Neon Lights in Hong Kong
Neon is to Hong Kong as red phone booths are to London and fog is to San Francisco.
霓虹燈之於香港，就像紅色電話亭之與倫敦，霧之與舊金山一樣。
When night falls, red and blue and other colors cast a hazy glow over a city lit up by
tens of thousands of neon signs.
當夜幕降臨時，紅色，藍色和其他顏色的為這座被成千上萬的霓虹燈指示牌照亮的城市
蒙上一層霧蒙蒙的微光。
But many of them are going dark, replaced by more practical, but less romantic, LEDs.
但許多霓虹燈正在變暗，取而代之的是更實用但不那么浪漫的LED燈。
Changing building codes, evolving tastes, and the high cost of maintaining those wonderful
old signs have businesses embracing LEDs, which are energy efficient, but still carry great cost.
不斷變化的建築規范，不斷發展的品味，加上維護這些美妙而老舊的標識的高昂成本，都促使企業
開始會用LED燈，雖然LED燈節省能源，但成本依然很高。
"To me, neon represents memories of the past," says photographer Sharon Blance, whose series
Hong Kong Neon celebrates the city's famous signs.
“對我來說，霓虹燈代表着過去的回憶，”攝影師莎倫布朗斯說，她的《香港霓虹燈》系列
紀念這這座城市著名的指示牌燈箱。
"Looking at the signs now I get a feeling of amazement, mixed with sadness."
“現在看着這些指示牌，我感到既驚訝又悲傷。”
Building a neon sign is an art practiced by professionals trained on the job to mold
glass tubes into decorative shapes and letters.
制作霓虹燈指示牌是一門藝術，是由受過在崗培訓的專業人士完成的，
他們把玻璃管塑造成裝飾用的形狀和字母。
They fill these tubes with gases that glow when electrified.
他們把通電時會發光的氣體注入這些玻璃管中。
Neon makes orange, while other gases make yellow or blue.It takes many hours to
craft a single sign.
氖氣發橙色光，而其他氣體發黃色的或藍色的光。制作一個指示牌需要花費數小時。
Blance spent a week in Hong Kong and photographed more than 60 signs;
布朗斯在香港待了一個星期，拍攝了60多個指示牌；
22 of them appear in the series that capture the signs lighting up lonely streets -
an approach that makes it easy to admire their colors and craftsmanship.
其中22個出現在捕捉照亮孤獨街道的指示牌系列攝影中--這種方式讓人們很容易
欣賞它們的色彩和工藝。
"I love the beautiful, handcrafted, old-fashioned quality of neon," says Blance.
“我喜歡霓虹燈的美麗，手工制作且老派的特點，” 布朗斯說。
The signs do nothing more than identify a restaurant, theater, or other business, but
do so in the most striking way possible.
這些指示牌的作用無非是標識一家餐廳，一家劇院或其他商鋪，但這卻是最可能引人注目的方式。
2018年6月CET4真題
解析：
1、neon:霓虹燈；（化）氖；
例句：Those moments of happiness light up my life, just like neon lights can electrify the night sky.
那些我生命當中開心的時刻，把我的人生點亮了，就像霓虹燈照亮整個夜空一樣。
2、cast:投射（光，影子）cast light/a shadow
向···投以（視線，笑容）cast a look/glance/smile
例句：we leaned against each other sitting on the beach as the setting sun cast an orange glow over the sea.
我們靠着彼此做在沙灘上，當落日橘黃色的光投射在大海上。
3、embrace:擁抱；包括；接納；欣然接受
例句：Upon spotting her sister in the airport, he raced forward to embrace her give her a loving embrace.
在機場看到她的姐姐，就狂奔過去擁抱她。
4、energy-efficient：能效高的，高效能的
5、mold/mould
n.模型；雷；鑄模；性格
v.(用模具)澆鑄；塑造；陶冶
例句：Their coach moulded them into a very cohesive team.
他們的教練把他們塑造成了一只非常有凝聚力的隊伍。
例句：She poured the chocolate into a heart-shaped mould.
她把巧克力放到了心型的模具里。
6、craft:v.尤指用手工，精心制作
例句：My mom used to craft all my sweaters from wool.
媽媽總是手工用羊毛給我織毛衣。
handcrafted:crafted by hand.
作動詞-crafted:beautifully crafted;制造出快樂的東西
carefully crafted;精心制作的
作名詞：craft:n.持藝（craft）;技藝做出來的東西（crafts）
7、capture:v.拍攝；代表；表現；體現；吸引
capture sth:拍攝到···
例句：Stop moving about. boys, or the only images captured in our camera will be a bunch of hazy shapes.
不要再動了小朋友們，要不然拍出的照片只能是霧蒙蒙的形狀了。
8、striking；adj.引人注目的；異乎尋常的；顯著的；標致的；
| 單詞 | 釋意 |
| fog | n.霧；煙霧；塵霧；v.使模糊 |
| replaced by | 用···代替 |
| practical | adj.實際的；實用的；實踐的； |
| romantic | adj.浪漫的；傳奇的； |
| maintaining | v.保持 |
| embracing | v.接受 |
| energy | n.能量；能源；活力 |
| efficient | adj.效率高的；有能力的； |
| celebrates | v.慶祝；贊揚 |
| amazement | n.驚訝 |
| decorative | adj.裝飾的 |
| shapes | n.身段；外形 |
| admire | v.欽佩；崇拜 |
| craftsmanship | n.技能；技術 |
| handcrafted | adj.手工制作的 |
| old-fashioned | adj.老式的；陳舊 |
| quality | adj.優質的，n.特性；質量 |
| striking | adj.吸引人的；顯著的 |