常春藤解析英語 84 Stonehenge Decoded 千古疑云巨石陣

Stonehenge Decoded 千古疑云巨石陣

by Matthew Brown

Stonehenge has been shrouded in mystery for more than 4,500 years. Now a British archaeologist may have found out some of its secrets.

4,500 多年以來，巨石群一直籠罩著一股神秘色彩。如今英國考古學家或許已發(fā)現(xiàn)其神秘之處。

There are some things that people call "mysteries" that are not really all that mysterious. Stonehenge, however, certainly deserves that description. Rumors of ancient magicians, strange druids, and the sun god Apollo surround it.

Located in the English countryside, Stonehenge is one of the oldest monuments in the world. It is instantly recognizable. It consists of a group of gigantic stones that stand upright on the ground in a circle. In some cases, pairs of the stones have another stone lying across them like a tabletop. At the sight of these strange stones, most people think two things first. One, how did people in prehistoric times manage to set up these enormous stones? And two, what was the purpose of this strange structure?

No one really knows. But Stonehenge Decoded, a new program on National Geographic Channel, takes a look at a groundbreaking theory on the origins of Stonehenge. British archaeologist Mike Parker Pearson leads a team that investigates Stonehenge, and comes up with some surprises.

Pearson and his crew find evidence of a 4,500-year-old settlement a few kilometers from Stonehenge. At the center of this settlement lie the remains of a second circle! After testing, it is found that the second circle was a near replica of the Stonehenge monument, but made of wood. Both circles stood at the same time.

So how were these circles connected? What was the meaning of having one in stone and one in wood? Pearson believes that Stonehenge was built for the ancestors of the people that created it. It may, he claims, have been a monument to house the spirits of the dead. The wooden monument may have represented the living, while the stone monument represented the dead. Another amazing discovery is that on the longest and shortest days of the year, the two monuments line up with the setting and rising sun. The effect is very dramatic.

Tune in to Stonehenge Decoded on September 6 at 9:00 PM!

1.　Stonehenge is _____.

(A)　a series of circles

(B)　a huge stone

(C)　a set of stones

(D)　a wooden monument

2.　Based on the article, what can be said of Pearson's theory?

(A)　He will come up with a theory soon.

(B)　There is very little evidence to support it.

(C)　It proves that our beliefs were accurate.

(D)　It changes the way Stonehenge has been understood.

3.　What has Pearson's team found?

(A)　A wooden circle right beneath Stonehenge.

(B)　A huge underwater city near Stonehenge.

(C)　The remains of a community and a monument similar to Stonehenge.

(D)　A prehistoric graveyard.

4.　According to the article, what might Stonehenge have been used for?

(A)　Religious rituals.

(B)　Shelter from the cold and rain.

(C)　A prison or school.

(D)　A display of power.

文法一點靈

At the center of this settlement lie the remains of a second circle!

本句原為：

The remains of a second circle lie at the center of this settlement!

注意:

a. 地方副詞(如 there, here)或地方副詞詞組(如 in the room)置于句首時，可形成倒裝句，此類倒裝句全按動詞的性質(zhì)作變化，句型有三種：

1) 主詞 + 不及物動詞 + 地方副詞(詞組)

→ 地方副詞(詞組)+ 不及物動詞 + 主詞

例: By the tree sat a little boy.

(那棵樹旁坐著一個小男孩。)

2) 主詞 + be 動詞 + 過去分詞 + 地方副詞(詞組)

→ 地方副詞(詞組)+ be 動詞 + 過去分詞 + 主詞

例: On the wall was hung a painting.

(墻上掛著一幅畫。)

3) 主詞 + be 動詞 + 現(xiàn)在分詞 + 地方副詞(詞組)

→ 現(xiàn)在分詞 + 地方副詞(詞組)+ be 動詞 + 主詞

例: Standing there is one of my friends.

(站在那里的是我的一個朋友。)

b. 此類倒裝句中的主詞一定是普通名詞(如 a book)，或?qū)Ｓ忻~(如 Mary)。若主詞為代名詞(如 it、she、they 等)則不可采倒裝句。

單字小鋪

1. Stonehenge n. 巨石陣(英格蘭南部 Wiltshire 的史前巨石柱群)

2. decode vt. 解(碼);解讀

3. druid n. 德魯伊特教僧侶

4. monument n. 歷史遺跡;紀念碑

5. recognizable a. 可辨認的

6. gigantic a. 巨大的

7. upright adv. 筆直地 & a. 筆直的

8. tabletop n. 桌面

9. prehistoric a. 史前的

10. archaeologist n. 考古學家

11. crew n. 一隊工作人員(集合名詞，不可數(shù))

12. settlement n. 小村落，聚居地

13. replica n. 復制品

14. ancestor n. 祖宗，祖先

15. the dead　　死者(= dead people)

16. the living　　活人(= living people)

17. dramatic a. 激動人心的;戲劇性的

18. accurate a. 準確的，精確的

19. community n. 小區(qū)

20. graveyard n. 墓地

21. ritual n. 儀式

22. shelter n. 躲避處;庇護所

詞組小鋪

1. in some cases　　在有些情況下，有時

2. take a look at...　　看一看……

3. come up with...　　提出∕想出……

4. tune in to...　　轉(zhuǎn)到……頻道;收看∕收聽……

5. a series of...　　一連串……;一系列……

6. a set of...　　一套……;一組……

7. be similar to...　　和……相似

精解字詞詞組

1. description n. 描述，形容

beyond description　　難以形容，無法言喻

例: The beauty of this place is beyond description.

(這地方的美非筆墨所能形容。)

2. be located in + 大地方∕at + 小地方　　位于∕座落在……

= be situated in + 大地方∕at + 小地方

例: The business district is located in the center of the city.

(該商業(yè)區(qū)位于市中心。)

例: The factory is located at the foot of the hill.

(這座工廠位于山腳下。)

3. consist of...　　由……組成;包含……

= be composed of...

= be made up of...

例: The organization is composed of people from all walks of life.

(這個組織是由來自各行各業(yè)的人士所組成。)

4. at the sight of...　　一看見……

例: The hikers ran away at the sight of the black bear.

(那群健行者一看到黑熊拔腿就跑。)

5. manage to V　　設法(做到)……

例: How do you manage to keep your room so clean?

(你把房間保持得這么干凈，是如何做到的?)

6. set up...　　建造∕設立……

例: The police set up roadblocks at the intersection.

(警方在那十字路口設置路障。)

7. groundbreaking a. 開創(chuàng)性的

例: This is a groundbreaking idea. It will change the world.

(這是個開創(chuàng)性的想法，它將改變這個世界)

8. investigate vt. 調(diào)查;研究

= look into...

例: The detective traveled abroad to investigate the violent murder.

(這名探員出國調(diào)查那起兇殺案。)

9. be made of...　　由……制成(產(chǎn)品仍保有材料原來的性質(zhì)或形狀)

be made from...　　由……制成(產(chǎn)品不保留材料原來的性質(zhì)或形狀)

例: George Washington's false teeth were made of wood.

(喬治?華盛頓的假牙是木制的。)

例: Grandmother's homemade wine was made from plums.

(祖母自制的酒是用梅子釀的。)

10. house vt. 讓……居住;收藏，存放

例: The museum houses about two hundred paintings.

(這間博物館收藏了約 2 百幅畫。)

11. represent vt. 象征，代表

例: The color green represents many different things.

(綠色象征很多不同的涵意。)

12. line up　　排成一行;排隊

例: "Please line up and be quiet," said the teacher.

(老師說：『請排好隊并保持安靜。』)

中文翻譯&標準答案

有些被稱之為『神秘』的事物，其實不盡然全都那么神秘。然而巨石陣卻當之無愧。關(guān)于它的傳說充斥著巫師、奇怪的德魯伊特教僧侶和太陽神阿波羅。

巨石陣位于英國鄉(xiāng)間，是世界上最古老的歷史遺跡之一，其辨識度相當高。它是由一群高聳豎立的巨大石頭所組成的一個巨石圈。有時成對的石頭之間，上方會橫放著另一塊石頭，看起來像桌面一樣。一看到這些擺放怪異的石頭，大多數(shù)人都會先想到兩件事。第一，史前時代的人類是如何豎立起這些巨石?第二，這些奇怪的石頭排列用途何在?

沒有人知道真正的答案是什么。但國家地理頻道的新節(jié)目《千古疑云巨石陣》將帶您一探巨石陣源起的創(chuàng)新理論。英國考古學家麥克?帕克?皮爾森率領(lǐng)一組團隊研究巨石陣，并提出令人訝異的結(jié)論。

皮爾森和組員發(fā)現(xiàn)距離巨石陣幾公里外，有一處具有 4,500 年歷史的人類聚落。而聚落的中央竟然有第二個圈形的遺跡!經(jīng)過化驗之后，這處圓圈幾乎是巨石陣的翻版，但卻是木制的。而且兩處的圓圈是同時存在的。

這兩處圓圈有什么關(guān)聯(lián)呢?一處圓圈由巨石組成，而另一處由木頭組成的意義何在?皮爾森相信巨石陣是人們?yōu)榱思o念祖先而建造的。皮爾森聲稱巨石陣可能是供奉往生者靈魂之處。巨木陣或許代表生者，而巨石陣則象征亡靈。另一項驚人的發(fā)現(xiàn)是，這兩處遺跡在夏至與冬至時，會與太陽日出和日落的位置成一直線。這樣的景象相當壯觀。

9 月 6日 晚上 9 點敬請準時收看《千古疑云巨石陣》。

1. 巨石陣是 _____。

(A) 一連串的圓圈 (B) 一顆巨石

(C) 一組石頭 (D) 一個木制的紀念碑

題解: 根據(jù)本文第二段，巨石陣是一群高聳豎立的巨大石頭所組成的一個巨石圈，與 (C) 最為接近，故為正選。

2. 根據(jù)本文，我們可以如何描述皮爾森的理論?

(A) 他將在近期內(nèi)提出一項理論。

(B) 支持這項理論的證據(jù)少之又少。

(C) 他的理論證明我們的看法正確。

(D) 他的理論改變?nèi)藗儗奘嚨牧私狻?/p>

題解: 根據(jù)本文第三段，《千古疑云巨石陣》帶領(lǐng)觀眾一探巨石陣源起的創(chuàng)新理論。在節(jié)目中，英國考古學家皮爾森率領(lǐng)一組團隊研究巨石陣，提出了令人訝異的結(jié)論，可知皮爾森的理論不同以往大家對巨石陣的看法，故 (D) 為正選。

3. 皮爾森的團隊發(fā)現(xiàn)了什么?

(A) 巨石陣正下方的木制圓圈。

(B) 巨石陣附近一座巨大的水底城市。

(C) 一個小區(qū)的遺址和一處類似巨石陣的遺跡。

(D) 一座史前的墓地。

題解: 根據(jù)本文第四段，皮爾森和組員發(fā)現(xiàn)距離巨石陣幾公里外，有一處具有 4,500 年歷史的聚落，其中央存在著第二個圓圈的遺跡。經(jīng)過化驗后，這個木制的圓圈幾乎是巨石陣的翻版，故應選 (C)。

4. 根據(jù)本文，巨石陣可能被用來作為何種用途?

(A) 宗教儀式。 (B) 避寒及避雨之處。

(C) 一座監(jiān)獄或?qū)W校。 (D) 權(quán)力的展現(xiàn)。

題解: 根據(jù)本文第五段，巨石陣是人們?yōu)榱俗嫦韧鲮`而建造的，故應選 (A)。文章中并未提及與 (B)、(C) 和 (D) 有關(guān)的敘述，故均不可選

標準答案: 1. (C) 2. (D) 3. (C) 4. (A)