VOA标准英语2010年-Archeologists May Be Closing in on Cle

They are among history's most famous lovers - Antony and Cleopatra, the Roman warrior¹ and the Egyptian queen.  From Shakespeare to Hollywood, their story has been told many times.  Now, Egypt's top archeologist, with his own touch of Hollywood style, says he may be closing in on Cleopatra's tomb.

On a recent sunny day west of Alexandria, Zahi Hawass strides across the rock and rubble² of Taposiris Magna, a Ptolemaic temple overlooking the shores of the Mediterranean³.   Wearing his trademark⁴ Indiana Jones hat, he explains that although others have scoured⁵ the temple before, this current dig, begun in 2005, has turned up countless⁶ new treasures.

He says the team has located the original main entrance and uncovered a series of pharaonic-style entrance blocks.  There is also a statue, which Hawass, giving the headless torso a playful pat, says is likely that of Ptolemy IV, one of Cleopatra's ancestors.  "That is really important discoveries " he says,"in the search for the beautiful, magical queen - Queen Cleopatra."

The idea of Taposiris as the burial place of Cleopatra and Mark Antony, who killed themselves rather than submit to Antony's rival Octavian, was proposed by a young Dominican archeologist, Kathleen Martinez.  She tries to evoke⁷ the couple's last days, the end of Egypt as an empire.  "She has to choose a place that she must be safe after life," she says, because "the Romans hated her so much, they will search for her body and they will destroy it."

Martinez notes that, significantly, the temple is dedicated⁸ to Isis and Osiris, ancient gods to whom the couple often compared themselves. But she says she is most excited about discovering a tunnel that bores straight down into bedrock.   The team has devised a special winch that has already gone down 35 meters.   She says she expects there will soon be "important news."

Egyptian archeologist Zahi Hawass prepares to enter a shaft⁹ some believe may lead to Cleopatra's tomb, 08 May 2010

I ask if she will show us down the tunnel.  She consults with Hawass, who decides to go himself.  The improvised¹⁰ winch lowers the archeologist into the narrow, dark shaft. 

And then it stops.   The cables are twisted and Hawass is stranded¹¹ 10-meters underground.

Workers, who only rigged the contraption a week before, struggle for a long 15 minutes to straighten the wires.  One man grabs a rope as back-up.  Onlookers¹² resort to awkward banter¹³, fixing blame for my suggestion.    Then Hawass starts to spin himself around in the cramped¹⁴ space, untangling the cables.

The winch re-engages and the archeologist rises to the surface.  In mock anger, he takes a menacing step toward me and pretends to land a punch.

The moment is vintage Hawass.  It probably should have belonged to Martinez, but Hawass takes the spotlight¹⁵.  He fills the scene with genuine drama, makes his usually nervous employees only more so, and ends up providing the entertainment.

At 62, the Secretary General of Egypt's Supreme¹⁶ Council of Antiquities¹⁷ is going through his own Golden Age.  Hawass is the top archeologist in arguably the world's richest archeological land, explorer-in-residence at the National Geographic¹⁸ Society, star of countless television programs, a prolific¹⁹ columnist²⁰ and man-about-town.

Most recently, he has championed the return of ancient artifacts to their homelands, becoming a hero to others who have seen their heritage plundered²¹.   He can be shameless in his quest to get things back. He tells a story about a woman from Canada, who insisted on being repaid the 10,000 pounds sterling²² she spent on it.  "I wrote her a letter to say that if she will keep this statue, the curse of the Pharaohs will rest on her," he says, adding that the next day, she handed the piece over. 

He also takes pride in emphasizing the Egyptian, a parallel to Cleopatra - a Ptolemaic leader of Egyptian heritage who was the first to bother learning the local language.  The archeologist is the first of his countrymen to be the international face of Egyptology, a field long dominated by Western Europeans.  It is an image he feels important to project both abroad and at home.  

He describes children coming up to him on the streets of Cairo, asking "'When are you sending the robot inside the pyramid?'   And you have to know,"  he says,  "there is a revival²³ now among Egyptians loving their antiquities."

Not that mummies and pyramids are a hard sell.   But his excitement and verve are catching²⁴ and, on occasion, one suspects, overwhelming.  I ask if his seemingly outsize persona ever poses a problem.  "God gave me this talent,"  he says.  "I will not tell him no."

It is a belief in self that lessens²⁵ any surprise that his latest discoveries have an international tie-in.   Next month, a major museum exhibit called Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt, will open in the United States.  And Hawass, with his enthusiasm, will be on hand.
 

1 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

2 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

3 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。

4 trademark   

n.商标；特征；vt.注册的…商标

参考例句：

• The trademark is registered on the book of the Patent Office.该商标已在专利局登记注册。
• The trademark of the pen was changed.这钢笔的商标改了。

5 scoured   

走遍（某地）搜寻（人或物）( scour的过去式和过去分词 )； （用力）刷； 擦净； 擦亮

参考例句：

• We scoured the area for somewhere to pitch our tent. 我们四处查看，想找一个搭帐篷的地方。
• The torrents scoured out a channel down the hill side. 急流沿着山腰冲刷出一条水沟。

6 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

7 evoke   

vt.唤起，引起，使人想起

参考例句：

• These images are likely to evoke a strong response in the viewer.这些图像可能会在观众中产生强烈反响。
• Her only resource was the sympathy she could evoke.她以凭借的唯一力量就是她能从人们心底里激起的同情。

8 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

9 shaft   

n.(工具的)柄，杆状物

参考例句：

• He was wounded by a shaft.他被箭击中受伤。
• This is the shaft of a steam engine.这是一个蒸汽机主轴。

10 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

11 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

12 onlookers   

n.旁观者，观看者( onlooker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A crowd of onlookers gathered at the scene of the crash. 在撞车地点聚集了一大群围观者。
• The onlookers stood at a respectful distance. 旁观者站在一定的距离之外，以示尊敬。

13 banter   

n.嘲弄，戏谑；v.取笑，逗弄，开玩笑

参考例句：

• The actress exchanged banter with reporters.女演员与记者相互开玩笑。
• She engages in friendly banter with her customers.她常和顾客逗乐。

14 cramped   

a.狭窄的

参考例句：

• The house was terribly small and cramped, but the agent described it as a bijou residence. 房子十分狭小拥挤，但经纪人却把它说成是小巧别致的住宅。
• working in cramped conditions 在拥挤的环境里工作

15 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

16 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

17 antiquities   

n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 )；古迹；古人们；古代的风俗习惯

参考例句：

• There is rest and healing in the contemplation of antiquities. 欣赏古物有休息和疗养之功。 来自辞典例句
• Bertha developed a fine enthusiasm for the antiquities of London. 伯沙对伦敦的古迹产生了很大的热情。 来自辞典例句

18 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

19 prolific   

adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的

参考例句：

• She is a prolific writer of novels and short stories.她是一位多产的作家，写了很多小说和短篇故事。
• The last few pages of the document are prolific of mistakes.这个文件的最后几页错误很多。

20 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

21 plundered   

掠夺，抢劫( plunder的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Many of our cultural treasures have been plundered by imperialists. 我国许多珍贵文物被帝国主义掠走了。
• The imperialists plundered many valuable works of art. 帝国主义列强掠夺了许多珍贵的艺术品。

22 sterling   

adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑)

参考例句：

• Could you tell me the current rate for sterling, please?能否请您告诉我现行英国货币的兑换率？
• Sterling has recently been strong,which will help to abate inflationary pressures.英国货币最近非常坚挺，这有助于减轻通胀压力。

23 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

24 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

25 lessens   

变少( lessen的第三人称单数 )； 减少（某事物）

参考例句：

• Eating a good diet significantly lessens the risk of heart disease. 良好的饮食习惯能大大减少患心脏病的机率。
• Alcohol lessens resistance to diseases. 含有酒精的饮料会减弱对疾病的抵抗力。