The Lost Continent 遗失的大陆-19

Santorini, once called Thera, is a beautiful collection of small Mediterranean¹ islands encircling a central volcanic² hub With its breathtaking views and stunning³ sunsets, Santorini is a magnet for tourists from all over the world who visit to sample the unique culture of the Greek islands. But Santorini is much more than a picturesque⁴ holiday retreat. Hidden under layers of volcanic rock are the remains⁵ of a once proud city that perished in a terrible calamity⁶ over 35 centuries ago, a city whose destruction many people believe gave rise to the myth of Atlantis.
The story of this momentous⁷ archeological find began in the 19th century on another Mediterranean island 70 miles south of Santorini, an island called Crete. In 1899, the British archeologist Arthur Evans had begun unearthing⁸ on Crete the remains of a mysterious civilization, which seemed to have been completely forgotten by history. Based on Knossos Evans uncovered the remains of a powerful sea trading people who worshiped the bull and built large labyrinthine⁹ buildings. Factors which encouraged him to name this unknown culture the Minoans after King Minos, a mythological¹⁰ figure from ancient Greek history said to have been the father of the Minotaur.
The Minoans are probably the single greatest mystery in all of classical history. We don’t really know where they came from, and certainly don’t know what happened to them. But they were building these elaborate palaces and making these fabulous¹¹ fresco¹²s, long before anybody else was doing. This’s 1500 BC and remember that Parthenon and Plato himself existed around 350 BC. It was while excavating¹³ a Minoan villa¹⁴ on Crete some 35 years after Arthur Evans that a Greek archeologist called Spyridon Marinatos discovered evidence of a huge volcanic explosion.
When he reached the foundations, my father found quite a large quantity of volcanic pumice. So he thought, what is going on here? Where's the volcano? He looked at the map and he thought, well, the closest volcano is the volcano of Santorini, when did this erupt?
Based on provisional calculations, Marinatos estimated that the volcano of Santorini had erupted in around 1500 BC. It was a cataclysmic explosion, equivalent to 150 hydrogen bombs. The center of Santorini was ripped open as 50 cubic miles of rock vaporized. Debris¹⁵ was hurtled as far afield as Egypt and Israel. Gigantic Tsunamis¹⁶ overwhelmed coastlines everywhere in the Mediterranean. And aftershocks were felt all over the world. The island of Santorini was shattered into fragments of its former self.

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encircle: v. 环绕，包围
hub: n. 中心
picturesque: adj. 如画的
labyrinthine: adj. 迷宫一样的，曲折的
Minotaur: n.人面牛身怪兽
fresco: n. 壁画
cataclysmic: adj. 重大的，严重的
pumice: n. 浮石

1 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

2 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

3 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。

4 picturesque   

adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的

参考例句：

• You can see the picturesque shores beside the river.在河边你可以看到景色如画的两岸。
• That was a picturesque phrase.那是一个形象化的说法。

5 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。

6 calamity   

n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件

参考例句：

• Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us. 再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity.偷袭珍珠港(对美军来说)是一场毁灭性的灾难。

7 momentous   

adj.重要的，重大的

参考例句：

• I am deeply honoured to be invited to this momentous occasion.能应邀出席如此重要的场合，我深感荣幸。
• The momentous news was that war had begun.重大的新闻是战争已经开始。

8 unearthing   

发掘或挖出某物( unearth的现在分词 )； 搜寻到某事物，发现并披露

参考例句：

• And unearthing the past often means literally and studying the evidence. 通常，探寻往事在字面上即意味着——刨根究底。
• The unearthing of "Peking Man" was a remarkable discovery. “北京人”的出土是个非凡的发现。

9 labyrinthine   

adj.如迷宫的；复杂的

参考例句：

• His mind slid away into the labyrinthine world of doublethink.他的思绪，早滑进到双重思想迷宫般的世界里去。
• The streets of the Old City are narrow and labyrinthine.老城区的街道狭促曲折，好似迷宫一般。

10 mythological   

adj.神话的

参考例句：

• He is remembered for his historical and mythological works. 他以其带有历史感和神话色彩的作品而著称。
• But even so, the cumulative process had for most Americans a deep, almost mythological significance. 不过即使如此，移民渐增的过程，对于大部分美国人，还是意味深长的，几乎有不可思议的影响。

11 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

12 fresco   

n.壁画；vt.作壁画于

参考例句：

• This huge fresco is extremely clear and just like nature itself.It is very harmonious.这一巨幅壁画，清晰有致且又浑然天成，十分和谐。
• So it is quite necessary to study the influence of visual thinking over fresco.因此，研究视觉思维对壁画的影响和作用是十分必要的。

13 excavating   

v.挖掘( excavate的现在分词 )；开凿；挖出；发掘

参考例句：

• A bulldozer was employed for excavating the foundations of the building. 推土机用来给楼房挖地基。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A new Danish expedition is again excavating the site in annual summer digs. 一支新的丹麦探险队又在那个遗址上进行一年一度的夏季挖掘。 来自辞典例句

14 villa   

n.别墅，城郊小屋

参考例句：

• We rented a villa in France for the summer holidays.我们在法国租了一幢别墅消夏。
• We are quartered in a beautiful villa.我们住在一栋漂亮的别墅里。

15 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

16 tsunamis   

n.海啸( tsunami的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our oceans are alive with earthquakes, volcanoes, and more recently, tsunamis. 海中充满着地震、火山，包括最近发生的海啸。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年2月号
• Please tell me something more about tsunamis! 请您给我讲讲海啸吧！ 来自辞典例句