彭蒙惠英语：Queen Elizabeth I

Queen Elizabeth I

 

2

The perilous¹ path to the throne

Ultimately, Protestant factions³ tried to incite⁴ a revolution, entering London, where they were defeated and sent to their deaths. Lady Elizabeth was shipped off to the Tower of London, although charged with no crime. She anticipated execution, yet her sister simply had her put under house arrest.

 

As her reign⁵ progressed and her health deteriorated⁶, Queen Mary became increasingly fixated on her Catholic faith and, as a result, took to burning Protestants at the stake. In 1558, Mary died without an heir.

 

Elizabeth takes the throne

Upon hearing that she was queen, Elizabeth wanted to get to work immediately. Everyone else wanted her to marry immediately. If Elizabeth failed to produce an heir, then her cousin Mary Queen of Scots, also Catholic, would inherit the throne. This needed to be prevented at all costs.

 

Her sister’s widower⁷, now King Philip II of Spain, was the first to offer marriage, but he was far from the last. Through the course of her reign, negotiations⁸ were conducted with Erik of Sweden and the Hapsburg Archduke Charles. At 38, she even toyed with the possibility of marriage to the 17-year-old French Duke of Alençon, but ultimately, the Queen decided⁹ no.

 

Dodging¹⁰ danger

The religious turmoil¹¹ of the times shaped the Queen’s life. Elizabeth was a religious Protestant who regarded convoluted¹² discussions of dogma as beside the point. “There is only one Jesus Christ. The rest is a dispute over trifles,” she insisted. Unlike her relatives, she was free of any zealotry. When it came to religion, her wish was simply to keep stability in her land.

 

The same could not be said of Mary Queen of Scots, who appears to have schemed to become England’s Catholic queen throughout her life.

 

Vocabulary Focus

faction² (n) [5fAkFEn] a small group of people who are part of a larger group, and oppose the ideas of everyone else

fixate (v) [5fikseit] to obsess¹³ or be totally preoccupied¹⁴ by someone or something

convoluted (adj) [5kCnvElju:tid] extremely complicated and difficult to understand

beside the point (idiom) not important or not related to the subject being discussed

 

Specialized¹⁵ Terms

house arrest (n phr) 软禁（在家） when one is kept as a prisoner in one’s own home

burn at the stake (v phr) 绑在木架上烧死；火刑 to kill someone by tying them to a post and burning them

dogma (n) 教义，教条 a fixed¹⁶ belief or set of beliefs that people are expected to accept without any doubts

zealotry (n) 狂热 an attitude that one’s opinions about something are right and everyone else should believe in the same way

 

英国女王伊莉莎白一世

 

2

通往王位的险峻之途

最后，新教徒派系欲发起革命，他们进入了伦敦，却在那儿战败并被处死。伊莉莎白被送到伦敦塔，尽管没受到任何控诉。她预期会被处决，但她的姐姐只是将她软禁在家。

玛丽女王继续统治。她的健康日益恶化，也愈来愈执迷于天主教的信仰，结果在1558年时，将新教徒送上火刑柱。玛丽死时没有留下继位人。

 

伊莉莎白继承王位

伊莉莎白一听到自己当了女王，立刻就想开始工作。所有人都要她立即结婚。如果伊莉莎白没有生出继承人，她的表妹，也就是天主教徒的苏格兰女王玛丽，就会继承王位。此事必须不惜一切代价予以阻止。

伊莉莎白姐姐的鳏夫，当时是西班牙国王的菲利浦二世，是第一个向她求婚的，但他绝不是最后一个。在她统治期间，瑞典国王埃里克和奥地利查理大公都曾谈过。她在38岁时甚至戏玩过和17岁的法国阿列松公爵结婚的可能性，但最后女王决定不要。

 

避开危险

那个时代的宗教动乱形成了女王的一生。伊莉莎白是位虔诚的新教徒，她认为对教义错综复杂的讨论无关紧要。“耶稣基督只有一个，其它都是无谓的争执。”她坚持。不像她的亲戚，她没有任何狂热。涉及宗教时，她只希望保持领土的安定。

苏格兰的女王玛丽就不同了，她一生都计划着要当英格兰的天主教女皇。

 

 

1 perilous   

adj.危险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• The journey through the jungle was perilous.穿过丛林的旅行充满了危险。
• We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis.历经一连串危机，我们如今已安然无恙。

2 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

3 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

4 incite   

v.引起，激动，煽动

参考例句：

• I wanted to point out he was a very good speaker, and could incite a crowd.我想说明他曾是一个非常出色的演讲家，非常会调动群众的情绪。
• Just a few words will incite him into action.他只需几句话一将，就会干。

5 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

6 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

7 widower   

n.鳏夫

参考例句：

• George was a widower with six young children.乔治是个带著六个小孩子的鳏夫。
• Having been a widower for many years,he finally decided to marry again.丧偶多年后，他终于决定二婚了。

8 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

9 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。

10 dodging   

n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避

参考例句：

• He ran across the road, dodging the traffic. 他躲开来往的车辆跑过马路。
• I crossed the highway, dodging the traffic. 我避开车流穿过了公路。 来自辞典例句

11 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

12 convoluted   

adj.旋绕的；复杂的

参考例句：

• The snake slithered through a convoluted path.蛇在羊肠小道上爬行。
• The policy is so convoluted even college presidents are confused.这项政策太令人费解，甚至连大学校长们也是一头雾水。

13 obsess   

vt.使着迷，使心神不定，（恶魔）困扰

参考例句：

• I must admit that maps obsess me.我得承认我对地图十分着迷。
• A string of scandals is obsessing America.美国正被一系列丑闻所困扰。

14 preoccupied   

adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式)

参考例句：

• He was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to notice anything wrong. 他只顾想着心事，没注意到有什么不对。
• The question of going to the Mount Tai preoccupied his mind. 去游泰山的问题盘踞在他心头。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

16 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。