1. At the peak of 在···的巔峰狀態

例句：At the peak of its empire, when the Union Jack flew over a quarter of the planet, England collected art and artifacts as fast as it collected colonies.

在大英帝國的巔峰，在英國國旗飄揚于地球四分之一土地上時，英國收集藝術和工藝品的速度就和它收集殖民地一樣快。

2. kick off 開始，開球

例句：It's kicked off with the Rosetta Stone, which provided the breakthrough in deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.
它從羅賽塔石碑開始，羅賽塔石碑提供解開古埃及象形文字之謎的突破性發展。

3. Thanks to 幸虧，由于

例句：Thanks to this stone, they broke the code, opening the door to understanding a great civilization.
托這塊石碑的福，他們破解那密碼，開啟了解一個偉大文明的大門。

4. be conquered by 被···征服

例句：In its waning years, Egypt was conquered by Assyria—present-day Iraq.
在埃及的衰落年間，埃及被亞述征服－－現今伊拉克。

5. get the upper hand 占上風

例句：First, the centaurs get the upper hand. Then, the humans rally and drive them off. In Golden Age Greece, civilization finally triumphed over barbarism.
最初，人馬占上風。接著，人類重整并將人馬擊退。在黃金時期的希臘，文明終于戰勝野蠻。