Casablanca is a city of northwest Morocco on the Atlantic Ocean south-southwest of Tangier. Founded by the Portuguese in the 16th century , it became a center of French influence in Africa after 1907. It is now Morocco's largest city.

Casablanca is a modern city and beautiful in its own respect. It gets the name from Spanish, means "white house", and the Hollywood film Casablanca made this white city more famous all over the world.

Among the most visible aspects of Casablanca are the wide boulevards flanked by white, tall buildings. The streets run out as the leaves of a fan from the Place des Nations Unies. This place is the focal point of downtown Casablanca.

The old city of Casablanca is conveniently located -- just off the main town square from where all avenues radiate, and near the sea. But as you enter, you will see that it is not all that old after all, that the houses here often have a form and size which would have made them natural elements in the "new" parts of many other Moroccan cities.

But still, it is very nice, even if it is surprisingly small. The best parts of the old city is made up of shopping areas, where all types of products are sold, and you should not either miss out on the less visited quarters -- the areas where people live -- where colours, shapes and curves bring you far away from elegance of downtown Casablanca.

卡萨布兰卡是摩洛哥西北部濒临大西洋的一座城市，位于丹吉尔西南部偏南。16世纪葡萄牙人建立该城，1907年后成为法国在非洲的势力中心。现在是摩洛哥最大的城市。

卡萨布兰卡是一座现代城市，具有独特的美。该名源于西班牙语，意为“白色的房子”。好莱坞电影《卡萨布兰卡》更是让这座白色的之城闻名世界。

卡萨布兰卡最吸引人的还是那些宽广的林荫大道，大道旁边还伴有白色的高楼大厦。街道呈扇形从市中心的联合国广场向外延伸，这个广场是卡萨布兰卡市中心的焦点。

卡萨布兰卡的旧城区位置便利——刚好远离所有扩散在道路两旁的主要城镇，离大海很近。但一旦你走进它，你会发现它并没那么破旧，这里房子的格局和规模使他们与许多摩洛哥其他城市的新区融为一体。

尽管它的规模之小令人吃惊，但它仍然很不错。旧城区最好的地方是它的购物区，在那里有各种各样的商品出售。同时，你也不能错过那些游客较少的地区——居民住宅区——那里的颜色、轮廓和转弯处将带你远离优雅的卡萨布兰卡市区。

portuguese n. 葡萄牙人

radiate vi. 扩散

elegance n. 高雅

locate vt. 设于，位于

element n. 成分

downtown n. 市中心区，市中心

Benjamin 去国外出差时要在卡萨布兰卡转机，候机时他抽空在卡萨布兰卡转了一圈。出差回来后和朋友Terry谈起了那座城市。

T = Terry 泰 = 泰瑞 B = Benjamin 本 = 本杰明

T: You have spent half a day in Casablanca, so what impressed you most?

B: The white house, I should say. In Spanish, Casablanca means "white house", and white is the major colour of the whole city. Most of the architecture is painted white, with ambience of the Mediterranean.

T: So strange! Did you also go to some famous place?

B: Time was limited, so I only went to the most famous attraction in Casablanca -- Mosque of Hassan II, the second largest mosque in the world. It is close to the sea, and if you overlook Hassan Tower from the sea, it's just as a huge ship braving the wind and the waves on the Atlantic Ocean.

T: Really? That sounds interesting. It makes me so curious.

B: Maybe you can go and see it by yourself someday.

T: I'd like to.

泰：在卡萨布兰卡待了半天，令你印象最深刻的是什么？

本：应该是那些白色的房子，卡萨布兰卡在西班牙语里是“白色的房子”的意思。白色构成了整个城市的主色调，城市的大部分建筑都被刷成白色，很有地中海风情。

泰：真是不同寻常！你还去了哪些著名的地方呢？

本：因为时间有限，所以我只去了卡萨布兰卡最有名的地方——哈桑二世清真寺，世界上第二清真寺。它紧靠大海，如果你从海上眺望哈桑塔，它就像一艘在大西洋上成风破浪的巨船。

泰：真的吗？听起来很有趣，让我感到很好奇。

本：也许有朝一日你可以自己去看看。

泰：我也想啊！

Spanish n. 西班牙语

ambience n. 气氛

mosque n. 清真寺

paint vt. 油漆

limited adj. 有限的

overlook vt. 俯看

假如你和外国朋友正在谈论你们曾经到过的城市，而你谈到了你曾去过的卡萨布兰卡。试着完成下面的对话。

1．外国朋友：What impressed you most in Casablanca?

你：_________________________________________________

2．外国朋友：What is the most famous place of it?

你：_________________________________________________

3．外国朋友：What's the feature of Hassan Tower?

你：_________________________________________________

1. I think it should be the white houses. Most of the architecture is painted white, with ambience of the Mediterranean.

2. It is Mosque of Hassan II, the second largest mosque in the world.

3. If you overlook it from the sea, it's just a huge ship braving the wind and the waves on the Atlantic Ocean.

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