英语听力：自然百科 圣河之旅 The Ganges 恒河—29

 -Stepping into their shadow?-Yeah. It's like that. -It's 2014. India's got a space program. That's incredible. -That's India.

Cremations here are public but rich events. The oldest son of the deceased's family leads the funeral rites¹. First, the body's prepared by immersing it in the Ganges. Then the son circles the funeral pile.

-This is an utterly² overwhelming place. I can't really hope to understand this, but you can't help absorb what's going on here.  Finally, having obtained the flame from a member of Don Raj's family, he lights the fire. Like millions of cremated³ and half-cremated bodies each year, the remains⁴ will be put into the Ganges.

-You lived here, didn't you? You lived in Varanasi.

-I lived in Varanasi for more than 8 years. -And presumably, the burning of the bodies is very much part of life.

-It's part of life, but in Ganges, you can say it's special that I have seen what I haven't seen any of it. That's so many bodies being burned in one place, you know. You can see 10 bodies burning here right, if you count, you know, at any moment. 

1 rites   

仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to administer the last rites to sb 给某人举行临终圣事
• He is interested in mystic rites and ceremonies. 他对神秘的仪式感兴趣。

2 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

3 cremated   

v.火葬，火化（尸体）( cremate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He wants to is cremated, not buried. 他要火葬，不要土葬。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The bodies were cremated on the shore. 他们的尸体在海边火化了。 来自辞典例句

4 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。