一个文化热点！ A cultural hot spot!

【走近兵马俑】

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"走近兵马俑"，在带您穿越历史长河、探索这些人类智慧与艺术结晶背后故事的同时，讲述孕育这段历史的神秘土壤——西安的前世今生，并为您介绍相关词汇、句式的地道英语表达。

[第十期]

A cultural hot spot!

一个文化热点！

口语君：西安曾是联结各国古老文化的重要枢纽，至今，在这里人们仍能感受到多元文化的交错与融合。陶小德就曾尝试过感受这些文化。

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F: It sounds like there is a lot of Muslim culture there.
听起来那儿有不少穆斯林文化啊。

M: That's true, but much more. Xi'an is considered the start of the old Silk Road.
是这样的，但还不止这些。西安被认为是丝绸之路的起点。

F: Wasn't Xi'an the capital of China during the Tang Dynasty?
西安不是中国唐代的都城么？

M: Yes, and that was a period when Chinese culture was at one of its peaks. 是啊，那段时间是中国文化鼎盛期之一。

F: So how do you experience the Tang Dynasty?
那你怎么感受唐朝呢？

M: There are some dinner-theater style shows that some of my Chinese friends think are a bit cheesy. But I thought they were very interesting performances and I learned a lot.
通过一些晚宴剧场类型的表演。虽然我的一些中国朋友认为那些东西有点烂俗，但我觉得表演非常有趣，我从中学到了不少东西。

[口语点睛]

Cheesy是一种非正式用法，在形容事物和人时表达的意思有所不同。形容物时可表示"质量不佳、粗制滥造的；廉价的"。例如：It's a cheesy soap opera. (这是一部粗制滥造的电视剧。)该词形容人时有"俗气的、品味不佳的(=in poor taste) "之意。例如：You look cheesy with that hat on. (你戴那顶帽子看起来很俗气。)

[口语天天练之丝绸之路]

口语君：2000多年前，汉武帝派遣张骞出使西域，开辟一条横贯东西、连接欧亚的丝绸之路。大漠孤烟，驼铃古道，从此中西方之间的交通正式开通，揭开了延续一千多年的丝绸之路发展和兴盛的序幕。丝绸之路英文怎么说？它的起源和鼎盛期都在什么时候呢？快来一起学学吧：

1. The Silk Road, or Silk Route, is a series of trade and cultural transmission routes that were central to cultural interaction through regions of the Asian continent connecting the West and East by linking traders, merchants, pilgrims, monks, soldiers, nomads, and urban dwellers from China and India to the Mediterranean Sea during various periods of time.
丝绸之路是一系列的贸易和文化传播路线。在各个时期，通过贸易商、商人、朝圣者、僧侣、士兵、牧民和城市居民及亚洲大陆地区连接东西方，这里成为了文化交流的中心。来自中国、印度的人们可以由此到达地中海。

马上学：丝绸之路说法有两种：Silk Road或Silk Route。

2. Xi'an is the eastern starting point of the ancient Silk Road.
西安是古代丝绸之路东方的起点。

3. The Silk Road started in the Han dynasty, but saw its peak years during the Tang dynasty, around the 7th century AD when Xi'an was also the country's capital.
丝绸之路起源于汉代，约于公元7世纪的唐代达到其鼎盛期。西安是当时的都城。

4. An active trade route from 200 BC, the Silk Road thrived until the 16th century when it was overtaken by the advent of a sea route between China and Europe.
作为公元前200年兴起的一条活跃贸易路线，直至公元16世纪，丝绸之路都很繁荣。而后，中欧间海上路线的出现将其取代。

（中国日报网英语点津 丁一）