古代神秘的巨石阵

山东新泰新汶一中 孙启禄

Jntroduction

它屹立在英格兰索尔兹伯里平原上，数世纪以来，它的丰姿赋予了人们丰富的想象力。有关它的作用的推测也是众说纷纭，上至天文学意义，下至不明飞行体的降落点，尚无定论。现在，尽管很多巨石已经倒塌，但是它仍然每天吸引着近五千名观光游客。它就是最神秘的史前遗迹——巨石阵。

文章词数 4 4 6 建议用时 8′ 难度指数 ★★

During my trip to Europe,I had the opportunity to visit Stonehenge,which is considered one of the most famous prehistoric sites in the world.As Iapproachedthe area,it became clear to me that it was a circle of huge stones.

The stones were huge.Our tour guide said that the square stones weigh nearly five tons each,stand eighteen feet high,and are three feet thick.It was amazing to see them up close.Something that I really asked myself was how the ancient people could have been wise enough to arrange the stones as upright pillars（柱子）,then connect the stones overhead,and place them altogether to form a circle.It was a great feeling to admire themagnificentstones up close.

I tried to imagine the figures of the ancient people moving the heavy stones,but it was hard to imagine how they could achieve suchincrediblework.As I admired the stones up close,I almost imagined myself back in time,standing there,watching the people move the stones.

It was really strange.As I walked around the stones,I noticed howisolatedthey were;there was nothing else standing around them,no community or anything.Were they also isolated in ancient times?If so,why had the ancient people constructed them that way?And why did they place them far away from any community?If only I could really travel back in time and find out!

My thoughts wereinterruptedby our tour guide's voice.He was explaining that nobody knew about the exact origin of the stones,but most scientists agreed that it dates from the time of the Druids,the first people in England.He said that there were many different theories about why Stonehenge was created.Some people believe that Stonehenge was an astronomical calendar because it was built in a circular design;they think it mightrepresentthe passing of time.

Our tour guide told us that before scientists developed their theories,many people thought aliens might have created the place.Because it is so big and the stones are so heavy,they didn't think it was possible for humans to have cut and arranged the stones.

After my tour around thismysteriousplace,I was full of questions without answers,but taking a trip back in time and imagining beings from another planet building Stonehenge was fun.I left that awesome place with the feeling that many people had been here before me,each with a different understanding of the place,each wondering about something great and unknown that took place there a long time ago in the past.It was an unforgettable experience.

Reading Check

What did the author want to know when he looked at the stone?

A.How the ancient people lifted the stones.

B.How much each stone weighed.

C.Why the stones were arranged in that way.

D.Why the ancient people used such huge stones.

Language Study

Vocabulary

1.approachv.走近

2.magnificentadj.壮丽的

3.incredibleadj.不可思议的

4.isolatedadj.孤立的

5.interruptv.打断

6.representv.代表

7.mysteriousadj.神秘的

Difficult sentences

1.我真正问自己的是，古人怎么会聪明到把石头排列成竖直的柱子，然后把上面的石头连接起来，把它们放在一起形成一个圆圈。

Something _______I really asked myself was _______the ancient people could have been wise enough to arrange the stones as upright pillars,then connect the stones overhead,and place them altogether to form a circle.

【点石成金】本句的结构比较复杂，句子的主语是Something，第一个空所填的词是关系代词，引导一个限制性定语从句，第二个空所填的词引导一个表语从句，to arrange、connect和place是动词不定式作状语。

2.我带着和很多在我之前来过这里的人一样的感觉离开那个令人敬畏的地方。每个人对这个地方都有不同的理解，每个人都想知道很久以前在那里发生的一些伟大和未知的事情。

I left that awesome place with the feeling that many people had been here before me,each with a different understanding of the place,each ________（wonder） about something great and unknown that took place there a long time ago in the past.

【点石成金】I left that awesome place是句子的主语、谓语和宾语，with the feeling是介词短语作状语，that引导的是定语从句，each后面的部分是独立主格结构。