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，運河是城市里或城市周圍的人造水道。運河的一邊或兩邊都是街道。幾百年來，運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河而建。至今，很多運河仍然用處良多。大部分運河的水是淡水，極少部分是咸水。運河很優(yōu)雅。過去，運河常被用作運輸或防御，如今，它們常被用作娛樂消遣。

今天，運河也是荷蘭城市中的重要景觀。當(dāng)然，阿姆斯特丹的運河最為人知。這里有165條運河，大多數(shù)是17世紀(jì)修建的，而且還進入了聯(lián)合國世界文化遺產(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目中，運河旅游團最受游客歡迎。每年大概有300萬游客參團。

想享受繁忙城市生活中的夏日嗎？租一輛小船，去美麗的運河上探索這座城市吧。如果你選擇運河游艇的話，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（微開著的） when the machine isnt in use. 機器不用時，門要微微開著。

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)合國教育、科學(xué)及文化組織，簡稱為“聯(lián)合國教科文組織”。它于1946年11月正式成立，總部設(shè)在法國首都巴黎。聯(lián)合國教科文組織是各國政府間討論關(guān)于教育、科學(xué)和文化問題的國際組織。