0 years stonehenge is still standing. we now know how it was built. the question "why" is a bit more 13)problematic. twenty first century followers of ancient mystical beliefs are sure that stonehenge has a connection with the summer and winter 14)solstices. "as a druid, as a priest of the land, i feel stonehenge to be one of the key sacred temples in the world. stonehenge evokes in us a connection between some deep 15)ancestral intuitive soul and the power of nature around us."
nature may well know all the answers, but science has yet to prove its theories. it seems stonehenge isn't ready to reveal all its secrets just yet.
巨石阵
古老的巨石阵屹立在英格兰索尔兹伯里平原上，数世纪以来，它的丰姿赋予了我们丰富的想象力。它是地球上最神秘的史前遗迹。
巨石阵是独一无二的，因为它是首次出现的最大规模巨石。
究竟是谁建造了巨石阵？这要追溯到公元前2950年，有两种说法：一种认为是特鲁伊特教的教徒，另一种说法则认为是希腊人。有关巨石阵作用的推测也是众说纷纭，上至天文学意义，下至不明飞行体的降落点，尚无定论。
现在，尽管很多巨石已经倒塌，或给搬走，但是这古迹仍然每天吸引着近五千名游客观光。
差不多就在古埃及人建造金字塔的时候，巨石阵的第一批石头被运达英格兰索尔兹伯里平原。巨石的神秘之处在于，它只能从南威尔士的普雷西山脉取材，而那里位于150英里开外。
从威尔士搬运石材是个艰巨的工作，因为最初的巨石阵中约有80多块巨石，每块重达4吨。现在如果从巨石阵开车去威尔士，全程需要大概5小时。可对于古人来说，这实在是条遥遥长路。
巨石从大山里开采出来后，先用船只运抵海岸，然后再利用撬具从海岸运到现在的地址。
仅仅是搬运这些重达四十吨的巨石，就需要大约150人。
能把些巨石运送到这里已是惊人之举。但建造巨石阵所花费的工夫更是复杂。因为巨石并不是简单地堆叠在一起，而是被巧妙地连接在一起：石块上这一部分的孔眼是用石锤开出来的，它原来刚好可以套住顶上另一块巨石的石楦。
经历了五千年的风风雨雨，巨石仍然屹立不倒。现在我们已经知道它是如何建成的了。但问题是，为什么要建造这样一个巨石阵呢？古代密教的21世纪追随者则确信不疑：巨石阵与夏至、冬至日有关。“身为特鲁伊特信徒以及这片土地的神职者，我认为巨石阵是世上最重要的圣殿之一。它唤醒我们，在深藏的祖传直觉精神与大自然力量之间是有着某种联系的。”
大自然也许知道一切答案，但理论有待于用科学去进一步考证。看来巨石阵似乎还不愿意将神秘面纱全部揭开哩。
注释：
1) enigmatic a. 谜一般的，高深莫测的
2) pre-historic a. 史前的，古老的
3) unique a. 独特的
4) druid n. 德鲁伊特教团员
5) speculation n. 思索
6) astronomy n. 天文学
7) ufo即unidentified flying object，飞碟，不明飞行物
8) sledge n. 雪橇
9) feat n. 壮举
10) pound v. 连续重击
11) protruding a. 突出的
12) knob n. 突出物
13) problematic a. 问题的，有疑问的
14) solstice n. （天文）至日，至点
15) ancestral a. 祖先的，祖传的
★★《2003年05月号-第40期-disc01-10》★★
a century of memories (1920-1929)
at the 1)dawn of the 1920's, america was clearly entering a new era, an era defined by a vast and complicated urban culture that would dominate the rest of the 20th century.
after world war i, there was an eagerness to embrace the new and it was in america's cities, most dramatically in its biggest, new york, where the modern age was born. the very architecture of the city spoke of america's new 2)ascendancy and her 3)aspirations.
historian david mccullen--
david mccullen: the 4)skyscraper was an example of the new form achieving a kind of thrilling scale and nobility. more people worked there than lived in the average small town in america.
a movement to the cities that had started during world war i 5)accelerated. in 1920, for the first time more americans lived in urban centers than in country towns and villages.
american studies professor, anne douglas--
anne douglas: the pace has been set in the cities. the city is 6)irresistibly attractive, is really at a kind of high tide in this decade. it's a force, a 7)magnet.
the very names of new york streets would become 8)synonymous with progress and innovation. broadway would represent the best and latest in american entertainment. madison avenue would come to 9)stand for the bustling new business of advertising which was uniting the nation in a set of shared fantasies and desires. and wall street came to represent the decade's expanding economic opportunities. wall street was where the 10)action was. people came from everywhere to get in on it.
michael trinkel--
michael trinkel: the reason i came to new york was there was nobody there after they closed the mines in 1926 in pennsylvania. there was no money coming there. this fella jerry got me the first job and he said, "come on down to wall street, the streets are 11)paved with gold."
it seemed that way too on park and 5th avenues where the 12)tycoons lived. the number of millionaires in the 1920's jumped 400% over the previous decade. the 20's feeling of limitless horizons was fueled by their 13)lavish lifestyle.
francis leimen lobe--
francis leimen lobe: in those days you had lots of help. you had a cook, you had a kitchen maid and you had a 14)laundress. and then you had a parlor maid, a 15)chambermaid and mother's maid. how many does that make? six, but i think there were eight, actually. terribly nice people.
it was in 16)harlem clubs that one could see the artists at the 17)forefront of this fresh and uniquely american music. performers such as louis armstrong, bessie smith and a 18)dapper young man named edward kennedy ellington, his friends simply called him, duke.
the actor, aussie davis--
aussie davis: duke was the essence of what black music was all about. everybody else was heading in that direction, but duke was there.
the cultural historian, stretch johnson--
stretch johnson: the first time that i was seized by the music was the first time i heard duke ellington broadcast from the cotton club where broadway, hollywood and paris rub elbows. p