Ancient Italian shipwreck（打印版）

BBC Learning English

6 Minute English

9 Aug 2012

Ancient Italian shipwreck

Rob: Hi and welcome to 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English, I’m Rob

and with me in the studio today is Chris.

Chris: Hello there. In this programme we take a story from the news and pick

out some interesting vocabulary that you may not have heard before.

Rob: Our story this week comes from Italy, where some divers have made a

very exciting discovery…

Chris: A shipwreck has been uncovered which could reveal a lot about the

history of humans at sea. Can you tell us what a shipwreck is, Rob?

Rob: Sure. It’s a ship which has sunk and now lies on the bottom of the sea. I

bet you can think of a very famous example, Chris…

Chris: Of course, the Titanic must be the world’s most famous shipwreck.

Rob: Well, before we dive into the details of this story, I’ve got a question for

you which is about shipwrecks.

Chris: Ok, let’s hear it then.

Rob: The United Nations has estimated – or taken a guess at – the number of

shipwrecks which lie on the sea bed. How many wrecked ships do you

think there are? Is it:

a) 3000 ships

b) 300,000 ships

c) 3 million ships

Chris: I’ll hazard a guess and say…

Rob: Well we’ll see if you’re right at the end of the programme. Whatever the

number is, we know that there is one extra ship to be counted which has

just been discovered!

Chris: An ancient vessel – or ship – has been discovered in the Mediterranean

Sea near Italy, and it’s quite a special find.

Rob: Yes, quite a lot of ships have sunk over the years. The Titanic, for

example, sank in 1912. This one is quite a lot older than that.

Chris: The newly-discovered shipwreck is thought to be two thousand years old.

Rob: So how was it discovered after so long? Listen to this first part of a report

by BBC correspondent Alan Johnston: what did the Italian fishermen find?

Insert

For years fishermen believed there was something extraordinary lying in the depths off

the town of Varazze. They kept finding shards of pottery in their nets. Eventually, a unit

of police divers launched a search. And they’ve just announced the discovery of a cargo

ship, which may date back to the last century before Christ.

Chris: So what did the fishermen find, Rob?

Rob: They kept finding shards – or small pieces – of pottery in their nets. That

gave them a clue that there was something down there at the bottom of

the sea.

Chris: The divers believe that it is a cargo ship – that’s a ship which carries

goods for trade, rather than people.

Rob: And this particular cargo ship could be from the time of ancient Rome. It’s

been very well preserved in mud and stayed intact – or in one piece.

Chris: That means that it could hold a lot of information about how past

civilisations used to trade with one another.

Rob: Listen to the second part of Alan Johnston’s report and see if you can hear

a word which means “completely covered with”:

Insert

The unit’s spokesman says that what makes this find especially interesting is that the

vessel seems to be almost intact. She sank into thick mud, which engulfed and

preserved her. The ship is reckoned to have been sailing a well-travelled route between

Spain and the coast of what is now central Italy. She was loaded with more than two-

hundred clay amphoras that are likely to contain wine, oil and grain.

Chris: That word was “engulfed.” As the ship was engulfed, or covered in mud,

it’s thought that the cargo on board could still be there.

Rob: We heard in the report that the vessel was loaded with two hundred

amphoras, which were large clay jars used to contain wine, oil or grain.

Chris: It would be really exciting to find these things on board the ship. So what

are they planning to do with it?

Rob: They could either study the ship underwater using teams of divers, or they

could bring the entire ship back up to the surface.

Chris: In the final part of the report, listen out for a phrase which means

something is possible to do.

Insert

The divers’ spokesman said that study of the vessel could help add to understanding of

commercial activity at that time and that it might even be possible to bring the entire

ship to the surface. This would, he said, be technically feasible. But it’s now up to the

Italian authorities to decide whether such a complex and hugely expensive operation

should be launched.

Rob: That phrase was “technically feasible.” Although they could bring the ship

to the surface, it’s likely to be very fragile after all these years – or easily

breakable.

Chris: They could also send divers down to retrieve the cargo – or get it back –

but many people think that when a ship sinks, it should be left where it is.

Rob: It’s such an exciting discovery, but we’ll have to wait and see if it reveals

further historical treasures! But we don’t have to wait for the quiz

question. I asked you how many shipwrecks lie on the ocean floor. Was it:

a) 3000

b) 300,000

c) 3 million

Chris: And I said 300,000.

Rob: And you were wrong! The answer is 3 million ships! We’ve just got time to

recap some of the vocabulary we’ve heard in today’s programme.

Chris: The words we heard were:

shipwreck

vessel

shards

intact

amphoras

fragile

retrieve

Rob: That's all we have time for today, but do join us again for more 6 Minute

English from bbclearningenglish.com. Bye!

Chris: Bye!

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