Welcome to the unit Unit 2 Witnessing time

Are you familiar with these famous Chinese historic sites ? The Summer Palace

The Forbidden City

The ruins of Yuanmingyuan

The ruins of Yuanmingyuan are located in the suburbs of Beijing to the north-west of Qinghua University. Yuanmingyuan dates back to the Wing Dynasty. It has the reputation of being “the garden of gardens”. Unfortunately, it was destroyed in a fire. Our government has taken measures to repair it and much restoration work still needs to be done.

With the fast development of the modern world, the problems of preserving cultural heritage sites are becoming more and more serious. Nowadays many historic sites have been damaged, leaving only part of the ruins. Do you think it is necessary to rebuild them?

Do you know anything about historic sites in the following pictures?

Look at these pictures of some famous historic sites and discuss The Colosseum

When was the Colosseum built? What was it used for? How big is it? In the 1 st century BC. It was an amphitheatre or arena that was used for displays of combat and wild-beast shows. It was designed to hold 50,000 spectators.

Classical gardens of Suzhou

What is Suzhou famous for? It is famous for its splendid scenery, especially its classical gardens.

Angkor Wat

Where was the temple complex built? When was it built? Why was it built? In Cambodia. In the early years of the 12 th century. It was built to honour the Hindu God Vishnu.

St Basil’s Cathedral

When and where was the Cathedral built? Do you know anything special about the Cathedral? The Cathedral sonsists of nine individual churches, each of which is crowned by a unique tower. The central tower is surrounded by eight towers, each topped with an eight-point star symbolizing the Christian Church as a guiding light for mankind. In Moscow between 1555 and 1560.

1.When we talk about Greece, what do you think of? 2.What do you know about Greece? 3.What do you know about Athens? 4.Do you know anything about Athens and the Olympic Games? Discuss

the Acropolis

Fast reading:

Go through the passage as quickly as possible and try to find answers to the three questions in part A. 1 When was the Acropolis built? In the 5 th century BC 2 What was the Acropolis made of ? It was made of marble. 3 Who gave the Acropolis its World Heritage listing? UNESCO

Careful reading:

1. In which fields did the Greeks make contributions to Western civilization? In philosophy, science, mathematics, art, architecture, theatre, politics and sport. Let’s read the passage a second time and complete Parts C1 on page 20.

2. Where was the Acropolis built? Why? On the hill called the Sacred Rock in the centre of the city. It was built there so that it was convenient for everyone to get to. Also, because it was on the hill, the Acropolis could be seen from every part of the city.

3. How have so many ancient monuments been damaged? They have been damaged partly by natural things like earthquakes, and partly by man.

4. What was the last major destruction done to the Acropolis by man? The last major destruction occurred with the theft of many of the best sculptures in 1801, when an Englishman started to take them to London.

5. What is the aim of the committee set up in 1975? Its aim is to undertake the complete, professional restoration of the Acropolis.

6. Why is the committee undertaking educational work? Because they believe that the prevention of damage from ignorance and from people not caring about protecting the monument is very important.

7. What would happen if people did not learn about damage prevention? More important historic buildings would be damaged.

The article describes some of the cases of damage done to the Acropolis. List what being done to solve each problem.

CausesDetailsActions Chemicalacid rain from air pollution a steady cleaning programme Biologicalplant roots and bird droppings a steady cleaning programme Naturalearthquakesto be fixed Mechanicalbad reconstructionto be fixed Human agencydeliberate damage walking around the Acropolis stealing stones educational work ask for return

Find these new words and expressions in the article. Guess their meanings from the context. Then match each word or expression with the correct definition.

in particular (line 17) altitude (line 21) smooth (line 44) d--- especially, particularly a--- height j --- not rough

seized control of (lines 52-53) friction (line 69) restore (line 76) c--- took over, controlled b --- disagreement or conflict f --- bring back to the original condition

unintentionally (line 85) reconstruction (line 99) e --- without intention, not deliberately, by accident i --- restoring, bringing to the original condition

steady (line 108) consensus (line 117) h --- regular g --- an opinion that all people agree with

(1) Athens (2) Athena (3) people (4) plant (5) government (6) undertake (7) ignorance (8) conservation (9) monument (10) sculptures Do part E. Complete each blank with the correct word.

Language points

1.The Western or Roman alphabet is a Greek invention, as is the marathon, which is a long distance race named for a Greek messenger who ran from Marathon to Athens to report a victory at the battle of Marathon in 490 BC. ( page18, lines 6-11 ) 西方字母表或罗马字母表是希腊人的发明。 马拉松比赛也是，这种长跑是为纪念一位 希腊信使而命名的.

2.In 1816, these sculptures were transferred to the British museum. They are still on display there under the title of ‘Elian Marble’, and this has caused some friction between Greece and Britain as the Greek government has never given up asking for the return of these marble statues. (page 19, lines 65-73) 1816 年，这些雕塑又被转移到大英博物馆。如今它 们仍然在那里展出，冠名为 “ 埃尔金大理石雕塑 ” 。 这导致了希腊和英国之间的摩擦，因为希腊政府一 直要求英国归还这些大理石雕像。

3.A steady cleaning programme must follow in order to protect the marble from air pollution, as well as from natural things such as plant roots and bird droppings. （ page 19, lines ） 接下来必须稳步进行清洁工作，保护大理石不受空气污染 及自然物（如植物根系和鸟类排泄物）的破坏。

4.The committee is also undertaking important educational work based on the consensus of the members that the best form of conservation is the prevention of damage. （ page 19, lines ） 最好的保护形式就是防止破坏。基于这一共识，该委员会 还进行了重要的教育工作。

5.They believe that the prevention of damage from ignorance and from people not caring about protecting the monument is very important. （ page 19, lines ） 他们认为，有些人不知道如何保护遗址或不注意保护遗址， 对由此导致的毁坏加以预防意义重大。