【跟着英剧练发音】A Histry Of Britain - 2

 文本：

There are the remains¹ of Stone Age lifedotted all over Britain and Ireland. But nowhere as abundantly as Orkney, withits mounds², graves and above all its great circles of standing³ stones like hereat Brodgar, vast, imposing⁴ and utterly⁵ unknowable. But Orkney boasts anotherNeolithic site, that is, in its way, even more impressive than Brodgar, thelast thing you would expect from the Stone Age, a shockingly familiar glimpseof ancient domestic life.Perched on the westerncoast of Orkney's main island, a village called Skara Brae. Here, beneath anarea no bigger than the 18th grade of a golf course lies Europe's most completeNeolithic community, miraculously⁷ preserved for 5,000 years under a blanket ofsand and grass until uncovered in 1850 by a ferocious⁸ sea storm. This is arecognisable village, neatly⁹ fitted into its landscape between the pasture andsea, intimate, domestic and self-sufficient. And although they were technicallystill in the Stone Age in the Neolithic⁶ period, these dwellings¹⁰ are not huts,they're true houses, built from the sandstone slabs¹¹ that lie all around theisland which gave stout¹² protection to the villagers here at Skara Brae, fromtheir biting Orcadian winds.

 

译文：

石器时代的遗迹遍布于不列颠与爱尔兰，尤以奥克尼群岛为最。大量鼓起的坟堆，以及像布罗德盖石圈一样耸立着的巨石阵，雄伟壮观，并散发着不可知的神秘气息。而岛上有一处新石器时代的遗址，甚至比布罗德盖更令人惊叹，你永远想象不到，遥远的石器时代远古的家庭生活，竟在这里揭开了神秘面纱。苏格兰斯堪的纳维亚，这处遗址就在位于奥克尼主岛西岸，一个叫做斯卡拉布雷的村庄。斯卡拉布雷，奥克尼群岛，在这不足一个十八洞高尔夫球场大的地下，静静沉睡着欧洲最完整的新石器时代部落。在草与沙之下，奇迹般地保留着五千年前的风貌。直到1850年的一次巨大海上风暴，揭开了她的真实面目。村落的面貌清晰可见，完美地镶嵌在牧场与海洋之间，联系紧密，以家庭为单位，自给自足。虽然这一时期仍被划分在新石器时代，这些寓所却已不再是临时的窝棚，而是真正的房屋，由遍布岛上的砂石板材筑造，坚实地保护着斯卡拉布雷的村民们，免受奥克尼凶猛海风的侵袭。

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 mounds   

土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )； 一大堆

参考例句：

• We had mounds of tasteless rice. 我们有成堆成堆的淡而无味的米饭。
• Ah! and there's the cemetery' - cemetery, he must have meant. 'You see the mounds? 啊，这就是同墓，”——我想他要说的一定是公墓，“看到那些土墩了吗？

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

5 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

6 neolithic   

adj.新石器时代的

参考例句：

• Cattle were first domesticated in Neolithic times.新石器时代有人开始驯养牛。
• The monument was Stone Age or Neolithic.该纪念碑是属于石器时代或新石器时代的。

7 miraculously   

ad.奇迹般地

参考例句：

• He had been miraculously saved from almost certain death. 他奇迹般地从死亡线上获救。
• A schoolboy miraculously survived a 25 000-volt electric shock. 一名男学生在遭受2.5 万伏的电击后奇迹般地活了下来。

8 ferocious   

adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的

参考例句：

• The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
• The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。

9 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

10 dwellings   

n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The development will consist of 66 dwellings and a number of offices. 新建楼区将由66栋住房和一些办公用房组成。
• The hovels which passed for dwellings are being pulled down. 过去用作住室的陋屋正在被拆除。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 slabs   

n.厚板，平板，厚片( slab的名词复数 )；厚胶片

参考例句：

• The patio was made of stone slabs. 这天井是用石板铺砌而成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The slabs of standing stone point roughly toward the invisible notch. 这些矗立的石块，大致指向那个看不见的缺口。 来自辞典例句

12 stout   

adj.强壮的，粗大的，结实的，勇猛的，矮胖的

参考例句：

• He cut a stout stick to help him walk.他砍了一根结实的枝条用来拄着走路。
• The stout old man waddled across the road.那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。