跟新概念学托福口语之（3） an unknown goddess

不知道前面两篇课文背的怎么样了。每天一定要温习一下前一篇，要做到之前的背诵都脱口而出，才能继续哦：）那么来看第三课吧。先试着翻译以下文字（特别小心黑体部分）：

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不久之前，在爱琴海的基亚岛上，考古工作者有一项有趣的发现。一个美国考古队在阿伊亚.依里尼海角的一座古城里考察了一座庙宇。这座古城肯定一度很繁荣，因为它曾享有高度的文明，房子一般有3层楼高，用石块修建。里面房间很大，墙壁装饰华丽。城里甚至还敷设了排水系统，因为在狭窄的街道底下发现了许许多多陶土制作的排水管道。

考古工作者考察的这座庙宇从公元前15世纪直到罗马时代一直是祭祀祈祷的场所。在庙中最神圣的一间殿堂里发现了15尊陶雕像的碎片。每一尊雕像代表一位女神，而且一度上过色。其中有一尊雕像，她的躯体是在公元前15世纪的历史文物中发现的，而她那身异处的脑袋却碰巧是在公元前5世纪的文物中找到的。她的脑袋一定是在古希腊罗马时代就为人所发现，并受到精心的保护。却使在当时，它也属历史悠久的珍奇之物。考古工作者把这些碎片重新拼装起来后，惊奇地发现那位女神原来是一位相貌十分摩登的女郎。她身高3英尺，双手叉腰。身穿一条拖地长裙，尽管上了年纪，但体态确实优美。不过，考古工作者至今未能确定这位女神的身份。

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翻译完了吗？我们来看黑体部分，今天讲的是动词的用法：

(1) 考察<-->explore<-->探索

explore: to travel over (new territory) for adventure or discovery

(2) 敷设<-->equip<-->装备

equip:  to furnish for service or action by appropriate provisioning

(3) 祭祀祈祷<-->worship<-->崇拜

worship: a form of religious practice with its creed and ritual

(4) 保护<-->preserve<-->保存

preserve: to keep alive, intact, or free from decay

(5) 拖地<-->sweep (the ground)<-->清扫

sweep: to cover the entire range of

***ackowledgements:special thanks go to merriam-webster for the English explanation***

你在表达的时候用了哪个词呢？跟原文一样吗？并不是说原文一定比你的好，只不过这又是一种possibility，有时候possibility keeps hoping:) 动词的含义是非常微妙的，中文里有太多的词可以对应，所以一定要在英文释义及例句中细细体会。大家可以思考下，还有哪些词可以用来替换它们？并试着用这些词造句，这样才能将它们转化成你的积极词汇：）那么，再来试试利用以上词汇将以下句子转化成英文吧（先别急着偷看我的译文哦），看你都掌握了吗？

• 托福口语Q3
  

中文：对话中教授邀请该女生去参加实地考察，为时三个月，目的地是Smithern River Caves.

Response: the woman in the conversation is invited by the professor to join in a three-month field trip to explore the Smithern River Caves.

• 托福口语Q1: describe a person who has the greatest influence on you
  

中文：奥巴马无论在身体上、精神上、还是政治上都做好了成为美国总统的准备。

Response: barack o'bama is physically, mentally and politically well-equipped to be the president of the USA.

• 托福口语Q1: decribe a social celebration in your country
  

中文：端午节拥有悠久的历史，最初是为了纪念中国古代一个爱国主义诗人屈原。

Response: people nowadays have dragonboat racing to show their worship to Qu Yuan, a poet in ancient China, on Dragonboat Festival, and this tradition has been preserved since hundreds of years ago.

• 托福口语Q1: describe your favorite gift
  

中文：ipod现在在年轻人中非常流行，风靡全球。

Response: ipod has swept through the teenage population all over the world.

解决了这些动词，这篇课文的背诵应该不成问题了哦~以下是英文原文，来享受它的美吧，不知道你最喜欢哪句呢，大烨最中意的一句是：it was old and precious even then.哈哈是的！尤其是这个old，读的时候把[o]音无限拉长，起承转合，你不觉得这个腔调非常适合作台词吗：）

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    Some time ago, and interesting discovery was made by archaeologists on the Aegean island of Kea. An American team explored a temple which stands in an ancient city on the promontory of Ayia Irini. The city at one time must have been prosperous, for it enjoyed a high level of civilization. Houses -- often three storeys high -- were built of stone. They had large rooms with beautifully decorated walls. The city was equipped with a drainage system, for a great many clay pipes were found beneath the narrow streets.
    The temple which the archaeologists explored was used as a place of worship from the fifteenth century B.C. until Roman times. In the most sacred room of temple, clay fragments of fifteen statues were found. Each of these represented a goddess and had, at one time, been painted. The body of one statue was found among remains dating from the fifteenth century B.C. It's missing head happened to be among remains of the fifth century B.C. This head must have been found in Classical times and carefully preserved. It was very old and precious even then. When the archaeologists reconstructed the fragments, they were amazed to find that the goddess turned out to be a very modern-looking woman. She stood three feet high and her hands rested on her hips. She was wearing a full-length skirt which swept the ground. Despite her great age, she was very graceful indeed, but, so far, the archaeologists have been unable to discover her identity.