2007-09-01, Irish Mystery 爱尔兰的秘密
时间：2018-12-30 作者：英语课 分类：国家地理2007年
英语课
Out of the mists of the Stone Age, this structure has stood since the dawn of recorded history. This rounded tomb called Newgrange has stood on the bend of Ireland's River Boyne for more than 5,000 years. It is massive, distinct and very mysterious.
The mound 1 of earth covers a rock passageway, which leads to a central chamber 2 where the ashes and bones of the dead were placed. Long thought to be just a tomb, in the late 1960s, archeologists uncovered an amazing secret that shed new light on this ancient structure. On the winter solstice , the longest night and shortest day of the year, a shaft 3 of light enters a perfectly 4 positioned window and lights up the 60-foot corridor that leads to the basin of ancestral bones, an impressive feat 5 of engineering, considering its Stone Age builders possessed 6 only rudimentary technologies.
It's particularly important, because it's been proven without doubt that it was very deliberately 7 aligned 8 to sunrise at the winter solstice.
Its facade 9 is a white quartz 10, restored by archeologists who believed the mound was originally covered in a smooth stone that reflected the light. The massive stones in the interior were perhaps pulled from the river. The builders probably moved the boulders 11 into position by rolling them on logs. Archeologists believe it took decades to construct Newgrange. And since life expectancy 12 was short, only about 40 years, the project likely was handed down from generation to the next. Little is known about the Neolithic 13 farming community that created this structure. Why they built it is still a mystery. Perhaps the mound was a place of worship. Historians admit they just don't know.
We know they were used as burial places, but we also think they would have been used as places for ritual gatherings 14, or a pla(ce), a focus for community gatherings, and place to and honor the ancestors.
For more than 5,000 years, Newgrange has captured the rising sun of the winter solstice. It's a lasting 15 monument to human ingenuity 16 and to a desire as old as mankind. Even then people strove to understand great forces of nature and to harness them even if only for a brief moment in time.
The mound 1 of earth covers a rock passageway, which leads to a central chamber 2 where the ashes and bones of the dead were placed. Long thought to be just a tomb, in the late 1960s, archeologists uncovered an amazing secret that shed new light on this ancient structure. On the winter solstice , the longest night and shortest day of the year, a shaft 3 of light enters a perfectly 4 positioned window and lights up the 60-foot corridor that leads to the basin of ancestral bones, an impressive feat 5 of engineering, considering its Stone Age builders possessed 6 only rudimentary technologies.
It's particularly important, because it's been proven without doubt that it was very deliberately 7 aligned 8 to sunrise at the winter solstice.
Its facade 9 is a white quartz 10, restored by archeologists who believed the mound was originally covered in a smooth stone that reflected the light. The massive stones in the interior were perhaps pulled from the river. The builders probably moved the boulders 11 into position by rolling them on logs. Archeologists believe it took decades to construct Newgrange. And since life expectancy 12 was short, only about 40 years, the project likely was handed down from generation to the next. Little is known about the Neolithic 13 farming community that created this structure. Why they built it is still a mystery. Perhaps the mound was a place of worship. Historians admit they just don't know.
We know they were used as burial places, but we also think they would have been used as places for ritual gatherings 14, or a pla(ce), a focus for community gatherings, and place to and honor the ancestors.
For more than 5,000 years, Newgrange has captured the rising sun of the winter solstice. It's a lasting 15 monument to human ingenuity 16 and to a desire as old as mankind. Even then people strove to understand great forces of nature and to harness them even if only for a brief moment in time.
n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫
- The explorers climbed a mound to survey the land around them.勘探者爬上土丘去勘测周围的土地。
- The mound can be used as our screen.这个土丘可做我们的掩蔽物。
n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所
- For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
- The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。
n.(工具的)柄，杆状物
- He was wounded by a shaft.他被箭击中受伤。
- This is the shaft of a steam engine.这是一个蒸汽机主轴。
adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地
- The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
- Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的
- Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
- He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。
adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的
- He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
- He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。
adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地
- The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
- They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。
n.(建筑物的)正面，临街正面；外表
- The entrance facade consists of a large full height glass door.入口正面有一大型全高度玻璃门。
- If you look carefully,you can see through Bob's facade.如果你仔细观察，你就能看穿鲍勃的外表。
n.石英
- There is a great deal quartz in those mountains.那些山里蕴藏着大量石英。
- The quartz watch keeps good time.石英表走时准。
n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾
- Seals basked on boulders in a flat calm. 海面风平浪静，海豹在巨石上晒太阳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The river takes a headlong plunge into a maelstrom of rocks and boulders. 河水急流而下，入一个漂砾的漩涡中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额
- Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
- The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。
adj.新石器时代的
- Cattle were first domesticated in Neolithic times.新石器时代有人开始驯养牛。
- The monument was Stone Age or Neolithic.该纪念碑是属于石器时代或新石器时代的。
聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集
- His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
- During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。
adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持
- The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
- We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。