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Unit1CulturalrelicsINSEARCHOFTHEAMBERROOMFrederickWilliamI,theKingofPrussia,couldneverhaveimaginedthathisgreatestgifttotheRussianpeoplewouldhavesuchanamazinghistory.ThisgiftwastheAmberRoom,whichwasgiventhisnamebecauseseveraltonsofamberwereusedtomakeit.Theamberwhichwasselectedhadabeautifulyellow-browncolourlikehoney.Thedesignoftheroomwasinthefancystylepopularinthosedays.Itwasalsoatreasuredecoratedwithgoldandjewels,whichtookthecountry'sbestartistsabouttenyearstomake.Infact,theroomwasnotmadetobeagift.ItwasdesignedforthepalaceofFrederickI.However,thenextKingofPrussia,FrederickWilliamI,towhomtheamberroombelonged,decidednottokeepit.In1716hegaveittoPetertheGreat.Inreturn,theCzarsenthimatroopofhisbestsoldiers.SotheAmberRoombecamepartoftheCzar'swinterpalaceinStPetersburg.Aboutfourmetreslong,theroomservedasasmallreceptionhallforimportantvisitors.Later,CatherineIIhadtheAmberRoommovedtoapalaceoutsideStPetersburgwhereshespenthersummers.Shetoldherartiststoaddmoredetailstoit.In1770theroomwascompletedthewayshewanted.Almostsixhundredcandleslittheroom,anditsmirrorsandpicturesshonelikegold.Sadly,althoughtheAmberRoomwasconsideredoneofthewondersoftheworld,itisnowmissing.InSeptember1941,theNaziarmywasnearStPetersburg.Thiswasatimewhenthetwocountrieswereatwar.BeforetheNaziscouldgettothesummerpalace,theRussianswereabletoremovesomefurnitureandsmallartobjectsfromtheAmberRoom.However,someoftheNazissecretlystoletheroomitself.Inlessthantwodays100,000pieceswereputinsidetwenty-sevenwoodenboxes.ThereisnodoubtthattheboxeswerethenputonatrainforKonigsberg,whichwasatthattimeaGermancityontheBalticSea.Afterthat,whathappenedtotheAmberRoomremainsamystery.Recently,theRussiansandGermanshavebuiltanewAmberRoomatthesummerpalace.BystudyingoldphotosoftheformerAmberRoom,theyhavemadethenewonelookliketheoldone.In2003itwasreadyforthepeopleofStPetersburgwhentheycelebratedthe300thbirthdayoftheircity.第一单元文化遗产阅读一寻找琥珀普鲁士国王腓特烈威廉一世从未想过他送个普鲁士人民伟大的礼物会有一点如此惊奇的历史。这个礼物是因为由几吨琥珀制成而命名的琥珀屋。这些被挑选的琥珀都有着像蜂蜜一样漂亮的黄棕色。这间屋的设计是当时最流行的奇特的风格。这同样是一件花了当时最好的艺术家大约十年用黄金和珠宝修饰制成的宝物。事实上，这间屋不是制来当礼物的。这是为腓特烈一世的领土而设计的。然而，普鲁士下一任国王同样是琥珀屋的拥有者，腓特烈威廉一世决定不保留琥珀屋。在1716年他把琥珀屋送给了彼得大帝。作为报答，沙皇给了腓特烈一队他最好的士兵。因此琥珀屋成为了沙皇避寒圣地圣彼得堡的一部分。琥珀屋作为一个大概四米长的只为重要访客的小接待处。后来，叶卡捷琳娜二世把琥珀屋在圣彼得堡之外的一个她避暑的地方。她让她的艺术家加了跟多的细节在里面。在1770年琥珀屋完全成了她想要的样子。接近600只蜡烛在屋内燃烧着，把镜子和图画都照得像金子一样。令人伤心的，虽然被誉为是世界奇迹之一的琥珀屋现在丢失了。在1941年9月，纳粹军队在圣彼得堡附近。这正是两个国家在交战的时候。在纳粹去到避暑地方之前，俄国人民能够从琥珀屋里搬走一些家具和小的艺术品。然而，一些纳粹神秘的偷走了琥珀屋。至少两天内100000多片琥珀被放进27个木箱里。这些箱子无疑会被放进一艘去往当时德军驻扎的菠萝的海的哥尼斯堡的船上。之后，琥珀屋发生了什么仍然是个迷。最近，俄国和德国人民在避暑的地方制造了一座新的琥珀屋。通过研究之前的琥珀屋的照片，他们制造了一座新的琥珀屋像旧的那座一样。在2003年它被圣彼得堡的人民用来庆祝这座城市的300岁生日。AFACTORANOPINION?Whatisafact?Isitsomethingthatpeoplebelieve?No.Afactisanythingthatcanbeproved.Forexample,itcanbeprovedthatChinahasmorepeoplethananyothercountryintheworld.Thisisafact.Thenwhatisanopinion?Anopinioniswhatsomeonebelievesistruebuthasnotbeenproved.Soanopinionisnotgoodevidenceinatrial.Forexample,itisanopinionifyousay“Catsarebetterpetsthandogs”.Itmaybetrue,butitisdifficulttoprove.Somepeoplemaynotagreewiththisopinionbuttheyalsocannotprovethattheyareright.Inatrial,ajudgemustdecidewhicheyewitnessestobelieveandwhichnottobelieve.Thejudgedoesnotconsiderwhateacheyewitnesslookslikeorwherethatpersonlivesorworks.He/sheonlycaresaboutwhethertheeyewitnesshasgiventrueinformation,whichmustbefactsratherthanopinions.Thiskindofinformationiscalledevidence.阅读二一个事实还是一个观点什么是事实？是一些人们相信的东西吗？不！事实是可以被证明的任何事。例如，可以证明中国人口比世界上任何其他国家的人口都要多。这是一个事实。那么什么是一个观点？一个观点是人们相信那是真的但还没有被证明的。所以一个观点在一个审判中不是一个好的证据。例如，如果你说“猫是比狗好的宠物”这会是一个观点。这可能是真的，不过很难去证明。一些人可能不同意这个观点不过他们也不能去证明他们是对的。在一场审批中，一个审判官一定要去决定相信哪个目击者不应该相信。这个审判官不会去考虑每个目击者的长相或人们在哪里居住或工作。他/她只关心目击者是否会提供真是的信息，信息一定是事实而不是观点。这类的信息被称为证据。Unit2TheOlympicGamesANINTERVIEWPausanias,whowasaGreekwriterabout2,000yearsago,hascomeonamagicaljourneyonMarch18th2007tofindoutaboutthepresent-dayOlympicGames.HeisnowinterviewingLiYan,avolunteerforthe2008OlympicGames.P:MynameisPausanias.Ilivedinwhatyoucall“AncientGreece”andIusedtowriteabouttheOlympicGamesalongtimeago.I’vecometoyourtimetofindoutaboutthepresent-dayOlympicGamesbecauseIknowthatin2004theywereheldinmyhomeland.MayIaskyousomequestionsaboutthemodernOlympics?L:Goodheavens!Haveyoureallycomefromsolongago?Butofcourseyoucanaskanyquestionsyoulike.Whatwouldyouliketoknow?P:HowoftendoyouholdyourGames?L:Everyfouryears.TherearetwomainsetsofGames-theWinterandSummerOlympics,andbothareheldeveryfouryearsonaregularbasis.TheWinterOlympicsareusuallyheldtwoyearsbeforetheSummerGames.Onlyathleteswhohavereachedtheagreedstandardfortheireventwillbeadmittedascompetitors.Theymaycomefromanywhereintheworld.P:WinterGames?Howcantherunnersenjoycompetinginwinter?Andwhataboutthehorses?L:Ohno!Therearenorunningracesorhorseridingevents.Insteadtherearecompetitionslikeskiingandiceskatingwhichneedsnowandice.That’swhythey’recalledtheWinterOlympics.It’sintheSummerOlympicsthatyouhavetherunningraces,togetherwithswimming,sailingandalltheteamsports.P:Isee.Earlieryousaidthatathletesareinvitedfromallovertheworld.DoyoumeantheGreekworld?OurGreekcitiesusedtocompeteagainsteachotherjust