假日期间人山人海！ <P>There are big crowds during the holiday!</P>

【走进兵马俑】

40年前，兵马俑的奇迹之门被打开，"世界第八大奇迹"出现在众人眼前。为庆祝秦兵马俑发现40周年，China Daily手机报推出口语特别策划"走进兵马俑"，带您穿越历史长河、探索这些人类智慧与艺术结晶背后故事，同时讲述孕育这段历史的神秘土壤——西安的前世今生，并向您介绍相关词汇、句式的地道英语表达。

[第四期]

There are big crowds during the holiday!

假日期间人山人海！

口语君：虽说兵马俑出土轰动一时，但如今还有多少人关注这些古迹呢？我们还是听听刚去游览过的陶小德是怎么说的吧：

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F: The Terra-Cotta Warriors have been well-known for quite a while.

在相当长的一段时间里，兵马俑的知名度都非常高呢。

M: You're right. Since they were discovered in 1974, the warriors have become the rock stars of Chinese culture.

没错。自1974年被发现以来，兵马俑就成了中国文化历史上的耀眼明星。

F: So it should be easier to go see them now. Hasn't the excitement died down?

那现在去参观会容易一些了吧。人们对兵马俑已不再那么狂热了吧？

M: Not really! The site was very crowded during the holiday.

不见得！假日期间参观遗址的人还是超多啊。

[口语点睛]

Quite a while用于口语中，指"许久、相当长一段时间"(=a long time)。例如：I haven't seen Rebecca in quite a while, but she hadn't changed much. (我和丽贝卡许久未见，但她却没什么变化。)

Die down是"逐渐消失，变弱，渐渐停止的意思"。例如：As the applause died down, a child came on stage with an armload of roses for the singer. (掌声渐弱，一个孩子走上舞台给那位歌手献上了一捧玫瑰。)

[口语天天练之神秘秦陵]

口语君：1974年，兵马俑的出土轰动世界，每年都有大批国内外游客慕名而来。与此相反，"秦俑之父"秦始皇的陵墓仍是个不解之谜。那幽深的地宫更是谜团重重，地宫形制及内部结构至今尚不清楚，千百年来引发了不少文人墨客的猜测与遐想：

1. Qin's tomb itself remains unexcavated, though court historian Sima Qian's writings suggest even greater treasures may still be inside. It said the tomb was filled with models of palaces, pavilions and offices as well as fine vessels, precious stones and rarities.

虽然宫廷史官司马迁的记载显示，秦始皇陵墓中藏有更大宝藏，但其陵墓至今未被挖掘。据说陵墓里有宫殿、楼阁、官府和精致船只，宝石和稀世珍宝。

2. An account indicates the tomb contains replicas of the area's rivers and streams made with mercury flowing to the sea through hills and mountains of bronze. Precious stones such as pearls are said to represent the sun, moon, and other stars.

据记载，陵墓中有用水银制成的河川，流经铜质的山峦汇入海洋。据称，夜明珠等罕见宝石被用作代表日月星辰。

3. Tests on the tomb mound have revealed unusually high concentrations of mercury, lending credence to at least some of the historical account.

对陵墓土地的测试显示，其水银浓度异常高，证明至少某些史料记载具有一定真实性。

（中国日报网英语点津 丁一）