国家地理:The Coliseum 古罗马竞技场
时间：2018-12-05 作者：英语课 分类：国家地理2007年
英语课
The solution lay in three key architectural innovations that formed the secret of Rome's great monuments. The most important, is the arch.
The arch is an almost perfect design for bearing heavy loads. And that design is so simple. A series of wedge-shaped blocks is assembled together in a semi-circular form, and supported on top of two pillars at the side. The weight of the building is absorbed by the key stone in the centre of the arch, and distributed evenly over the entire span of the arch and then down into these two side pillars. This allows the pillars to bear enormous loads. And because the space in between the pillars is empty, this reduces the weight of the building even further.
The arch would become a reoccurring theme throughout the building of the Coliseum. On the outer ring, 80 gigantic arches, 23 feet high, form a giant ring around the perimeter 1. On top of these is set another 80 arches; on top of these, is a third tier, making 240 arches in all.
The Coliseum really is nothing but arches; it's a symphony of arches.
The organization required to achieve this feat 3 of engineering was phenomenal. But even here, Rome's engineers had a trick or two up their togas. For them, building was a business of mass production.
Standardization 4 is key for the efficient building of the Coliseum. For example, the Romans used the arch, and the arch repeated again and again and again, by countless 5 teams of builders and that kind of standardization is very akin 2 to what we have in an industrialized world today.
So the breaking-down of the building allows them to have lots of work gangs with not huge skills. They just had to simply build an arch.
In this way, the thousands of laborers 6 working on the Coliseum could be left to build their section with minimal 7 supervision 8, confident in the knowledge that their labors 9 were being repeated all over the structure.
You are gonna have a lot of unskilled laborers, you are gonna have a lot of bricklayers, you are gonna have a lot of people that have some sort of skill, but they are not gonna be required to know more than a whole lot. Then you are gonna have a lot of skilled laborers, the people that are going to be carving 10 the columns, the people that are going to be carving the statues that are gonna go in the niches 11 in the upper floors. So you are gonna have a lot of skilled craftsmen 12, you are gonna have a lot of unskilled people participating in this very massive and important construction site.
Just making sure that each working was in the right place at the right time, and doing the right thing, was a challenge itself.
wedge: A piece of material, such as metal or wood, thick at one edge and tapered 13 to a thin edge at the other for insertion in a narrow crevice 14, used for splitting, tightening 15, securing, or levering. 楔子
toga: A loose one-piece outer garment worn in public by male citizens in ancient Rome. 托加袍
The arch is an almost perfect design for bearing heavy loads. And that design is so simple. A series of wedge-shaped blocks is assembled together in a semi-circular form, and supported on top of two pillars at the side. The weight of the building is absorbed by the key stone in the centre of the arch, and distributed evenly over the entire span of the arch and then down into these two side pillars. This allows the pillars to bear enormous loads. And because the space in between the pillars is empty, this reduces the weight of the building even further.
The arch would become a reoccurring theme throughout the building of the Coliseum. On the outer ring, 80 gigantic arches, 23 feet high, form a giant ring around the perimeter 1. On top of these is set another 80 arches; on top of these, is a third tier, making 240 arches in all.
The Coliseum really is nothing but arches; it's a symphony of arches.
The organization required to achieve this feat 3 of engineering was phenomenal. But even here, Rome's engineers had a trick or two up their togas. For them, building was a business of mass production.
Standardization 4 is key for the efficient building of the Coliseum. For example, the Romans used the arch, and the arch repeated again and again and again, by countless 5 teams of builders and that kind of standardization is very akin 2 to what we have in an industrialized world today.
So the breaking-down of the building allows them to have lots of work gangs with not huge skills. They just had to simply build an arch.
In this way, the thousands of laborers 6 working on the Coliseum could be left to build their section with minimal 7 supervision 8, confident in the knowledge that their labors 9 were being repeated all over the structure.
You are gonna have a lot of unskilled laborers, you are gonna have a lot of bricklayers, you are gonna have a lot of people that have some sort of skill, but they are not gonna be required to know more than a whole lot. Then you are gonna have a lot of skilled laborers, the people that are going to be carving 10 the columns, the people that are going to be carving the statues that are gonna go in the niches 11 in the upper floors. So you are gonna have a lot of skilled craftsmen 12, you are gonna have a lot of unskilled people participating in this very massive and important construction site.
Just making sure that each working was in the right place at the right time, and doing the right thing, was a challenge itself.
wedge: A piece of material, such as metal or wood, thick at one edge and tapered 13 to a thin edge at the other for insertion in a narrow crevice 14, used for splitting, tightening 15, securing, or levering. 楔子
toga: A loose one-piece outer garment worn in public by male citizens in ancient Rome. 托加袍
1 perimeter
n.周边，周长，周界
- The river marks the eastern perimeter of our land.这条河标示我们的土地东面的边界。
- Drinks in hands,they wandered around the perimeter of the ball field.他们手里拿着饮料在球场周围漫不经心地遛跶。
2 akin
adj.同族的，类似的
- She painted flowers and birds pictures akin to those of earlier feminine painters.她画一些同早期女画家类似的花鸟画。
- Listening to his life story is akin to reading a good adventure novel.听他的人生故事犹如阅读一本精彩的冒险小说。
3 feat
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。
4 standardization
n.标准化
- Standardization of counseling techniques is obviously impossible. 很清楚，要想使研讨方法标准化是不可能的。
- In Britain, progress towards standardization was much slower. 在英国，向标准化进展要迟缓得多。
5 countless
adj.无数的，多得不计其数的
- In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
- I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。
6 laborers
n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工
- Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
- Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言
7 minimal
adj.尽可能少的，最小的
- They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
- I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。
8 supervision
n.监督，管理
- The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
- The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。
9 labors
v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转
- He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors. 他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜，令人生厌。 来自辞典例句
- Farm labors used to hire themselves out for the summer. 农业劳动者夏季常去当雇工。 来自辞典例句
10 carving
n.雕刻品，雕花
- All the furniture in the room had much carving.房间里所有的家具上都有许多雕刻。
- He acquired the craft of wood carving in his native town.他在老家学会了木雕手艺。
11 niches
壁龛( niche的名词复数 )； 合适的位置[工作等]； （产品的）商机； 生态位（一个生物所占据的生境的最小单位）
- Some larvae extend the galleries to form niches. 许多幼虫将坑道延伸扩大成壁龛。
- In his view differences in adaptation are insufficient to create niches commensurate in number and kind. 按照他的观点，适应的差异不足以在数量上和种类上形成同量的小生境。
12 craftsmen
n. 技工
- rugs handmade by local craftsmen 由当地工艺师手工制作的小地毯
- The craftsmen have ensured faithful reproduction of the original painting. 工匠保证要复制一幅最接近原作的画。
13 tapered
n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝；缺口
- I saw a plant growing out of a crevice in the wall.我看到墙缝里长出一棵草来。
- He edged the tool into the crevice.他把刀具插进裂缝里。
14 tightening
上紧，固定，紧密
- Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
- It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。