40年前,兵馬俑的奇跡之門(mén)被打開(kāi),"世界第八大奇跡"出現(xiàn)在眾人眼前。為慶祝秦兵馬俑發(fā)現(xiàn)40周年,China Daily手機(jī)報(bào)推出口語(yǔ)特別策劃"走近兵馬俑",在帶您穿越歷史長(zhǎng)河、探索這些人類(lèi)智慧與藝術(shù)結(jié)晶背后故事的同時(shí),講述孕育這段歷史的神秘土壤——西安的前世今生,并向您介紹相關(guān)詞匯、句式的地道英語(yǔ)表達(dá)。
[第二期]
It was pure dumb luck!
這事純屬巧合!
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口語(yǔ)君:上次陶小德告訴戴可兒他假期去參觀了兵馬俑。此行,他聽(tīng)說(shuō)了哪些奇聞異事呢?
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F: What was your favorite part?
你最喜歡展覽的哪部分?
M: I always like to hear the story of their discovery. It was pure dumb luck!
我總是很愛(ài)聽(tīng)他們發(fā)現(xiàn)古跡的故事。這事純屬巧合!
F: What do you mean?
啥意思?
M: Nobody knew there were thousands of life-size warriors buried there before 1974. Then a farmer was digging a well and he found a general's head made of clay. The discovery was an amazing accident.
1974年以前,根本沒(méi)人知道有上千個(gè)真人大小的兵馬俑被埋在那里。后來(lái),有個(gè)農(nóng)民在那兒打井,結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個(gè)陶土制的將軍的頭。這一發(fā)現(xiàn)純屬偶然。
[口語(yǔ)點(diǎn)睛]
口語(yǔ)君:dumb作形容詞有啞的、無(wú)聲的意思。但dumb luck卻與"啞"毫不相干,它是一種非正式用法,常用于口語(yǔ)中,指"發(fā)生了意想不到的好事,尤指這事本不會(huì)發(fā)生"。例如:It was just dumb luck that we found the place at all. (我們發(fā)現(xiàn)了那個(gè)地方純屬巧合。)又如:
A: How come hurt locker won Oscars?
拆彈部隊(duì)那種片子怎么能獲奧斯卡獎(jiǎng)呢?
B: Dumb luck!
走狗屎運(yùn)唄!
[口語(yǔ)天天練之古跡發(fā)掘背后的故事]
口語(yǔ)君:看來(lái)古跡發(fā)掘過(guò)程中有不少故事呢!除了兵馬俑,還有什么其他發(fā)現(xiàn)呢?下面就讓我們邊學(xué)邊把口語(yǔ)練起來(lái)!
1. Excavation in 1976 revealed two further pits both filled with terracotta warriors.
在1976年的發(fā)掘中,人們又發(fā)現(xiàn)了兩個(gè)埋滿兵馬俑的坑穴。
2. Since then discoveries have continued to be made at the site. To date, four pits have been excavated.
自那以后,考古現(xiàn)場(chǎng)不斷有新的發(fā)現(xiàn)。迄今為止,已有4個(gè)坑穴被挖掘。
3. Three are filled with the terra-cotta soldiers, horse-drawn chariots, and weapons. The fourth pit is empty, a testament to the original unfinished construction.
其中三個(gè)坑穴中埋有兵馬俑、陶馬拉的戰(zhàn)車(chē)及武器。四號(hào)坑則空無(wú)一物,有證據(jù)表明該坑一開(kāi)始就沒(méi)建完。
4. Archaeologists estimate the pits may contain as many as 8,000 figures, but the total may never be known.
據(jù)考古學(xué)家估計(jì),這些坑穴中可能埋有多達(dá)8000個(gè)陶俑,但其總數(shù)可能永遠(yuǎn)無(wú)人知曉。