The Great Wall 万里长城 - 2
Often, the only clue he has, is from some ancient text. And it is up to him to puzzle out the arcane 1 references and make them fit the modern landscape.
Armed only with a walking stick to fend 2 off snakes and rabid dogs, he has walked many thousands of miles, but he has had many successes. After struggling up this forested mountainside, he discovered a long-lost wall. No one had ever noticed it before but once it was part of an ancient Great Wall, too much earlier, and in a completely different location from the wall everyone knows. And the more scientists and archeologists probe, the more mysterious it all becomes. In a lifetime of searching, Chen has discovered thousands of miles of forgotten walls. In fact, if you add up all the walls that we now know about, it comes to a staggering total of 35, 000 miles, almost enough to stretch around the planet twice. But why built so many walls at such an enormous cost? What were the Chinese afraid of?
It was said you could smell them coming, even before you heard the thunder of their hooves. Then they were on you, slaughtering 3, raping 4, pillaging 5 and burning. Behind them, they left a trail of smoking cities and bleached 6 bones. They were the nomadic 7 hordes 8 of the northern plains, the Huns, Mongols, Manchus, all at war with the settled life of the Chinese.
The Chinese were terrified by the nomads 9 and detested 10 their harsh way of life. A famous poem said they have no fields or pastures, only wastes where white bones lie among yellow sands. Nomads live solely 11 off their livestock 12. Their animals provided every basic need: food, milk, meat, hides for clothes and the yurt - the nomadic tent. Animal dung provided fuel. In this uncompromising landscape, it was the only way to fuel a fire. The harsh climate kept the nomads always on the move, looking for pastures suitable for their flocks. When disease and freezing weather decimated their animals, the nomadic hordes raided the Chinese when they refused to trade with them. China had everything the nomads didn't have, rice, silk, writing and a very elaborate civilization. The Great Wall was a barrier between the civilized 13 world of the Chinese and barbarians 14.
arcane: secret, hidden; mysterious; occult
forested: covered with trees, thickly wooded
yurt: rounded building characteristic of the Mongols and the Turks of central Asia
dung: animal excrement
- The technique at one time was arcane in the minds of most chemists.这种技术在大多数化学家心目中一度是神秘的。
- Until a few months ago few people outside the arcane world of contemporary music had heard of Gorecki.直至几个月前，在现代音乐神秘殿堂之外很少有人听说了戈莱斯基。
- I've had to fend for myself since I was 14.我从十四岁时起就不得不照料自己。
- He raised his arm up to fend branches from his eyes.他举手将树枝从他眼前挡开。
- The Revolutionary Tribunal went to work, and a steady slaughtering began. 革命法庭投入工作，持续不断的大屠杀开始了。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
- \"Isn't it terrific slaughtering pigs? “宰猪的！ 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说
- In response, Charles VI sent a punitive expedition to Brittany, raping and killing the populace. 作为报复，查理六世派军讨伐布列塔尼，奸淫杀戮平民。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The conquerors marched on, burning, killing, raping and plundering as they went. 征服者所到之处烧杀奸掠，无所不做。 来自互联网
- The rebels went looting and pillaging. 叛乱者趁火打劫，掠夺财物。
- Soldiers went on a rampage, pillaging stores and shooting. 士兵们横冲直撞，洗劫商店并且开枪射击。 来自辞典例句
- His hair was bleached by the sun . 他的头发被太阳晒得发白。
- The sun has bleached her yellow skirt. 阳光把她的黄裙子晒得褪色了。
- This tribe still live a nomadic life.这个民族仍然过着游牧生活。
- The plowing culture and the nomadic culture are two traditional principal cultures in China.农耕文化与游牧文化是我国传统的两大主体文化。
- There are always hordes of tourists here in the summer. 夏天这里总有成群结队的游客。
- Hordes of journalists jostled for position outside the conference hall. 大群记者在会堂外争抢位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- For ten years she dwelled among the nomads of North America. 她在北美游牧民中生活了十年。
- Nomads have inhabited this region for thousands of years. 游牧民族在这地区居住已有数千年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- They detested each other on sight. 他们互相看着就不顺眼。
- The freethinker hated the formalist; the lover of liberty detested the disciplinarian. 自由思想者总是不喜欢拘泥形式者，爱好自由者总是憎恶清规戒律者。 来自辞典例句
- Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
- The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。
- Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
- The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。
- Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
- rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为
- The ancient city of Rome fell under the iron hooves of the barbarians. 古罗马城在蛮族的铁蹄下沦陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- It conquered its conquerors, the barbarians. 它战胜了征服者——蛮族。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史