介绍： Unit1 Cultural relics
IN SEARCH OF THE AMBER ROOM
Frederick William I, the King of Prussia, could never have imagined that his greatest gift to the Russian people would have such an amazing history. This gift was the Amber Room, which was given this name because several tons of amber were used to make it. ...

介绍： Unit1 Cultural relics
IN SEARCH OF THE AMBER ROOM
Frederick William I, the King of Prussia, could never have imagined that his greatest gift to the Russian people would have such an amazing history. This gift was the Amber Room, which was given this name because several tons of amber were used to make it. The amber which was selected had a beautiful yellow-brown colour like honey. The design of the room was in the fancy style popular in those days. It was also a treasure decorated with gold and jewels, which took the country's best artists about ten years to make.
In fact, the room was not made to be a gift. It was designed for the palace of Frederick I. However, the next King of Prussia, Frederick William I, to whom the amber room belonged, decided not to keep it. In 1716 he gave it to Peter the Great. In return, the Czar sent him a troop of his best soldiers. So the Amber Room became part of the Czar's winter palace in St Petersburg. About four metres long, the room served as a small reception hall for important visitors.
Later, Catherine II had the Amber Room moved to a palace outside St Petersburg where she spent her summers. She told her artists to add more details to it. In 1770 the room was completed the way she wanted. Almost six hundred candles lit the room, and its mirrors and pictures shone like gold. Sadly, although the Amber Room was considered one of the wonders of the world, it is now missing.
In September 1941, the Nazi army was near St Petersburg. This was a time when the two countries were at war. Before the Nazis could get to the summer palace, the Russians were able to remove some furniture and small art objects from the Amber Room. However, some of the Nazis secretly stole the room itself. In less than two days 100,000 pieces were put inside twenty-seven wooden boxes. There is no doubt that the boxes were then put on a train for Konigsberg, which was at that time a German city on the Baltic Sea. After that, what happened to the Amber Room remains a mystery. Recently, the Russians and Germans have built a new Amber Room at the summer palace. By studying old photos of the former Amber Room, they have made the new one look like the old one. In 2003 it was ready for the people of St Petersburg when they celebrated the 300th birthday of their city.

第一单元 文化遗产 阅读一 寻找琥珀
普鲁士国王腓特烈·威廉一世从未想过他送个普鲁士人民伟大的礼物会有一点如此惊奇的历史。这个礼物是因为由几吨琥珀制成而命名的琥珀屋。这些被挑选的琥珀都有着像蜂蜜一样漂亮的黄棕色。这间屋的设计是当时最流行的奇特的风格。这同样是一件花了当时最好的艺术家大约十年用黄金和珠宝修饰制成的宝物。
事实上，这间屋不是制来当礼物的。这是为腓特烈一世的领土而设计的。然而，普鲁士下一任国王同样是琥珀屋的拥有者，腓特烈威廉一世决定不保留琥珀屋。在1716年他把琥珀屋送给了彼得大帝。作为报答，沙皇给了腓特烈一队他最好的士兵。因此琥珀屋成为了沙皇避寒圣地圣彼得堡的一部分。琥珀屋作为一个大概四米长的只为重要访客的小接待处。
后来，叶卡捷琳娜二世把琥珀屋在圣彼得堡之外的一个她避暑的地方。她让她的艺术家加了跟多的细节在里面。在1770年琥珀屋完全成了她想要的样子。接近600只蜡烛在屋内燃烧着，把镜子和图画都照得像金子一样。令人伤心的，虽然被誉为是世界奇迹之一的琥珀屋现在丢失了。
在1941年9月，纳粹军队在圣彼得堡附近。这正是两个国家在交战的时候。在纳粹去到避暑地方之前，俄国人民能够从琥珀屋里搬走一些家具和小的艺术品。然而，一些纳粹神秘的偷走了琥珀屋。至少两天内100000多片琥珀被放进27个木箱里。这些箱子无疑会被放进一艘去往当时德军驻扎的菠萝的海的哥尼斯堡的船上。之后，琥珀屋发生了神马仍然是个迷。
最近，俄国和德国人民在避暑的地方制造了一座新的琥珀屋。通过研究之前的琥珀屋的照片，他们制造了一座新的琥珀屋像旧的那座一样。在2003年它被圣彼得堡的人民用来庆祝这座城市的300岁生日。