The Royal Library of Alexandria|亚历山德拉图书馆之谜

by Marcus Maurice

What happened to the Royal Library of Alexandria is still a mystery today.

亚历山德拉图书馆究竟发生什么事至今仍是个谜。

Julius Caesar and the Roman army were in hot pursuit of his archrival Pompey in Alexandria, Egypt when they found themselves face to face with trouble. A fleet of Egyptian ships had _(1)_ their escape routes, so Caesar made the unusually brutal decision to set all the vessels on fire. Soon, the fire _(2)_ across the enemy fleet, jumped onto the docks, and started lighting up explosive materials that were ready for export. The huge fire went inland, and the Royal Library of Alexandria, the most famous library of the ancient world, was consequently _(3)_.

While the above paragraph makes for a harrowing tale of ancient times, it hasn't been proven that Caesar's army _(4)_ burned down the Royal Library. There are a few other versions of the destruction, but like many stories about the library, no one really knows for sure. _(5)_ is a fact is that this great library was the first to hold a vast number of history books from other countries. The Royal Library's goal was _(6)_ all of the world's knowledge. The total number is disputed, but some historians put the number of papyrus scrolls at one million, while others believe half that. _(7)_ collecting books and scrolls, the library hosted scholars and used many of its vast areas for scientific research. While the Royal Library of Alexandria's demise is not completely known, its influence lives on today because many universities use it as a blueprint for their campuses.

1.  (A) put out (B) turned off  (C) cut off (D) kicked out

2.  (A) spreads (B) spread  (C) have spread (D) should spread

3.  (A) destroyed   (B) resigned    (C) annoyed (D) confirmed

4.  (A) scarcely    (B) actually    (C) exactly (D) occasionally

5.  (A) That    (B) However (C) Whichever   (D) What

6.  (A) house   (B) housed  (C) to house    (D) by housing

7.  (A) Apart from  (B) By means of (C) Except for  (D) With regard to

　　西泽和罗马军队追捕其头号敌人庞培至埃及亚历山德拉港的时候，发现他们面临到了难题。埃及舰队切断了他们的逃生路线，所以西泽下了一个不寻常又残酷的决定，那就是放火焚毁所有的船舰。不久，火势蔓延到了敌方的舰队，波及了码头，还因此点燃原本准备要出口的易爆性原料。大火烧到了内陆，而亚历山德拉图书馆这座古代最著名的图书馆，结果就这样付之祝融。

　　以上这段文字虽然造就一段惨烈的古老故事，但西泽的军队是否真烧毁亚历山德拉图书馆则未经证实。另外尚有一些其他关于亚历山德拉图书馆被毁的说法，但就和许多与该图书馆有关的故事一样，没有人知道真相。确知的事实是这是首座收藏大量国外历史书籍的大型图书馆。亚历山德拉图书馆的目标就是储藏全天下的知识。关于总藏书量的说法纷纭，有些历史学家估计馆内的纸莎草纸卷轴达 100 万卷，但有些人则相信是 50 万卷。除了藏书和卷轴之外，这座图书馆还用来招待学者和利用其广大的场地作为科学研究之处。虽然我们并不完全清楚亚历山德拉图书馆殒落的真相，但她的影响至今仍然存在，因为许多大学都以她作为自己校区的蓝图。

标准答案: 1. (C)　2. (B)　3. (A)　4. (B)　5. (D)
　　  6. (C)　7. (A)

For Your Information

亚历山德拉图书馆（又称古亚历山德拉图书馆），曾经是历史上最大的图书馆。由埃及托勒密王朝的国王托勒密一世在公元前 3 世纪所建造，后来因为火灾而被摧毁。因为该图书馆连一个石块实物也没有留下，两千多年前她到底是什么模样也无人知晓，而大量考古发掘似乎也无确凿线索，只能从历史文献的零星记载中了解。仅知亚历山德拉图书馆创建当时大约是中国竹简流行；老子、孔子等诸子百家思想开始流传的年代。

埃及于 2002 年在原址附近重新建立的新亚历山德拉图书馆，目前已成为地中海沿岸主要的图书馆及文化中心之一。（数据源：维基百科）