世界闻名的比萨斜塔近日受到了监察测量，专家表示，这个里程碑的倾斜度正在缓慢地减少，变得越来越挺直。
It’s enough to give a monument an identity crisis.
这足以给一个纪念碑带来身份危机。
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is known worldwide for its precarious tilt - but now experts have revealed it’s going straight.
比萨斜塔因其的摇摇欲坠的倾斜而闻名于世，但现在专家们称它正变得越来越挺直。
The tower’s Surveillance Group, which monitors restoration work, said the landmark is "stable and very slowly reducing its lean."
负责监测修复工作的塔楼监视组表示，这个里程碑“很稳定，倾斜度也在非常缓慢地减少”。
The 57m (186ft) medieval monument has been straightened by 4cm (1.5in) over the past two decades, the team said.
该团队称，这座57米（186英尺）的中世纪纪念碑在过去的二十年中已被拉直了4厘米（1.5英寸）。
Nunziante Squeglia, a professor of geotechnics at the University of Pisa who works with the surveillance team, said: "What counts the most is the stability of the bell tower, which is better than expected."
比萨大学岩土工程教授Nunziante Squeglia与监测团队合作，他说：“最重要的是这个钟楼的稳定性，这比我们预期的要好。”
Back in 1990, the tourist favourite was closed to the public for the first time in 800 years amid fears it could be on the verge of toppling. At the time, it was tilting by 4.5m from the vertical.
早在1990年，这个游客至爱的钟楼800年来首次向公众关闭，因为人们担心它可能会倒塌。 当时，它从垂直方向倾斜了4.5米。
An international committee led by Prof Michele Jamiolkowski, a Polish expert, worked to stabilise it between 1993 and 2001.
由波兰专家Michele Jamiolkowski教授领导的国际委员会在1993年至2001年期间致力于让它屹立不倒。
By the end, the tilt had been corrected by 45cm, at a cost of GBP 200m.
最后，其倾斜度被修正了45厘米，耗资2亿英镑。
The lean is as old as the tower itself, having crept in five years after construction began in 1173.
它的倾斜是与生俱来的，该钟楼在其1173年开始施工的五年内已经开始倾斜。
The layer of clay and sand the tower is built on is softer on the south side than the north - so by the time builders got to the third storey, shifting soil had unsettled its foundations.
建造该钟楼的粘土和沙层在南侧比北部更柔软，所以当建筑工人建到达第三层时，移动的土壤导致了地基不稳。
And while engineers may ultimately take credit for rescuing the relic, visitors can rest assured it’s still available for the obligatory pictures...
虽然工程师最终因为拯救了这个历史性遗止而获得赞誉，但游客也可以放心地拍摄这种必拍的照片了......
