第五篇 The Travels of Ibn Battuta

"I left Tangier, my birthplace, the 13th of June 1325 with the intention of making the pilgrimage [ to Mecca]... to leave all my friends both female and male, to abandon my home as birds abandon their nests. " So begins an old manuscript in a library in Paris-the travel journal of Ibn Battuta.

Almost two centuries before Columbus, this young Moroccan set off for Mecca, returning home three decades later as one of history's great travelers. Driven by curiosity, he journeyed to remote comers of the Islamic world, traveling through 44 modem countries, three times as far as Marco Polo. Little celebrated in the West2, his name is well known among Arabs. In his hometown of Tangier, a square, a hotel, a cafe, a ferry boat, and even a hamburger are named after him.

Ibn Battuta stayed in Mecca as a student for several years, but the urge to travel soon took over. In one adventure, he traveled to India seeking profitable employment with the Sultan of Delhi.3 On the way, he described his group being attacked in the open country by 80 men on foot, and two horsemen： "we fought ... killing one of their horsemen and about twelve of the foot soldiers ….I was hit by an arrow and my horse by another, but God in his grace preserved me .... We carried the heads of the slain to the castle of Abu Bak, har ... and suspended them from the wall. " In Delhi, the sultan gave him the position of judge, based on his prior study at Mecca. But the sultan had an unpredictable character, and Ibn Battuta looked for an opportunity to leave. When the sultan offered to finance a trip to China, he agreed. Ibn Battuta set off in three ships, but misfortune struck while he was still on the shore. A sudden storm grounded and broke up two ships, scattering treasure and drowning many people and horses. As he watched, the third ship, with all his belongings and slaves一one carrying his child-was carried out to sea and never heard from again.

After a lifetime of incredible adventures, Ibn Battuta was finally ordered by the Sultan of Morocco to return home to share his wisdom with the world. Fortunately, he consented and wrote a book that has been translated into numerous languages, allowing people everywhere to read about his unparalleled journeys.

詞匯：

pilgrimage n.朝圣，遠(yuǎn)游

ferry n.渡船

sultan n,蘇丹（伊斯蘭教國(guó)王，某些伊斯蘭國(guó)家統(tǒng)治者的稱號(hào)）

slain：slay的過(guò)去分詞slay v.殺死，殺戮

unparalleled adj.無(wú)比的，空前的

finance v.給……提供資金

scatter vt. 撒播，驅(qū)散; vi.消散

consent vi.同意，贊成

注釋：

1. ... with the intention of making the pilgrimage… ……打算去朝圣……

2. Little celebrated in the West,... 雖然在西方社會(huì)不怎么知名，……

3. ... seeking profitable employment with the Sultan of Delhi. ……在德里的蘇丹王那里謀到了一份收入頗豐的工作。

練習(xí)：

1. What is the passage mainly about?

A) Visitors to Mecca.

B) The adventures of Ibn Battuta.

C) Ibn Battuta's character.

D) Asian countries of the 14th century.

2. Which of the following is closest in meaning to set off for in line 5?

A) left to go to.

B) discussed.

C) arrived at.

D) decided upon.

3. The Sultan of Delhi gave Ibn Battuta a position of judge because o .

A) the sultan needed a translator.

B) Ibn Battuta had been a judge before.

C) Ibn Battuta had studied in Mecca.

D) Ibn Battuta had traveled to many countries.

4. Which of the following would the writer of this passage most likely agree with?

A) Ibn Battuta's journeys were very common for people of that time.

B) Ibn Battuta's stories are probably not true.

C) Ibn Battuta's journey was less important than Marco Polo's.

D) Ibn Battuta should be better known in the West today.

5. Why did Ibn Battuta finally return to his home?

A) He was tired of traveling.

B) He didn't have any more money.

C) He feared the Sultan of Delhi.

D) The Sultan of Morocco asked him to return.

答案與題解：

1. B根據(jù)i文的內(nèi)容以及標(biāo)題(The Travels of Ibn Battuta)，我們可以很快排除選項(xiàng)A、C和D。所以答案為 B(The adventures of Ibn Battuta)。

2. A從第一行我們知道伊本白圖泰的家鄉(xiāng)是丹吉爾，所以第五行中set off詞組后提到的麥加必然是伊本白圖泰要去的城市，想必他是離開家鄉(xiāng)前往麥加。因此，對(duì)比四個(gè)選項(xiàng)之后,我們不難發(fā)現(xiàn)正確答案為A( left to go to)。

3. C在第三段第七行中,我們可以發(fā)現(xiàn)本題的答案：因?yàn)橛性邴溂拥膶W(xué)習(xí)經(jīng)歷，德里的蘇丹王 給伊本白圖泰安排了法官的工作。因此，對(duì)比四個(gè)選項(xiàng)之后，我們不難發(fā)現(xiàn)正確答案為C (Ibn Battuta had studied in Mecca) 。

4. D選項(xiàng)A的意思是：在他那個(gè)時(shí)代的人看來(lái)，伊本白圖泰的經(jīng)歷很普通。結(jié)合本文內(nèi)容我們知道該選項(xiàng)必然是錯(cuò)誤的，故排除A。選項(xiàng)B的意思是：伊本白圖泰的游歷故事可能是虛構(gòu)的。根據(jù)本文的內(nèi)容我們可以知道伊本白圖泰在歷史上確有其人，他的游歷經(jīng)歷也是真實(shí)的，甚至他的游歷故事還被寫成了書流傳后世,所以該選項(xiàng)不對(duì)，故排除B。選項(xiàng)C的意思是：伊本白圖泰的游歷沒有馬可波羅的游歷重要。根據(jù)本文,我們知道伊本白圖泰的經(jīng)歷雖然在西方社會(huì)不如馬可波羅那么有名，但他的故事在阿拉伯世界是家喻戶曉。文中并沒有出現(xiàn)對(duì)比他們倆的信息,所以我們不能武斷地說(shuō)誰(shuí)的游歷就一定比另一位的重要，故排除選項(xiàng)C。因此，本題正確答案為D(在現(xiàn)今的西方世界，伊本白圖泰應(yīng)該會(huì)比以前更有名）。

5. D在第四段前兩行中，我們會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)：最后摩洛哥的蘇丹王要求游歷一生的伊本白圖泰回家和世人分享他的智慧。定位這條信息之后，我們?cè)賮?lái)對(duì)比四個(gè)選項(xiàng)就不難發(fā)現(xiàn)本題的正確 答案為D(摩洛哥的蘇丹王要求他回家）。

參考譯文

第五篇 伊本白圖泰游記

"1325年6月13日，我離開了家鄉(xiāng)丹吉爾，打算前往麥加朝圣。我告別了所有的朋友，如鳥兒離巢般，告別故土。"這便是伊本白圖泰游記的序言。這份舊的手稿存放在巴黎一家圖書館里。

這Y年輕的摩洛哥人所處的年代比哥倫布的年代要早了幾乎兩個(gè)世紀(jì)，從他出發(fā)去麥加 算起，30年之后伊本白圖泰才回到故鄉(xiāng)，那時(shí)的他已經(jīng)晉升到歷史上偉大旅行家的行列。出于好奇，他游歷了伊斯蘭世界的各個(gè)角落，足跡遍布了 44座現(xiàn)代城市，總行程是馬可波羅的3倍。雖然在西方社會(huì)不怎么有名，伊本白圖泰在阿拉伯國(guó)家卻家喻戶曉。在伊本白圖泰的故鄉(xiāng)丹吉爾，有以他命名的廣場(chǎng)、旅店、咖啡館、渡船，甚至漢堡。

伊本白圖泰以學(xué)生的身份在麥加待了幾年，但對(duì)于游歷的渴望很快又讓他重新出發(fā)。 有一次他來(lái)到印度，在德里的蘇丹王那里謀到了一份收入頗豐的工作。他寫到，在去德里的路上，他的隊(duì)伍在野外被80名步兵和2位馬夫攻擊："我們進(jìn)行了殊死搏斗……殺死 他們的一位馬夫和差不多12名步兵……我和馬都中了箭，但是多謝真主的恩賜，最后我活了下來(lái)……我們背著亡者的頭顱前往阿布巴卡爾的城堡……并把這些頭顱掛在城墻上。" 因?yàn)橛性邴溂拥膶W(xué)習(xí)經(jīng)歷，德里的蘇丹王給伊本白圖泰安排了法官的工作。但是這位蘇丹王脾氣古怪，性情多變，所以伊本白圖泰想借機(jī)逃走：當(dāng)蘇丹王提出要資助伊本白圖泰去中國(guó)旅行時(shí)，他同意了。伊本白圖泰將要乘著三艘船起航，但他還未離岸，不幸便降臨了。一場(chǎng)突如其來(lái)的暴風(fēng)雨摧毀了兩艘船，吹走了財(cái)寶，許多船員和馬匹都溺水而亡。他眼睜睜看著載著他的財(cái)物和奴隸的第三艘船被吹到了海上，從此便再無(wú)音訊。更糟的是，他的孩子也在這艘船上。

最后摩洛哥的蘇丹王要求一生游歷的伊本白圖泰回家和世人分享他的智慧。幸運(yùn)的是， 他同意了此事并寫了本書。這本書已被翻譯成了很多種語(yǔ)言，可以讓世人了解他那無(wú)與倫比的旅行經(jīng)歷。

編輯推薦：

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（責(zé)任編輯：vstara）

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