Edinburgh Castle爱丁堡城堡

2023-11-19张菊

疯狂英语·新阅版 2023年3期

张菊

最令苏格兰人自豪的，不是爱丁堡城堡悠久的历史和险峻的地势，而是其曾经在政治和文化上的地位。

主题语境：历史与传统篇幅：334词建议用时：7分钟

1 Having existed for over a thousand years，Edinburgh Castle and its historic buildings dateback to the 11th century. Today lets know somehistorical facts about it.

2 Edinburgh Castle became Scotland's mainroyal castle in the Middle Ages， serving as theheadquarters of Edinburgh. Army units were stationed there and the Crown Jewels （御宝）were stored there. It was King David Ⅰ who in 1130 first built some of the impressivebuildings we see today. The chapel， a small church specially built for his mother， QueenMargaret， still stands as the oldest building in Edinburgh.

3 The first to take control of the castle from the Scots was Edward Ⅰ of England after athree⁃day siege （围困） in 1296. But then， after the kings death in 1307， the Englishstronghold （堡垒） weakened and Sir Thomas Randolph usurped it in 1314. His attack was asurprise under the cover of darkness. Only thirty men climbed the north high areas andreached the castle. Twenty⁃one years later， it was in the control of the English again， butonly six years after that， Sir William Douglas， a Scottish royal member， claimed it back witha surprise attack by his men dressed as businessmen.

4 Davids Tower was built in 1367 by DavidⅡwho had returned to Scotland after 10years's imprisonment in England. It was built as part of the construction of the castle siteafter the destruction during the Wars of Independence. It was huge for a building of the time， three stories high and functioning as the entrance to the castle. It was， therefore， thebarrier between the attack and defense of any battle.

5 The castle serves as a military station and is the site of the Scottish National War Me⁃morial now. It is also host to the famous Edinburgh Military Tattoo. It is home to the CrownJewels （the Honours of Scotland） and also the Stone of Destiny since its return to Scotlandfrom Westminster in 1996.

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1. What did King David Ⅰ do to Edinburgh Castle？

A. He built the first church near it.

B. He arranged for the army to stay there.

C. He protected the castle for a long time.

D. He first set up admirable buildings there.

2. What does the underlined word“usurped”in paragraph 3 mean？

A. Occupied. B. Damaged. C. Discovered. D. Constructed.

3. What can be learned about David's Tower？

A. It was built by Thomas Randolph. B. It played an important role in battles.

C. It was built in honor of Edward Ⅰ. D. It was famous for its height.