77_A_Successful_Operation

77 A Successful Operation¶

The mummy of an Egyptian woman (who died in 800 B.C.) has just had an operation. The mummy is that of Shepenmut (who was once a singer in the Temple of Thebes). As there were strange marks on the X-ray plates (taken of the mummy), doctors have been trying to find out whether the woman died of a rare disease. The only way to do this was to operate. The operation, which lasted for over four hours, proved to be very difficult because of the hard resin (which covered the skin). The doctors removed a section of the mummy and sent it to a laboratory. They also found something (which the X-ray plates did not show: a small wax figure of the god Duamutef). This god (which has the head of a cow) was normally placed inside a mummy. The doctors have not yet decided how the woman died. They feared that the mummy would fall to pieces when they cut it open, but fortunately this has not happened. The mummy successfully survived the operation.

Words¶

Egyptian /ɪˈdʒɪpʃən/ 埃及的
Thebes /θibz/ 底比斯神庙
marks /mɑrks/ 斑点
plates /plets/ 底片
a /ə/ rare /rɛr/ disease /dɪˈziz/ 罕见病
lasted /ˈlæstəd/ 持续
proved /pruvd/ 证明
resin /ˈrɛzən/ 树脂
wax /wæks/ 蜡
figure /ˈfɪɡjɚ/ 人体
survived /sɚˈvaɪvd/ 幸存

非限定性定语从句¶

解释，补充，说明

which:

My mother, who is 50 this year, lives with me now.

as:

As they soon learnt, disguises can sometimes be too perfect.

指代整个完整句子
位置灵活: 前中后 (which只能放句尾)

Expressions¶

have a rare disease 得了一种罕见的病
a section of ... 一段；一节
prove to be adj. 证明是……的
have an operation 做手术
died of... 死于……
fall to pieces 散架；崩溃
cut it open 把它切开