【走進兵馬俑】

40年前，兵馬俑的奇跡之門被打開，"世界第八大奇跡"出現在眾人眼前。為慶祝秦兵馬俑發現40周年，China Daily手機報推出口語特別策劃"走進兵馬俑"，帶您穿越歷史長河、探索這些人類智慧與藝術結晶背后故事，同時講述孕育這段歷史的神秘土壤——西安的前世今生，并向您介紹相關詞匯、句式的地道英語表達。

[第四期]

There are big crowds during the holiday!

假日期間人山人海！

口語君：雖說兵馬俑出土轟動一時，但如今還有多少人關注這些古跡呢？我們還是聽聽剛去游覽過的陶小德是怎么說的吧：

-----------------------------

F: The Terra-Cotta Warriors have been well-known for quite a while.

在相當長的一段時間里，兵馬俑的知名度都非常高呢。

M: You're right. Since they were discovered in 1974, the warriors have become the rock stars of Chinese culture.

沒錯。自1974年被發現以來，兵馬俑就成了中國文化歷史上的耀眼明星。

F: So it should be easier to go see them now. Hasn't the excitement died down?

那現在去參觀會容易一些了吧。人們對兵馬俑已不再那么狂熱了吧？

M: Not really! The site was very crowded during the holiday.

不見得！假日期間參觀遺址的人還是超多啊。

[口語點睛]

Quite a while用于口語中，指"許久、相當長一段時間"(=a long time)。例如：I haven't seen Rebecca in quite a while, but she hadn't changed much. (我和麗貝卡許久未見，但她卻沒什么變化。)

Die down是"逐漸消失，變弱，漸漸停止的意思"。例如：As the applause died down, a child came on stage with an armload of roses for the singer. (掌聲漸弱，一個孩子走上舞臺給那位歌手獻上了一捧玫瑰。)

[口語天天練之神秘秦陵]

口語君：1974年，兵馬俑的出土轟動世界，每年都有大批國內外游客慕名而來。與此相反，"秦俑之父"秦始皇的陵墓仍是個不解之謎。那幽深的地宮更是謎團重重，地宮形制及內部結構至今尚不清楚，千百年來引發了不少文人墨客的猜測與遐想：

1. Qin's tomb itself remains unexcavated, though court historian Sima Qian's writings suggest even greater treasures may still be inside. It said the tomb was filled with models of palaces, pavilions and offices as well as fine vessels, precious stones and rarities.

雖然宮廷史官司馬遷的記載顯示，秦始皇陵墓中藏有更大寶藏，但其陵墓至今未被挖掘。據說陵墓里有宮殿、樓閣、官府和精致船只，寶石和稀世珍寶。

2. An account indicates the tomb contains replicas of the area's rivers and streams made with mercury flowing to the sea through hills and mountains of bronze. Precious stones such as pearls are said to represent the sun, moon, and other stars.

據記載，陵墓中有用水銀制成的河川，流經銅質的山巒匯入海洋。據稱，夜明珠等罕見寶石被用作代表日月星辰。

3. Tests on the tomb mound have revealed unusually high concentrations of mercury, lending credence to at least some of the historical account.

對陵墓土地的測試顯示，其水銀濃度異常高，證明至少某些史料記載具有一定真實性。

（中國日報網英語點津 丁一）