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1、王海峰原创免费资源。 未经授权，禁止用于任何以营利为目的的商业出版活动。 1 B2 Unit 1 Cultural relics The Great Lighthouse at Alexandria http:/www.unmuseum.org/pharos.htm The great lighthouse at Alexandria, Egypt, stood on the island of Pharos. In the fall of 1994 a team of archaeological divers wore diving equipment and entered the wa
2、ters off Alexandria, Egypt. Working beneath the surface, they searched the bottom of the sea for artifacts. Large underwater blocks of stone and remains of sculpture were marked with floating masts (杆) so that an electronic distance measurement station on shore could obtain their exact positions. Gl
3、obal positioning satellites were then used to further fix the locations. The information was then fed into computers to create a detailed database of the sea floor. Ironically, these scientists were using some of the most high-tech equipment available at the end of the 20th century to try and sort o
4、ut the ruins of one of the most advanced technological achievements of the 3rd century, B.C. It was the Pharos, the great lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Seven Quick Facts Location: Alexandria, Egypt. Built: Around 290 - 270 BC Function: Guide Ships to Alexan
5、drias Harbor. Destroyed: 1303 AD by earthquake. Size: Height 450 ft. (140m) Made of: Stone faced with white marble blocks with lead mortar. Other: Said to be the only ancient wonder with a practical application. The story of the Pharos starts with the founding of the city of Alexandria by the 王海峰原创免
6、费资源。 未经授权，禁止用于任何以营利为目的的商业出版活动。 2 Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great in 332 B.C. Alexander started at least 17 cities named Alexandria at different locations in his vast empire. Most of them disappeared, but Alexandria in Egypt remained prosperous for many centuries and is prosperous even today
7、. Alexander the Great chose the location of his new city carefully. Instead of building it on the Nile delta, he selected a site some twenty miles to the west, so that the silt and mud carried by the river would not block the city harbor. South of the city was the marshy Lake Mare Otis. After a cana
8、l was constructed between the lake and the Nile, the city had two harbors: one for Nile River traffic, and the other for Mediterranean Sea trade. Both harbors would remain deep and clear and the activity they allowed made the city very wealthy. Alexander died in 323 B.C. and the city was completed b
9、y Ptolemy Soter, the new ruler of Egypt. Under Ptolemy the city became rich and prosperous. However, it needed both a symbol and a mechanism to guide the many trade ships into its busy harbor. Ptolemy authorized the building of the Pharos in 290 B.C., and when it was completed some twenty years late
10、r, it was the first lighthouse in the world and the tallest building in existence, with the exception of the Great Pyramid. It is said that the construction cost 800 talents, an amount equal today to about three million dollars. The lighthouses designer is believed to be Sostratus, though some sourc
11、es argue he only provided the financing for the project. Proud of his work, Sostratus desired to have his name carved into the foundation. Ptolemy II, the son who ruled Egypt after his father, refused this request, wanting only his own name to be on the building. Being a clever man, Sostratus suppos
12、edly had the inscription: SOSTRATUS SON OF DEXIPHANES OF KNIDOS ON BEHALF OF ALL MARINERS TO THE SAVIOR GODS carved into the foundation, then covered it with plaster. Into the plaster was carved Ptolemys name. As the years went by, the plaster aged and chipped away, showing Sostratus inscription. Th
13、e lighthouse was built on the island of Pharos and soon the building itself acquired that name. The connection of the name with the function became so strong that the word Pharos became the root of the word lighthouse in many languages. 王海峰原创免费资源。 未经授权，禁止用于任何以营利为目的的商业出版活动。 3 There are two detailed d
14、escriptions made of the lighthouse in the 10th century A.D. by Moorish travelers Idrisi and Yusuf. According to their accounts, the building was 300 cubits(腕尺) high. Because the cubit measurement varied from place to place, however, this could mean that the Pharos stood anywhere from 140m to 183m fe
15、et in height, although the lower figure is much more likely. The design was unlike the slim single column of most modern lighthouses, but more like the structure of an early twentieth century skyscraper. There were three stages, each built on top of one other. The building material was stone faced w
16、ith white marble blocks cemented together with lead mortar. The lowest level of the building, which sat on a 6m high stone platform, was probably about 73m in height and 30m square at the base, shaped like a massive box. The door to this section of the building wasnt at the bottom of the structure, but part way up and reached by a 183m long ramp (坡道) supported by massive arches. Inside this portion of t
