Aztecs 远古的回响 -- Aztecs帝国 12
Sculpting 1 the landscape, the Aztecs created a beautiful ideal model, intended to bring rain to the real world. Water channel from the mountain through an aqueduct flowed around the hill, filling baths and basins and shrines 4 along the way. Walkways followed the channels, paths for ritual processions by priests and rulers.
This paradise garden of flowing water is an extraordinary testimony 5 to the skills and beliefs of its architects. Above this shrine 3, a temple celebrates the poet ruler who conceived this place. Higher still, a temple honors the Rain God. Corn or maize 6 Goddesses were cut into the rock to ensure the fertility of the land.
The terraces below were once covered with plants and trees, some brought from the farthest ends of the empire. The Aztecs had a remarkable 7 knowledge of horticulture, experimenting in these gardens with species new to the Valley of Mexico. They were also renowned 8 herbalists and healers. But all their healing wisdom and all their offerings to the gods would be powerless against the disaster which was to come.
Over a year before the Spaniards arrived in 1519, according to Aztec records, a series of omens 9 warned of an impending 10 catastrophe 11: the temple of the warrior 12 god of the Sun suddenly burst into flames. Comets and lightning followed and the ruler of the time Moctezuma had a vision: people coming as conquerors 13 and riding on deer.
Marco Polo had been to China. Vasco da Gama had discovered the route to the Cape 2. The continent was in ferment 14 and movement whereas the Mexican world was extremely closed in, it was absolutely, hermetically closed. So that the arrival of the Spaniards must have been like the arrival of people from Mars, to us it would be today, totally unsuspected aliens, totally unsuspected aliens. The shock must be profound, I think, it's one of the reasons that explains the downfall of the Aztec empire. In a sense I think the Aztec empire died of astonishment 15 more than anything else.
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aqueduct: n. 沟渠
horticulture: n. 园艺；园艺学
herbalist: n. 草药医生
ferment: n. 动荡
hermetically: adv. 封闭地
- The quality of the result is determined by a Craft( sculpting) check. 由手艺（刻）定决定结果质量如何。
- Another difficulty in the process of ice sculpting is time control. 冰雕过程中的另一项困难是时间的掌控。
- I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
- She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。
- The shrine was an object of pilgrimage.这处圣地是人们朝圣的目的地。
- They bowed down before the shrine.他们在神龛前鞠躬示敬。
- All three structures dated to the third century and were tentatively identified as shrines. 这3座建筑都建于3 世纪，并且初步鉴定为神庙。
- Their palaces and their shrines are tombs. 它们的宫殿和神殿成了墓穴。
- The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
- He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。
- There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
- We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。
- She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
- These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。
- He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
- She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。
- The omens for the game are still not propitious. 这场比赛仍不被看好。 来自辞典例句
- Such omens betide no good. 这种征兆预示情况不妙。 来自辞典例句
- Against a background of impending famine, heavy fighting took place. 即将发生饥荒之时，严重的战乱爆发了。
- The king convoke parliament to cope with the impending danger. 国王召开国会以应付迫近眉睫的危险。
- I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
- This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。
- 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。
- The Danes had selfconfidence of conquerors, and their security precautions were casual. 这些丹麦人具有征服者的自信，而且他们的安全防卫也是漫不经心的。
- The conquerors believed in crushing the defeated people into submission, knowing that they could not win their loyalty by the victory. 征服者们知道他们的胜利并不能赢得失败者的忠心，于是就认为只有通过武力才能将他们压服。
- Fruit juices ferment if they are kept a long time.果汁若是放置很久，就会发酵。
- The sixties were a time of theological ferment.六十年代是神学上骚动的时代。
- They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
- I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。