Luis國際資訊事務所

by Marcus Maurice
One of the world's oldest professions is selling frankincense.

　　In the story of Christmas as told in the Bible, the Three Wise Men followed a star and found baby Jesus in a manger on December 25. Each of the Wise Men brought a gift for Jesus—gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Everyone knows what gold is as it is used as money and in making jewelry. But what are frankincense and myrrh? Both of these are resin, or tree sap, which is dried and used mostly as incense. It is acquired by cutting into the bark of certain species of trees and then waiting a few days for the sap to ooze out. The hardened sap is then harvested and mixed into products or made into incense.
　　Frankincense is the focus of National Geographic Channel's (NGC) series this month. On The Frankincense Trail, Kate Humble takes a journey along the old trade route across the Arabian Peninsula to see the history and understand the importance of frankincense in this part of the world. As she travels more than 3,200 kilometers through Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and Israel, she shares many amazing experiences with the locals and the viewers.
　　The frankincense trail starts in Oman, where Humble journeys in a caravan with over 300 camels through the desert to Shibam, Yemen, the first city in the world to build skyscrapers. From there, she goes to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and finds that the nation is amazingly modern, which is nothing like how it's portrayed in the news. After seeing the mummies and pyramids of Egypt, Humble travels through Jordan to Israel, where she ends her journey by following in the footsteps of the Three Wise Men. Catch The Frankincense Trail this month on NGC.

1. trail n. 小徑 & vt. 跟蹤
= track sb to + 地方
= follow sb to + 地方
例: The police officer trailed the suspect to his hideout.
（那名警察跟蹤嫌犯到他藏匿的地方。）

2. be used as...　　被用來（當作）……
be used for (doing) sth　　被用來做某事
例: My old vehicle is now used as a delivery truck.
（我的老爺車現在被用來當成送貨車。）
例: This machine is used for creating 3D models.
（這台機器是用來製作立體模型的。）

3. acquire vt. 取得，獲得
例: Mr. White acquired his wealth by investing in stocks.
（懷特先生靠投資股票致富。）

4. ooze vi. 滴出，徐徐流出
ooze out　　流出來
例: Large tears oozed out of Mary's tightly-shut eyes.
（豆大的淚珠自瑪莉緊閉的雙眼流出。）

5. hardened a. 變硬的
harden vt. 使變硬 & vi. 變硬
例: The sun hardened the mud on the road.
（太陽把路面上的泥巴曬硬了。）
例: Don't touch the toffee until it hardens.
（在太妃糖變硬之前不要去碰它。）

6. harvest vt. 收割 & n. 收成，收獲
例: With the new machines, the farmers find it easier to harvest their crops.
（有了新的機器，農人發現收割農作物容易多了。）
例: Last year's rice harvest was affected by the typhoon.
（去年稻米的收成受到了颱風的影響。）

7. journey n. & vi. 旅行（尤指長途旅行）
go on a journey to + 地方　　去某地旅行
例: Do you want to go on a journey to Tainan with me this weekend?
（你這個週末想和我一起去台南旅行嗎？）
例: I journeyed to Canada last summer and had a fantastic time there.
= I took a journey to Canada last summer and had a great time there.
= I traveled to Canada last summer and had a wonderful time there.
（去年夏天我到加拿大旅遊，在那兒玩得很愉快。）

8. route n. 路線
例: Paul took a different route home and almost got lost.
（保羅走一條不同的路線回家而差點迷路。）

9. share A with B　　與 B 分享 A
例: The actress shared her glory with her husband when she won the Oscar.
（那位女演員贏得奧斯卡獎時，和先生一起分享榮耀。）

10. amazingly adv. 令人驚奇地
例: The little boy's likeness to his father is amazingly striking.
（這男孩和父親實在像得不得了。）

11. portray vt. 描繪，描寫
portray A as B　　把 A 描繪成 B
例: This famous painting portrays the war between the Greeks and Trojans.
（這幅名畫描繪希臘與特洛伊之戰。）
例: The fox is often portrayed as a cunning animal in fairy tales.
（在童話故事裡，狐狸通常被描繪成狡猾的動物。）

12. follow in the footsteps of sb　　跟隨某人的腳步
= follow in one's footsteps
例: Ann decided to follow in her mother's footsteps and become a teacher.
（小安決定跟隨她母親的腳步成為老師。）

1. frankincense n. 乳香
2. manger n. 馬槽
3. myrrh n. 沒藥
4. jewelry n. 寶石，珠寶（集合名詞，不可數）
jewel n. 寶石，珠寶（可數）
5. resin n. 樹脂
6. sap n. 樹汁
7. incense n. 香；香的煙∕氣味
8. bark n. 樹皮
9. peninsula n. 半島
10. caravan n. 商隊
11. camel n. 駱駝
12. desert n. 沙漠
13. skyscraper n. 摩天樓
14. mummy n. 木乃伊
15. pyramid n. 金字塔

世界上最古老的職業之一是販售乳香。
　　聖經記載的耶誕故事說到，東方三智者跟隨著一顆星星前進，在 12 月 25 日這天發現誕生在馬槽的耶穌。每位智者都帶來一項禮物送給耶穌──黃金、乳香和沒藥。大家都知道黃金的用途是拿來當作錢幣和打造成珠寶首飾。但乳香和沒藥 又是什麼東西呢？這兩種東西都是樹脂，也就是樹汁，曬乾後大部分都拿來薰香用。取得的方式是在特定樹種的樹皮上劃一刀，等上幾天的工夫待樹汁滲出。樹汁乾 掉變硬後即可採收，可添加在其他產品或製成薰香。
　　本月分國家地理頻道的專題就是乳香。在《乳香之路》中，凱特‧哈勃沿著古代貿易的路線旅行，她穿越阿拉伯半島探索這段歷史，以及了解乳香在這個地區所 佔的重要性。在她途經阿曼、葉門、沙烏地阿拉伯、埃及、約旦和以色列等 3,200 多公里的路程上，也跟當地人和觀眾分享許多奇特的經驗。
　　這趟乳香之旅從阿曼開始，哈勃跟著一支有 300 頭駱駝的商隊旅行，橫越沙漠到達葉門的希巴姆，這是歷史上第一座建造摩天大樓的城市。她接著走訪沙烏地阿拉伯王國，發現該國出乎意料地現代化，跟新聞裡描 述的完全不同。看過埃及的木乃伊和金字塔後，她穿越約旦抵達以色列，跟隨東方三智者的腳步前往耶穌的誕生地，並結束她的旅程。務必收看本月國家地理頻道的 《乳香之路》喲！