时间:2018-12-26 作者:英语课 分类:自然百科2010年


英语课

 Here, the story goes, Oedipus first learned his fate. The Oracle 1 of Delphi, speaking for the god Apollo, told him he would kill his father and marry his mother. As many of us learned in school, despite all his efforts, Oedipus was unable to escape his disastrous 2 destiny in maybe the most famous of Greek tragedies. 


 
"In antiquity 3, just like today, people had a lot of uncertainties 4 in life and they presumed that the gods knew more than they did, and in particular, they thought Apollo knew a lot. So they would travel here basically to ask Apollo for advice or to ask him questions and hope that he give an answer."
 
If Apollo was a musician, then his priestess, the Pythia, was his instrument. Ancient records tell of mystical, sweet-smelling vapors 5 rising from the earth, putting the Pythia under Apollo's spell. But while the reciting of prophecies is historical fact, questions about those vapors remain. 
 
Archaeologist John Hale believes the answers lie deep underground. Analysis of the bedrock beneath the temple also shows the existence of petrochemicals, including ethylene. Ethylene has been used as an anesthetic 6 in modern days, but when administered in experimental small doses, induced a trance-like state. 
 
"And the trance state had a lot of similarities with the description of the Pythia there on the temple of Delphi." 
 
Scholars think water running underground could have carried gases up through the fault lines directly to the priestess. The ancients believed ordinary people could meet the gods at Delphi, a point of contact between man and mystery. In a way, they were right. Modern science suggests that here the supernatural was in fact simply natural.

1 oracle
n.神谕,神谕处,预言
  • In times of difficulty,she pray for an oracle to guide her.在困难的时候,她祈祷神谕来指引她。
  • It is a kind of oracle that often foretells things most important.它是一种内生性神谕,常常能预言最重要的事情。
2 disastrous
adj.灾难性的,造成灾害的;极坏的,很糟的
  • The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
  • Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨,血本无归。
3 antiquity
n.古老;高龄;古物,古迹
  • The museum contains the remains of Chinese antiquity.博物馆藏有中国古代的遗物。
  • There are many legends about the heroes of antiquity.有许多关于古代英雄的传说。
4 uncertainties
无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 ); 不确定; 变化不定; 无把握、不确定的事物
  • One of the uncertainties of military duty is that you never know when you might suddenly get posted away. 任军职不稳定的因素之一是你永远不知道什么时候会突然被派往它处。
  • Uncertainties affecting peace and development are on the rise. 影响和平与发展的不确定因素在增加。 来自汉英非文学 - 十六大报告
5 vapors
n.水汽,水蒸气,无实质之物( vapor的名词复数 );自夸者;幻想 [药]吸入剂 [古]忧郁(症)v.自夸,(使)蒸发( vapor的第三人称单数 )
  • His emotions became vague and shifted about like vapors. 他的心情则如同一团雾气,变幻无常,捉摸不定。 来自辞典例句
  • They have hysterics, they weep, they have the vapors. 他们歇斯底里,他们哭泣,他们精神忧郁。 来自辞典例句
6 anesthetic
n.麻醉剂,麻药;adj.麻醉的,失去知觉的
  • He was given a general anesthetic.他被全身麻醉。
  • He was still under the influence of the anesthetic.他仍处在麻醉状态。
学英语单词
a poon
A tent
absorption water
actuarial table
Alasin
alicycle
amidrazone
apogranite
attribution model
autocatalysts
avian-flu
bastard fount
Beaconsfield
bench-drill
boat bearer
bolillos
bresaolas
Bupleurum longicaule
cage hydraulic press
carbide insert bit
Catcher in the Rye
centimoes
channel decoder
comma construction
contact reliability inspection
cotton-enamel covered wire
course
Critesion
crystal tea
decontraction
demolition of property
Deuteronomic, Deuteronomical
deviation of borehole
DIIC
distance of relative movement
distesol
dividend payout ration
duquesnel
equivalent bar
error status register
family Rhinolophidae
gang seeder
general recursive predicate
geographic proximity
gridpoints
GVE
have a peep ab sb
have something on one's shoulders
hereditary predisposition
HF-24
high pressure turbine bypass
hobnail
icker
ignition residue
intermediate preference targets
irenina malloticola
Kannose-gawa
lameller tearing
leave one's card upon someone
left-click
level of organization
library member
man of quality
mangadom
mesomeric theory
miniaturizes
moneymaking
moral duty
moving speed of table
noise level
north land (severnaya zemlya)
Orroroo
outdoor motor
ovonic threshold switch
partial solid solution
partner's capiatl
perissus asperatus
personal computing conference
photoelectric photometer
pillar shaping machine
placentotrophy
Planchonella obovata
plex structure
primary safety valve for inner container
project production
rekles
sample pulse phase
Shentoo's line
sinaed
spring for air pump
stewed
suck-boy
takehome
thermal decomposition method
transmission standards
ultrasonic test method
UNRPR
UVPROM
uvular diastematia
walkback
weirty
workcentre