The Great Wall 万里长城 - 10

In summer, dried-up river valleys offered easy invasion routes for horsemen bent¹ on sacking the rich Chinese towns of the plains. And this is why these passes were heavily fortified², even though they had let the rest of the Great Wall fall into ruins. A Mongol army of 100,000 warriors³ invaded China through this pass north of the capital, Beijing. It is still the main highway where the train and motorway⁴ to Beijing pass through the mountains. Genghis Khan halted here in front of the north gate of the Juyongguan(居庸关) Fortress⁵. The Chinese pierced the ground in front of the gate with spikes⁶ to slow down the Mongol hordes⁷, and sealed the great gate of the fortress with iron to prevent it from being opened.

After a month of stalemate and no sign of weakening in the fortress, Genghis Khan decided⁸ to outflank it. He sent a team of soldiers through the hills where the Chinese at this stage had not maintained the wall, and came from behind the fort. By the time the Chinese army realized what was happening, it was too late. The Mongols were swarming⁹ through the plain, attacking Juyongguan from the rear. They destroyed the north gate, and opened the way to the main army. Foreigners and barbarians¹⁰ now ruled China. It was a bitter lesson that the Chinese would never forget. The successor to Genghis Khan was Kublai Khan(忽必烈) who ruled the largest empire the world has ever known, running from China to the very borders of Europe. And he had no need of a Great Wall, he controlled it all.

This is when the famous traveler Marco Polo visited China and wrote his famous book on his experiences. Many people have wondered why he never once mentioned China's most famous monument, the Great Wall. It's simple: the Great Wall was in such ruins by his time that it wasn't worth mentioning.

Despite his power, Kublai Khan wasn't going to last. The Chinese still viewed their Mongol rulers as invading barbarians. Devastating¹¹ floods in the Yellow River triggered a popular revolt against their hated foreign rulers, and the Mongols were overthrown¹². They were replaced by a Chinese dynasty, the Ming, who were determined¹³ that the mistakes of the past would not be repeated. These are the descendants of the men who built the wall for the Ming and chased the Mongols out of China. They are proud of their ancestors, men and women, who built and defended the last Great Wall of China. That's why these farmers in a remote village still perform martial arts every morning before heading off to work in the fields

忽必烈(1216-1294, 元世祖, 中国元朝皇帝, 成吉思汗之孙)

bent on sth: determined to do sth

sack: plunder; loot

outflank: maneuver around and behind the flank of (an opposing force)

1 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

2 fortified   

adj. 加强的

参考例句：

• He fortified himself against the cold with a hot drink. 他喝了一杯热饮御寒。
• The enemy drew back into a few fortified points. 敌人收缩到几个据点里。

3 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

4 motorway   

n.高速公路，快车道

参考例句：

• Our car had a breakdown on the motorway.我们的汽车在高速公路上抛锚了。
• A maniac driver sped 35 miles along the wrong side of a motorway at 110 mph.一个疯狂的司机以每小时110英里的速度在高速公路上逆行飙车35英里。

5 fortress   

n.堡垒，防御工事

参考例句：

• They made an attempt on a fortress.他们试图夺取这一要塞。
• The soldier scaled the wall of the fortress by turret.士兵通过塔车攀登上了要塞的城墙。

6 spikes   

n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划

参考例句：

• a row of iron spikes on a wall 墙头的一排尖铁
• There is a row of spikes on top of the prison wall to prevent the prisoners escaping. 监狱墙头装有一排尖钉，以防犯人逃跑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 hordes   

n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 )；部落

参考例句：

• There are always hordes of tourists here in the summer. 夏天这里总有成群结队的游客。
• Hordes of journalists jostled for position outside the conference hall. 大群记者在会堂外争抢位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 swarming   

密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去

参考例句：

• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。
• The beach is swarming with bathers. 海滩满是海水浴的人。

10 barbarians   

n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人

参考例句：

• The ancient city of Rome fell under the iron hooves of the barbarians. 古罗马城在蛮族的铁蹄下沦陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It conquered its conquerors, the barbarians. 它战胜了征服者——蛮族。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

11 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

12 overthrown   

adj. 打翻的，推倒的，倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词

参考例句：

• The president was overthrown in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被赶下台。
• He has overthrown the basic standards of morality. 他已摒弃了基本的道德标准。

13 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。