Lesson 3 An unknown goddess
无名女神
Listen to the tape then answer the question below.
听录音,然后回答以下问题。
How did the archaeologist know that the statue was a goddess?
考古学家如何知道那个雕像是个女神呢?
Some time ago, an interesting discovery was made by archaeologists on the Aegean island of Kea.
不久之前,在爱琴海的基亚岛上,考古工作者有一项有趣的发现。
An American team explored a temple which stands in an ancient city on the promontory of Ayia Irini.
一个美国考古队在阿伊亚.依里尼海角的一座古城里考察了一座庙宇。
The city at one time must have been prosperous, for it enjoyed a high level of civilization.
这座古城肯定一度很繁荣,因为它曾享有高度的文明,
Houses -- often three storeys high -- were built of stone.
房子一般有3层楼高,用石块修建。
They had large rooms with beautifully decorated walls.
里面房间很大,墙壁装饰华丽。
The city was even equipped with a drainage system, for a great many clay pipes were found beneath the narrow streets.
城里甚至还敷设了排水系统,因为在狭窄的街道底下发现了许许多多陶土制作的排水管道。
The temple which the archaeologists explored was used as a place of worship from the fifteenth century B.C. until Roman times.
考古工作者考察的这座庙宇从公元前15世纪直到罗马时代一直是祭祀祈祷的场所。
In the most sacred room of temple, clay fragments of fifteen statues were found.
在庙中最神圣的一间殿堂里发现了15尊陶制雕像的碎片。
Each of these represented a goddess and had, at one time, been painted.
每一尊雕像代表一位女神,而且一度上过色。
The body of one statue was found among remains dating from the fifteenth century B.C.
其中有一尊雕像,她的躯体是在公元前15世纪的历史文物中发现的,
Its missing head happened to be among remains of the fifth century B.C.
而她那身首异处的脑袋却碰巧是在公元前5世纪的文物中找到的。
This head must have been found in Classical times and carefully preserved.
她的脑袋一定是在古希腊罗马时代就为人所发现,并受到了精心的保护。
It was very old and precious even then.
即使在当时,它也属历史悠久的珍奇之物。
When the archaeologists reconstructed the fragments,
考古工作者把这些碎片重新拼装起来后,
they were amazed to find that the goddess turned out to be a very modern-looking woman.
惊奇地发现那位女神原来是一位相貌十分摩登的女郎。
She stood three feet high and her hands rested on her hips.
她身高3英尺,双手叉腰,
She was wearing a full-length skirt which swept the ground.
身穿一条拖地长裙,
Despite her great age, she was very graceful indeed,
尽管上了年纪,但体态确实优美。
but, so far, the archaeologists have been unable to discover her identity.
不过,考古工作者至今未能确定这位女神的身份。