2007-09-22, Legendary Library

They went up in flames, thousands of original works by some of the world's greatest thinkers, not a single scroll¹ survived. Today, 1600 years after the destruction of the great library, Alexandria has built a new library, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in the spirit of the original. Ismail Serageldin is its first director.

"It is certainly a dream that most of humanity has cherished the celebration of universal knowledge, nationality, tolerance,respect for science and for the contrarian view. All of these values are values that have lived with us to this day."

This port city is at the crossroads of three continents, a natural place for people and cultures to converge², just as it was when it was founded in 332 B.C.. For 700 years, ancient Alexandria flourished as a center of learning. But the library saw its share of troubles. In 48 B.C., Julius Caesar invaded the city and accidentally torched part of the library. Over the next few centuries, Alexandria's glory faded and historians are still not sure how the library vanished completely. That event may have helped usher³ in the Dark Ages by erasing⁴ centuries of precious knowledge. The loss still haunts us today.

The thing you can never have again is the literature and the poetry. Suppose all the works of Shakespeare had been...had disappeared except for two or three.

In the late 1980s, the Egyptian government along with the United Nations decided⁵ to build the new library as a center for research and the open exchange of ideas. When the library opened, Greeks helped with antiquities⁶, the French with a science museum, and Americans with some of the most advanced computer systems in the world. Italians worked with Egyptians to preserve rare manuscripts. This one is about 500 years old. Ultimately, the original library collected some 500,000 scrolls⁷. Although tens of thousands of books lie in the shelves, today's library isn't trying to gather the entire intellectual legacy⁸ of humankind under one roof, instead it's building special collections on Egypt, the Middle East and Islam. And in the ancient tradition, the Bibliotheca will try to attract researchers and scholars, and anyone eager to learn. In this so-called Capital of Memory, the spirit of the ancient library is alive and well, and this time, it's fireproof.

1 scroll   

n.卷轴，纸卷；(石刻上的)漩涡

参考例句：

• As I opened the scroll,a panorama of the Yellow River unfolded.我打开卷轴时，黄河的景象展现在眼前。
• He was presented with a scroll commemorating his achievements.他被授予一幅卷轴，以表彰其所做出的成就。

2 converge   

vi.会合；聚集，集中；(思想、观点等)趋近

参考例句：

• The results converge towards this truth.其结果趋近于这个真理。
• Parallel lines converge at infinity.平行线永不相交。

3 usher   

n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员

参考例句：

• The usher seated us in the front row.引座员让我们在前排就座。
• They were quickly ushered away.他们被迅速领开。

4 erasing   

v.擦掉( erase的现在分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He was like a sponge, erasing the past, soaking up the future. 他象一块海绵，挤出过去，吸进未来。 来自辞典例句
• Suddenly, fear overtook longing, erasing memories. 突然，恐惧淹没了渴望，泯灭了回忆。 来自辞典例句

5 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。

6 antiquities   

n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 )；古迹；古人们；古代的风俗习惯

参考例句：

• There is rest and healing in the contemplation of antiquities. 欣赏古物有休息和疗养之功。 来自辞典例句
• Bertha developed a fine enthusiasm for the antiquities of London. 伯沙对伦敦的古迹产生了很大的热情。 来自辞典例句

7 scrolls   

n.（常用于录写正式文件的）纸卷( scroll的名词复数 )；卷轴；涡卷形（装饰）；卷形花纹v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的第三人称单数 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕

参考例句：

• Either turn it off or only pick up selected stuff like wands, rings and scrolls. 把他关掉然后只捡你需要的物品，像是魔杖(wand)，戒指(rings)和滚动条(scrolls)。 来自互联网
• Ancient scrolls were found in caves by the Dead Sea. 死海旁边的山洞里发现了古代的卷轴。 来自辞典例句

8 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。