【經(jīng)典精讀】NCE3 L3 An unknown goddess 無名女神

生詞和短語

goddess ?n. ??女神

archaeologist ?n. ??考古學(xué)家

Aegean ??adj. 愛琴海的

explore ?v. ??考察，勘探

promontory ?n. ??海角

prosperous???adj. （經(jīng)濟上）繁榮的，昌盛的

civilization ?n. ??文明

storey ?n. ??樓層

drainage ?n. ??排水

worship ??n. ??祟拜

sacred ?adj. 宗教的，神圣的

fragment ?n. ??碎片

remains ?n. ??遺物，遺跡，廢墟

classical ?adj. （希臘和羅馬）古代的

reconstruct ?v. ??修復(fù)

rest ?v. ??倚放，放置

hip ?n. ??屁股，臀部

full-length ?adj. （裙衣）拖地長的

graceful ?adj. 優(yōu)雅的

identity ?n. ??身份

閱讀文章，回答以下問題

How did the archaeologists know that the statue was a goddess?

Some time ago, an interesting discovery was made by archaeologists on the Aegean island of Kea. An American team explored a temple which stands in an ancient city on the promontory of Ayia Irini. The city at one time must have been prosperous, for?it enjoyed a high level of civilization. Houses -- often three storeys high -- were built of stone. They had large rooms with beautifully decorated walls. The city was?even equipped with a drainage system, for?a great many clay pipes were found beneath?the narrow streets.

The temple which the archaeologists explored was used as a place of worship from the fifteenth century B.C. until Roman times. In the most sacred room of temple, clay fragments of fifteen statues were found. Each of these represented a goddess and had, at one time, been painted. The body of one statue was found among remains dating from the fifteenth century B.C. Its missing head happened to be among remains of the fifth century B.C. This head must have been found in?Classical times?and carefully preserved. It was very old and precious even then. When the archaeologists reconstructed the fragments, they were amazed to find that the goddess?turned out?to be a very modern-looking woman. She stood three feet high and her hands rested on her hips. She was wearing a full-length skirt which swept the ground. Despite her great age, she was very graceful indeed, but, so far, the archaeologists have been unable to discover her identity.

參考譯文

不久之前，在愛琴海的基亞島上，考古工作者有一項有趣的發(fā)現(xiàn)。一個美國考古隊在阿伊亞.依里尼海角的一座古城里考察了一座廟宇。這座古城肯定一度很繁榮，因為它曾享有高度的文明。房子一般有3層樓高，用石塊修建。里面房間很大，墻壁裝飾華麗。城里甚至還鋪設(shè)了排水系統(tǒng)，因為在狹窄的街道底下發(fā)現(xiàn)了許許多多陶土制作的排水管道。考古工作者考察的這座廟宇從公元前15世紀(jì)直到羅馬時代一直是祭祀祈禱的場所。在廟中最神圣的一間殿堂里發(fā)現(xiàn)了15尊陶雕像的碎片。每一尊雕像代表一位女神，而且一度上過色。其中有一尊雕像，她的軀體是在公元前15世紀(jì)的歷史文物中發(fā)現(xiàn)的，而她那身異處的腦袋卻碰巧是在公元前5世紀(jì)的文物中找到的。她的腦袋一定是在古希臘羅馬時代就為人所發(fā)現(xiàn)，并受到精心的保護。卻使在當(dāng)時，它也屬歷史悠久的珍奇之物。考古工作者把這些碎片重新拼裝起來后，驚奇地發(fā)現(xiàn)那位女神原來是一位相貌十分摩登的女郎。她身高3英尺，雙手叉腰。身穿一條拖地長裙，盡管上了年紀(jì)，但體態(tài)確實優(yōu)美。不過，考古工作者至今未能確定這位女神的身份。

重點講解

must have been

（對過去的肯定猜測）一定是；肯定是I must have been in a shocking state last night.

昨晚我的情況一定很糟糕。

beneath

①在（或往）…下面；在（或往）…下方They found the body buried beneath a pile of leaves.

他們發(fā)現(xiàn)尸體被埋在一堆樹葉下面。

②（對某人來說）不夠好

He considers such jobs beneath him.

他覺得這種工作有失他的身份。

Classical times

羅馬時代；古典時代；古典時期

turn out

①出席（某項活動）；在場A vast crowd turned out to watch the procession.

有一大群人出來觀看游行隊伍。

②?…地發(fā)展（或發(fā)生）；結(jié)果…（與副詞或形容詞連用，或用于以how引導(dǎo)的疑問句）

Despite our worries everything turned out well.

盡管我們都很擔(dān)心，結(jié)果一切都順利。

If the day turns out wet, we may have to change our plans.

如果那天下雨的話，我們可能得改變計劃。

You never know?how your children will turn out.

很難說子女將來的發(fā)展怎樣。

③向外；朝外

Her toes turn out.

她的腳趾向外撇。

④原來是；證明是；結(jié)果是

It turned out that?she was a friend of my sister.

她原來是我姐姐的朋友。

The job turned out to be?harder than we thought.

這工作結(jié)果比我們想象的要難。

for

因為（表示的因果關(guān)系較為間接）The city at one time must have been prosperous, for?it enjoyed a high level of civilization.

這座古城肯定一度很繁榮，因為它曾享有高度的文明。

The city was?even equipped with a drainage system, for?a great many clay pipes were found beneath the narrow streets.

城里甚至還鋪設(shè)了排水系統(tǒng)，因為在狹窄的街道底下發(fā)現(xiàn)了許許多多陶土制作的排水管道。