How in the big, wide, wacky(古怪的) world do you find a sunken(沉沒(méi)的) city? Not easily! But explorer1 Robert Sarmast claims he has discovered the long-lost city of Atlantis at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea(地中海).
Think something sounds a little fishy (可疑的)? Many experts say Atlantis is about as real as SpongeBob's pineapple2.But we want you to slap (拍擊) on your flippers(腳蹼), dive into the controversy, and judge for yourself.
Atlantis was an ancient paradise3 island——or so the story goes. When Greek philosopher(哲學(xué)家) Plato first wrote the tale of Atlantis around 360 B.C., he described an idyllic4 island that may have been located near the Straits of Gibraltar——a waterway that separates Europe and Africa.
The Atlanteans were supposedly5 real fat cats (有錢(qián)人),ruling the richest empire in the world. Three sparkling moats (護(hù)城河)of water encircled a metropolis of posh (第一流的) palaces, with a silver- and-gold temple towering above the city's center.
Elephants and other wild animals roamed the island,and food was so plentiful that every night was like an all-you-can-eat buffet(自助餐).
Legend has it that Atlanteans soon grew so spoiled and lazy that the Greek gods literally(確實(shí)地,真正地)blew their tops!They set off earthquakes, raised the seas,and sank the city faster than you can say blub, blub, blub. But did Atlantis ever really exist?
Explorers claim to have discovered Atlantis everywhere from Ireland to Brazil to Antarctica.So how is Sarmast's recent discovery different? He says images of an underwater island near Cyprus show evidence of walls,canals,and a temple hill that fit Plato's description perfectly. \"Atlantis matches the maps of this island so closely,\"Sarmast says. \"It just can't be a coincidence.\"
Still, some critics think Sarmast's theory is all wet. They believe the story of Atlantis was inspired by a Greek island called Santorini,where a volcanic eruption buried an ancient civilization around 1500 B.C.
You'd have to have seaweed(海藻) for brains to believe Atlantis was real, according to some historians. \"So far not a single piece of solid evidence has emerged,\"says Atlantis expert Richard Ellis.Others point out that Plato dated the island in the Stone Age——long before a sophisticated city could have existed. To these doubters,Atlantis is just a fable,reminding people not to be greedy and selfish——or else!
Did Atlantis really get swallowed by the sea? Who knows? But one thing's for sure: The mystery of this famous city will stay afloat (在流傳中的) for years to come.
注釋?zhuān)?/p>
1.explorer n.勘探者,探險(xiǎn)者
2.SpongeBob'spineapple 海綿鮑勃的菠蘿房子。海綿鮑勃是美國(guó)電影《棉球方塊歷險(xiǎn)記》中的一個(gè)海洋生物,它住在比基尼島水下的菠蘿房子里。
3.paradise n.天堂,天國(guó)
4.idyllic a. 田園風(fēng)光的,質(zhì)樸宜人的
5.supposedlyad.根據(jù)推測(cè),據(jù)稱(chēng)
在這廣袤無(wú)邊、光怪陸離的世界,你如何找到一個(gè)已被淹沒(méi)的城市呢?這不容易!但探險(xiǎn)家羅伯特·薩爾馬斯特聲稱(chēng),他在地中海海底發(fā)現(xiàn)了消失很久的亞特蘭蒂斯城。
是否聽(tīng)起來(lái)一頭霧水?很多專(zhuān)家說(shuō)亞特蘭蒂斯存在的真實(shí)性如同海綿鮑勃的菠蘿房子一樣。但是我們想要你拍動(dòng)身上的潛水腳蹼,潛入這場(chǎng)爭(zhēng)論中,自己做出判斷。
亞特蘭蒂斯是一個(gè)古代的天堂之島——至少故事里是這么說(shuō)的。當(dāng)古希臘哲學(xué)家柏拉圖在大約公元前360年首次寫(xiě)到有關(guān)亞特蘭蒂斯的故事時(shí),他描述了可能位于直布羅陀海峽(將歐洲和非洲分開(kāi)的水路)附近一個(gè)有著田園風(fēng)光的島嶼。亞特蘭蒂斯人被認(rèn)為都是真正的有錢(qián)有勢(shì)的人,統(tǒng)治著世界上最富有的帝國(guó)。三條閃亮的護(hù)城河環(huán)繞著擁有眾多豪華宮殿的大都會(huì),一座用金銀裝飾的神廟屹立于市中心。
大象和其他野生動(dòng)物在島上漫步,食物如此充足,以至于每晚都像一個(gè)隨便吃喝的自助餐。
傳說(shuō)中,亞特蘭蒂斯人因過(guò)分受到上天的寵愛(ài)而很快開(kāi)始變得懶惰,為此,希臘眾神發(fā)脾氣了!他們制造地震,抬高海平面,在你說(shuō)話(huà)的瞬間就把整個(gè)城市淹沒(méi)。但是,亞特蘭蒂斯城真的存在嗎?
探險(xiǎn)家們宣稱(chēng)在很多地方發(fā)現(xiàn)了亞特蘭蒂斯城,從愛(ài)爾蘭到巴西,到南極洲。那么薩爾馬斯特的最新發(fā)現(xiàn)有什么不同之處呢?他說(shuō),靠近塞浦路斯的一個(gè)水下島嶼的外觀上顯示出有城墻、運(yùn)河和一座神廟山丘的證據(jù),這些都與柏拉圖的描述十分吻合。薩爾馬斯特說(shuō):“亞特蘭蒂斯與這座島嶼的地圖如此般配,這不會(huì)是巧合?!?/p>
仍然有一些評(píng)論家認(rèn)為薩爾馬斯特的理論是大錯(cuò)特錯(cuò)。他們認(rèn)為亞特蘭蒂斯的傳說(shuō)是受一個(gè)叫做桑托林島的希臘島嶼啟發(fā)產(chǎn)生的,那個(gè)古代文明在公元前1500年由于火山噴發(fā)而被埋沒(méi)。
一些歷史學(xué)家認(rèn)為,相信亞特蘭蒂斯城真實(shí)存在的人一定是大腦里長(zhǎng)了海藻?!暗侥壳盀橹梗€沒(méi)有發(fā)現(xiàn)任何可靠的證據(jù)?!眮喬靥m蒂斯城專(zhuān)家理查德·埃利斯說(shuō)。其他人指出,柏拉圖把該島的存在定在石器時(shí)代——那與一個(gè)復(fù)雜城市可能出現(xiàn)的時(shí)間相比要提前很多。對(duì)這些懷疑者來(lái)說(shuō),亞特蘭蒂斯城只是一個(gè)寓言,告誡人們不要貪婪和自私——或者其他寓意!
亞特蘭蒂斯真是被大海吞沒(méi)了嗎?誰(shuí)知道呢?但有一點(diǎn)是肯定的:有關(guān)這個(gè)著名城市的神秘傳說(shuō)在未來(lái)的歲月里還將繼續(xù)流傳下去。