英语听力：自然百科 消失的西藏王朝古格(2)

Today, this is all the remains¹ of Guge, its capital city, Tsaparang.

这是今日古格王朝的遗址，这是首都札布让。

The grand vision of the first kings of Guge is reflected in this extraordinary city, literally² carved into the side of a mountain.

这座建立在土山上的独特古城反映出古格王朝前几任国王的宏伟愿景。

Soaring to the heaven is the height of a modern 80-storey skyscraper³.

高度相当于现代八十层楼高的摩天大楼直冲云霄。

It is, even today, one of the largest structures in Tibet.

即使在今天依然是西藏最大建筑之一。

Along its narrow lanes, you can almost hear the echoes of the many people, who toiled⁴ to gouge⁵ a city from this impenetrable mount of clay.

沿着窄巷行走当年工人挖壁开凿的情形仿佛重现眼前。

A labyrinth⁶ of tunnels and stairs leads vertically⁷ 300 meters to the very top of the structure.

地道及楼梯层层往上三百公尺到达古城的最高处。

The view is breathtaking.

景色令人叹为观止。

But this is only a small part of the once mighty⁸ Kingdom of Guge.

但这只是古格王朝的一小部分。

At its height, it was twice the size of Great Britain.

在兴盛时期古格王朝是英国的两倍大。

Experts believe that somewhere here lies the answer to one of the most intriguing⁹ archaeological enigmas¹⁰ in Asia.

学者相信在古城可以解开亚洲最令人费解的谜团之一。

Who exactly built this extraordinary structure? And what could have possibly led to the downfall of the civilization?

这座古城是谁建立的什么原因造成古格文明由盛而衰？

1 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。

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 skyscraper   

n.摩天大楼

参考例句：

• The skyscraper towers into the clouds.那幢摩天大楼高耸入云。
• The skyscraper was wrapped in fog.摩天楼为雾所笼罩。

4 toiled   

长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉

参考例句：

• They toiled up the hill in the blazing sun. 他们冒着炎炎烈日艰难地一步一步爬上山冈。
• He toiled all day long but earned very little. 他整天劳碌但挣得很少。

5 gouge   

v.凿；挖出；n.半圆凿；凿孔；欺诈

参考例句：

• To make a Halloween lantern,you first have to gouge out the inside of the pumpkin.要做一个万圣节灯笼，你先得挖空这个南瓜。
• In the Middle Ages,a favourite punishment was to gouge out a prisoner's eyes.在中世纪，惩罚犯人最常用的办法是剜眼睛。

6 labyrinth   

n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路

参考例句：

• He wandered through the labyrinth of the alleyways.他在迷宫似的小巷中闲逛。
• The human mind is a labyrinth.人的心灵是一座迷宫。

7 vertically   

adv.垂直地

参考例句：

• Line the pages for the graph both horizontally and vertically.在这几页上同时画上横线和竖线，以便制作图表。
• The human brain is divided vertically down the middle into two hemispheres.人脑从中央垂直地分为两半球。

8 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

9 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 enigmas   

n.难于理解的问题、人、物、情况等，奥秘( enigma的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The last words of Night Haunter stand as one of the great enigmas of Imperial history. 暗夜幽魂最后的临死前的话成为了帝国历史上的最大谜团之一。 来自互联网
• Heraclitus saith well in one of his enigmas, Dry light is ever the best. 赫拉克里塔斯在他的隐语之一中说得很好，“干光永远最佳”。 来自互联网