英语听力：Byzantium-The Lost Empire 拜占庭：失落的帝国-1

 “The eye of all the world”， the ancients called it, the heart of a lost empire that had lasted for a thousand years and more.

 

Saint Sophia, the church of the divine wisdom, this was their crowning glory---the glory of Byzantium.

 

The vanished empire of Byzantium born of pagan Rome.

 

Byzantium, the dream of a Christian¹ Roman empire that stretched from Spain to Syria.

 

Byzantium, whose influence ran from Northern Russia down to Nubia upon the upper Nile.

 

Byzantium, gateway² to a lost chapter of our past.

 

The Orient Express, I first traveled this line in the 60s.  I bought a ticket at Waterloo station in London for a ride to Istanbul in Turkey in a life-long fascination³.

 

It took three days to get there with hell on wheels really, goats in the corridor and communism out of the window.

 

Then all of a sudden the trains run around a bend and bang, the orient hit me in the face, the great golden city by the sea set between the east and west, you could see it had been the center of the world.  It was astonishing.

 

I come to Istanbul, and underneath⁴, the magic ruins of the lost empire of Byzantium.

 

The Orient Express stopped here in the heart of the old city. I got off it in clouds of smoke and steam, haunted by the ghost of Greta Garbo and Agatha Christie by a thousand spies and archaeologists, by the kings and courtesans, the prewar Europe.

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。

3 fascination   

n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋

参考例句：

• He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
• His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。

4 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。