“皇城古道月朦胧，瓊台美酒醉東風。天下文明不及此，春風吹遍紫禁城。”600年，曆經風雨的故宮，每一處都值得敬畏！

主題語境： 人與社會之曆史、社會與文化

詞數： 約270詞

建議用時： 3′30′′

Questions for you before reading:

1. Are you ready for a tour of the Forbidden City?

2. Do you know why it is called the Forbidden City?

The Forbidden City

Built between 1406 and 1420, the Forbidden City served as the Chinese imperial (皇帝的) palace for almost 500 years. This was not a common palace! It consisted of almost 1,000 buildings that covered almost 8 million square feet!

The name “Forbidden City” comes from the Chinese phrase “Zijin Cheng”, meaning “Purple Forbidden City”. The color purple refers to the North Star, which was thought to be home of the Celestial Emperor. So the Forbidden City was home of the earthly emperor. “Jin” means “forbidden”. The palace was “forbidden” because it was a walled city that no one could enter without permission (準許) from the emperor.

The Forbidden City is enclosed by a 26-foot-high wall and a moat (護城河) that is over 170 feet wide and over 20 feet deep. The walls are almost 30 feet wide at their base. These features helped the emperors feel safe within the Forbidden City. The overall design of the Forbidden City was to satisfy the ancient Chinese emperors. For example, yellow was the color of the emperor, so almost all roofs in the Forbidden City were covered with yellow materials.

In 1987, the Forbidden City was declared to be a World Heritage Site. It’s one of the largest collections of ancient wooden structures in the world. Today, the Forbidden City is home to the Palace Museum. The museum’s collection of over 1 million rare (稀有的) Chinese artworks comes mainly from the Ming and Qing dynasties. And it has become one of the world’s most popular tourist attractions.

TASK

Choose the correct answer.

( ) 1. How long did it take to build the Forbidden City?

A. 10 years.

B. 14 years.

C. 20 years.

D. 24 years.

( ) 2. What does Paragraph 2 mainly tell us?

A. Why the North Star was mentioned.

B. How people could enter the palace.

C. Why the palace was forbidden.

D. How the palace got its name.

( ) 3. What does the underlined word “features” mean in Chinese?

A. 交易

B. 限制

C. 特征

D. 供給

( ) 4. Which of the following is TRUE?

A. Emperors in ancient China loved yellow very much.

B. There are about 10,000 buildings in the Forbidden City.

C. The moat around the Forbidden City is over 30 feet deep.

D. Most artworks in the Palace Museum are from the Ming dynasty.

Key:

1-4 BDCA

内容精選自《學英語》報

整理 | 康列娟

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