VOA慢速英语2021--罗马斗兽场铺就新的高科技地板

The ancient Roman Colosseum is once again going to have a floor - a new, high-tech¹ floor at the cost of $22 million.

Italy's Culture Minister Dario Franceschini described the new project this week as "extraordinary," meaning extremely² good or impressive³.

Franceschini said the floor will give tourists a clearer idea of how the arena⁴ would have looked when gladiators fought to the death there. In ancient Rome, gladiators were people who fought against other people or animals for public entertainment.

Archaeologists⁵ – experts that deal with past human life and activities – removed the last floor to get a better idea about the area below the arena. The floor was never fully⁶ replaced.

An Italian engineering⁷ company, Milan Ingegneria, won the $22 million contract⁸ to design the new floor. The company has agreed to complete the project by 2023.

The wooden floor will be made up of hundreds of pieces that can be moved to bring natural light into the underground rooms. These rooms were once used to house the gladiators and animals before their deadly fights.

Franceschini said about the new floor, "you will be able to walk on it and go to the center of the Colosseum, seeing it in the same way as visitors used to up to the end of the 19th century."

The Colosseum is Italy's most popular tourist draw. Some 7.6 million people visited the arena in 2019 before the coronavirus health crisis⁹.

Built 2,000 years ago, the stone arena was the biggest of its kind in the Roman empire. It used to have up to 70,000 seats. It could also be filled with water to re-create battles at sea.

Words in This Story

arena – n. a building for sports and other forms of entertainment that has a large central area surrounded by seats

1 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

2 extremely   

adv.极其，非常，极度

参考例句：

• The film is extremely good,I just cannot miss it.这部电影太精彩了，我非看不可。
• The old man was extremely difficult to get along with.这个老人极难相与。

3 impressive   

adj.给人深刻印象的，感人的

参考例句：

• This cinema is so impressive that we can't help crying.这影片如此感人以至我们禁不住流下泪来。
• The suit made him look especially impressive.他穿上这套衣服真精神。

4 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

5 archaeologists   

n.考古学家( archaeologist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The site has been excavated by archaeologists. 这个遗址已被考古学家发掘出来。
• Archaeologists have worked for years to piece together the huge mosaic. 考古学家经年累月拼组这幅巨大的马赛克。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 engineering   

n.工程，工程学，管理，操纵

参考例句：

• The science of engineering began as soon as man learned to use tools. 人类一学会使用工具,工程科学就开始了。
• It was the first great engineering works in the world. 这是世界上第一家大型的工程工厂。

8 contract   

n.合同，契约，婚约；v.使缩短，感染，订约

参考例句：

• The terms of the contract are acceptable to us.我们认为这个合同的条件可以接受。
• I'm under contract to teach here for one year.我按照聘约要在这里教一年书。

9 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。