英语听力：探索发现 2012-08-15 爱尔兰的故事 Story Of Ireland—14

 And this is the great settlement of Clonmacnoise.

 

As you sweep around this turn in the river Shannon, you get the round towers, the churches and everything. You get the first idea that this is a really substantial monastic foundation.

 

How did we arrive here at the height of its power, what would we have seen coming around the bend?

 

Well, if you believe the sources, there were several thousand people live here already, in the 6th and 7th centuries, so you can imagine a pretty dense¹ settlement. There would have been an obvious, substantial farming element. This would have looked a very prosperous economic unit. 

 

And there would have been markets. Some people would have been coming both by land and here on the sea as well on the water. And the whole place would have been a pretty much, a bustling², bustling kind of place. 

 

And not just trade, of course, but the whole business setting down in text. 

 

A place like Clonmacnoise would have had this thriving school of people who were coming here not only from other Irish monasteries³, but we know people would have been travelling from either England or even from continent Europe. 

 

From that far away?

 

Oh yeah, we had a reputation of scholars all the way back and certainly it was the place to be in the 7th century. If you wanted higher learning, if you wanted advanced knowledge of the Bible or grammar, or something like that, then you came to Ireland. 

 

Perhaps the greatest bequest⁴ of the monastic tradition in Ireland was literary. The monks⁵ transcribed⁶ the Bible and set down in writing ancient laws, but not only in Latin--they developed a written form of the people’s Celtic tongue. Religious and legal texts were translated into Gaelic by intellectual elite⁷. Ireland has the most abundant, vernacular⁸ literature in Europe. One of the greatest examples is the Lebor Gabála érenn, the Book of Invasions, an imagined history of Ireland.” 

 

This extraordinary book is the first written story of Ireland. It purports⁹ to tell the story of how the Irish came into being. The tales here come from the 7th century and they would have a profound impact on the way the Irish came to see themselves.

1 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

2 bustling   

adj.喧闹的

参考例句：

• The market was bustling with life. 市场上生机勃勃。
• This district is getting more and more prosperous and bustling. 这一带越来越繁华了。

3 monasteries   

修道院( monastery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• In ancient China, there were lots of monasteries. 在古时候，中国有许多寺院。
• The Negev became a religious center with many monasteries and churches. 内格夫成为许多庙宇和教堂的宗教中心。

4 bequest   

n.遗赠；遗产，遗物

参考例句：

• In his will he made a substantial bequest to his wife.在遗嘱里他给妻子留下了一大笔遗产。
• The library has received a generous bequest from a local businessman.图书馆从当地一位商人那里得到了一大笔遗赠。

5 monks   

n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The monks lived a very ascetic life. 僧侣过着很清苦的生活。
• He had been trained rigorously by the monks. 他接受过修道士的严格训练。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 transcribed   

（用不同的录音手段）转录( transcribe的过去式和过去分词 )； 改编（乐曲）（以适应他种乐器或声部）； 抄写； 用音标标出（声音）

参考例句：

• He transcribed two paragraphs from the book into his notebook. 他把书中的两段抄在笔记本上。
• Every telephone conversation will be recorded and transcribed. 所有电话交谈都将被录音并作全文转写。

7 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

8 vernacular   

adj.地方的，用地方语写成的；n.白话；行话；本国语；动植物的俗名

参考例句：

• The house is built in a vernacular style.这房子按当地的风格建筑。
• The traditional Chinese vernacular architecture is an epitome of Chinese traditional culture.中国传统民居建筑可谓中国传统文化的缩影。

9 purports   

v.声称是…，（装得）像是…的样子( purport的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She purports to represent the whole group. 她自称代表整个团体。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The document purports to be official but is really private. 那份文件据称是官方的，但实际上是私人的。 来自辞典例句