https://www.popsci.com/science/lismore-medieval-monastery-scotland/
About 100 miles northwest of Edinburgh lies Lismore, a Scottish island with only 190 residents. Most of them are fishermen and farmers, and the island is (1)______ enough to have no pub or coffee shop. It is hardly the kind of place where big things are expected to happen. Even so, this quiet community has just made a remarkable (2)______.
For generations, local histories have held that a monastery（修道院） once stood on the island. Tradition says it was (3)______ in the sixth century by Saint Mo Luóc, an Irish missionary（传教士）. He had (4)______ many Picts（皮克特人） in northern Scotland to Christianity. Yet for centuries the monastery's remains stayed (5)______.
That changed when a group of mainly older residents decided to start digging. They were not trained archaeologists, (6)______ they knew the island's past better than anyone. Before they could begin, however, they needed money. In 2016 the Lismore Historical Society started raising funds from local donations and legacies（遗赠）, a crowdfunding（众筹） campaign and a few grants. The response was remarkable: families who had lived on the island for generations gave what they could. The money (7)______ them to bring in Dr Clare Ellis, a professional archaeologist. She came to (8)______ the dig and advise the volunteers.
With the first pit barely open, the team struck gold. They found several early medieval（中世纪的） crucibles（坩埚） used to cast gold and silver luxury goods, along with all the (9)______ of an important monastery: early buildings, finely carved（雕刻的） stone and a burial ground. The find has since been (10)______ with Iona, a far more famous monastery founded in 563 CE off the west coast of Scotland.
By the late seventh century, both sites belonged to a larger Gaelic（盖尔语）-speaking kingdom that (11)______ Argyll and most of the Hebrides. Its monasteries were not isolated places but centres of learning and faith. Dr Ellis describes the region as a spiritual, cultural and sometimes political power-house, with a number of (12)______ early Christian communities located there.
(13)______ Lismore is a sleepy island today, in the early Middle Ages it formed part of an important network of monasteries. What makes the story remarkable, though, is the (14)______ of the islanders themselves: with no training and little money, they set out to prove that the old stories were true. For them, the discovery has become a source of great (15)______, for it shows that their quiet island mattered long before anyone wrote about it.
(1) A.small B.peaceful C.crowded D.remote
(2) A.mistake B.decision C.discovery D.promise
(3) A.destroyed B.repaired C.closed D.founded
(4) A.praised B.led C.invited D.returned
(5) A.hidden B.empty C.tidy D.ruined
(6) A.and B.for C.but D.or
(7) A.forced B.allowed C.helped D.reminded
(8) A.stop B.fund C.copy D.guide
(9) A.signs B.costs C.limits D.rules
(10) A.filled B.shared C.compared D.covered
(11) A.escaped B.included C.divided D.located
(12) A.crucial B.essential C.beneficial D.influential
(13) A.Because B.Although C.Unless D.Once
(14) A.determination B.luck C.wealth D.success
(15) A.interest B.relief C.pride D.sorrow
词汇短语精讲
1. be expected to 预计会……；按常理应当……
例句：It is hardly the kind of place where big things are expected to happen.
提示：expect 本义「期望」，be expected to do sth. 表示「预计会发生某事、被认为应当做某事」，主语是被预期的一方；文中用 big things are expected to happen 说明这座小岛本不是会出大事的地方。
2. be compared with 被拿来与……相比；可与……相提并论
例句：The find has since been compared with Iona, a far more famous monastery founded in 563 CE off the west coast of Scotland.
提示：compare A with B 指把 A 与 B 放在一起比较异同；be compared with 表「被拿来与……作比较」，主语是被比较的一方。文中用 The find has since been compared with Iona 说明这次发现可与更有名的 Iona 修道院相提并论。
3. set out to do 着手做某事；下决心去做
例句：What makes the story remarkable, though, is the determination of the islanders themselves: with no training and little money, they set out to prove that the old stories were true.
提示：set out 本义「出发、动身」，后接不定式时引申为「着手做某事、下决心去做」；文中用 set out to prove that the old stories were true 说明岛民立志用发掘来证明旧说。
4. strike gold 挖到金矿；（引申）一下子有了重大发现、大获成功
例句：With the first pit barely open, the team struck gold.
提示：熟词生义：strike 本义「打击、撞击」，strike gold 字面是「挖到金矿」，文中引申为「一下子挖到宝贝、有了重大发现」，与后文出土的坩埚、雕石和墓地相呼应。
5. long before 远在……之前很久；早在……之前
例句：For them, the discovery has become a source of great pride, for it shows that their quiet island mattered long before anyone wrote about it.
提示：long before 引导时间状语从句，表示「远在……之前」；与 before long（不久之后）词序相反、含义不同，注意区分。
句子精讲
1. About 100 miles northwest of Edinburgh lies Lismore, a Scottish island with only 190 residents.
翻译：爱丁堡西北约一百英里处，坐落着利斯莫尔——一座只有 190 名居民的苏格兰小岛。
结构：About 100 miles northwest of Edinburgh 是表示方位的介词短语，置于句首作地点状语；谓语 lies（lie「位于」）提到主语之前，构成完全倒装，真正的主语是 Lismore——把谓语提前，既承接句首的方位，又让较长的同位语留在句末，避免「主语长、句末轻」；a Scottish island with only 190 residents 是 Lismore 的同位语，用 with 短语补充说明这是怎样一座岛。全句按「方位—主体—补充」层层展开，为下文「这样一座小岛竟挖出宝贝」的反差埋下伏笔。
语法：地点状语前置引起的完全倒装（介词短语 + 谓语 lies + 主语）+ 同位语（a Scottish island with ...）
仿写：可用句式：About ___ ___ of ___ lies ___ , a ___ with ___ .（例：About twenty kilometres south of the city lies a small fishing village, a place with fewer than fifty families.）
2. Most of them are fishermen and farmers, and the island is small enough to have no pub or coffee shop.
翻译：他们大多是渔民和农民；小岛小到连一家酒馆、一家咖啡馆都没有。
结构：前一分句 Most of them are fishermen and farmers 先交代岛上居民的营生，再用 and 并出后一分句 the island is small enough to have no pub or coffee shop。后一分句用「be + 形容词 + enough + to do」把「岛小」这一判断一路推到极端——小到连一家酒馆、一家咖啡馆都没有。这里用的是反讽（讽刺）的修辞手法：字面上只是把这座岛写得微不足道，用的又全是最琐碎、最日常的缺失（酒馆、咖啡馆），越写得平淡，越反衬出全篇「这样一座小岛竟挖出千年修道院」的反差；紧接其后的 It is hardly the kind of place where big things are expected to happen 也是同一路数——先极言其小、其无，再翻出惊人的发现，语带调侃，是「以贬为褒、正话反说」的铺垫。
语法：and 连接的并列句 + be + adj. + enough + to do 的结果结构（把程度推向极端，构成反讽）+ no + 名词 的否定限定
仿写：可用句式：___ ___ ___ ___ , and ___ ___ ___ ___ to ___ ___ ___ ___ .（例：Only three people work in the office, and the budget is generous enough to buy no more than a box of pens.）
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