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19. Egypt 1
Ever since Herodotus2, the ancient Greek historian and traveler, first described Egypt as“the gift of the Nile3”, she has been capturing the imagination of all who visit her.
The awe -inspiring monuments, left by the Pharaohs, Greeks and Romans as well as by the early Christians and Muslims, attract thousands of visitors every year — but the pyramids, temples, tombs, monasteries and mosques are just part of this country’s fascination.
Modern Egypt —where mud-brick villages stand beside Pharaonic ruins surrounded by towering steel, stone and glass buildings — is at the cultural crossroads of East and West, ancient and modern. While TV antennae decorate rooftops everywhere, from the crowded apartment blocks of Cairo to the mud homes of farming villages and the goatskin tents of the Bedouins4, the fellahin throughout the Nile’s fertile valley still tend their fields with the archaic tools of their ancestors.
In the gargantuan5city of Cairo the sound of the muezzin6 summoning the faithful to prayer competes with the pop music of ghetto blasters7 and the screech of car horns. And everywhere there are people : swathed in long flowing robes or western-style clothes, hanging from buses, weaving through an obstacle course of animals and exhaust-spewing traffic or spilling from hivelike buildings.
Spectacular edifices aside, the attraction of this country lies in its incredible natural beauty and in the overwhelming hospitality of the Egyptian people .
Through everything the Nile River flows serene and majestic, the lifeblood of Egypt as it has been since the beginning of history.
閱讀自測
Ⅰ. Give the synonyms to the following words:
1. archaic 2 . swathe 3. incredible 4 . screech 5. serene 6 . gargantuan
Ⅱ. Translate the sentences into English with the words in parenthe ses :
1. 她的精彩表演使觀眾為之神往。( capture )
2. 她初見長城時, 敬畏之感油然而生。( awe)
3. 他被召進宮里。( summon)
4. 消除緊張的方法在于學會放松。( lie )
