【跟着英剧练发音】A History Of Britain - 16 B

 When we think of Hadrian's Wall, we tend to think of the Romans rather like US cavalrymen deep in Indian country, defending the flag, peering through the cracks and waiting nervously¹ for war drums and smoke signals. A place where paranoia² sweated from every stone. But it wasn't really like that at all. As fantastically ambitious as this was, stretching 73 miles from coast to coast from the Solway to the Tyne, and although Hadrian probably conceived it in response to a rebellion on the part of those people in the Romans loftily referred to as "Brittunculi"-nasty wretched little Brits. 

(只模仿斜体划线部分)

译文：

想到哈德良长城，我们自然会想到罗马人，如同深入印第安保卫国旗的美国骑兵，提心吊胆地等待着。战鼓与烽烟，所及之处，风声鹤唳，草木皆兵。但事实并非如此。它彰显着令人难以置信的雄心。绵延七十三英里，横贯东西海岸，西至索尔韦湾，东至泰恩河口。纵然哈德良筑此长城的初衷是抵御叛乱，即一部分罗马人口中所指的卑鄙下流的小不列颠人。

1 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

2 paranoia   

n.妄想狂，偏执狂；多疑症

参考例句：

• Her passion for cleanliness borders on paranoia.她的洁癖近乎偏执。
• The push for reform is also motivated by political paranoia.竞选的改革运动也受到政治偏执狂症的推动。