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Egyptian Treasures Threatened 埃及文物告急！

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Martine is visiting the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt; Ahmed is her guide:  玛婷正在埃及开罗的埃及博物馆参观；阿米德是她的向导。

M: It says here these artifacts were recently found in the tomb of a high priest.

这儿说，这些人工制品是最近才在一位高阶祭司坟墓中发现的。

A: Thankfully, they weren’t pilfered by tomb raiders.

谢天谢地，它们没被「古墓奇兵」们盗走。

M: But apparently everything else was—where’s the coffin?

但看来有别的东西被偷了──棺材到哪儿去了？

A: Not everyone was buried in a solid gold sarcophagus like King Tut was. The coffin rotted; it was made of wood.

不是每个人都像埃及皇一样，埋葬在坚固的黄金棺材中。这人的棺木腐烂了；那是木头做的。

M: How could that be? The Nile Valley’s as dry as a bone!

怎么可能呢？尼罗河流域干得连滴水也没有！

A: Not anymore: Ever since the Aswan High Dam was build, it’s been possible to control the flooding of the Nile; as a result, farmers’ fields are staying moist all year around.

现在可不是这样了：打从阿斯旺高坝兴建以后，尼罗河的洪水便得以控制；这样一来，农田终年都能保持湿润了。

M: So the water in the ground is somehow getting into ancient tombs and causing things to decay?

所以地底下的水或多或少会渗进古墓中，导致里头的东西腐坏了起来？

A: In a sense: moisture is seeping into the rock beneath the desert, causing humidity levels to rise.

某个意义如此：水气渗进沙漠底下的岩层，使得湿度升高。

M: And the humidity is causing anything organic to rot.

而这种湿度使有机物开始腐坏。

A: That’s what the archaeologists reckon, anyway. When they were searching for this guy’s coffin, all they were greeted with was a pile of dust.

总之考古学家们是这样认为啦。当他们寻找这位仁兄的棺材时，眼前只见一堆尘土。

M: Are they sure it wasn’t just a bad case of termites?

他们确定那不是白蚁干的好事吗？

A: I wish it were that simple! Then we could just call in the exterminators and save our treasures.

希望事情有那么单纯。这样我们只要请白蚁「终结者」来，就可以拯救我们的宝物了。

－by Sonya Roy

Vocabulary

单词发音

priest [prist] n. 祭司

pilfer [ˋpɪlfɚ] v.〔尤指从工作的地方〕偷窃〔少量或不值钱的东西〕﹐小偷小摸

raider [ˋredɚ] n. 突袭者；侵入者

sarcophagus [sɑrˋkɑfəgəs] n.〔古代有装饰的〕石棺

rot [rɑt] v. 腐烂，腐坏；腐朽

as dry as a bone 完全干燥的 to be extremely dry

decay [dɪˋke] v. 腐朽，腐烂

in a sense 就某种意义来说 in a way; in one way of looking at it.

seep [sip] v. 渗漏；漏

humidity [hjuˋmɪdətɪ] n. 湿气，湿度

organic [ɔrˋgænɪk] adj.【化】有机的

archaeologist [͵ɑrkɪˋɑlədʒɪst] n. 考古学家

reckon [ˋrɛkən] v.【口】觉得，猜想[+（that）]

greet [grit] v. 迎接，招呼[（+with）]

termite [ˋtɝmaɪt] n.【昆】白蚁

exterminator [ɪkˋstɝmə͵netɚ] n. 扑灭的人, 害虫驱除剂

Sentence of the Day

It’s just another nail in their coffin.

那只会加速他们的死亡。

another nail in the coffin  an event which causes the failure of something that had already started to fail