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A Rich King Of Old Egypt

The kings of old Egypt were very rich and powerful, and their tombs tell much about their lives. Archeologists2 have looked for these tombs for many years. One man — Lord Carnarvon of England — was not an archeologist. But he was very much interested in the way people lived in Egypt long ago. He was given permission to dig for some of the old tombs in a place called the Valley of the Kings. 3 He hired4 an archeologist named Howard Carter to take charge . 5

For more than five years, the two men worked there with a group of diggers, but they found very little . Lord Carnarvon went back to England. Carter had almost lost hope of making an important discovery. But he kept on with the work.

Then one day in the fall of 1922 , one of his workers uncovered something that looked like a step cut into a rocky hill. He brushed away6 some loose stones and saw a second step below. It took four days to clear sixteen steps leading down into the hill. At the bottom of the steps, there was a wall of stone blocks. On the wall, they found the seal of a king called Tutankhamen.

When Lord Carnarvon heard the news, he sailed on the first ship to Egypt. They began the work of clearing out7 the tomb. It had to be done so carefully that it took six years to finish the job!

There were four rooms in the tomb. Three of them were piled high with boxes, vases, jewels, and many other beautiful things. There was a golden throne, several golden chariots, the king’s hunting bows, and even his gold-trimmed sandals. All these things were put near the king in case he should need them in his own special afterworld.

The fourth room held a huge , carved coffin. In it, there were three more coffins, one inside the other. The last one was made of gold, and in it was the body of Tutankhamen. The body had been prepared with chemicals and was tightly wrapped in cloth. A body that is protected in this way is called a mummy. There were three layers of cloth wrappings on the body, and a mask of pure gold.

All the things found in the tomb were taken to museums, andarcheologists have been studying them ever since. Because Tutankhamen was a king, everything he left behind is very beautiful and very valuable . The gold itself is worth millions of dollars.

But most important of all is the meaning of the objects themselves. They show how people lived in Egypt more than 3 , 000 years ago.

阅读自测

Ⅰ. The following a re the meanings of the words in the passage , and try to fin d the correct words:

1. to employ———

2. to fold, bind———

3. to collect, gather———

4. agreement, approval———

5. to go by river, set out on a voyage———

Ⅱ. According to the p as sage , fill in the blanks with proper words or phrases :

1. Lord Carnarvon, who was not an_______ , employed Howard Carter to take_______ .

2. Without finding anything, Lord Carnavon went back to England while Carter_______ with it.

3. In the fall of _______, Carter and his workers found the tomb of Tutankhamen. The tomb was_______ with many valuable things, which were put near the king in case he should need them in his special_______ .

4. It was really a tough job to_______ the tomb for it took them six years to finish it.

5. The body that is protected with chemicals and tightly wrapped in cloth is called a_______ .

6. All the things found in the tomb were taken to_______ to let the archaeologists study. Its significance is that the objects show how people lived in_______ more than 3 , 000 years ago.

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参考答案

Ⅰ. 1. hire 2 . wrap 3. pile 4 . permission 5 . sail

Ⅱ. 1. archeologist / charge 2 . kept on 3 . 1922 / piled / afterworld 4. clear out 5. mummy 6 . museums / Egypt

参考译文

古埃及陵墓之谜

古埃及的国王们非常有钱有势, 而且他们的陵墓也显现出他们的生活状况。考古学家 们已经寻找这些墓群好多年了。有一个人——— 英格兰的卡纳冯勋爵——— 并不是考古学家, 可他对远古时期埃及居民的生活方式非常感兴趣。他获得许可, 在一个叫帝王谷的地方发 掘某些古墓, 还雇了一位名叫霍华德· 卡特的考古学家来负责此事。

这两人与一群挖掘工在那儿工作了五年多, 可收获甚微。卡纳冯勋爵返回了英格兰。虽 然卡特对发现重要文物几乎不抱什么希望了, 但是他仍继续工作。

1922 年秋季的一天, 一个工人挖到一些东西, 那东西看起来很像是切入岩石山的一级 台阶。霍华德拨开一些松动的石块, 看到下面又有一级台阶。清理出通向小山深处的地下 的十六级台阶花去了四天的时间。在最下面的一级台阶旁, 有一堵石墙。在这堵墙上, 他 们发现了图坦卡蒙国王的封戳。

卡纳冯勋爵一听到这个消息就搭乘最早一班航船驶回埃及。随后, 他们开始对文物进 行挖掘清理。他们清理得非常仔细, 总共花了六年的时间才完工!

陵墓内有四间墓室, 其中三间都堆满了箱子、花瓶、珠宝和其他许多漂亮的物品, 还有 一把金御座, 很多辆金战车, 国王狩猎用的弓, 甚至还有镶金边的拖鞋。所有这些都放在国 王身旁, 以备他自己在与众不同的阴世生活所需。

第四间墓室内存放着一口巨大的带有雕刻图案的棺材。这口棺材里面一个套一个地 放了三层棺材。最内层的那个由黄金制成, 里面放着图坦卡蒙的尸体。尸体经过化学物品 的处理, 紧紧地裹在布里。以这种方式保存的尸体就是木乃伊。图坦卡蒙的尸体裹了三层 布, 脸上戴着一幅纯金面具。

在陵墓里发现的所有物品都被送到了博物馆, 从此考古学家们一直致力于此项研究。 因为图坦卡蒙是位国王, 他遗留下的所有东西都很漂亮也很贵重, 黄金本身就价值不菲。 但是, 最重要的还是物品本身的内涵。这些物品展现了三千多年前埃及人民的生活 状况。

阅读导评

图坦卡蒙墓室之门被打开的一刹那, 时间凝固了, 人们不禁喟叹: 原来, 历史与现实竟 是一脉相连, 昨日与今天近在咫尺。注视着石棺, 人们发现古代埃及艺术恰恰反映了一种 宗教信仰: 与永恒的来生相比, 现世的生命只不过是一个短暂的插曲。各阶层人们搜集来 用于陪葬的物品则为我们今天研究历史提供了契机。

阅读导释

1. 本篇讲述的是古埃及第十八王朝国王图坦卡蒙( 1361—1352 BC 在位) 的陵墓。虽然该 陵墓与古埃及历史上其他有名的法老的金字塔相比, 简直就是“ 小巫见大巫”, 但是它的 发现却震惊了全世界, 因为它是古埃及唯一的一座未遭盗掘的王陵。这为今人提供了距 今三千多年前古埃及墓葬状况的活生生的完好例证。提起古埃及, 大家会想到一些词 汇: 金字塔( pyramid) , 法老( pharaob) , 木乃伊( mummy) , 帝王谷( the Valley of the Kings) 。

2. 这个词也可写作archaeologist,“考古学家”的意思。

3. 帝王谷。帝王谷是个充满神秘和传奇色彩的地方, 是毕班·埃尔·穆鲁克的古埃及帝王 陵墓建筑群所在地, 坐落在尼罗河( the Nile) 西岸底比斯山的悬崖峭壁上。新王国 ( New Kingdom, 约1552—1069 BC) 时期, 古埃及人在这些人迹罕至的峭壁上, 开凿了 许多岩窟, 用来安放国王及达官贵人的遗体。从新王国第十八王朝的第三位国王图特摩 斯一世( Tuthmosis Ⅰ) 开始, 直到第二十王朝最后一位法老拉美西斯十一世( Ramses Ⅺ) 都葬于此。考古学家自1817 年开始至今在这里发现了62 座坟墓, 图坦卡蒙的墓是 唯一完整的一座。

4 - 5. 在这个句子中, hire 是“ 雇佣”的意思, 与employ 同义。take charge 指“ 开始管理, 接 管”, 如: John was elected the new president of the club and will take charge at the next meeting. ( 约翰已当选为俱乐部的新会长, 在下一次会议时将主持会务。)

6. 这个词组的意思是“刷去, 掸掉, 推开”。brush 的本义是指“ 刷子”, 这里用作动词, 意思 是“ 刷, 掸, 拂擦”。 7. 这个词组的意思是“清除, 出空”, 如: clear out a closet ( 把壁橱出空) ; All these hospital expenses have cleared me out. ( 这一笔笔住院费把我的积蓄都花光了。
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