2016年12月大學(xué)英語六級閱讀練習(xí)(34)

　　The Apple Of Discord

　　The wedding of Peleus and the sea-goddess Thetis2were held and all gods were invited. But herabsence3 of one goddess was clearly noticeable. Itwas Eris, the goddess of discord. As she plantedseeds of discord wherever she went, it was naturalthat her presence at the ceremony was notdesirable. She had good reason to feel angry. Soshe decided to make fun of4 the group at the party. Eris slipped5 into the hall after the coupleleft and rolled on the floor a golden apple , having the words, “For the fairest”. It caused aviolent quarrel among the three goddesses, Hera , Athena and Aphrodite. Zeus found itadvisable to send them before a shepherd boy on Mt Ida, Paris by name , for judgment.Hermes, the messenger, took the apple in his hand and led the goddess away.

　　Paris was son of Priam, king of Troy. As his mother dreamed at his birth that she was bearing apiece of burning wood, the babe was regarded as representing the destruction of the cityitself. To save the kingdom from possible disaster6 , the parents had the helpless infant lefton top of Mt Ida to die. However, he survived his ill fate. Brought up by the herdsmen, hebecame a strong, handsome lad. He was secretly united with Oenone, a fair and faithfulmountain fairy maiden. On this particular day, as he was taking care of his sheep on themountain side, the youth was surprised to see four human beings standing before him. Hermestold him about his mission and left. The three holy beauties then competed with each other,showing themselves up before the shepherd. Hera promised to make him king of Asia. Athenaundertook7 to help him get imperishable fame in war; whereas Aphrodite offered to secure forhim the love of the most beautiful woman in the world. The primitive instinct of the boy thusmoved, Aphrodite won the prize , and the other two goddesses left in anger and became deadlyenemies of Troy.

　　閱讀自測

　?、? Fill in the blanks with proper words in the passage :

　　1. But the absence________ one goddess was clearly noticeable.

　　2. It was natural that Eris, the goddess of discord, her presence________ the ceremony wasnot desirable.

　　3. He decided to make fun________ the group at the party.

　　4. Eris slipped________ the hall after the new couple left.

　　5. As his mother dreamed ________ his birth that she was bearing a piece of burning wood,the babe was regarded representing ________ the destruction of the city itself.

　?、? Questions :

　　1. Who rolled the golden apple on the floor?

　　2. Who were the three goddesses to compete to win the apple ?

　　3. Who at last won the title of“ the fairest”and what was the disaster?

　　參考答案

　?、? 1. of 2. at 3. of 4. into 5 . at / as

　　Ⅱ. 1. Eris rolled the golden apple on the floor. 2. Thethree goddesses were Hera, Athena , Aphrodite. 3.Aphrodite at last won the title of“ the fairest”, but itmade the other two goddesses become the deadlyenemies of Troy.

　　參考譯文

　　蘋果挑爭端

　　珀琉斯和海神西蒂斯結(jié)婚時邀請了所有的神靈。但是, 顯然有一位女神不在邀請之 列, 她就是厄里斯——— 不和女神。由于她在所到之處撒播不和之種, 人們自然不希望她出 席婚宴。厄里斯理所當然地感到憤怒。她決定嘲弄宴會上的眾神一番。當新娘新郎退場 后, 厄里斯偷偷溜進了大廳, 往地板上拋出了一個金蘋果, 上書“ 獻給最美的神”。這在赫 拉、雅典娜和阿佛洛狄特三位女神之間引起了激烈爭執(zhí)。宙斯認為將她們帶到愛達山上一 位名叫帕里斯的牧羊人那里, 讓他來裁決才是明智的。海爾墨斯作為使者, 手持金蘋果, 領(lǐng)著三位女神離開了。

　　帕里斯是特洛伊國王皮安姆的兒子。由于他母親在生他時, 夢到自己手持一根燃燒的 木頭, 于是人們認為這孩子會給城市帶來毀滅之災(zāi)。為了使王國免遭可能之禍, 國王及王 后把尚無自理能力的孩子扔到了愛達山頂。就這樣, 孩子還是擺脫噩運, 活了下來。在牧 人們的精心撫養(yǎng)下, 孩子長得既強壯又英俊。他偷偷地與漂亮忠誠的奧諾妮山神結(jié)了婚。 在這個不同尋常的一天, 帕里斯正在山腰照看羊群, 驚奇地發(fā)現(xiàn)四個人站在他面前。海爾 墨斯講完帕里斯所要做的事情之后就離去了。三位美麗的女神立即爭吵起來, 競相在這位 牧羊人面前表現(xiàn)自己。赫拉許諾讓他成為亞細亞國王, 雅典娜愿意幫助他在戰(zhàn)爭中得到不朽 的榮譽, 而阿佛洛狄特則保證讓他得到世上最美的女人的愛。小伙子原始的本性被激發(fā)了出來, 阿佛洛狄特得到了金蘋果, 而另兩位女神則怒氣沖沖地離開, 成了特洛伊城的死敵。