Rhein River
美丽的莱茵河
莱茵河是德国最着名的自然景色，亦是德国旅游中不可缺少的一环。莱茵河发源于瑞士南境，西流入德、法，然后至北海入海，全长2000余公里，为世界上最繁忙的水道之一。 “莱茵”一词在古德语中就是“清澈、明亮”的意思。今天人们所见到的莱茵河的确像它的名字一样——清澈、明亮。
莱茵河是仅次于伏尔加河、多瑙河的欧洲第三大河，沿岸是绵延不尽的葡萄园，如珠串一般的古堡，和精致而艳丽的田园村镇。
莱茵河沿岸有许多葡萄园，也有许多古堡和田园村镇。从法兰克福到科布伦茨的莱茵河段风景优美，没有架设任何桥梁，全靠摆渡过河，目的是保存该河段的自然风貌。
在莱茵河乘游艇顺流而下，这段航程，是德国观光区中最特别的地带，从梅茵斯到科不林斯之间这段长90公里的路段是莱茵河的精华所在，两岸悬崖绝壁，山谷陡峭，其侧有壮观的葡萄园，高耸入云的岩峰，陆续出现的古城及围在教堂尖塔四周的村庄；欣赏莱茵河两岸绮丽动人的原野风光，令人心旷神怡！
At 1，320 km (820 miles)， the Rhine (German Rhein， French Rhin， Dutch Rijn， Romansch： Rein) is one of the longest rivers in Europe. The name of the Rhine in all these languages comes from Celtic Renos， literally “that which flows”， from the ProtoIndoEuropean root：rei(“to flow， run”)， which also gave the word “to run” in English.
Together with the Danube it formed most of the northern frontier of the Roman Empire and since those days has been a vital navigable waterwaynavigable waterway 通航水道， carrying trade and goods deep inland. The many castles and prehistoric fortifications along the Rhine testify to its importance as a waterway. A castle identifies a location where traffic was stopped， usually for the purpose of collecting tolls， by the political state controling that portion of the river.
At over 1000 km， the Rhine is the longest river primarily within Germany. It is here that the Rhine encounters some of its main tributariestributary adj.进贡的， 附庸的， 从属的， 辅助的， 支流的 n.进贡国， 附庸国， 支流， such as the Neckar， the Main and the Moselle.
Between Bingen and Bonn， the Rhine flows through the Rhine Gorge， a formation created by erosion， which happened at about the same rate as an uplift in the region， leaving the river at about its original level， and the surrounding lands raised. This gorge is quite deep， and is the stretchstretch v.伸展， 伸长 n.一段时间， 一段路程， 伸展 of the river known for its many castles and vineyards. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (2002).
Though many industries can be found along the Rhine up into Switzerland， it is in the Ruhr area that the bulk of them are concentrated， with all of its streams - chief among them the Ruhr itself - draining into the Rhine， causing decreasing though still considerableconsiderable adj.相当大(或多)的， 值得考虑的， 相当可观的 pollution.
The Rhine then turns west into the Netherlands， where together with the Meuse it forms an extensive delta. Crossing the border into the Netherlands， the Rhine is at its widest， but the river then splits into three main distributaries： the IJssel， the Waal and the Nederrijn (Nether Rhine). From here the situation becomes more complicated， as the name “Rhine” no longer coincides with the main flow of water. Most of the Rhine water flows further west through the Waal and then via the Nieuwe Waterweg and， merging with the Meuse， through the Hollands Diep and Haringvliet estuaries into the North Sea. The IJssel branch carries its portion of the water north into the IJsselmeer while the Nederrijn flows west parallel to the Waal.
However， beyond Wijk bij Duurstede this waterway changes its name and becomes the Lek. It flows further west to rejoin the main flow into the Nieuwe Waterweg. The name “Rhine” from here on is used only for smaller streams further to the north which together once formed the main river Rhine in Roman times. Though they retained the name， these streams do not carry water from the Rhine anymore， but are used for draining the surrounding land and polders. From Wijk bij Duurstede， the old north branch of the Rhine is called Kromme Rijn (“Crooked Rhine”) and past Utrecht， first Leidse Rijn (“Leiden Rhine”) and then Oude Rijn (“Old Rhine”). The latter flows west past Leiden into a sluice， where its waters can be dischargeddischarged 放电的 泻出的 into the North Sea.
A large lake， the “Bodensee” or as it is sometimes called， “Lake Constanz/Konstanz” is at the beginning point of the Rhein. This large lake stretches for more than 50 miles along the border of southern Germany in the state of BadenWürttemberg. A massive set of waterfalls， called the “Rheinfalls” near the town of Schaffhausen， Germany marks the beginning of the long stretch of the river that boats and ships can navigate.
The Rhein River flows north， from this point on to the city of Basel， a major port area on the border between Switzerland and Germany. From there， the Rhein forms the natural border between Germany and Switzerland， then Germany and France， and eventually the Rhein makes its way cross country into Holland where it empties into the North Sea at Rotterdam.
People who emigratedemigrate vi.永久(使)移居 vt.(使)移民 out of central Germany would have certainly used the Rhein during part of their trip to the seaport where they got on the ships that took them to across the Atlantic Ocean. These boats， in the 1800s or before， would have been pulled from the shore by teams of horses， cattle or mules. The tracks that were used by these primitive forms of power can still be seen along many stretches of the Rhein， many have been converted over to hiking trails or biking paths.
The Danube River
蓝色多瑙河
多瑙河是欧洲第二大河，它发源于德国南部的山区，流入罗马尼亚境内的黑海，全长两千九百公里。作为东西方向唯一的水上通道，她在欧洲各族人民的历史上扮演着十分重要的角色。
多瑙河全长2850公里，流经德国、奥地利、斯洛伐克、匈牙利、克罗地亚、塞尔维亚和黑山、罗马尼亚、保加利亚和乌克兰等9个国家，流域面积达81.6万平方千米，流域范围还包括瑞士、捷克、斯洛文尼亚、波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那(波黑)、摩尔多瓦、马其顿等6个国家，有大小300多条支流。
多瑙河源出于德国的黑林山的两条小溪，到多瑙辛根会合，从这个地名开始被称为多瑙河，向东流经奥地利进入斯拉伐克，为上游，上游长约966千米，水深最高达8米，流速为1~2米/秒。
多瑙河是欧洲重要的国际航道，1992年德国建成莱茵河-美茵河-多瑙河运河，船只可以从北海港口鹿特丹直达黑海港口苏利纳，通航航道达3500千米。在1987年多瑙河年通货量达1亿吨，但1999年由于北约轰炸贝尔格莱德，炸毁三座桥梁阻塞河道，直到2002年才清理干净，恢复通航。
多瑙河，欧洲最富有诗意的河，最受音乐家宠爱的河，她从北往南缓缓地流过布达佩斯，长达30公里的河段位于首都地区，多瑙河从这里流向蟋蟀将要去的下一站斯洛伐克首都，布拉提斯拉瓦，然后从那儿进入奥地利，再从奥地利进入德国。这一河段也是多瑙河最经典的河段，是旅游的黄金线路。首都最重要，最美丽的公共建筑物都立于多瑙河两岸。多瑙河也是欧洲文学和艺术多次描写的对象，孕育着欧洲文化，最着名的应当数奥地利音乐家小约翰·施特劳斯作的圆舞曲《蓝色的多瑙河》，是维也纳新年音乐会每年必演奏的保留曲目。
The Danube River is the second longest river in Europe where it is one of the major methods of transportation. One reason for this is the fact that it is the only major European river to flow west to east. The source of the river is located in the Black Forest area of Germany. From there， it flows about 1，770 miles to the east. The mouth of the river forms a delta on the Romanian coastlinecoastline n.海岸线 of the Black Sea.