What is red but green, open but closed and old but new? Answer: London’s stunning newdouble-decker buses.

The traditional red double-deckers are a symbol of London. Their iconic status was sealed in 2008 when one bus made the longer-than-usual trip to Beijing to collect a very special passenger: the Olympic Flame.

Now a new bus design has been unveiled and it has been wowing Londoners.

The new bus uses more efficient green technology and has two staircases and an open platform, enabling people to hop on and hop off. It also has a unique asymmetric design for the front end, which gives it a futuristic look.

The new double-deckers, which have three doors to speed up boarding, are expected to be in service in 2012.

• double-decker雙層巴士

• iconic標(biāo)志性的

• sealed蓋上印章

• unveiled揭開面紗/剪彩

• wowing讓人驚嘆

• hop on and hop off 跳上 跳下

• symmetric不對稱的

• futuristic 極新潮的