缺的一部分。荷蘭的很多城市都圍繞運(yùn)河而建。至今，很多運(yùn)河仍然用處良多。大部分運(yùn)河的水是淡水，極少部分是咸水。運(yùn)河很優(yōu)雅。過(guò)去，運(yùn)河常被用作運(yùn)輸或防御，如今，它們常被用作娛樂(lè)消遣。

今天，運(yùn)河也是荷蘭城市中的重要景觀。當(dāng)然，阿姆斯特丹的運(yùn)河最為人知。這里有165條運(yùn)河，大多數(shù)是17世紀(jì)修建的，而且還進(jìn)入了聯(lián)合國(guó)世界文化遺產(chǎn)之列。阿姆斯特丹也被稱作“北方的威尼斯”。在阿姆斯特丹所有的旅游項(xiàng)目中，運(yùn)河旅游團(tuán)最受游客歡迎。每年大概有300萬(wàn)游客參團(tuán)。

想享受繁忙城市生活中的夏日嗎？租一輛小船，去美麗的運(yùn)河上探索這座城市吧。如果你選擇運(yùn)河游艇的話，一邊享受荷蘭美食，一邊欣賞城市風(fēng)光，真是美啊。

荷蘭人和他們的水緊密相連。運(yùn)河塑造了荷蘭，也將作為荷蘭文化極其重要的一部分繼續(xù)存在。

Tips

●in use：意思是“使用中”。如：1）The system he created is still in use today.他創(chuàng)建的系統(tǒng)至今仍在使用。2）Leave the door slightly ajar（微開(kāi)著的） when the machine isnt in use. 機(jī)器不用時(shí)，門要微微開(kāi)著。

相反，out of use是指“廢棄”“不被使用”。如：The site has been out of use for many years.這個(gè)網(wǎng)站已經(jīng)停用多年了。

●UNESCO： 英文全稱為：United Nations Educational， Scientific， and Cultural Organization，聯(lián)合國(guó)教育、科學(xué)及文化組織，簡(jiǎn)稱為“聯(lián)合國(guó)教科文組織”。它于1946年11月正式成立，總部設(shè)在法國(guó)首都巴黎。聯(lián)合國(guó)教科文組織是各國(guó)政府間討論關(guān)于教育、科學(xué)和文化問(wèn)題的國(guó)際組織。