Fire destroys Brazil's National Museum

甘肃兰州市第六十三中学 张 琪

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海词积累

1.memorabilian.纪念品

2.incalculableadj.不可估量的

3.blazen.烈火

4.hydrantn.消防龙头

5.enormousadj.巨大的

6.bicentennialn.两百周年纪念日

7.neglectn.忽视

8.numerousadj.许多的

9.ironicallyadv.讽刺地

10.financev.提供资金

A big fire that raced through Brazil's 200-year-old National Museum on Sunday is believed to have destroyed much of its collection of more than 20 million items,ranging from archaeological finds to historicalmemorabilia.

The destruction of the building was an“in-calculableloss for Brazil,”President Michel Temer said in a statement.“Two hundred years of work,research and knowledge were lost.”

It wasn't immediately clear how the fire began and there were no reports of injuries.Fire department spokesman Roberto Robadey said crew got off to a slow start fighting theblazebecause the two firehydrantsclosest to the museum were not functioning.Instead,trucks had to be sent to get water from a nearby lake.But he added that some of the museum's pieces had been spared.“We were able to remove a lot of things from inside with the help of workers of the museum,”Robadey told Globo News.

Live television broadcast images of the fire,which began after the end of visiting hoursat5 pm,burning outofcontrol throughout the building late into the night.

“It is anenormoustragedy,”museum director Alexander Kellner said in a statement posted on Facebook early Monday.He added that they haven't yet been able to measure the total damage to the collection.

The museum,which is tied to the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and the education ministry,was founded in 1818 and was proudly celebrating itsbicentennial.It houses several landmark collections,including Egyptian artifacts（手工艺品）and the oldest human fossil found in Brazil.

The museum had suffered from years ofneglectundernumerousgovernments.“We never got anything from the federal government,”said the official,Luiz Duarte.“We recently finalized an agreement with state-run development bank BNDES for a massive investment,so that we could finally restore the palace and,ironically,we had planned on a new fire prevention system.”

In a statement posted on its website in June,BNDES agreed tofinancingof$5.35 million to “physically restore the historic building”and also to carry out work to “guarantee more security to its collections”.

Reading Check

1.Why did the firefighters fight the fire slowly at the beginning?

A.They didn't have enough fire trucks.

B.The water source was far from the museum.

C.The fire hydrants closest to the museum didn't work.

D.The firefighters didn't find out the cause of the fire.

2.What was Luiz Duarte's attitude to the federal government?

A.Grateful.

B.Unsatisfied.

B.Confident.

D.Hopeful.

Language Study

Difficult sentence

Live television broadcast images of the fire,which began after the end of visiting hours at 5 pm,burning out of control throughout the building late into the night.电视实时播送了这场大火现场的画面。火灾发生在下午5点参观时间结束后，整栋大楼一直燃烧到深夜。

【点石成金】本句是一个复合句。Live television broadcast images of the fire是主句，which began after...5 pm是非限制性定语从句，burning out of control...night作伴随状语。

主题应用·语库构建

I.热词积累

1.文化名词

a country with an ancient civilization文明古国

four ancient civilizations四大文明古国

the civilized world文明世界

the cradle of civilization文明的摇篮

thriving and prosperous繁荣昌盛

an imperial garden皇家园林

Western style palaces西式宫殿

Chinese garden landscape中国园林景观

iconic structures标志性建筑

World Heritage List世界遗产名录

world cultural heritage protection世界文化遗产保护

conservation of World Heritage Sites世界遗产地保护

art treasures艺术瑰宝

art collections艺术收藏品

2.关于建筑的表达

be occupied by被……占据

be decorated with用……装饰

be constructed with用……建造

be under construction在建设中

at the base/foot of在……底部

neighboring邻近的

surrounding周边的

be surrounded by/with被……包围

be tied/attached to依附在……

consist of由……组成

be composed of/be made up of由……组成

3.破坏

lie in ruins成为废墟

do damage to对……造成破坏

destroy/damage/devastate破坏

catch fire着火

set fire to放火

incalculable loss不可估量的损失

break out爆发

erupt（火山）爆发

injury伤害

4.保护

take measures/steps/action to do采取措施/行动做……

in order to protect为了保护……

attach great importance to重视……

rebuild/restore重建/修复

dig out挖出

lessen disasters减少灾害

establish/found/set up建立

Ⅱ.美句背诵

1.It is an important way for people to study human civilization.它是人们研究人类文明的重要手段。

2.The destruction of the museum was an incalculable loss for the people of the world.博物馆的毁坏对世界人民来说是不可估量的损失。

3.The event left us a precious social cultural inheritance.这次事件给我们留下了一笔珍贵的社会文化遗产。

4.The historical documents of Taishan are plentiful and regarded as an important element of the cultural heritage of the Chinese nation.泰山历史文献资源十分丰富,是中华民族文化遗产的重要组成部分。

5.This is not only the precious cultural heritage of the Chinese nation,but also the spiritual wealth of mankind.这不仅是中华民族珍贵的文化遗产，也是人类共同的精神财富。

6.Not only does it damage the ancient buildings,but also it damages the image of the Chinese people.它不仅破坏了古代建筑，而且损害了中国人民的形象。

7.We should protect the historical and cultural legacy,appreciate the spirit of the Grand Canal and keep it lasting forever.我们应当保护历史文化遗产，欣赏运河精神，让运河精神永远留存下去！

8.We must take effective measures to protect these ancient towers.我们必须采取有效的措施来保护这些古塔。

9.Indigenous language is part of our cultural heritage,which is worthy of our every effort to protect it.土著语言是我们文化遗产的一部分，值得我们尽一切努力保护它。

10.The Chinese ancient building culture is an organic component of the Chinese traditional culture.中国古代建筑文化是中华传统文化的有机组成部分。

Ⅲ.读后创写

假定你是某校学生李华，请你针对一些游客在名胜古迹上乱写乱画的现象给某英语报纸写信，反映该现象，讲明其危害、原因、解决办法并请报社向读者发出呼吁。注意：

1．词数100左右；

2．可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；

3.开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。

Dear editor,

I'm writing to your newspaper about some tourists'bad behaviour at home and abroad.

Best wishes!

Yours sincerely,

Li Hua