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 )

　　參考答案

　　Ⅰ. 1. ancient / antique 2 . wrap / clothe 3. unbelievable / inconceivable 4 . shriek / scream 5. quiet / tranquil / peaceful 6 . giant / huge / tremendous

　　Ⅱ. 1. Her brilliant performance captured the audience’s imagination. 2. Her first view of the Great Wall filled her with awe. 3. He was summoned to the palace. 4. The cure for stress lies in learning to relax.

　　參考譯文

　　尼羅河的饋贈———埃及

　　自 古希臘歷史學家、旅行家希羅多德首次將埃及描述為“ 尼羅河的禮物”以來, 埃及就 一直讓所有參觀過此地的人為之神往。

　　法老們、希臘人、羅馬人以及早期_和穆斯林們遺留下來的歷史遺跡使人產生敬 畏之心, 每年都吸引了成千上萬的參觀者——— 金字塔、廟宇、陵墓、修道院和清真寺, 它們只 是這個國家令人著迷的事物中的一部分。

　　現代埃及——— 泥磚搭建的村莊和法老王宮的廢墟咫尺而立, 它們又被由鋼鐵、石塊和 玻璃建成的高聳的大廈所包圍——— 正處在東西文化和古今文明的交叉口上。無論是開羅 擁擠的公寓樓, 還是農場村莊的泥土房和貝都因人山羊皮搭成的帳篷, 這些屋頂上如今都 架著電視天線, 與此同時, 肥沃的尼羅河流域的農民們還依舊用先祖們曾使用的原始工具 照料著耕地。

　　在開羅這個大城市, 宣禮員召喚忠實信徒做禱告的聲音與黑人音盒里放出來的流行音 樂及汽車喇叭的刺耳嘯鳴交相呼應。到處都是人: 裹著飄拂長袍的或穿著西式服裝的, 他 們有的懸吊在公交車外面, 有的在夾雜著家畜和排著廢氣的車輛的路上迂回穿行, 還有的 從蜂窩式的樓群里一涌而出。

　　除了富麗豪華的摩天大廈之外, 這個國家吸引人的地方還在于她那壯美的自然風光和 埃及人民極度熱情好客的風俗。

　　尼羅河流過萬物, 有史以來, 它就是那么靜謐、高貴, 它是埃及的血脈。