英语听力：探索发现 2012-07-29 爱尔兰的故事 Story Of Ireland—7

 The murdered man from the Meath bog¹ reveals something of how the Irish lived several hundreds years before Christ. Their gods were the gods of nature whom they appeased² with sacrifice. They had developed a social organisation³ with kings at the pinnacle⁴ of power. Their artwork was delicate and distinctive⁵. And they were already linked by trade to the cultures of classical world.

 

Clonycavan Man and his contemporaries left no written record. Our distant ancestors exist for us as tantalising shadows. And when the story of that ancient Irish world starts to be written, the narrative⁶ is scripted for us by others. 

 

The writers of the classical world conjured⁷ their own stories of Ireland. In the ninth century B.C., the Greek poet Homer described the whole of northwestern Europe as “a land of fog and gloom, beyond it is a sea of death where hell begins”.

 

But our first detailed⁸ account of Ireland comes long after classical Greece has been overtaken by an all-conquering new power.  

 

750 years after Homer, the Romans invaded Britain. Julius Caesar landed here on the Kent coast in 55 B.C. Now given his restless ambition, it would have seemed natural for him to complete conquest the Britain and then move on to invade the neighbouring island. But in Caesar's mind, Ireland was a place of fearful myth. He called it Hibernia, the land of winter.

1 bog   

n.沼泽；室...陷入泥淖

参考例句：

• We were able to pass him a rope before the bog sucked him under.我们终于得以在沼泽把他吞没前把绳子扔给他。
• The path goes across an area of bog.这条小路穿过一片沼泽。

2 appeased   

安抚，抚慰( appease的过去式和过去分词 )； 绥靖（满足另一国的要求以避免战争）

参考例句：

• His hunger could only be appeased by his wife. 他的欲望只有他的妻子能满足。
• They are the more readily appeased. 他们比较容易和解。

3 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

4 pinnacle   

n.尖塔，尖顶，山峰；(喻)顶峰

参考例句：

• Now he is at the very pinnacle of his career.现在他正值事业中的顶峰时期。
• It represents the pinnacle of intellectual capability.它代表了智能的顶峰。

5 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

6 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

7 conjured   

用魔术变出( conjure的过去式和过去分词 )； 祈求，恳求； 变戏法； （变魔术般地） 使…出现

参考例句：

• He conjured them with his dying breath to look after his children. 他临终时恳求他们照顾他的孩子。
• His very funny joke soon conjured my anger away. 他讲了个十分有趣的笑话，使得我的怒气顿消。

8 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。