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Unit1 Cultural Relics
第一單元 文物
Reading IN SEARCH OF THE AMBER ROOM
閱讀 尋找琥珀屋
Frederick William Ⅰ, the King of Prussia, could never have imagined that his greatest gift to the Russian people would have such an amazing history.
普魯士國王腓特烈·威廉一世絕不可能想到他送給俄羅斯人民的厚禮會有一段令人驚訝的歷史。
This gift was the Amber Room, which was given this name because several tons of amber were used to make it.
這件禮物就是琥珀屋，它之所以有這個名字是因為造這間房子用了近幾噸琥珀。
The amber which was selected had a beautiful yellow-brown colour like honey.
被選擇的琥珀色彩艷麗呈黃褐色，像蜜一樣。
The design of the room was in the fancy style popular in those days.
屋子的設計當時流行的極富藝術表現力的建筑風格。
It was also a treasure decorated with gold and jewels, which took the country's best artists about ten years to make.
琥珀屋這件珍品還鑲嵌著黃金和珠寶，全國最優秀的藝術家用了10年的時間才完成它。
In fact, the room was not made to be a gift.
事實上，琥珀屋并不是作為禮物而建造的。
It was designed for the palace of Frederick Ⅰ.
它是作為腓烈特一世的宮殿而建造的。
However, the next King of Prussia, Frederick William Ⅰ, to whom the amber room belonged, decided not to keep it.
然而，下一位普魯士國王，腓烈特·威廉一世，這個琥珀屋的主人卻決定不再要它了。
In 1716 he gave it to Peter the Great.
1716年，他把它送給了彼得大帝。
In return, the Czar sent him a troop of his best soldiers.
作為回饋，沙皇則送給他一隊自己最好的士兵。
So the Amber Room became part of the Czar's winter palace in St Petersburg.
所以，琥珀屋就成了沙皇在圣彼得堡東宮的一部分。
About four metres long, the room served as a small reception hall for important visitors.
琥珀屋長約4米，被用作接待重要來賓的小型會客室。
Later, Catherine Ⅱ had the Amber Room moved to a palace outside St Petersburg where she spent her summers.
后來，葉卡捷琳娜二世派人把琥珀屋搬到了圣彼得堡郊外避暑的宮殿中。
She told her artists to add more details to it.
她讓藝術家們給它增添了更多的裝飾。
In 1770 the room was completed the way she wanted.
1770年，這間琥珀屋按她要求的方式完工了。
Almost six hundred candles lit the room, and its mirrors and pictures shone like gold.
將近600支蠟燭照亮了這個房間里面的鏡子和圖畫，就像金子一樣閃閃發光。
Sadly, although the Amber Room was considered one of the wonders of the world, it is now missing.
不幸的是，雖然琥珀屋被認為是世界奇跡之一，可是現在它卻下落不明。
In September 1941, the Nazi army was near St Petersburg.
1941年9月，納粹德國的軍隊逼近了圣彼得堡。
This was a time when the two countries were at war.
這是兩國交戰的時期。
Before the Nazis could get to the summer palace,
在納粹分子能夠到達夏宮之前，
the Russians were able to remove some furniture and small art objects from the Amber Room.
俄國人只來得及搬走琥珀屋里的一些家具和小型藝術飾品。
However, some of the Nazis secretly stole the room itself.
可是琥珀屋本身卻被一些納粹分子秘密地頭運走了。
In less than two days 100,000 pieces were put inside twenty-seven wooden boxes.
在不到兩天的時間里，琥珀屋被拆成10萬塊裝進了27個木箱里。
There is no doubt that the boxes were then put on a train for Konigsberg,
毫無疑問，這些箱子后來被裝上火車運往哥尼斯堡，
which was at that time a German city on the Baltic Sea.
當時它是波羅的海的海邊的一個城市。
After that, what happened to the Amber Room remains a mystery.
從那以后，琥珀屋的最終歸宿就成了一個謎。
Recently, the Russians and Germans have built a new Amber Room at the summer palace.
最近俄國人和德國人已經在夏宮建立起了一個新的琥珀屋。
By studying old photos of the former Amber Room, they have made the new one look like the old one.
通過研究前琥珀屋的照片，他們使得新的琥珀屋的樣子與原來的非常相像。
In 2003, it was ready for the people of St Petersburg when they celebrated the 300th birthday of their city.
2003年，在圣彼得堡人民慶祝他們的城市建立300周年的時候，它已經完工了。
