高一英语人教版必修二Unit 1 课文内容

Unit1CulturalRelicsINSEARCHOFTHEAMBERROOMFrederickWilliamI,theKingofPrussia,couldneverhaveimaginedthathisgreatestgifttotheRussianpeoplewouldhavesuchanamazinghistory.ThisgiftwastheAmberRoom,whichwasgiventhisnamebecauseseveraltonsofamberwereusedtomakeit.Theamberwhichwasselectedhadabeautifulyellow-browncolourlikehoney.Thedesignoftheroomwasinthefancystylepopularinthosedays.Itwasalsoatreasuredecoratedwithgoldandjewels,whichtookthecountry’sbestartistsabouttenyearstomake.Infact,theroomwasnotmadetobeagift.ItwasdesignedforthepalaceofFrederickI.However,thenextKingofPrussia,FrederickWilliamI,towhomtheamberroombelonged,decidednottokeepit.In1716hegaveittoPetertheGreat.Inreturn,theCzarsenthimatroopofhisbestsoldiers.SotheAmberRoombecamepartoftheCzar’swinterpalaceinPetersburg.Aboutfourmetreslong,theroomservedasasmallreceptionhallforimportantvisitors.Later,CatherineIIhadtheAmberRoommovedtoapalaceoutsideStPetersburgwhereshespenthersummers.Shetoldherartiststoaddmoredetailstoit.In1770theroomwascompletedthewayshewanted.Almostsixhundredcandleslittheroom,anditsmirrorsandpicturesshonelikegold.Sadly,althoughtheAmberRoomwasconsideredoneofthewondersoftheworld,itisnowmissing.InSeptember1941,theNaziarmywasnearStPetersburg.Thiswasatimewhenthetwocountrieswereatwar.BeforetheNaziscouldgettothesummerpalace,theRussianswereabletoremovesomefurnitureandsmallartobjectsfromtheAmberRoom.However,someoftheNazissecretlystoletheroomitself.Inlessthantwodays100,000pieceswereputinsidetwenty-sevenwoodenboxes.ThereisnodoubtthattheboxeswerethenputonatrainforKonigsberg,whichwasatthattimeGermancityontheBalticSea.Afterthat,whathappenedtotheAmberRoomremainsamystery.Recently,theRussiansandGermanshavebuiltanewAmberRoomatthesummerpalace.BystudyingoldphotosoftheformerAmberRoom,theyhavemadethenewonelookliketheoldone.In2003itwasreadyforthepeopleofStPetersburgwhentheycelebratedthe300thbirthdayoftheircity.AFACTORANOPINIONWhatisafact?Isitsomethingthatpeoplebelieve?No.Afactisanythingthatcanbeproved.Forexample,itcanbeprovedthatChinahasmorepeoplethananyothercountryintheworld.Thisisafact.Thenwhatisanopinion?Anopinionissomethingthatsomeonebelievesistruebuthasnotbeenimproved.Soanopinionisnotgoodevidenceinatrial.Forexample,itisanopinionifyousay“Catsarebetterpetsthandogs.”Itmaybetrue,butitisdifficulttoprove.Somepeoplemaynotagreewiththisopinionbuttheyalsocannotprovethattheyareright.Inatrial,ajudgemustdecidewhicheyewitnessestobelieveandwhichnottobelieve.Thejudgedoesnotconsiderwhateacheyewitnesslookslikeorwherethatpersonlivesorworks.He/sheonlycaresaboutwhethertheeyewitnesshasgiventrueinformation,whichmustbefactsratherthanopinions.Thiskindofinformationiscalledevidence.