被瓜分的柏林：德国失而复得的首都

　　冷战期间失去首都地位的城市，终于能在即将到来的世界杯比赛中扬眉吐气。德国政府从波恩迁回柏林之后，商业也随之繁荣起来。都说德国人古板，可柏林的夜生活真的很活跃呢……

After a fifty-year lull, Berlin is back – back as the capital of a reunified Germany and back as one of Europe's greatest cities. After World War II, Berlin was a crippled pawn, sandwiched between East and West, with a literal and metaphoric wall deeply dividing the two halves. The northeastern German city even suffered the ignominy of losing its capital status, as the West German government fled to Bonn.

Today, the Cold War and the iconic events of November 1989, which saw the Berlin Wall torn to pieces by those whom it had oppressed for so long, are starting to seem like a distant memory and all the talk in Berlin is of the future.

Coupled with the wave of new construction is a city laden with historical charm – from the old streets of East Berlin, which are slowly being restored after remaining unchanged for 50 years, through to the grand architecture of Museumsinsel and Unter den Linden, and the green lung of the Tiergarten Park. Tourism is on the rise, as visitors come to savour the intoxicating mix of old and new.

Big business, too, is booming, as government bodies flock back from Bonn and relocate in the capital, along with investment from many other parts of the country and from all over Europe. Key industries such as electronics, manufacturing and information technology reflect the hopes for a brighter future for Berlin.

Contrary to the usual cliches about Germany, Berlin is a city with a laid-back attitude and some of the liveliest nightlife in Europe. In Berlin today, there is everything from authentic beer halls and old Soviet era haunts right through to buzzing style bars and Latino nightclubs. Berlin's climate is equally eclectic, with hot summer days giving way to occasionally freezing temperatures during the long grey winter. Today's quintessential Berlin experience is to laze through a summer day in the Tiergarten with the rabble of construction just out of earshot, sipping on a chilled Pilsner beer, while witnessing a city reinventing itself as one of Europe's finest capitals.

重点词汇

cripple v. 跛，削弱

pawn n. 典当，被人利用的人

sandwich v. 做成三明治

metaphoric a. 隐喻性的，比喻性的

halve n. 二等分

ignominy n. 耻辱

savour v. 品尝

intoxicate v. 使陶醉，醉人

cliche n. 陈词滥调

laid-back a. 松驰的，懒散的

haunt v. 神鬼出没

laze v. 消磨，懒散