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It's been called the Lost City of the Incas. 它被称为印加失落的城市。
Machu Picchu, hidden atop a mountain in the Andes Mountains of Peru, lay abandoned for centuries before its rediscovery in 1911. 马丘比丘，隐藏在秘鲁安第斯山脉的一座山上，在1911年被重新发现之前被遗弃了几个世纪。 Today, Machu Picchu has been voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. 今天，马丘比丘被选为世界新七大奇迹之一。
马丘比丘建于印加帝国鼎盛时期，大约在1450年左右，代表了印加文明史上建筑和工程的最大成就之一。 It stands 7,970 feet or 2,430 meters above sea level, in the middle of a tropical mountain forest. 它海拔7970英尺或2430米，位于热带山地森林的中部。 The site is made up of more than 600 terraces and over 3,000 stone steps, with approximately 200 structures including temples, tombs, palaces, plazas, fountains, and even an astronomical observatory.
Archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built for the Inca emperor, as a religious site high in the mountains that the Inca worshiped, but also as a retreat from the hustle and bustle of the capital city, Cusco, only 50 miles or 80 kilometers away. 考古学家认为，马丘比丘是为印加皇帝而建的，是印加人崇敬的高山上的一处宗教场所，也是远离首都库斯科喧嚣的退却地，库斯科离这里只有50英里或80公里。 At one point, between 500 and 1000 people likely lived there. 有一次，可能有500到1000人住在那里。 Although the Inca had no written language, the city they built was well-planned and very sophisticated. 尽管印加人没有书面语言，但他们建造的城市规划周密，非常复杂。 They constructed terraces on the hillsides, a detail which served the double duty of providing flat land for farming and stabilizing the mountainside to guard againsterosion and landslides. 他们在山坡上修建了梯田，这一细节起到了双重作用，即提供平坦的耕地和稳定山坡以防止侵蚀和滑坡。
They channeled water from mountain springs into stone-lined canals that fed a series of fountains down the levels of the city, ensuring that clean fresh water was available to all. 他们将山泉中的水引至砌有石头的运河中，这些运河向城市下游的一系列喷泉供水，确保所有人都能获得清洁的淡水。 The city was built using hundreds of thousands of stones:for the most part, placed without any kind of mortar holding them together, and all shaped without the use of iron tools. 这座城市是用数十万块石头建成的：在大多数情况下，在没有任何砂浆将它们固定在一起的情况下放置，并且所有形状都没有使用铁制工具。
尽管如此，这些石头结合得如此之好，以至于500年后，你无法在它们之间装上一把刀片。 The lack of mortar allows the stones to move slightly, protecting the structures from earthquake damage.
Although Machu Picchu was cleverly designed, it was not inhabited for very long. 尽管马丘比丘的设计很巧妙，但它的居住时间并不长。 Just over 100 years after its construction, the Inca city in the clouds began to be deserted. 这座云中的印加城市在建成后仅仅100多年就开始被遗弃。 Archaeologists do not know exactly what caused the Inca to leave their mountain city:there is no evidence that the conquering Spanish attacked or ever even found the settlement. 考古学家并不清楚是什么原因导致印加人离开了他们的山城：没有证据表明征服的西班牙人袭击或甚至发现了这个定居点。
It is possible that sickness brought by the Europeans, like smallpox, killed the inhabitants and forced the abandonment of the site. 有可能是欧洲人带来的疾病，如天花，夺去了居民的生命，并迫使他们放弃了该遗址。 Once the people had gone, it did not take very long at all for the jungle to overtake the city and hide it from the passing years. 一旦人们离开了，丛林很快就超越了城市，并将其掩藏起来。 It was not until 1911 when the American archaeologist Hiram Bingham visited the site that it became known to the wider world. 直到1911年，美国考古学家海勒姆·宾厄姆（Hiram Bingham）参观了这个遗址，它才为全世界所知。 Machu Picchu immediately became a sensation, and thousands flocked to see the lost city. 马丘比丘立即引起轰动，成千上万的人蜂拥到这座失落的城市。 Today Machu Picchu is the most famous tourist attraction in Peru, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. 今天，马丘比丘是秘鲁最著名的旅游景点，每年吸引数十万游客。 It was declared a World Heritage Site in 1983 and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007. 1983年被宣布为世界遗产，2007年被列为世界新七大奇迹之一。 Machu Picchu is the best preserved Inca archaeological site in Peru and gives an unparalleled look into Inca civilization, technology, and daily life. 马丘比丘是秘鲁保存最完好的印加考古遗址，对印加文明、技术和日常生活有着无与伦比的了解
Atop 在…顶上on, to, or at the top a flag high atop a pole 高挂在旗杆顶端的旗子 a scoop of ice cream atop a slice of apple pie 一片苹果馅饼上面的一勺冰激凌 Inca empire 印加帝国 Terrace n.梯田;排屋;露天平台，阳台;(足球场的)阶梯看台 v.使成阶地（或梯田） The Incas terraced their mountainous land 印加人把他们的山地变成梯田 Palace宫殿 / Plaza 广场 Astronomical observatory 天文台 Hustle and bustle熙熙攘攘 Serve the double duty of 兼任 the double duty 双重责任 Guard against 防卫 Be on your guard against pickpockets. 提防扒手 Erosion 腐蚀;(河流、气候等的)侵蚀;(权威、权利、信心等的)逐渐丧失;削弱;(支持的)减少;(价值的)降低;(货币的)贬值 Synonym: corrosion 腐蚀;侵蚀 corroding verb腐蚀；侵蚀 rod, ros= to bite 咬 corrosive adj. 腐蚀性的 cor 加强 + ros 咬 + ive …的，corrode的形容词 → 腐蚀性的 erode v. 侵蚀 e 加强 + rod 咬 + e → 不停地侵咬使变坏 → 侵蚀 rodent n. 啮齿动物 rod 咬 + ent 表名词 → 咬东西的动物 → 啮齿动物 Landslide 山崩 Their house was buried by a landslide 他们的房子在一次塌方中被掩埋。 The National League for Democracy pulled off a landslide victory 全国民主联盟获得了压倒性的胜利 win by a landslide. 以压倒多数的选票获胜 Channel water 引水(浇地) Stone lined canals 运河;灌溉渠;导管;食道;气管 Mortar 水泥;迫击炮 They put their money into bricks and mortar. 他们把钱投资到了房产上 He was killed in a mortar attack. 他死于迫击炮炮击 Three mortar shells had landed close to a crowd of people. 3枚迫击炮弹落在人群旁。 be inhabited 有人居住的 inhabitancy 居所 inhabitant 居民 被遗弃 Be deserted /discarded lay abandoned force the abandonment of 强制遗弃 Overtake 赶上;超过; (在数量或重要性方面)大于; (不愉快的事情)突然发生 overtake a truck.超过一辆卡车 Nuclear energy may overtake oil as the main fuel. 核能可能会超过石油成为主要燃料 We mustn't let ourselves be overtaken by our competitors. 我们决不能让竞争对手超过我们。 同义词：outstrip The climbers were overtaken by bad weather.登山者突然遭遇了恶劣天气。 Sudden panic overtook her. 她突然感到一阵恐慌。 Our original plan was overtaken by events 我们原来的计划没赶上变化 to the wider world 向更广阔的世界 sensation 感觉；知觉, 轰动；哗然 She seemed to have lost all sensation in her arms. 她的两条胳膊好像完全失去知觉了。 I had a sensation of falling, as if in a dream. 我有一种坠落的感觉，像在梦中似的。 caused /become a sensation 名声大振 eerie sensation 不安地感到 flock to do 蜂拥而至 a flock of / in flocks 一大群 archaeological site 考古遗址 give an unparalleled look into sth 对某事进行无与伦比的调查 无与伦比的 unique; incomparable; beyond compare matchless; without equal / unequaled unrivalled |
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