普通高中课程标准实验教科书 英语选修8 Unit 5 Meeting your anc

This was one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. Its find was as dramatic and exciting as the discovery itself. Here is the story.
The first hint
       The first hint that led to the discovery of the tomb of King Tutankhamun was on November 4th, 1922. Howard Carter, the excavator, noted¹ in his diary:
       "At about 10 am I discovered underneath² the first hut the first step of the entrance to the tomb ... It seemed like a staircase(楼梯) to a tomb of the type of the 18th Dynasty but nothing more could be discovered till the rubbish was cleared away."
       The next day Carter and his team removed the rubbish from the staircase to find the remains³ of a doorway⁴ that was still fastened. This was very significant as it was clearly a tomb of somebody important, and it had not been robbed. He noticed some of the wall had fallen away and when he looked inside, he saw a corridor completely filled with stones and rubbish.
       On November 26th, 1922 Carter's colleagues from England came to see what he had found. They started to remove the rubbish from the corridor.
The find
       When Carter got to the second sealed doorway, he made a small hole to see what was inside that room or passageway (antechamber a room in front of an important room) and put a candle inside to get a better view. Everyone with him waited eagerly. He widened the hole and let the others look inside too. In his diary he describes their astonishment⁶ at the marvellous(绝妙的) collection of treasures. They included: two strange black statues of the king, wearing gold shoes and carrying royal insignia(徽章); gold chairs decorated with the heads of animals and gods; beautifully painted boxes; flowers; vases decorated with some beautiful flower designs; strange black boxes; white chests; a golden seat for the Pharaoh(法老) and lastly a cart made of gold.
       Their first impression was of a room filled with treasure from another civilization. They felt amazement⁷, shock and surprise, and they couldn't help asking themselves, "Was it a collection hidden from thieves or the doorway to a Pharaoh's tomb?"
The tomb
       On February 17th of the next year they eventually came to what all archaeologists dream of - an unopened tomb of an Egyptian Pharaoh. The room or burial chamber⁵ with the king's body contained boxes of all shapes and sizes. One held the king's body and had his name on it, so they knew whose tomb it was. When it was examined, it was found that the body had been turned into a mummy(木乃伊) and placed within three boxes, one inside the other. One of the boxes was made of pure gold. Another smaller box beside the Pharaoh's body held the four jars containing the liver, lungs, stomach and intestines(肠) of the Pharaoh. In all there were more than 6,000 objects found in the tomb. Carter described the sight as "'one that was greater than any other and one we never dreamed of seeing. We were astonished by the beauty and refinement⁸ of the art displayed by the objects, which was greater than we could have imagined."

1 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

2 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

5 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

6 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

7 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

8 refinement   

n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼

参考例句：

• Sally is a woman of great refinement and beauty. 莎莉是个温文尔雅又很漂亮的女士。
• Good manners and correct speech are marks of refinement.彬彬有礼和谈吐得体是文雅的标志。