Brendan the Navigator 航海家布蘭登

托福 067 考題符合托福 iBT 整合寫作的標準格式：在閱讀內容部分，作者提出三項證據用以主張航海家布蘭登曾經來到過北美洲。而在講課內容部分，則對此三項理由一一加以反駁。

在閱讀內容方面出現一些專業術語，但是都不難理解，因為文章都有附上補充說明。而在講課內容中，均沿用閱讀段落的術語，並沒有出現新的專業詞彙，所以不會有聽力部分遭到突襲的憂慮。

整篇難度屬於中等程度。只要能夠掌握整合寫作的聽力技巧、寫作格式、並通曉評分原則，應該能夠拿到至少 25 分。

本份考題英文原文與對應之中文翻譯整理如下。練習作答解題時若有對語意不清楚之處，請仔細查閱對照，以提升閱讀與聽力的理解能力。

Reading 閱讀內容

1.  

   Brendan the Navigator was an Irish priest who lived in the 6th century. He is most famous for embarking on a voyage in search of the mythical “Island of the Blessed.” The details of Brendan's voyage, recorded as stories in old manuscripts, suggest to some that Brendan and his crew reached North America during their voyage, becoming the first Europeans to do so. Those who advance this theory support it with several arguments

   點此看中文翻譯

   航海家布蘭登是一位生活在 6 世紀的愛爾蘭神父。他最著名的是開始了尋找神話中的「神祐之島」的航行。布蘭登航行的細節以故事的形式記錄在古老的手稿中，在一些人看來，布蘭登和他的船員在航行中到達了北美洲，成為第一個到達北美洲的歐洲人。提出這一理論的人用幾個論點來支持它

2.  

   First, the written stories about Brendan’s voyage seem to make references to places his crew would have visited on the way to North America. Sailors in Brendan's time typically traveled from island to island to avoid the dangers of long periods on the open seas. A journey from Ireland to North America would have taken Brendan to the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland before reaching the North American continent (see illustration). Places described in the stories about Brendan’s voyage share characteristics with some of those island locations.

   點此看中文翻譯

   首先，關於布蘭登航行的書面故事似乎提到了他的船員在前往北美的途中可能會訪問的地方。布蘭登時代的水手們通常從一個島到另一個島，以避免長期在公海上航行的危險。從愛爾蘭到北美的旅程中，布蘭登在到達北美大陸之前會先到法羅群島、冰島和格陵蘭島（見插圖）。關於布蘭登航行的故事中所描述的地方與這些島嶼中的一些地方有共同的特點。

3.  

   Second, a team of researchers recently constructed a boat resembling a curragh, an old Irish boat of the type used by Brendan. Curraghs had a wooden frame with cowhides stretched over it. In building the boat, the researchers used only materials and techniques available in Brendan’s time. The researchers were able to sail this boat from Ireland to North America, demonstrating that boat technology in Brendan’s time was sufficient for a journey across the Atlantic Ocean.

   點此看中文翻譯

   第二，一個研究小組最近建造了一艘類似於庫拉格的船，這是布蘭登使用的一種古老的愛爾蘭船。庫拉格有一個木製框架，上面鋪有牛皮。在建造這艘船時，研究人員只使用了布蘭登時代的材料和技術。研究人員能夠將這艘船從愛爾蘭航行到北美，顯示在布蘭登的時代，船的技術足以應付橫跨大西洋的旅行。

4.  

   Third, old markings that may have a connection to Brendan’s voyage have been discovered at several locations in North America. Cut into rocks, these markings consist of narrow vertical lines resembling letters of ogham, an old Irish alphabet in frequent use in Brendan’s time. The resemblance of those marks to ogham has convinced some that the markings were made by members of Brendan’s crew.

   點此看中文翻譯

   第三，在北美洲的幾個地方發現了可能與布蘭登的航行有關的古老標記。這些標記被切割在岩石上，由狹窄的垂直線組成，類似於奧格姆字母，這是布蘭登時代經常使用的一種古老的愛爾蘭字母表。這些標記與奧格姆語的相似性使一些人相信這些標記是由布蘭登的船員所做。

Lecture 講課內容

提供講課內容的中文翻譯有兩個目的。首先是幫助聽力有困難的同學能夠快速且精確地了解原文的意思。而更重要的原因是，提供給練習英語口語表達的讀者訓練的素材。

由於每個人的知識範疇各不相同，因此碰到超出自己專長的領域，常常會啞口無言，無話可說。這對練習英語表達是一項非常難以克服的障礙。所以參考托福整合寫作英語原稿，既可以讓自我練習英語聽力或會話時有貼切適當的素材，同時也能學些道地的表達方式，實是一舉數得。

使用上，可以在聽完一、兩次原始音檔之後，試著一邊看中文譯稿，一邊流利、正確地用英語說出文中的內容。多次練習之後，未來自然能夠在碰到同樣主題時與人侃侃而談。

1.  

   Now, listen to part of a lecture on the topic you just read about.

   Did Brendan the Navigator really get to North America in the 6th century? None of the evidence presented in the reading is particularly strong.

   點此看中文翻譯

   航海家布倫丹真的在 6 世紀到達了北美洲嗎？閱讀中提出的證據都不是特別有力。

2.  

   First, can we be sure that the stories really refer to the Faroe Islands or Iceland? Let's take a closer look. For example, the stories mentioned that Brendan visited “an island of sheep.” Some people believe that this is a reference to the Faroe Islands, because sheep were raised there. But sheep were raised in other locations, too. Another reference is to “a burning hill.” Again, some people think this refers to Iceland, where there are active volcanoes. But a burning hill may not mean a volcano. It could just be a hill where people have set many fires. So, as you can see, we cannot be too sure that the descriptions in the stories really refer to islands located along the way to America.

   點此看中文翻譯

   首先，我們能確定這些故事真的指的是法羅群島或冰島嗎？讓我們仔細看一下。例如，故事中提到，布蘭登訪問了「一個羊群之島」。有些人認為，這是指法羅群島，因為那裡養羊。但是在其他地方也有養羊。另一個地方提到「一座燃燒的山」。同樣，有些人認為這指的是冰島，那裡有活火山。但是燃燒的山丘可能不是指火山。它可能只是一座山，人們在那裡放了很多火。因此，正如你所看到的，我們不能太肯定故事中的描述真的是指位於通往美洲沿途的島嶼。

3.  

   Second, although the researchers built their ship using old Irish ship building methods, it was not an exact copy of the actual Curraghs used by the Irish in Brendan's time. Most importantly, the researcher ship is quite a bit longer, 12 meters long, and has more sails than an Irish ship would have had in the 6th century. Sure, this larger, more powerful ship is able to make an 8,000-kilometer voyage, but this doesn't really prove that the smaller curraghs built in Brendan's time could do the same.

   點此看中文翻譯

   其次，儘管研究者用愛爾蘭古老的造船方法建造了他們的船，但它並不是布蘭登時代愛爾蘭人所使用的真正的庫拉格的完全拷貝。最重要的是，研究人員的船比 6 世紀的愛爾蘭船要長不少，有 12 米長，而且有更多的帆。當然，這艘更大、更強大的船能夠進行 8,000 公里的航行，但這並不能真正證明在布蘭登時代建造的較小的庫拉格船也能做到這一點。

4.  

   Third, those intriguing markings discovered in North America. Well, some of those markings may resemble an old Irish alphabet, but many others do not. For example, some of the markings look like pictures, images of a sun, a hand, a tree. Real ogham, the old Irish script, was an alphabet and did not incorporate pictures, only letters. So the markings were probably not made by the Irish, but by Native Americans who did carve pictures into stone.

   點此看中文翻譯

   第三，在北美洲發現的那些耐人尋味的標記。嗯，其中一些標記可能類似於古老的愛爾蘭字母，但其他許多標記並不像。例如，有些標記看起來像圖畫，太陽、手、樹的圖像。真正的奧格姆文字，即古老的愛爾蘭文字，是一種字母表，不包含圖片，只有字母。因此，這些標記可能不是由愛爾蘭人製作的，而是由美洲原住民製作的，他們確實在石頭上雕刻了圖片。