Unit1 IN SEARCH OF THE AMBER ROOM
Frederick William ,the King of Prussia , could never have imagined that his greatest gift to the Russian people would have such an amazing history . This gift was the Amber Room , which was given this name because several tons of amber were used to make it . The amber which was selected had a beautiful yellow-brown colour like honey .The design of the room was in the fancy style popular in those days.It was also a treasure decorated with gold and jewels ,which took the country's best artists about ten years to make .
In fact, the room was not made to be a gift .It was designed for the palace of Frederick .However, the next King of Prussia , Frederick William Ⅰ, to whom the amber room belonged, decided not to keep it.In 1716 he gave it to Peter the Great. In return , the Czar sent him a troop of his best soldiers.So the Amber Room became part of the Czar's winter palace in St Petersburg. About four metres long, the room served as a small reception hall for important visitors .
Later, Catherine Ⅱ had the Amber Room moved to a palace outside St Petersburg where she spent her summers. She told her artists to add more details to it .In 1770 the room was completed the way she wanted .Almost six hundred candles lit the room ,and its mirrors and pictures shone like gold. Sadly , although the Amber Room was considered one of the wonders of the world , it is now missing .
In September 1941, the Nazi army was near St Petersburg . This was a time when the two countries were at war.Before the Nazis could get to the summer palace , the Russians were able to remove some furniture and small art objects from the Amber Room . However , some of the Nazis secretly stole the room itself .In less than two days 100,000 pieces were put inside twenty-seven wooden boxes .There is no doubt that the boxes were then put on a train for Konigsberg, which was at that time a German city on the Baltic Sea . After that, what happened to the Amber Room remains a mystery .
Recently, the Russians and Germans have built a new Amber Room at the summer palace. By studying old photos of the former Amber Room , they have made the new one look like the old one. In 2003 it was ready for the people of St Petersburg when they celebrated the 300th birthday of their city.
单词： Unit 1
△ cultural /'k?lt??r?l/ adj. 文化的
△ relic /'rel?k/ n. 遗物；遗迹；纪念物 rare /re?/ adj. 稀罕的；稀有的；珍贵的 valuable /'v?lju?bl/ adj. 贵重的；有价值的 survive /s?'va?v/ vi. 幸免；幸存；生还 vase /vɑ:z/ n. 花瓶；瓶
dynasty /'d?n?st?, 'da?-/ n. 朝代；王朝 △Taj Mahal /ta:d? m?'ha:l/ 泰姬陵 △ ivory /'a?v?r?/ n. 象牙
△ dragon /'dr?ɡ?n/ n. 龙
△ amber /'?mb?/ n. 琥珀；琥珀色
in search of 寻找
△Frederick William I /'fredr?k 'w?lj?m e? 'f?:st/ 腓特烈·威廉一世(普鲁士国王) △Prussia /'pr???/ n．(史)普鲁士(位于北欧) amaze /?'me?z/ vt. 使吃惊；惊讶 amazing /?'me?z??/ adj. 令人吃惊的 select /s?'lekt/ vt. 挑选；选择
honey /'h?n?/ n. 蜜；蜂蜜
design /d?'za?n/ n. 设计；图案；构思 vt. 设计；计划；构思 fancy /'f?ns?/ adj. 奇特的；异样的 vt. 想象；设想；爱好 style /sta?l/ n. 风格；风度；类型 decorate /'dek?re?t/ v. 装饰；装修 jewel /'d?u:?l/ n. 珠宝；宝石 artist /'ɑ:t?st/ n. 艺术家
belong /b?'l??/ vi. 属于；为??的一员 belong to 属于
△Peter the Great彼得大帝(俄国皇帝) in return 作为报答；回报 △Czar /'za:/ n.沙皇
troop /tru:p/ n. 群；组；军队
△St Petersburg /s?nt 'pi:t?zb?:g/ n．圣彼得堡 (俄罗斯城市) reception /r?'sep?n/ n. 接待；招待会；接收
△CatherineⅡ /'k?θ?r?n e? 'sek?nd/ 叶卡捷琳娜二世(俄国女皇) at war 处于交战状态
remove /r?'mu:v/ vt. 移动；搬开
less than 少于
wooden /'w?dn/ adj. 木制的
doubt /da?t/ n. 怀疑；疑惑 vt. 怀疑；不信
△K?nigsberg /'k?:n?sb?:g/ n．哥尼斯堡(俄罗斯港市Kaliningrad的旧称) △the Baltic Sea /'b?:lt?k 'si:/ 波罗的海
△ mystery /'m?str? US 'm?st?r?/ n. 神秘；神秘的事物 former /'f?:m?/ adj. 以前的；从前的
worth /w?:θ/ prep. 值得的；相当于??的价值 n. 价值；作用 adj. /古/ 值钱的 △ rebuild /ri:'b?ld/ vt. 重建 local /'l??kl/ adj. 本地的；当地的 apart /?'pɑ:t/ adv. 分离地；分别地
take apart 拆开
△Leningrad /'len?ngr?d/ n．列宁格勒 (苏联城市) painting /'pe?nt??/ n. 绘画；画 castle /'kɑ:sl/ n. 城堡 △Windsor /'w?nz?/ Castle 温莎城堡 (英国著名城堡) trial /'tra??l/ n. 审判；审讯；试验 △ eyewitness /a? 'w?tn?s/ n. 目击者；证人 evidence /'ev?d?ns/ n. 根据；证据
△ Jan Hasek /'j?n 'h?z?k/ 简·哈兹克(男名)
△Czech Republic /'t?ek r?'p?bl?k/ 捷克共和国(东欧国家) explode /?k'spl??d/ vi. 爆炸 entrance /'entr?ns/ n. 入口 △Hans Braun /'h?nz 'br?:n/ 汉斯·布朗(男名) sailor /'se?l?/ n. 水手；海员；船员
sink /s??k/ (sank,sunk; sunk,sunken) vi. 下沉；沉下 △Anna Petrov /'?n? 'petr?v/ 安娜·帕特罗夫 (女名) maid /me?d/ n. 少女；女仆
△Berlin /b?: 'l?n/ n. 柏林(德国首都) think highly of 看重；器重
△Johann Webber /j??'h?n 've?b?/ 约翰·韦伯(男名) informal /?n'f?:ml/ adj. 非正式的
debate /d?'be?t/ n. 争论；辩论 vi. 争论；辩论
Unit 1 A FACT OR AN OPINION?
What is a fact? Is it something that people believe? No. A fact is anything that can be proved. For example, it can be proved that China has more people than any other country in the world. This is a fact.
Then what is an opinion? An opinion is what someone believes is true but has not been proved. So an opinion is not good evidence in a trial. For example, it is an opinion if you say “Cats are better pets than dogs”. It may be true, but it is diffi
cult to prove. Some people may not agree with this opinion but they also cannot prove that they are right.
In a trial, a judge must decide which eyewitnesses to believe and which not to believe. The judge does not consider what each eyewitness looks like or where that person lives or works. He/she only cares about whether the eyewitness has given true information, which must be facts rather than opinions. This kind of information is called evidence.
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