彭蒙惠英语：Queen Elizabeth I（在线收听）

Queen Elizabeth I

3

The glorious victory

An ominous threat arose from abroad. Elizabeth knew that Philip II of Spain intended to attack England, so she turned England’s minuscule navy into a fearsome fighting force, equipping it with a lighter and faster fleet than Spain’s.

On July 19, 1588, the Spanish Armada was finally sighted. In the ensuing battle, England lost 100 men, while Spain lost 20,000. It was a humiliating defeat for Spain. This victory of Protestant over Catholic forces helped ease England’s religious turmoil. The victory, people said, was by the hand of God.

However, Elizabeth’s joy in victory was short-lived when soon after, her beloved friend, Robert Dudley, died. Afterward, she appeared old and tired. Her glorious military victory could not begin to compensate for her terrible personal loss.

Elizabeth’s final days

It was, in fact, a time of overwhelming loss. Almost all her councilors were dead. Deeply in debt, she was forced to sell off Tudor family treasures. There were physical losses, too: She had few teeth left and her eyesight and memory were failing.

However, this woman whose life had been defined by her ferocious will to survive was still fighting. She became terribly ill, yet she refused to go to her deathbed. Instead, she sat on a pile of cushions, not eating. The 69-yearold Queen soon became unable to speak. She died on March 24, 1603, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Her life had been one of overwhelming glory. And yet, it had also been filled with hardship and loneliness. Perhaps she best summed it up in her last speech, when she said: “To be a king and wear a crown is more glorious to them that see it, than it is pleasant to them that bear it.”

Vocabulary Focus

minuscule (adj) [mi5nQskju:l] extremely small

ensuing (adj) [en5FuiN] happening after or following something else

sum up (idiom) to express briefly the important points about something or someone

Specialized Terms

Westminster Abbey (n phr) 威斯敏斯特大教堂 a large, historic church in London, England, where British rulers are traditionally crowned and where many rulers and famous people of high standing are buried