有声英文阅读-巨蛋始祖：罗马竞技场

Do as the Romans Did?
巨蛋始祖：罗马竞技场

Inaugurated1 in A.D. 80 by the emperor Titus, the Roman Colosseum is the earliest prototype of the modern superdome. With a perimeter¹ of 527 meters, 80 entrances, and the capacity to hold between 50 and 70,000 spectators, it rivals even the most advanced sports stadiums in size and utility of design, while greatly surpassing them in architectural grandeur².

Inaugurated in A.D. 80 by the emperor Titus, the Roman Colosseum is the earliest prototype of the modern superdome. With a perimeter of 527 meters, 80 entrances, and the capacity to hold between 50 and 70,000 spectators, it rivals even the most advanced sports stadiums in size and utility of design, while greatly surpassing them in architectural grandeur.

The Colosseum was constructed with tens of thousands of tons of a type of marble called travertine and held together with 300 tons of iron. When completed, it rose up 57 meters in four levels. The lower three provided seating for the spectators and were surrounded by magnificent arcades³ and 80 perfectly⁴ symmetrical arches, each embellished⁵ with a statue. The attic⁶ story contained brackets which could suspend a canopy⁷ for shade.

In spite of its glorious design, the Colosseum was built largely for the distraction⁸ of the masses in a cynical⁹ age, providing dramatic and often gruesome entertainments. Armies of slaves fought for their lives in horrific recreations of famous battles. Gladiators fought wild animals and one another to the death in return for their continued survival, the glory of victory, and precious gifts from their benefactors¹⁰.

These spectacles of gratuitous¹¹ violence may seem a little anachronistic¹², but they are also analogues¹³ in many ways to professional sports today. Perhaps the Colosseum is not really such an "ancient" artifact after all.

公元前80年由提多书大帝宣布落成的罗马竞技场，可谓是超级穹顶的最早原型。罗马竞技场周长527米，有80个入口，可容纳五至七万名观众，其规模及多用途的设计堪与最先进的体育馆媲美，其建筑之宏伟壮丽，更是后者望尘莫及的。

罗马竞技场是由数万吨名为“石灰华”的大理石加上300吨的钢铁铸建而成。完工后，有四层楼57米高。底下三层是观众席，环绕著巨大的环状拱廊，还有80座完全对称的拱门，座座都刻有雕像。顶层部份有托架用以悬挂罩篷，可以遮荫。

尽管设计得金碧辉煌，建造罗马竞技场的主要目的是，在愤世嫉俗的时代中，供人们忘情娱乐，演出戏剧张力十足、不时令人毛骨悚然的娱乐节目。在以著名战役为背景的骇人节目中，成群奴隶为生存而战。战士们与猛兽搏斗或自相残杀，至死方休，换来的除了继续生存的权利、胜利的荣耀、还有赞助者馈赠的厚礼。

这些暴力场面或许有些过时，然而类似的场景在现今职业运动中仍屡见不鲜。或许是罗马竞技场毕竟不是一座真正的“古迹”。

1 perimeter   

n.周边，周长，周界

参考例句：

• The river marks the eastern perimeter of our land.这条河标示我们的土地东面的边界。
• Drinks in hands,they wandered around the perimeter of the ball field.他们手里拿着饮料在球场周围漫不经心地遛跶。

2 grandeur   

n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华

参考例句：

• The grandeur of the Great Wall is unmatched.长城的壮观是独一无二的。
• These ruins sufficiently attest the former grandeur of the place.这些遗迹充分证明此处昔日的宏伟。

3 arcades   

n.商场( arcade的名词复数 )；拱形走道（两旁有商店或娱乐设施）；连拱廊；拱形建筑物

参考例句：

• Clothes are on sale in several shopping arcades these days. 近日一些服装店的服装正在大减价。 来自轻松英语会话---联想4000词(下)
• The Plaza Mayor, with its galleries and arcades, is particularly impressive. 市长大厦以其别具风格的走廊和拱廊给人留下十分深刻的印象。 来自互联网

4 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

5 embellished   

v.美化( embellish的过去式和过去分词 )；装饰；修饰；润色

参考例句：

• The door of the old church was embellished with decorations. 老教堂的门是用雕饰美化的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The stern was embellished with carvings in red and blue. 船尾饰有红色和蓝色的雕刻图案。 来自辞典例句

6 attic   

n.顶楼，屋顶室

参考例句：

• Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
• What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理？

7 canopy   

n.天篷，遮篷

参考例句：

• The trees formed a leafy canopy above their heads.树木在他们头顶上空形成了一个枝叶茂盛的遮篷。
• They lay down under a canopy of stars.他们躺在繁星点点的天幕下。

8 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

9 cynical   

adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的

参考例句：

• The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
• He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。

10 benefactors   

n.捐助者，施主( benefactor的名词复数 )；恩人

参考例句：

• I rate him among my benefactors. 我认为他是我的一个恩人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We showed high respect to benefactors. 我们对捐助者表达了崇高的敬意。 来自辞典例句

11 gratuitous   

adj.无偿的，免费的；无缘无故的，不必要的

参考例句：

• His criticism is quite gratuitous.他的批评完全没有根据。
• There's too much crime and gratuitous violence on TV.电视里充斥着犯罪和无端的暴力。

12 anachronistic   

adj.时代错误的

参考例句：

• In remembering historic events,the mistake you tend to make is anachronistic.在记历史事件时，你容易犯的错误是时代错误。
• English public schools are anachronistic.英国的公立学校已经落伍过时了。

13 analogues   

相似物( analogue的名词复数 )； 类似物； 类比； 同源词

参考例句：

• A vegetarian gets protein not from meat but from its analogues. 素食者所摄取的蛋白质不是来自肉类而是来自近似肉类的食物。
• Moreover, it tends to foster the human qualities that I admire most-courage and its analogues. 不但如此，它还能培养我最景仰的那些德性-勇敢和诸如此类的东西。