时间:2018-11-30 作者:英语课 分类:听美文故事记6级单词


英语课

2. Cleopatra,the Queen of Egypt


Shortly before the birth of Christ, Egypt was still ruled by a living goddess, Cleopatra, a Greek descended 1 from one of Alexander’s generals. She looked back to the Golden Age of Alexander’s world empire and was determined 2 to do even better herself.


  Alexander died at the age of 32. By the time Cleopatra was 23, she had gone ever further than Alexander making her entrance into Rome as Queen of Egypt and consort 3 of Julius Caesar, the most powerful man in the world.


  These were complex times. To keep your throne, you had to be adaptable 4, ruthless, intelligent and a great politician. Cleopatra had all these traits which is why history has provided us with lots of interpretations 5 of Cleopatra. Renaissance 6 poets saw her as a heroine dying for love. And painters alluded 7 to her eroticism in their bare breasted portrayals 9 of the dying queen. Hollywood reinforced the image of Cleopatra as a vamp starting with Theda Bara’s seductive portrayal 8 in 1917.


  But who was the real Cleopatra? What did she really look like?


  We’re in Berlin because this is the best portrait of Cleopatra in the world. There are very few ancient sculptures that exist. So this is probably as close as we’re ever going to get to how she really looked. She’s rather plain looking, isn’t she? Look at her hair. It’s tied up in a simple bun. It’s a classical Greek hairstyle. It’s practical but not exactly designed to captivate a Roman general.


 


  As a intellectual, Cleopatra would have been heartbroken: when during fighting between Egyptians and Caesar’s Roman troops, there occurred one of the greatest tragedies of the ancient world - the burning of the library of Alexandria. It’s sad to think about what was lost in the fire at Alexandria. There are the missing manuscripts of Aristotle and Plato. They were probably there. There was an entire room with editions of Homer. There may even have been early manuscripts of the Old Testament 10, which could probably help settle Biblical questions today.


  Cleopatra was eventually able to replace 200,000 of the manuscripts. Books were very important to her. It’s ironic 11 that today everybody knows her for her beauty, but it was her intelligence that was most important asset she had.



1 descended
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的
  • A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
  • The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。
2 determined
adj.坚定的;有决心的
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
3 consort
v.相伴;结交
  • They went in consort two or three together.他们三三两两结伴前往。
  • The nurses are instructed not to consort with their patients.护士得到指示不得与病人交往。
4 adaptable
adj.能适应的,适应性强的,可改编的
  • He is an adaptable man and will soon learn the new work.他是个适应性很强的人,很快就将学会这种工作。
  • The soil is adaptable to the growth of peanuts.这土壤适宜于花生的生长。
5 interpretations
n.解释( interpretation的名词复数 );表演;演绎;理解
  • This passage is open to a variety of interpretations. 这篇文章可以有各种不同的解释。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The involved and abstruse passage makes several interpretations possible. 这段艰涩的文字可以作出好几种解释。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
6 renaissance
n.复活,复兴,文艺复兴
  • The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
  • The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。
7 alluded
提及,暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 )
  • In your remarks you alluded to a certain sinister design. 在你的谈话中,你提到了某个阴谋。
  • She also alluded to her rival's past marital troubles. 她还影射了对手过去的婚姻问题。
8 portrayal
n.饰演;描画
  • His novel is a vivid portrayal of life in a mining community.他的小说生动地描绘了矿区的生活。
  • The portrayal of the characters in the novel is lifelike.该书中的人物写得有血有肉。
9 portrayals
n.画像( portrayal的名词复数 );描述;描写;描摹
  • And painters alluded to her eroticism in their bare breasted portrayals of the dying queen. 画家们把她描绘为裸胸垂死的贪欲的女王。 来自互联网
10 testament
n.遗嘱;证明
  • This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
  • It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明,编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。
11 ironic
adj.讽刺的,有讽刺意味的,出乎意料的
  • That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
  • People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”,但他们是在挖苦我。
学英语单词
a den of iniquity
adlacrimal
alphamerics
Andes
anelastic equation
apartment-complex
arable
average revenue curve
averting expenditure method (aem)
Bald pine
borehole compensated sonic logger
Bowenoid
Bureau of the Administration of Royal Medicinal Affairs
chakravarthies
chart lamp
cholaligenic
civil evidence
conceipt
Congress House
congruent integer
continuous-progress
contradictings
crantses
crushing defeat
D-D reactor (deuterium-deuterium reactor)
dehon
deposit for bidding documents
derings
dials up
drum-head court
dry excavation
eridanians
exnihilation
extensive roof collapse
fault branch
febris nervosa
ferruginous deposits
five-membered
four-axis
frost-prone
hearving sand
High Frequency Coil
humiliator
icing beater
ICLARM, I.C.L.A.M.
ill-fitted
informe
kith
knock-out core
labyrinthine sense
LCHD
liability rule
lubricating oil arrangement
magnetic induction part
magnetic suspension accelerometer
mary-lynn
mean world hypothesis
meningococcaemias
mijnbeer
model of car
most reasonable
netview management console
one-to-one transformation
outlaw strike
parental ditype tetrad
phenolic resin varnish
photoglyptic
play into ... hands
plug in type connection
pollenised
polyandrist
port of loading for imports
prepatellar bursitis
primosity
pseudocoloured
puck bunnies
railroad tickets
respiratoria
rhinoentomophthoromycosis
sacro-transverso-transversalis system
sahay
Salix etosia
Salix pendulina blanda
sampling duration
send sb to eternity
ST (steam turbine)
Sulimov dog
t-form budding
temko
thyrochondrotomy
triles
trimethyloxybutyrobetain
TS (turbine system)
tube-in-tube structural system
tumbling
twill fabrics
unit bit
universal radar signal processor
Urias
wave height histogram
Weiweie
without compensation