最新15篇文章贯通英语四级词汇MP3 Unit4-Part2（在线收听）

[00:00.00]With the death of his mother 

[00:02.51]in 1919, William inherited the beloved 

[00:05.80]quartermillionacre ranch. 

[00:08.75]At first, he planned to 

[00:11.16]build a modest ranch house 

[00:12.80]on his favorite campsite 

[00:14.22]but as he became more involved 

[00:16.63]in the project, his vision 

[00:18.82]of a monument to display 

[00:20.79]his collections gained momentum. 

[00:23.74]Working closely with family architect, 

[00:26.92]Julia Morgan, William created 

[00:30.19]a glorious and extraordinary castle

[00:33.26]like structure, blending Spanish, European,

[00:36.32] and Californian architectural styles.

[00:40.26] Huge warehouses were built 

[00:42.67]in San Simeon to store 

[00:45.07]the shiploads of splendid antiques, 

[00:47.26]including entire carved ceilings 

[00:50.11]and walls hung with enormous tapestries.

[00:53.61] They could be installed 

[00:57.11]in the completed rooms. 

[00:59.19]Landscaping integrated exotic plants, 

[01:02.58]hedges, and trees with native flora.

[01:05.75] As William was in his 60’s, 

[01:09.69]he had the insight 

[01:11.33]to know he couldn’t  wait 

[01:13.08]for them to grow, 

[01:14.39]but he was optimistic.

[01:16.14] He ordered tons of fertile topsoil

[01:18.56] to cover the grounds  

[01:20.08]to a depth of five feet 

[01:21.50]and fullgrown specimens 

[01:23.58]of the plants were trucked 

[01:25.67]up the mountain for planting.

[01:27.52]With thousands of acres 

[01:30.37]of land covered with grassland, 

[01:32.12]trees, natural ponds, and 

[01:35.08]manmade reservoirs available for use,

[01:37.37] William stocked the estate 

[01:39.34]with herds of rare oxen and deer, 

[01:41.63]and flocks of sheep and lambs. 

[01:44.15]These animals flourished 

[01:47.22]as they were allowed to wander freely. 

[01:50.06]Larger, more dangerous beasts,

[01:52.80] including tigers, ostriches, buffalo, 

[01:56.51]yaks, emus, kangaroos, llamas,zebras 

[02:02.20]and giraffes were enclosed 

[02:04.94]in the largest private zoo in the world.