Athens: Then & Now 
　　Imagine you are a citizen of Athens, enjoying a warm Mediterranean night in the Theater of Herodes Atticus. You are wearing jeans and a T-shirt, listening to a great concert.
　　Now rewind this picture 1,839 years. You are in the same seat, only you are watching classical Greek entertainment and wearing a simple chiton, or tunic.
　　The city of Athens is a fun mix of the old and the new, the classic and the modern. Often a little shop is located next to the ruins of a temple, which is only a block from a large, air�瞔onditioned hotel. The great city of 2,500 years ago is still visible today.
　　Ruins are the most obvious sign of ancient Athens, and the most famous of these is the Acropolis. The Acropolis is a large hill that was the center of life in Athens. On its Mopes were temples, monuments, and theaters. From the top, Athens’ urban sprawl stretches out in every direction.
　　On the top of the Acropolis is the Parthenon. This was once a huge temple to Athena, the city’s patron. It was first completed in 432 B.C., but has been damaged and destroyed several times. However, visitors can still admire the “tricks” used in building the Parthenon. The columns along the outside lean inward, and are slightly fatter in the middle. The temple is also higher in the middle than on the sides. All these effects make the Parthenon look perfectly straight from a distance.
　　Only a block away from the Acropolis is the neighborhood of Plaka. The area, with its little shops and restaurants, is very popular with both tourists and locals, and is an important part of modern Athenian culture.
　　Many great thinkers, writers, and political leaders lived in ancient Athens. The ruins of their homes and favorite spots are scattered throughout the busy port city. The hill where St. Paul addressed early Christian Athenians is located near the Acropolis. Great thinkers such as Perikles and Demosthenes spoke to the civil assemblies held at the Pnyx Hill. Today the Pnyx is an open�瞐ir theater for light and sound shows.
　　Greeks still use some ancient sites, such as the Pnyx and the Theater of Herodes Atticus. During Roman times, in 76A.D., gladiators used the Panathenaic Stadium for contests.The Olympics were held there in 1896, and today people still jog and exercise in the stadium.
　　Tourism is very important to people who live in modern-day Athens. Thousands of people come every year to see these ruins and to tour the many museums that house artifacts from ancient times. This provides many jobs and brings money into Athens, which helps the city pay for improvements. Athenians take pride in the accomplishments of their ancestors, and people from all around the world come to admire them. By looking around the city today, we can imagine what life was like in ancient Athens.
　　考研詞匯：
　　rewind[ri:’waind]
　　vt.重繞 n. 重繞
　　obvious[ˈɔbviəs]
　　a.明顯的，顯著的
　　[真題例句] That experiences influence (v.) subsequent behaviour is evidence of an obvious but nevertheless remarkable activity called remembering.[1995年閱讀5]
　　[例句精譯] 過(guò)去的經(jīng)歷會(huì)影響日后的行為，這就表明存在著一種明顯但卻非凡的腦力活動(dòng)——記憶。 
　　sprawl[sprɔ:l]
　　n.四肢伸開的躺臥姿勢(shì), 蔓生v.四肢伸開地坐(或臥), 爬行, 蔓生, 蔓延
　　lean[li:n]
　　v.①傾斜，屈身;②倚，靠，依賴;a.精干的;瘦削的
　　[真題例句] Friedman relies on a lean (a.) staff of 20 in Austin.[2003年閱讀1]
　　[例句精譯] 弗萊德曼在奧斯汀市只有20人的精干職員隊(duì)伍。
　　assembly [əˈsembli]
　　n.①集合，集會(huì)，會(huì)議;②裝配
　　[真題例句] Our factories hum to the rhythm of robot assembly (②) arms.[2002年閱讀2]
　　[例句精譯] 我們的工廠里轟鳴著機(jī)械化生產(chǎn)線的節(jié)奏。
　　contest[kənˈtest, ˈkɔntest]
　　n.競(jìng)爭(zhēng)，競(jìng)賽，比賽;
　　v.競(jìng)爭(zhēng)，比賽，爭(zhēng)論
　　[真題例句] In 1995 the CIA held a contest (n.) to see who could compile the most data about Burundi.[2003年閱讀1]
　　[例句精譯] 1995年中央情報(bào)局舉辦了一個(gè)競(jìng)賽，看誰(shuí)能夠收集到關(guān)于“布隆迪”的比較多信息。
　　[真題例句] Clearly, only the biggest and most flexible television companies are going to be able to compete in such a rich and hotly-contested (v.) market.[2005年翻譯]
　　[例句精譯] 顯然，只有大型化的，應(yīng)變能力強(qiáng)的電視傳媒集團(tuán)才能夠在這個(gè)精彩紛呈而又競(jìng)爭(zhēng)激烈的市場(chǎng)中生存。
　　背景常識(shí)介紹：
　　雅典衛(wèi)城位于聳立在雅典城市之上的一座巖丘上。公元前480年雅典遭波斯人攻擊，當(dāng)時(shí)雅典的許多建筑被毀壞。在這之后，雅典人在衛(wèi)城上建造了一批宏偉的新神廟。巴臺(tái)農(nóng)神廟可能是古希臘神廟中比較為精美、比較為著名的一座。它于公元前447年-公元前432年間建造，全部采用白色大理石，外圍都是色彩鮮明的浮雕，裝飾著神廟的三角墻。
　　參考譯文： 
　　雅典：過(guò)去與現(xiàn)在
　　想象一下，你是一個(gè)雅典公民，上穿T恤衫，下穿牛仔褲，在溫暖的地中海夜幕下，坐在希羅德·阿提庫(kù)劇院欣賞著美妙的音樂(lè)會(huì)。
　　現(xiàn)在回溯到1839年。你坐在同一座位上，你所看的是經(jīng)典的希臘娛樂(lè)節(jié)目，穿著簡(jiǎn)單的寬大長(zhǎng)袍或是過(guò)膝短袖束腰外衣。
　　雅典城是新與舊、古典與現(xiàn)代的有趣組合。那里你在神廟的廢墟旁可以發(fā)現(xiàn)小商店，而與神廟一個(gè)街區(qū)之隔就是有空調(diào)設(shè)施的大酒店。今天，你仍然可以看到2500年前的偉大古城。
　　古跡是古代雅典城比較明顯的標(biāo)志，其中比較著名的是雅典衛(wèi)城。衛(wèi)城坐落在山上，而這座山曾經(jīng)是雅典的生活中心。山坡上有一些神廟、紀(jì)念碑和劇院。雅典城區(qū)從山頂向四面八方延伸。
　　坐落在山上比較高點(diǎn)的帕提儂神廟，曾經(jīng)是供奉城市的保護(hù)神——雅典娜的巨大神廟。它建于公元前432年，后來(lái)多次遭到毀壞。今天參觀者仍然能夠欣賞到她精湛的建筑技巧。神廟外圍的石柱并非直立而是向里傾斜的，石柱中間略粗。神廟中心建筑比四周的高。這些建筑效果使帕提儂神廟從遠(yuǎn)處看起來(lái)十分高聳筆直。
　　距離雅典衛(wèi)城僅一個(gè)街區(qū)就是普拉卡區(qū)，該區(qū)遍布小商店和餐館，很受游客和當(dāng)?shù)厝说臍g迎，也是現(xiàn)代雅典文化的重要組成部分。
　　許多偉大的思想家、文學(xué)家和政治領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人曾在古代希臘生活。這些名人的住所遺址和活動(dòng)場(chǎng)所遍布整個(gè)繁忙的港口城市。圣保羅曾在雅典衛(wèi)城附近的山上為早期希臘基督教徒布道。偉大的思想家帕里克里斯和狄摩西尼曾在普尼克斯山向集會(huì)市民演講。今天普尼克斯是娛樂(lè)秀和音樂(lè)會(huì)的露天劇場(chǎng)。
　　希臘人仍在使用一些古代的場(chǎng)所，如普尼克斯和希羅德·阿提庫(kù)劇場(chǎng)。公元76年古羅馬時(shí)期，角斗士曾在“泛雅典”露天運(yùn)動(dòng)場(chǎng)進(jìn)行競(jìng)技比賽;1896年的奧林匹克運(yùn)動(dòng)會(huì)也在那兒舉行;今天，人們?nèi)栽谶@個(gè)運(yùn)動(dòng)場(chǎng)跑步和鍛煉。
　　旅游業(yè)對(duì)于居住在雅典的人來(lái)說(shuō)是非常重要的。每年成千上萬(wàn)的各地游人來(lái)到希臘參觀這些古跡和藏有古代工藝品的博物館。旅游業(yè)提供了許多工作機(jī)會(huì)，為希臘帶來(lái)了經(jīng)濟(jì)收入，促進(jìn)了城市的發(fā)展。希臘人民為他們祖先的輝煌成績(jī)感到自豪，世界各地的人民也來(lái)到希臘表達(dá)崇拜之心。今天，環(huán)游雅典全城，我們可以想象到古雅典人們生活的情景�！　�