【英语时差8,16】利兹城堡

Leeds Castle Chen Li:Helen, I’m very excited about this place we’re going today. Helen: Me too. Today we’re taking you to Leeds Castle, set in the stunning¹ countryside of Kent, about one hour from London. Taking us on a tour of the castle is Victoria Wallace, the managing director of the castle. First she told us how old the castle is. Palace is exactly the right word – it was a royal palace. It’s basically a building that’s evolved over 900 years, it started off as one of the Norman castles. Leeds has been described as the loveliest castle in the world. And I think that’s largely because it sits in a beautiful fairytale landscape, sitting on these two islands in the middle of a lake, with gentle mellow² stone architecture. As you walk into the castle itself, you enter a completely different atmosphere - it looks like an English country house. And all the way around, are these big windows, so it’s a castle full of light. And you look out over the lakes and over the moat, and you see the swans swimming – particularly black swans, which are our speciality - and look out to the gentle English landscape beyond. We’ve got lovely gardens which are set up to show all sorts of different styles, and a fantastic maze³ with an underground grotto⁴, full of myth and mystery. You can be lost in there for hours, but for most people it takes about quarter of an hour to go round.

1 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

2 mellow   

adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟

参考例句：

• These apples are mellow at this time of year.每年这时节，苹果就熟透了。
• The colours become mellow as the sun went down.当太阳落山时，色彩变得柔和了。

3 maze   

n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑

参考例句：

• He found his way through the complex maze of corridors.他穿过了迷宮一样的走廊。
• She was lost in the maze for several hours.一连几小时，她的头脑处于一片糊涂状态。

4 grotto   

n.洞穴

参考例句：

• We reached a beautiful grotto,whose entrance was almost hiden by the vine.我们到达了一个美丽的洞穴，洞的进口几乎被藤蔓遮掩著。
• Water trickles through an underground grotto.水沿着地下岩洞流淌。