英语听力：自然百科 Ireland 爱尔兰

 This is the only horse race in the world to be run at the edge of the sea. Held once a year on Laytown Beach near Dublin, it reflects Ireland’s centuries-old love affair with the horse. Man has bred these horses for speed and endurance. He has left his own mark on what time and nature have already made, just as he helped to mold the Irish landscape, animals, and plants.

 

And before humans, older, more profound forces were at work. This ancient land might seem timeless but change lies at its very heart. Ireland has rarely stood still. Ireland’s hills and mountains are formed from her oldest, hardest rocks. They’re part of the legacy¹ of her geological past, the foundation on which this island is built.

 

But the landscapes we see today have more recent origins. Everywhere Ireland has been sculpted² in some way by one of the greatest forces of nature, ice. For almost two million years, Ireland, like the rest of Europe was locked in the grip of the ice age. Glaciers³, vast moving sheets of ice destroyed nearly all life and transformed the contours of the land. No part of Ireland completely escaped their impact. In the mountains of Mourne in Northern Ireland, the glaciers never quite reach the summits, but the cold they carried with them did. Frost actions split and shattered the rock faces, chiseling⁴ steep ravines and deeply carved peaks.

 

One bird of the mountains has made the most of this ice age legacy-- the Peregrine Falcon⁵ comes to the Mournes to nest. Remote rock faces and inaccessible⁶ ledges⁷  are the safest place to raise their chicks. And the land around provides good hunting for the adults-- all good reasons why there’re more Peregrines here than anywhere else in Ireland. But even Peregrines couldn’t have lived here until the ice age ended, around 13,000 years ago. Exactly when they staked their claim to Ireland Uplands isn’t clear. But since then their fortunes, like everything else, here have changed with the times. Today they’re wide spread throughout the country. But less than 40 years ago, Peregrines hit an all-time low. Poisoned by insecticides designed to protect seeds and crops, their numbers died to just 27 successful nesting pairs, bringing them paralyzedly close to extinction⁸. Only when the chemicals were banned did the Peregrines recovery begin. It’s been a slow process, but they are now thriving and reclaiming⁹ the mountain landscape they inherited from the ice.

 

Ireland’s mountains lie scattered¹⁰ around her edge, encircling a watery¹¹ landscape of rivers, streams, lakes, fens¹², and barks. On her west coast in County Mayo stands Ireland’s most sacred mountain, Croagh Patrick. On this summit, Ireland’s patron saint is believed to have fasted for 40 days and nights. And today more than 1500 years later, the mountain remains¹³ a place of pilgrimage. Every year on Reek¹⁴ Sunday, the last Sunday in July, more than 25,000 people follow in St. Patrick’s footsteps. As the pilgrims make their steep descent, the view before them is another with its feet in the ice age, Clew Bay.

 

Well-backed islands are a testimony¹⁵ to the power of glaciers. Stones and soil were trapped beneath their massive weight and molded into mini-hills called Drummans. Then when the ice retreated and sea levels rose, these glacial relics¹⁶ were partly submerged, creating a drowned landscape.

 

In this water world, even the sheep are shepherded by boat, in traditional currachs powered by modern outboard motors. The popular belief is that there are 365 islands in Clew Bay, one for each day of the year. They are sheltered from the more extreme conditions of the North Atlantic and their rocky shorelines are a sanctuary¹⁷ for common seals.

 

Clew Bay is one of those corners of Ireland that feels frozen in time. Whole communities once carved a living from these islands, animals grazed, and homesteads grew up around small sheltered bays. But famine drove many away and changing time has made this kind of life uneconomic today. Only seven of the islands are still inhabited.

 

There are ghosts of past lives all along this stretch of coast. Rockfleet Castle was one of many belonging to Grace O’Malley, Queen of the Clew Bay pirates, who ruled these waters in the 16th century. The network of tiny isles¹⁸ and bays provided ideal hideaways for the pirate galleys¹⁹, the plundered²⁰ passing ships. It’s hard to imagine such a turbulent past. All that's likely to disturb these waters today are otters²¹ hunting for food.

1 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

2 sculpted   

adj.经雕塑的

参考例句：

• a display of animals sculpted in ice 冰雕动物展
• The ladies had their hair sculpted by the leading coiffeur of the day. 女士们的发型都是当代有名的理发师做的。

3 glaciers   

冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
• It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川，又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

4 chiseling   

v.凿，雕，镌( chisel的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The sculptor was at work chiseling a statue. 雕塑家正在雕琢一尊雕像。 来自辞典例句
• Tommy:Four of them are sawing, three are chiseling and one is reaming. 四个在锯，三个在磨，二个在凿，还有一个在铰。 来自互联网

5 falcon   

n.隼，猎鹰

参考例句：

• The falcon was twice his size with pouted feathers.鹰张开羽毛比两只鹰还大。
• The boys went hunting with their falcon.男孩子们带着猎鹰出去打猎了。

6 inaccessible   

adj.达不到的，难接近的

参考例句：

• This novel seems to me among the most inaccessible.这本书对我来说是最难懂的小说之一。
• The top of Mount Everest is the most inaccessible place in the world.珠穆朗玛峰是世界上最难到达的地方。

7 ledges   

n.（墙壁，悬崖等）突出的狭长部分( ledge的名词复数 )；（平窄的）壁架；横档；（尤指）窗台

参考例句：

• seabirds nesting on rocky ledges 海鸟在岩架上筑巢
• A rusty ironrod projected mournfully from one of the window ledges. 一个窗架上突出一根生锈的铁棒，真是满目凄凉。 来自辞典例句

8 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

9 reclaiming   

v.开拓( reclaim的现在分词 )；要求收回；从废料中回收（有用的材料）；挽救

参考例句：

• People here are reclaiming land from the sea. 这儿的人们正在填海拓地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• How could such a man need reclaiming? 这么一个了不起的人怎么还需要别人拯救呢？ 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

10 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

11 watery   

adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的

参考例句：

• In his watery eyes there is an expression of distrust.他那含泪的眼睛流露出惊惶失措的神情。
• Her eyes became watery because of the smoke.因为烟熏，她的双眼变得泪汪汪的。

12 fens   

n.（尤指英格兰东部的）沼泽地带( fen的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Most of the landscape in the Fens is as flat as a pancake. 菲恩斯的大部分地形都是极平坦的。 来自互联网
• He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens. 它伏在莲叶之下，卧在芦苇隐密处和水洼子里。 来自互联网

13 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

14 reek   

v.发出臭气；n.恶臭

参考例句：

• Where there's reek,there's heat.哪里有恶臭，哪里必发热。
• That reek is from the fox.那股恶臭是狐狸发出的。

15 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

16 relics   

[pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸

参考例句：

• The area is a treasure house of archaeological relics. 这个地区是古文物遗迹的宝库。
• Xi'an is an ancient city full of treasures and saintly relics. 西安是一个有很多宝藏和神圣的遗物的古老城市。

17 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

18 isles   

岛( isle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the geology of the British Isles 不列颠群岛的地质
• The boat left for the isles. 小船驶向那些小岛。

19 galleys   

n.平底大船，战舰( galley的名词复数 )；（船上或航空器上的）厨房

参考例句：

• Other people had drowned at sea since galleys swarmed with painted sails. 自从布满彩帆的大船下海以来，别的人曾淹死在海里。 来自辞典例句
• He sighed for the galleys, with their infamous costume. 他羡慕那些穿着囚衣的苦工。 来自辞典例句

20 plundered   

掠夺，抢劫( plunder的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Many of our cultural treasures have been plundered by imperialists. 我国许多珍贵文物被帝国主义掠走了。
• The imperialists plundered many valuable works of art. 帝国主义列强掠夺了许多珍贵的艺术品。

21 otters   

n.（水）獭( otter的名词复数 )；獭皮

参考例句：

• An attempt is being made to entice otters back to the river. 人们正试图把水獭引诱回河里去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Otters are believed to have been on Earth for 90 million years. 水獭被认为存活在地球上已经9千多万年。 来自互联网