【翻译原文】

故宫又名紫禁城，位于北京市中心，占地面积72万平方米。它拥有众多的庭院，四面有高墙和护城河保护。明清两代的皇帝和他们的家眷以及数百名宫女、太监曾在这里居住。紫禁城于明朝1420年建成，普通百姓不能进入。在1924年清朝末代皇帝被逐出故宫后，故宫于1925年变成了故宫博物院并对外开放。

【精彩译文】

Standing/Lying in the center of Beijing，the Imperial Palace，also known as the Forbidden City，covers an area of720，000 squaremeters.It consists of dozens of courtyards and is protected by high walls and amoat on all four sides.The emperors of two dynasties，the Ming and the Qing，lived here with their families and hundreds of court ladies and palace eunuchs.The Forbidden City was completed in 1420 during the Ming Dynasty，which was notaccessible to the common people.The Palacewas converted into amuseum in 1925 and has been open to the public after the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty was driven out of the Palace in 1924.

【翻译原文】

紫禁城（the Forbidden City）始建于明朝皇帝明成祖（Emperor Chengzu）统治期间，建期14年。紫禁城是明清时期24位皇帝的皇宫。它之所以被称为紫禁城，是因为没有皇帝的许可，任何人都不能进出紫禁城。在整个紫禁城周围，有一面近八米高的城墙。墙内有980座建筑物，附属的房间超过八千间。大部分建筑物都是用木头修建的。屋顶被漆成了黄色，代表帝王的颜色。

【表达难点】

1.紫禁城始建于明朝皇帝明成祖统治期间，建期14年：该句可译为一个简单句，以the Forbidden City为主语，建期14年可以译作状语。其中“始建”可以翻译为was first built。build意为“建筑，建造”，常见搭配为：build up，意为“树立；积累”。

2.它之所以被称为紫禁城，是因为没有皇帝的许可，任何人都不能进出紫禁城：该句可以翻译为一个复合句，译文中用的是because引导的原因状语从句。

3.墙内有980座建筑物，附属的房间超过八千间：该句是地点作主语，可翻译成there be结构。“附属”可用with结构译出，整体看来该句是个简单句。“墙内”可译为inside thewall。inside意为“在某物里面”，与within同义。但inside表示具体位置，如：inside the car（在汽车里）；而within表示不超出某范围，尤其是在正式文体中，如：within the law（在法律范围内）。

【精彩译文】

The Forbidden City was first built throughout14 years during the reign of Emperor Chengzu in the Ming Dynasty.Itwas the imperial palace fortwenty-four emperors during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.Itwas called the Forbidden City because nobody could go in or outwithout the emperor’s permission.There’s a wall nearly eightmeters high around the whole Forbidden City.Inside the wall，there are 980 buildings，with more than eight thousand rooms.Most of the buildings aremade ofwood.The roofs are painted yellow，the color of the emperors.