True or false? A new nuclear power station in the south-west of the UK will be the most expensive object on Earth. That's the claim about the proposed plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset - but has anything else ever cost so much to build?
真的还是假的？英国西南部新建的核电站将成为地球上最昂贵的物体。这里说的是计划建在萨默塞特郡的欣克利角核电站——但是，我们建过任何如此昂贵之物吗？
"Hinkley is set to be the most expensive object on Earth… best guesses say Hinkley could pass £24bn ($35bn)," said the environmental charityGreenpeace last month as it launched apetitionagainst the project. Even if you stick with the expense of construction alone, though, the price is still high - the main contractor, EDF, puts it at £18bn ($26bn).
上个月，环保慈善组织“绿色和平”发起了一场反对该工程的请愿活动，称“欣克利核电站将成为地球上最昂贵之物……最准确的估值是它会超过240亿英镑（350亿美元）”。即使只计算建筑本身的花销，也是相当昂贵的——主建筑EDF花费为180亿英镑（260亿美元）。
For that sum you could build a small forest of Burj Khalifas - the world's tallest building, in Dubai, cost apiffling£1bn ($1.5bn). You could also knock up more than 70 miles ofparticleaccelerator. The 17-mile-long Large Hadron Collider, built under the border between France and Switzerland to unlock the secrets of the universe, cost a mere £4bn ($5.8bn).
用这笔钱，你可以建一座由诸多哈利法塔组成的小丛林——哈林法塔是世界上最高的建筑物，建于迪拜，成本仅为微不足道的10亿英镑（15亿美元）。你还可以马马虎虎建一台超过70英里的粒子加速器。建于法瑞边境、用于揭开宇宙奥秘的17英里长大型强子对撞机仅仅花费了40亿英镑（58亿美元）。
The most expensive bridge ever constructed is the easternreplacementspan of the Oakland Bay Bridge in San Francisco, designed to withstand the strongest earthquakeseismologistswould expect within the next 1,500 years. That cost about £4.5bn ($6.5bn).
史上最昂贵桥梁是位于旧金山的奥克兰海湾大桥东段新桥。地震专家预测该地将在1500年内遭遇一次最强烈的地震，而该桥的设计可以抗震，花费约为45亿英镑（65亿美元）。
So what about historic buildings - could theGreat Pyramid of Giza put Hinkley C in the shade? Working out the cost of something built more than 4,500 years ago presents numerous challenges, but in 2012 the Turner Construction Company estimated it could build the pyramid for between £750m ($1.1bn) and £900m ($1.3bn). Using the current Egyptian minimum wage of £3.93 ($5.73) a day, that gives a labour cost of £305m ($445m). In any case, a £500m stone bill plus £305m in wages are nowhere near Hinkley C.
那么历史建筑物情况如何呢？吉萨金字塔能把欣克利核电站比下去吗？要计算出4500多年前建筑物的成本，着实有些困难，但是，2012年，特纳建筑公司估计建造金字塔的费用在7.5亿英镑（11亿美元）到9亿英镑（13亿美元）之间。如果用埃及目前的最低工资一天3.93英镑（5.73美元）来核算，金字塔的人工成本是3.05亿英镑（4.45亿美元）。不论如何，5亿英镑的石料费加上3.05亿英镑的工资根本无法和欣克利核电站相提并论。
The Great Wall of China was an even bigger project than the pyramid. At 5,500 miles long, its mass is almost certainly greater. But it is actually a large number of walls, pieced together over twomillennia, stretching the definition of "object".
中国的长城是比金字塔规模更大的建筑项目，长达5500英里，体量当然更大。但是，它其实是用2000多年时间砌成的一大片砖墙，已经超过了“物体”这一定义的范畴。
One current project, at first glance, does appear to be in the sameballparkas the power station. The royal family of Saudi Arabia isrefurbishingthe Grand Mosque in Mecca at a reported cost of about £16bn ($23bn). But this includes a new road and train line, among other things, so, once again, it stretches the definition of "object".
还有一项当代工程一眼看去好像和核电站是一个量级的。沙特阿拉伯王室正在整修麦加大清真寺，据报道花销为160亿英镑（230亿美元）。但是，这项工程里包含一条新修的道路和铁路线，还有其它附属建筑，所以，它也是已经超出了“物体”这一定义的范畴。
And whatever the most expensive object on Earth is, up in the sky is something thateclipsesall of these things. The International Space Station. Price tag: 100bn euros (£77.6bn, or $110bn).
不论地球上最昂贵的物体是什么，苍穹中有一样东西可以让所有这一切黯然失色，那就是国际空间站，标价：1000亿欧元（776亿英镑，或者1100亿美元）。
