雅思阅读素材英文原文：An ancient arena
Welcome you students to this site. Based onthearchaeologicalevidence andartifactswe havefound so far, we canascertainthat there was once agreatarenahere. Thosearchesover there were themain entrances and thesearticlesthat we found overthere is the type once worn by gladiators. Take alook at them. The color is still bright because none ofthe dyes used then wereartificial; they were wellprocessed and obviously permanent.
Now if we look at the land closer we can see thatthat area where the land slopes up is where thegladiators wouldascendto greet the leader of the tournament. For many gladiators that wastheir lastascentever, they would never arise again.
Thisarray of arbitraryitems and weapons found here in the center of the arenaarousestheidea in me that the battle wasarduous. Note how many are broken.
We can also see from these seeds that we can detect in lower layers of the soil,thataromaticspices were used as part of the celebration and spread throughout the arena.This area was quite dry even back then; these seeds must have come from a muchmorearborealarea. Other similar archaeological sites have seeds and artifacts from as far asthearcticregion.
You may wonder why I can be soarticulate, confident andardentabout this information. Well,I'm not beingarrogant, this area was simply a mainarteryof civilization and there are manyother similar sites that I have researched all of my life.
雅思阅读素材翻译：古代竞技场
欢迎同学们来到这个遗址。•根据我们迄今发现的考古学证据和手工艺品，我们可以确定，这里曾经有一个大竞技场。那边那些拱形物是主要入口，而我们在那儿找到的物品是角斗士们曾经穿过的衣服。大家看一下，衣服的颜色还很鲜亮，因为当时使用的染料都不是人造的，而且它们都经过了很好的加工，显然是永不褪色。
现在，如果我们更加仔细地观察一下这块地，就会发现那个向上倾斜的地方就是过去角斗士走上去向大赛领导致敬的地方。对很多角斗士来说，那是他们最后一次登高，因为他们再也不会出现了。
在竞技场中心发现的任意这一批物品和武器都会在我心中激发了这样一种想法：角斗士们经历了艰苦的搏斗。注意看损坏了的东西是多少。
我们还可以从在土壤下层发现的这些种子看出，当时人们在庆祝活动中使用了有香味的调料，并把它们撒遍了整个竞技场。即使在当时，这个地区也很干燥，这些种子准是来自有更多树木的地区。其他类似的考古学遗址还发现了最远来自习北极地区的种子和手工艺品。
你们可能会奇怪我为什么能把这些信息说得如此清晰、自信而又充满热情。并不是我自大，这地区的确是文明的一根主动脉，而且在我的一生当中，我还研究过许多其他类似的遗址。
文章中的单词学习
arbitray a.专横武断的,任意的
arboreal a.1树木的2栖息在树上的,生活在树上的
arch n.拱门,拱形结构
archaeological a.考古学的
arctic a.北欧的,北极区的 n.北极
ardent a.热情的,热烈的
arduous a.艰巨的,艰辛的
arena a.角斗场,(喻)竞争场所,活动场所
arise v.形成,产生;出现,呈现
aromatic a.芳香的,有香味的
arouse n.唤起,激起,引起
array n.(排列整齐的)的一批;大量
arrogant a.傲慢的,自大的
artefact n.人工制品,手工艺品
artery n.动脉,干线,要道
article n.(物品的)一件;物品;文章;条款;冠词
articulate a./v.发音清晰,善于表达
artifact n.人工制品,手工艺品
artifical a.人工的,人造的;假的;假装的
asecend v.攀登;登上;上升;升高
ascent n.上升,提高;上坡路
ascertain v.查明,弄清,确定