-
Understanding Ancient
Mesoamerican Art
Words & Phrases
1.
the ruins of
ancient Mesoamerica
：古代中美洲的废墟
2.
unearthed
civilizations increasingly remote in age
：出土（年龄上越来
越久远的）文明
unearth
：
v.
挖掘，出土
3.
an earlier
stratum of
antiquity
：一个更早的古代岩层
Stratum:
岩层
扩展：
Stratification:
(
尤指社会的
)
分层，形成阶层<
/p>
Stratification is
the
division
of
something,
especially
society,
into
different
classes
or
layers
4.
came upon Maya
cities in the
jungle
：偶然遇到密林里的玛雅城市
Come
upon
：
偶
然
碰
到
(
或
发
现
) If
you come
upon someone
or
something, you meet them
or find them by chance.
5.
workers installing sound and light equi
pment
：安装音响和光照设备的
工人
6.
stumbled
upon a remarkable
cave
：偶然发现一个极大的洞穴
Stumble
：
v.
跌跌撞撞走，结巴说
stumble
upon
：偶然发现
7.
a royal burial
chamber
：一个皇室的埋葬密室
royal
：
adj.
皇室的
8.
the excavation of
pyramids
：金字塔的挖掘
9.
outlying
structures rather than principal buildings
< br>：
外围结构而非主要建
筑物
Outlying
：
adj.
偏僻的；边远的；远离城市的
Outlying
places
are
far
away from the main cities of a country
10.
initiated the
excavations there:
引发了那个地方的考古挖掘
initiate= start= trigger
引发，开始
excavate =
unearth v.
挖掘
11.
unravel the
pre-Columbian past
：
解开
(
哥伦布发现美洲大陆之前的
)
过去
unravel: v.
解开绳套或谜团
pre-
Columbian
：
adj.
哥伦布发现美洲大陆之前的
12.
turned this
process around
：将该过程反转
turn around = reverse
反转
13.
to articulate their identity in the
twenty-first century
：去清晰地表达他
们在
21
世纪的身份
articulate
：
v.
清晰表达
Syntax
1.
It
now
scarcely
seems
possible
that
the
frontiers
of
early
1
Mesoamerican
civilization
can
be
pushed
back
any
further,
although
new
work
—
such
as
in
Oaxaca,
southern
Mexico
—
will
continue to fill in details of the
picture.
2.
In
1971
workers
installing
sound
and
light
equipment
under
the
Pyramid
of
the
Sun
at
Teotihuacan
stumbled
upon
a
remarkable
cave
that
has
since
been
interpreted
by
some
scholars
as
a
royal
burial chamber.
3.
Archaeology has its own fashions too:
the isolation of new sites may
be the
prime goal in one decade and the excavation of
pyramids
the focus in the next.
4.
At
one point, reconstruction of pyramids to attract
tourism may be
desired; at another,
archaeologists may be precluded from working
at what has already become a tourist
attraction.
Preclude
：
v.
排除在外，阻止
=prevent
5.
A Franciscan
friar (member of the Roman Catholic religious
order),
Sahagú
n recorded for
posterity many aspects of pre-Hispanic life in
his
encyclopedia
of
twelve
books,
including
history,
ideology,
and
cosmogony
(theories
of
the
origin
of
the
universe),
as
well
as
detailed
information
on
the
materials
and
methods
of
the
skilled
native craft workers.
Catholic
：
adj.
天主教的
Posterity
：
n.
后代
=offspring=descendant
Post-
：后缀，意为后面，
post-
war
：战后的
Encyclopedia
：
n.
百科全书
Ideology
：意识形态
;
思想体系
;
思想方式
An ideology is
a
set
of
beliefs,
especially the
political beliefs on which people, parties, or
countries
base their actions
Cosmogony
：
n.
宇宙的产生
Craft
workers:
手工艺工人
6.
During the
past 40 years, scholars also have made great
progress in
deciphering and
interpreting ancient Mesoamerican writing systems,
a
breakthrough
that
has
transformed
our
understanding
of
the
pre-Columbian mind.
Decipher
：
v.
破解密码
=decode, cipher=code
密码
Interpret
：
v.
解释，理解
Transform
：
v.
转变
2
7.
Classic Maya inscriptions, for
example
—
long thought to
record only
calendrical information and
astrological
incantations
—
can now be
read, and we find that most of them
glorify family and ancestry by
displaying the right of individual
sovereigns to rule.
Calendr
ical
：历法的，日历的
astrological
incantations
：占星的咒语
incantation
：咒语
An
incantation is
a
series
of
words
that
a
person
says or
sings as a magic spell
glorify
：
赞美；
颂扬；
吹捧；
美化
To glorify something means to
praise it
or make it seem good or
special, usually when it is not
ancestry
：
n. <
集合词
>
祖先；
世家，名门
sovereigns
：
n.
君主
8.
Although
scholars long believed that Mesoamerican artists
did not
sign their works, Mayanist
scholar David Stuart’s 1986
deciphering of
the
Maya
glyphs
(written
symbols)
for
“scribe”
and
“to
write”
opened
a
window
on
Maya
practice;
now
we
know
at
least
one
painter of ceramic vessels was the son
of a king.
Mayanist
：玛雅专家
decipher:
破译（密码）
；
辨认（潦草字迹）
；
解读；
解释（古代文学）
glyphs
：象形文字
practice:
n.
通常做法；常规；惯例
You
can
refer
to
something
that
people do regularly as a practice.
Ceramic vessels:
瓷器器皿
Vessel
：
n.
器皿；船只；血管
9.
Thousands
more
small-scale
objects
are
known
now
than
in
the
twentieth
century,
although
at
a
terrible
cost
to
the
ancient
ruins
from which they have been plundered.
At a
…
cost = at
…
expense
以
…
的代价
plunder
：
v.
抢劫，窃取
Abstract
→
Concrete
1.
The process of discovery often shapes
what we know about the
history of
Mesoamerican art.
2.
Archaeology
has its own fashions too.
3
3.
Nor should one forget that excavators
are vulnerable to local
interests.
4.
Also, modern construction often
determines which ancient sites can
be
excavated.
5.
But the study
of Mesoamerican art is not based exclusively on
archaeology.
6.
During the
past 40 years, scholars also have made great
progress in
deciphering and
interpreting ancient Mesoamerican writing systems,
a
breakthrough
that
has
transformed
our
understanding
of
the
pre-Columbian mind.
How Soil is
Formed
Words & Phrases
1.
dynamic
process
：动态的过程
dynamic
—反义
motionless
，
stagnant
，
still
2.
topography
(the
elevations,
depressions,
directions
and
angles
of
slopes,
and other surface features of the landscape)
topography
：地形，地貌
=terra
in
elevation
：海拔高度
=altitude
，
区别于
latitude
：纬度，
longitude
：经度
angles of
slopes
：斜坡的角度
3.
stimulate or
inhibit biogeochemical reactions
刺激或抑制生物地理化学反应
Stimulate
：
v.
刺激，激发
=motivate
Simulate
：
v.
模拟，模仿
=mimic=imitate
Inhibit
：
v.
阻止，抑制
Inhabit
：
v.
居住
Habitat
：
n.
居住地，栖息地
Habitant=
inhabitant
：
n.
居民
4.
carrier of the
acids
：酸的携带者
carrier of
disease
：疾病携带者
5.
Radiant
energy
has
a
pronounced
effect
on
the
moisture
regime,
especially the
evaporative process and dryness.
pronounced effect on the moisture
regime
：对水分管理的明显效果
pronounced
：
adj. <
/p>
明显的，
显著的
=noticeable
=dramatic=remarkable
regime
：
n.
管理制度，组织方法
A regime is
the
way
that
something
4