Flames of Yuanmingyuan 被火烧毁的圆明园

孙启禄

海詞积累

1. imperial adj. 帝国的;皇家的

2. subsequent adj. 随后的

3. refine v. 改进;改善

4. zodiac n. 黄道带

5. palatial adj. 宫殿般的;宏伟的

6. scatter v. 使分散;四散

7. maze n. 迷宫

8. Renaissance n. 文艺复兴

9. loot v. 抢劫;掠夺

10. devastate v. 毁灭

11. attach importance to 重视

12. facilities n. 设备;设施

Yuanmingyuan is an imperial garden in Beijing constructed by the 4th Qing Emperor Kangxi， in 1707. Over the next 153 years， subsequent Qing emperors enlarged and refined the garden. The 6th Qing Emperor Qianlong， even absorbed Western style of palaces in it. His creation included a water fountain with the 12 zodiac animals that would sprout water at different hours of the day.

Yuanmingyuan was considered as one of the finest examples of Chinese garden landscape. It consisted of three gardens， with Qichunyuan in the front， Yuanmingyuan on the left， and Changchunyuan on the right. The southern part of the huge garden was occupied by palatial buildings， where emperors handled state affairs. Over the rest of the garden were scattered 40 scenic areas and each consisted of smaller landscapes.

The best-known Western structures were a fountain， a maze and European palaces， all of which took on a Renaissance style. There was a model of Venice in a small lake. The emperor's apartments were decorated with art treasures of an astonishing richness. The garden was beautified by millions of foreign flowers and trees.

Unfortunately， Yuanmingyuan was tragically destroyed by the British and French troops during the Second Opium War in 1860. On October 6， 1860， the British and French troops attacked and looted Yuanmingyuan. After the looting， they set fire to the entire palace. It was said that the fire lasted for 3 days and nights. Most of the Chinese style buildings constructed with wood were destroyed. In 1900， the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded and occupied Beijing. Yuanmingyuan was devastated again and the remaining treasures were looted. During the looting of Yuanmingyuan， many imperial treasures were stolen and taken out of China.

Among the treasures stolen were the 12 bronze zodiacs sculptures that graced Emperor Qianlong's fountains. The 12 animals represented the 24 hours of each day. Each bronze statue took turns spraying water from its mouth every 2 hours. Now， seven bronze animal statues have come back to Mainland China. The bronze heads of an ox， tiger， monkey， pig， and horse are in a collection at Poly Art Museum. The bronze heads of a rabbit and a rat are at the National Museum of China. The bronze head of a dragon is said to be in Taiwan. The other four bronze heads of a snake， goat， rooster， and dog are still missing.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949， the Chinese government attached great importance to the protection of Yuanmingyuan ruins. A park has been established on the site of the ruins. The facilities and landscaping construction in the park have been continually improved.

Reading Check

1. What does the underlined word“sprout” in paragraph 1 most probably mean？

A.Dry up. B.Take in.

C.Send out. D.Dive in.

2. Most of the Chinese style buildings were ruined because _________________  .

A.the invaders hated the emperor

B.the buildings were built with wood

C.there were many imperial treasures in them

D.the invaders wanted to destroy their evidence

3. What do we know about the bronze zodiacs sculptures？

A.Some of them are still missing.

B.There are 24 sculptures in total.

C.They sprayed water from their mouths every 2 days.

D.The bronze head of a rabbit can be seen at Poly Art Museum.

Language Study

Difficult sentence

His creation included a water fountain with the 12 zodiac animals that would sprout water at different hours of the day. 他的創意包括一个喷泉，里面有12只生肖动物，它们会在一天中不同的时间喷水。

【点石成金】His creation included a water fountain是主句，with the 12 zodiac animals是介词短语作定语，that would sprout water at different hours of the day是限制性定语从句修饰animals。