Some time ago, an interesting discovery was made by archaeologists on the Aegean island of Kea. An American team explored a temple which stands in an ancient city on the promontory of Ayia Irini. The city at one time must have been prosperous, for it enjoyed a high level of civilization. Houses -- often three storeys high -- were built of stone. They had large rooms with beautifully decorated walls. The city was even equipped with a drainage system, for a great many clay pipes were found beneath the narrow streets.
The temple which the archaeologists explored was used as a place of worship from the fifteenth century B.C. until Roman times. In the most sacred room of temple, clay fragments of fifteen statues were found. Each of these represented a goddess and had, at one time, been painted. The body of one statue was found among remains dating from the fifteenth century B.C. Its missing head happened to be among remains of the fifth century B.C. This head must have been found in Classical times and carefully preserved. It was very old and precious even then. When the archaeologists reconstructed the fragments, they were amazed to find that the goddess turned out to be a very modern-looking woman. She stood three feet high and her hands rested on her hips. She was wearing a full-length skirt which swept the ground. Despite her great age, she was very graceful indeed, but, so far, the archaeologists have been unable to discover her identity.
本课单词和词汇promontory noun
a long narrow area of high land that goes out into the sea （深入海中的狭长高地）
SYN headland
worship noun
the practice of showing respect for God or a god,by saying prayers,singing with others,etc;a ceremony for this 礼拜
1.an act\a place of worship 礼拜；礼拜场所
2.ancestor worship 敬拜祖先
3.morning worship(=a church service in the morning) 晨拜
Roman times
Ancient Rome was an Italic civilization that began on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC.Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome.
sacred adjective
connected with God or a god;considered to be holy 上帝的；神圣的
a sacred image\shrine\temple\music 圣像\圣地\圣殿\圣乐
fragment noun
a small part of sth that has broken off or comes from sth larger 碎片；片段
1.Police found fragments of glass near the scene.
2.The shattered vase lay in fragments on the floor.
3.I overheard a fragment of their conversation.
date verb
to say when sth old existed or was made 确定年代
The skeleton has been dated at about 2000 BC.
date back (to...)\date from...
to have existed since a particular time in the past or for the length of time mentioned 追溯到；始于；自...至今
1.The college dates back to medieval times.
2.The custom dates back hundreds of years.
3.a law dating from the 17th century
happen
to do or be sth by chance 碰巧；恰好
V to inf(infinitive)
She happened to be out when we called.
You don’t happen to know his name,do you?
V that
It happened that she was out when we called.
reconstruct verb
reconstruct sth from sth
to build or make sth again that has been damaged or that no longer exists 修复；重建
turn out
to be discover to be;to prove to be原来是；证明是；
turn out that
It turned out that she was a friend of my sister.
turn out to inf
The job turned out to be harder than we thought.
The house they had offered us turned out to be a tiny apartment.
This man turned out to be very poor.
rest verb
SUPPORT支撑
adv.\prep. to support sth by putting it on or against sth;to be supported in this way（被）支撑；（使）倚靠；托
1.His chin rested on his hands.
2.He rested his chin in his hands.
3.Rest your head on my shoulder.
4.Their bikes were resting again the wall.
Their hands rested on their hips.
注：英英释义及例句选自牛津词典，保证原汁原味
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