新托福考试听力特训 CD1-Track10

CD1-track10

Stonehenge

What is the main topic of the lecture?

A Two different views on the original purpose of Stonehenge.

B The detailed¹ history of how Stonehenge was built.

C The geological explanation about the stones used in building Stonehenge.

D The Astronomical² significance of the midsummer sunrise and eclipses.

(A)

听力原文：

CD1-track10

Stonehenge

Moving on to another ancient discovery, let's discuss the magnificence and mystery of

Stonehenge. Theree kilometers west of a town called Amesbury stands a large, tall

stone ruin known as Stonehenge. This unique monument has stood for over 5 000

years in an open downland of Salisbury Plain in Southern England.Stonehenge is not

a single structure, but consists of a series of earth, wood, and stone structures that

were revised and re-modeled over thousands of years. How were the stones moved

into place? No one knows exactly, but it is definite that it took a lot of muscle power

and numerous men to move these heavy stones in place. The next logical question

might be: why was Stonehenge built? Well, to answer this question, we can look at the

findings of an 18th century British scholar named William Strukeley who noticed that

the horseshoe of great stones and the houseshoe of 19 smaller stones called

bluestones opened up in the direction of a midsummer sunrise. He concluded that

these stones were placed not accidentally, but deliberately³ positioned and planned so

that on a midsummer's morning the sun rose directly over the Deel Stone and the fist

rays shone into the centre of the monument between the open arms of the horseshoe

arrangement. This discovery has had tremendous impact on how Stonehenge has been

interpreted. Both Stukeley in the 18th century and Sir J. Norman Lockyer, a British

astronomer⁴ and scientist, in the 20th century, belived that this alignment⁵ implied a

ritualistic connection with sun worship. Their conclusions led to the belief that

Stonehenge was built as a temple to the sun. Nowadays, an astronomer named Gerald

Fawkins disagrees with Stukeley and Lockyer's conclusions and instead argues that

Stonehenge is not simply aligned⁶ with solar and lunar astronomical events, but can be

used to predict other events such eclipses. In a nutshell , he believes that Stonehenge

was not built as a temple; instead it was built as an astronomical calsulator.

1 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

2 astronomical   

adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的

参考例句：

• He was an expert on ancient Chinese astronomical literature.他是研究中国古代天文学文献的专家。
• Houses in the village are selling for astronomical prices.乡村的房价正在飙升。

3 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

4 astronomer   

n.天文学家

参考例句：

• A new star attracted the notice of the astronomer.新发现的一颗星引起了那位天文学家的注意。
• He is reputed to have been a good astronomer.他以一个优秀的天文学者闻名于世。

5 alignment   

n.队列；结盟，联合

参考例句：

• The church should have no political alignment.教会不应与政治结盟。
• Britain formed a close alignment with Egypt in the last century.英国在上个世纪与埃及结成了紧密的联盟。

6 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。