Great Zimbabwe

Great Zimbabwe written by Eleanor Frost. Focus question. What is Great Zimbabwe?

《大津巴布韦》，作者埃莉诺·弗罗斯特。核心问题：大津巴布韦是什么？

An Ancient City The ancient city of Great Zimbabwe was once rich and powerful. Now the city is empty. Its ruins give us some clues about what life was like there. However, there are still many mysteries about the people who once lived there.

一座古老的城市 大津巴布韦这座古城曾经富庶又强盛。 现在这座城市空无一人。 它的遗址为我们提供了一些线索，能了解当时那里的生活样貌。 不过，关于曾经居住在那里的人们，仍有许多未解之谜。

Where is it? The ruins of Great Zimbabwe are in the south eastern part of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is a country in southern Africa. It is north of the country of South Africa. It is west of Mozambique.

它在哪里？ 大津巴布韦遗址位于津巴布韦的东南部。 津巴布韦是非洲南部的一个国家， 地处南非共和国的北部。 它位于莫桑比克的西侧。

Who built it? At first, European explorers were not sure who built Great Zimbabwe. However, experts can now prove that local people built the great city. Both works of art and the way that the walls were built help prove this fact. Most people think that the builders were a tribe called the Shona. The word Zimbabwe is thought to mean stone houses in the Shona language.

是谁建造了它？ 一开始，欧洲探险家并不确定是谁建造了大津巴布韦。 不过如今专家可以证实，是当地人建造了这座伟大的城市。 出土的艺术品以及城墙的建造方式都能佐证这一事实。 大多数人认为建造者是一个名为绍纳族的部落。 人们认为"津巴布韦"一词在绍纳语中的意思是"石头房子"。

Building the Walls. Builders used stone bricks to build the walls of Great Zimbabwe. First, they split huge rocks in the countryside to make bricks.

建造城墙 建造者们用石砖来修建大津巴布韦的城墙。 首先，他们劈开郊外的巨型岩石来制作石砖。

Then they stacked the bricks to build high walls. They did not use anything to hold the stones together. However, the stones fit together tightly. The walls are well built. In some places, huge rocks form part of the walls. The walls of Great Zimbabwe are curved instead of straight.

接着他们把石砖堆叠起来修建高墙 没有用任何材料来黏合这些石头 可石头之间严丝合缝 城墙修得十分牢固 有些区域的城墙还融入了巨型岩石 大津巴布韦的城墙都是弧形的，不是笔直的