英语听力精选进阶版 7133

Background: 背景：网络巨头 Google 宣布从2010年1月起将会将伊拉克国家博物馆的宝藏的照片放在互联网上供全世界人民免费观赏。Google 首席执行官 Eric Schmidt 先生在参观伊拉克国家博物馆时宣布了此消息。

The Iraqi National Museum was heavily looted in the immediate¹ aftermath of Saddam Hussein's overthrow² in 2003. Thousands of priceless items were stolen. About one third of them have been retrieved³.

The museum itself has been renovated⁴ and reactivated. Three times over the past six years, its reopening has been announced, most recently in February this year. But the security situation has never been stable enough for it to reopen its gates fully⁵ to the Iraqi public - only a limited number of its galleries have fully been restored.

Much of the restoration work has been sponsored by the Italian embassy, and the Italian National Research Centre is already running a ‘Virtual Museum of Iraq’ on the internet, showing many of the artefacts of ancient Mesopotamia. But Google, with its vast resources, is now planning to make a wider range of pieces available to a bigger public.

From January, around 14,000 images will be available on Google, charting the course of civilisation⁶ in Iraq from the Stone Age through Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, Assyrian and later times up to the arrival of Islam. It won't be quite the same as visiting the museum and seeing it all for yourself. But for the time being, for most people, that's not possible anyway.

GLOSSARY⁷ 词汇表

looted 洗劫 

aftermath 后果 

overthrow 推翻 

priceless 无价的 

retrieved 找回了 

renovated 整修 

reactivated 从新开放 

the security situation 安全形势 

restored 恢复 

sponsored 赞助 

virtual 虚拟的 

artefacts 文物 

Mesopotamia 美索不达米亚 (亦称“两河流域”) 

civilisation 文明 

the Stone Age 石器时代 

for the time being 暂时

Questions and Answers

True or false: Thousands of items were stolen from the museum but they were worthless. 

False. They were priceless, which means the opposite of worthless.

Has the museum completely reopened? 

No, the security situation has never been stable enough for it to reopen its gates fully to the Iraqi public.

True or false: The museum is currently being run by the Italian National Research Centre. 

False. The centre is sponsoring a 'virtual museum': a museum you can experience on the internet.

How many images of the artefacts will Google make available on the internet? 

14,000.

1 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

2 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

3 retrieved   

v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息）

参考例句：

• Yesterday I retrieved the bag I left in the train. 昨天我取回了遗留在火车上的包。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He reached over and retrieved his jacket from the back seat. 他伸手从后座上取回了自己的夹克。 来自辞典例句

4 renovated   

翻新，修复，整修( renovate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He renovated his house. 他翻修了房子。
• The house has been renovated three years earlier. 这所房子三年前就已翻新。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 civilisation   

n.文明，文化，开化，教化

参考例句：

• Energy and ideas are the twin bases of our civilisation.能源和思想是我们文明的两大基石。
• This opera is one of the cultural totems of Western civilisation.这部歌剧是西方文明的文化标志物之一。

7 glossary   

n.注释词表；术语汇编

参考例句：

• The text is supplemented by an adequate glossary.正文附有一个详细的词汇表。
• For convenience,we have also provided a glossary in an appendix.为了方便，我们在附录中也提供了术语表。