One World Trade Center is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, and currently fourth tallest in the world. Opened in November, this sleek¹ skyscraper² soars 1,776ft (541m) above Manhattan. Its height is a symbolic³ reference to the US Declaration of Independence in 1776.

世界贸易中心一号大楼是西半球最高的建筑，也是世界第四高楼。该楼楼高1,776 ft（541 m），于去年11月份完工。1776英尺的高度是为了纪念1776年签订的《美国独立宣言》而设定的。

The name of the new building, designed by David Childs of Skidmore Owings Merrill (SOM), was to have been ‘Freedom Tower’. This, after all, was the monumental skyscraper – the first designs were by Daniel Libeskind – commissioned to take the place of the Twin Towers destroyed by a terrorist attack executed by men who believe neither in life, liberty nor happiness.

这座摩天大楼由SOM建筑事务所的大卫·查尔兹担任主要设计，原称“自由塔”。它是世界贸易中心在“911”袭击事件遭到损毁后所重建的建筑之一，建筑师丹尼尔·里伯斯金是世贸重建工程的总策划人.

The new World Trade Center was also renamed to re-establish the idea that New York is one of the most important hubs of global trade, and because, as President Calvin Coolidge told the Society of American Newspaper Editors in January 1925, “the chief business of the American people is business”. He added, “Of course, the accumulation of wealth cannot be justified⁴ as the chief end of existence. But we are compelled to recognise it as a means to well-nigh every desirable achievement.”

新的世界贸易中心大楼改为现在的名字是为了重新确立，纽约是全球最重要的贸易中心之一。同时也因为1925年1月时任美国总统的卡尔文·柯立芝曾说过：“美国人的首要事情是经商。当然积累财富并不能作为生存的主要目的，但是我们却必须认识到，它作为一种方法几乎可以是我们获取任何想要的成就。”

Today, the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, is in the Middle East. This elongated⁵, latter day Tower of Babel is 828m (2,722ft) high. From its vertiginous⁶ viewing galleries visitors look down on the great commercial city spread below them and across to the seemingly boundless⁷ dunes⁸ of the Empty Quarter.

如今世界上的第一高楼是位于中东迪拜的哈利法塔，这座细长的、像是现代巴别塔的摩天大楼高828米（2722英尺）。从令人眩晕的观景台上，游客可以看到这个商业城市的全貌，甚至可以看到鲁卜哈利沙漠无边无际的沙丘。

And, as if to reinforce the point that towers and trade bring peoples together, the Burj Khalifa was designed by SOM, architects of One World Trade Center.

而且，似乎是为了有意强调高塔和贸易能将人们连在一起，哈利法塔的设计也是SOM建筑事务所完成的，这跟世界贸易中心一号大楼一样。

There are, though, other reasons to build so very high, and competition is perhaps chief among them. When the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, designed by the Japanese-American architect Minoru Yamasaki were completed in 1971, they were the tallest buildings in the United States. Not for long. In 1973, SOM completed the Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower) in Chicago, at 1,451-ft (442m). New York and Chicago have long been commercial rivals: the race to see which of them could build higher than the other has been going on since the mid-19th Century.

当然，大楼越盖越高还有其他的原因，其中最主要的一个就是“竞争”。由美籍日裔建筑师山崎实设计、1971年完工的世贸中心双子塔是当时美国最高的大楼。可不久之后，1973年，由SOM建筑事务设计完成的位于芝加哥的希尔斯大厦以442米（1451英尺）的高度成为了第一。纽约和芝加哥一直以来都是商业竞争对手：从19世纪中期开始两地就争相建造超越对方的高楼。

For many decades, the tallest building not just in the United States but in the world was the Empire State Building. Rising above midtown Manhattan during the Great Depression of the 1930s, it was a symbol of better days to come. It even survived an aircraft crashing into it – a B-25 Mitchell bomber⁹ lost in fog – in July 1945.

美国纽约的帝国大厦曾在几十年的时间里一直都是美国也是全世界最高的建筑。它于20世纪三十年代的大萧条时期在曼哈顿落成后，成为美国经济复苏的象征。1945年6月经历飞机撞击后依然幸存。

Today, the People’s Republic of China boasts hundreds of skyscrapers¹⁰ (usually defined as buildings more than 500ft (152 m) tall. The skyline of Pudong, Shanghai’s new commercial centre, is a forest of extravagant¹¹ skyscrapers and when it opens in 2015, the twisting Shanghai Tower, designed by the US firm Gensler, with Jun Xia, as lead architect, will be the world’s second tallest building at 2,073ft (632m).

现如今，中国也有越来越多的摩天大楼（一般指高度在152米以上的大楼）拔地而起。在浦东新区这个上海市的新商业中心里，高楼林立，即将投入使用的螺旋式建筑--上海中心大厦楼高632米（2073英尺），将成为世界第二高楼，该楼由美国Gensler公司设计，夏军担任主要设计师。The Chinese are likely to want to go much higher than this. Oil-rich Middle Eastern states, kingdoms and emirates are competing with China, while other countries keen to display newfound wealth have joined in this slightly inane¹² numbers game. Where will it all end?

中国人可能还想要建更高的楼。而石油储备丰富的中东国家正在与中国相互竞争，其他一些热衷于“炫富”的国家也加入了这场几乎毫无意义的竞争游戏。什么时候是个头呢？

After the Burj Khalifa and the Shanghai Tower, the world’s third tallest building is the Mecca Royal Hotel Clock Tower. The Mecca tower, designed by Dar Al-Handasah architects, is 1,972ft (601m) high. Clearly, the upward look to the heavens, along with ambition, competition and trade, remain the driving forces behind a building type that will aim ever higher in the 21st Century and beyond.

排在哈利法塔和上海中心大厦之后的世界第三高楼是麦加皇家钟塔，高度为601米（1972英尺）。显然，跟随摩天大楼一起耸入云霄的还有人们的勃勃雄心，贸易的竞争、财富的积累都会推动着21世纪的摩天大楼越建越高。