03_An_Unknown_Goddess

03 An Unknown Goddess¶

Some time ago, an 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 stories high -- were built of stone. They had large rooms with beautifully decorated walls. The city was even 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 the 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 15th century B.C. Its 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(sweep) the ground). Despite her great age, she was very graceful indeed, but, so far, the archaeologists have been unable to discover her identity.

Words¶

archaeologists /ˌɑrkiˈɑlədʒɪsts/ 考古学家
on /ɑn/ the /ðə/ promontory /ˈprɑmənˌtɔrɪ/ 海角
prosperous /ˈprɑspɚəs/ 繁荣的
civilization /ˌsɪvəlɪˈzeʃən/ 文明
stories /ˈstɔriz/ 楼层
decorated /ˈdɛkɚˌetɪd/ 装饰的
drainage /ˈdrenədʒ/ system /ˈsɪstəm/ 排水系统
clay /kle/ 泥土
beneath /bɪˈniθ/ 在…之下
narrow /ˈnɛro/ 狭窄的
worship /ˈwɝʃəp/ 崇拜
sacred /ˈsekrəd/ 神圣的
fragments /ˈfræɡmənts/ 碎片
Classical /ˈklæsɪkəl/ times /taɪmz/ 古典时期
hips /hɪps/ 臀部
indeed /ˌɪnˈdid/ 确实

Expressions¶

a is/was used as a place of 被用作……的场所
worship… 崇拜；做礼拜
on a/the promontory 在海角上
drainage system 排水系统
sacred room/temple/place 神圣的房间/寺庙/场所
have a rest 休息一下
identity card 身份证
sb. make a (adj.) discovery of sth. 发现
a be equipped with b a配备b
equip sb. with sth. 给某人配备某物
be used as 被用作
date from... 追溯到
date back to... 追溯到
happen to do 碰巧
be amazed to find that + 句子惊讶地发现……
turn out to be… 结果是，证明是
despite/ despite the fact that... 尽管……