Early isreal and the surrounding nations

1 portion: [C]a part of something larger, especially a part that is different from the other parts〔某物的〕一部分+of  e.g. The rent on his portion of the apartment was $500 a month.

proportion: N-COUNTA proportion of a group or an amount is a part of it. 部分 e.g. A large proportion of the dolphins in that area will eventually die.

2 barren: ADJ A barren landscape is dry and bare, and has very few plants and no trees. 荒芜的; ADJ Barren land consists of soil that is so poor that plants cannot grow in it. 贫瘠的; ADJ If you describe something such as an activity or a period of your life as barren, you mean that you achieve no success during it or that it has no useful results. 无成就的; 不成功的; ADJ If you describe a room or a place as barren, you do not like it because it has almost no furniture or other objects in it. 空荡荡的  e.g. ..the Tibetan landscape of high barren mountains.

3 defile: N-COUNTA defile is a very narrow valley or passage, usually through mountains. 山中狭径

gorges: N-COUNT A gorge is a deep, narrow valley with very steep sides, usually where a river passes through mountains or an area of hard rock. 峡谷

4 perch: V-I If you perch on something, you sit down lightly on the very edge or tip of it. 轻坐在; 轻落在 (边上或顶上); V-I Toperch somewhere means to be on the top or edge of something. 坐落于 (某物顶部或边缘) e.g....the vast slums that perch precariously on top of the hills around which the city was built.

5 crag: N-COUNT A crag is a steep rocky cliff or part of a mountain. 悬崖; 峭壁  = cliff

6 dwell: V to live in a particular place【文】 〔在某一地方〕居住; V-I If you dwell on something, especially something unpleasant, you think, speak, or write about it a lot or for quite a long time. 细想; 详述 e.g.They dwelt in the forest.

7 scanty: ADJYou describe something as scanty when there is less of it than you think there should be. 缺乏的; 不足的; ADJ If someone is wearing scanty clothing, he or she is wearing clothes which are sexually revealing. (衣着)暴露的 e.g. So far, what scanty evidence we have points to two suspects.

8 civilisation revolve: 文明循环出现

9 civilised man: 文明人

10 outpost: N-COUNTAn outpost is a small group of buildings used for trading or military purposes, either in a distant part of your own country or in a foreign country. (设在国内边远地区或国外的) 军事基地; 贸易基地; N-COUNTAn outpost is a small settlement or community that is situated in a remote part of a country. 边远居民点  e.g. ...a remote mountain outpost, linked to the outside world by the poorest of roads.

11 meeting-place of Asia and Africa: 亚洲和非洲接壤的地方 

adjacent: ADJIf one thing is adjacent to another, the two things are next to each other. 相邻的 e.g.From the top of the hill, we walked into the adjacent neighborhood of Utatsuyama

12 in touch with the great kingdoms of western Asia与东亚的几大王国有所接触

13 yoke: N-SING If you say that people are under the yoke ofa bad thing or person, you mean they are forced to live in a difficult or unhappy state because of that thing or person. 羁绊; 枷锁

14 throw off: V to free oneself of; discard 摆脱; 抛弃 e.g .You would think that 16, 000 processors would throw off enough heat to melt steel.

15 Asiatic: ADJ Asiatic means belonging or relating to Asia or its people. 亚洲的; 亚洲人的 e.g. He never visited or sent flowers, but no doubt his Asiatic wife is to blame for that.

16 unopposed: without any opponent or opposition, especially in an election〔尤指选举中〕没有对手的；无人反对的 e.g. Those directors, running unopposed, came close to losing, receiving between 55.1% and 57.8% of the vote.

17 tribes:  N-COUNT-COLLTribe is sometimes used to refer to a group of people of the same race, language, and customs, especially in a developing country. Some people disapprove of this use. 部落

18 fling: V-TIf you fling something somewhere, you throw it there using a lot of force. 猛掷; V-TIf you fling yourself intoa particular activity, you do it with a lot of enthusiasm and energy. 投身于 e.g. She flung herself into her career.

19 the storming of cities:强攻城市 storm: V-TIf a place that is being defended is stormed, a group of people attack it, usually in order to get inside it. 猛攻 e.g.Government buildings have been stormed and looted.

20 contenance: N-COUNT Someone's countenance is their face. 面孔

21 homage: N-UNCOUNT Homage is respect shown toward someone or something you admire, or to a person in authority. 崇敬 e.g. But he does not pay homage to the modern world's notion of the superstar.

22 descent: N-UNCOUNTYou use descent to talk about a person's family background, for example, their nationality or social status. 出身，血统 e.g. They’re Irish by descent. 他们祖籍爱尔兰。

23 disinter: V-TWhen a dead body is disinterred, it is dug up from out of the ground. 掘出(死尸) e.g. The bones were disinterred and moved to a burial site.

24 excavator: N-COUNT An excavator is a large machine that is used for digging, for example, when people are building something. 挖掘机  e.g. The silt will be removed from the river using an excavator on a barge

25 immensely old: 非常老; immensely/ɪˈmɛnslɪ/: ADV You use immensely to emphasize the degree or extent of a quality, feeling, or process. 非常