The Floating City has been living up to its nickname after high tides and heavy rain flooded the streets of Venice.
在經(jīng)歷了漲潮高峰和暴雨侵襲后，意大利著名旅游城市威尼斯不負(fù)“水中之城”的別名。

Seventy per cent of central Venice was under water yesterday after rainfall and seas whipped up by strong winds brought the Italian city's high tide mark to its sixth-highest level since records began in 1872.
經(jīng)過昨天的降雨和被狂風(fēng)掀起的海水漲潮后，威尼斯市中心七成地方都浸沒在水下。這是意大利自1872以來第六高的漲潮記錄。

But tourists refused to let the weather dampen their spirits and many donned wellington boots and swimming costumes to make the most of the city's historic waterlogged squares.
但旅游者拒絕讓天氣影響他們的興致，許多人穿上惠靈頓長筒橡膠靴和泳衣，充分利用城中具有歷史意義的圣馬可廣場。暴雨后廣場積水嚴(yán)重。

One group soaked up their surroundings as they sat submerged up to their waists at a café in St Mark’s Square while another daring couple decided to go for a quick swim.
一群人坐在圣馬克廣場的一家咖啡館里，他們完全是泡在水里，水漫到腰部；而另一對大膽的夫婦決定快快游個泳。

But the flooding caused misery for other visitors to the city who had to wade through the water with plastic bags on their legs, carrying their suitcases on their shoulders.
但洪水也對城市里的其他游客造成了痛苦，他們把塑料袋綁在腿上，行李扛在肩上，趟水而過。

Makeshift wooden walkways were erected in St Mark's square and alongside the famous Rialto bridge to help people navigate their way around the city.
人們在圣馬克廣場以及沿著著名的里亞爾托橋建造了臨時的木制走道，幫助人們在城市里穿行。

Italian news reports said the same weather system causing chaos in Venice was wreaking havoc elsewhere in north and central Italy, with some 200 people evacuated from their homes in hard-hit Tuscany.
意大利新聞報(bào)道說，讓威尼斯城一團(tuán)混亂的氣象系統(tǒng)同樣在意大利北部和中部肆虐，在受災(zāi)嚴(yán)重的托斯卡納區(qū)，已有大約200人撤離家園。

Flooding is common in Venice at this time of year. Moveable barriers that would protect Venice from high tides have been in the works for years but will not be operational before 2014.
每年的這個時候，威尼斯人對洪水的如期而至已經(jīng)不覺得稀奇。可以保護(hù)威尼斯免受上漲潮水侵襲的可移動屏障已施工多年，但是要等到2014年才能運(yùn)行。

Research carried out by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego earlier this year revealed that the city is sinking at a rate of 2mm a year.
加州大學(xué)圣地亞哥分校的斯克里普斯海洋研究院今年早些時候做的一項(xiàng)調(diào)查透露，威尼斯這座城市正在以每年2毫米的速度下沉。

Scientists said the city was tilting to the east and heading out to the Adriatic Sea, as it was hit by more floods than ever before.
科學(xué)家說，由于城市遭受了更多的洪水侵襲，這座城市正朝著亞得里亞海的方向向東傾斜。

Earlier studies suggest it was submerging at just 0.04mm per year. The patches of land in Venice's 117 island lagoon are also sinking.
早期的研究表明它每年下沉0.04毫米。威尼斯的117個島中湖土地也在下沉。

Northern sections are dropping between 2 to 3mm per year, while the southern lagoon is subsiding by 3 to 4mm over the same period.
北部地區(qū)每年下降2至3毫米，而南部湖區(qū)在同一時期下沉3至4毫米。