https://online2.tingclass.net/lesson/shi0529/0001/1192/bs20070606.mp3
https://image.tingclass.net/statics/js/2012
In spite of its glorious design, the Colosseum was built largely for the distraction of the masses in a cynical age, providing dramatic and often gruesome entertainments. Armies of slaves fought for their lives in horrific recreations of famous battles. Gladiators fought wild animals and one another to the death in return for their continued survival, the glory of victory, and precious gifts from their benefactors. These spectacles of gratuitous violence may seem a little anachronistic, but they are also analogues in many ways to professional sports today. Perhaps the Colosseum is not really such an "ancient" artifact after all.
盡管設(shè)計(jì)得金碧輝煌,建造羅馬競(jìng)技場(chǎng)的主要目的是,在憤世嫉俗的時(shí)代中,供人們忘情娛樂(lè),演出戲劇張力十足、不時(shí)令人毛骨悚然的娛樂(lè)節(jié)目。在以著名戰(zhàn)役為背景的駭人節(jié)目中,成群奴隸為生存而戰(zhàn)。戰(zhàn)士們與猛獸搏斗或自相殘殺,至死方休,換來(lái)的除了繼續(xù)生存的權(quán)利、勝利的榮耀、還有贊助者饋贈(zèng)的厚禮。這些暴力場(chǎng)面或許有些過(guò)時(shí),然而類(lèi)似的場(chǎng)景在現(xiàn)今職業(yè)運(yùn)動(dòng)中仍屢見(jiàn)不鮮?;蛟S是羅馬競(jìng)技場(chǎng)畢竟不是一座真正的“古跡”。
(短文節(jié)選,本篇始于:羅馬競(jìng)技場(chǎng))