英语听力：自然百科 走进西藏 tibet—15

 Like a giant hotplate. The plateau heats up in the spring and summer. The change in air pressure draws in warm moist air from the Indian Ocean in the south. Thanks to this, over a billion people from India to Burma benefit from the monsoon¹ rain that this wind brings with it. Tibet is the engine that drives the fertility of a whole subcontinent. 

 

But Tibet has an even greater role in the ecology of the region. Clues to this function are found in the legend that pre-dates even the ancient Tibetan culture and which still draws pilgrims from all over the world. 

 

Several world religions believe in a mythical² mountain, that's equivalent to the Garden of Eden. Its peak has four faces, aligned³ to the points of the compass. And from its summit,  four rivers are said to flow to the four quarters of the world. Thanks to its life-giving waters, this mountain is known as the axis⁴ of the world. In one of the remotest areas of Tibet, there's a place where this legend takes physical form. That place is Mount Kailash.

 

By an uncanny coincidence, Mount Lailash perfectly⁵ matches the legend of the mythical axis of the world. Its four faces are roughly aligned to the compass and four major rivers flown from its foothills. 

 

These are some of most significant rivers in Asia. The Yarlung, which becomes India's Brahmaputra. The Indus and Sutlej which flow to Pakistan and the Karnali, a major feeder for the Ganges. Thanks to its connection with the mythical mountain, Kailash is so scared that it's never been climbed. It's Tibet’s most important pilgrimage site. 

 

For Tibetans, pilgrimage is a journey from ignorance to enlightenment. A pilgrimage around the sacred mountain is believed to wipe out the sins of a lifetime, increasing the chance of a better rebirth. 

 

Most pilgrims time their visit for the most important festival in the Tibetan calendar. For over a thousand years, they have gathered at the foot of Kailash for the Saga⁶ Dawa Festival to celebrate Buddha's enlightenment. The festival climaxes⁷ with the raising of the newly dressed altar, a 25-meter flagpole.

1 monsoon   

n.季雨，季风，大雨

参考例句：

• The monsoon rains started early this year.今年季雨降雨开始得早。
• The main climate type in that region is monsoon.那个地区主要以季风气候为主要气候类型。

2 mythical   

adj.神话的；虚构的；想像的

参考例句：

• Undeniably,he is a man of mythical status.不可否认，他是一个神话般的人物。
• Their wealth is merely mythical.他们的财富完全是虚构的。

3 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。

4 axis   

n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线

参考例句：

• The earth's axis is the line between the North and South Poles.地轴是南北极之间的线。
• The axis of a circle is its diameter.圆的轴线是其直径。

5 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。

6 saga   

n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇

参考例句：

• The saga of Flight 19 is probably the most repeated story about the Bermuda Triangle.飞行19中队的传说或许是有关百慕大三角最重复的故事。
• The novel depicts the saga of a family.小说描绘了一个家族的传奇故事。

7 climaxes   

n.顶点( climax的名词复数 )；极点；高潮；性高潮

参考例句：

• There are two climaxes to this novel. 这部小说有两个高潮。 来自辞典例句
• At least that is the way the February and October revolutions in Russia reached their climaxes. 至少俄国的二月革命和十月革命就是这样进入高潮的。 来自互联网