最新15篇文章贯通英语四级词汇MP3Unit4-Part2(在线收听

[00:00.00]With the death of his mother
[00:02.51]in 1919, William inherited the beloved
[00:05.80]quartermillionacre ranch.
[00:08.75]At first, he planned to
[00:11.16]build a modest ranch house
[00:12.80]on his favorite campsite
[00:14.22]but as he became more involved
[00:16.63]in the project, his vision
[00:18.82]of a monument to display
[00:20.79]his collections gained momentum.
[00:23.74]Working closely with family architect,
[00:26.92]Julia Morgan, William created
[00:30.19]a glorious and extraordinary castle
[00:33.26]like structure, blending Spanish, European,
[00:36.32] and Californian architectural styles.
[00:40.26] Huge warehouses were built
[00:42.67]in San Simeon to store
[00:45.07]the shiploads of splendid antiques,
[00:47.26]including entire carved ceilings
[00:50.11]and walls hung with enormous tapestries.
[00:53.61] They could be installed
[00:57.11]in the completed rooms.
[00:59.19]Landscaping integrated exotic plants,
[01:02.58]hedges, and trees with native flora.
[01:05.75] As William was in his 60’s,
[01:09.69]he had the insight
[01:11.33]to know he couldn’t  wait
[01:13.08]for them to grow,
[01:14.39]but he was optimistic.
[01:16.14] He ordered tons of fertile topsoil
[01:18.56] to cover the grounds 
[01:20.08]to a depth of five feet
[01:21.50]and fullgrown specimens
[01:23.58]of the plants were trucked
[01:25.67]up the mountain for planting.
[01:27.52]With thousands of acres
[01:30.37]of land covered with grassland,
[01:32.12]trees, natural ponds, and
[01:35.08]manmade reservoirs available for use,
[01:37.37] William stocked the estate
[01:39.34]with herds of rare oxen and deer,
[01:41.63]and flocks of sheep and lambs.
[01:44.15]These animals flourished
[01:47.22]as they were allowed to wander freely.
[01:50.06]Larger, more dangerous beasts,
[01:52.80] including tigers, ostriches, buffalo,
[01:56.51]yaks, emus, kangaroos, llamas,zebras
[02:02.20]and giraffes were enclosed
[02:04.94]in the largest private zoo in the world

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