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First listen and then answer the following question.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
What important thing did King Alfred learn when he penetrated the Danish camp of Guthrum?
Alfred the Great acted as his own spy, visiting Danish camps disguised as a minstrel．In those days wandering minstrels were welcome everywhere．They were not fighting men, and their harp was their passport．Alfred had learned many of their ballads in his youth, and could vary his programme with acrobatic tricks and simple conjuring.
While Alfred's little army slowly began to gather at Athelney, the king himself set out to penetrate the camp of Guthrum, the commander of the Danish invaders．These had settled down for the winter at Chippenham: thither Alfred went．He noticed at once that discipline was slack: the Danes had the self confidence of conquerors, and their security precautions were casual．They lived well, on the proceeds of raids on neigh bouring regions．There they collected women as well as food and drink, and a life of ease had made them soft.
Alfred stayed in the camp a week before he returned to Athelney．The force there assembled was trivial compared with the Danish horde．But Alfred had deduced that the Danes were no longer fit for prolonged battle: and that their commissariat had no organization, but depended on irregular raids.
So, faced with the Danish advance, Alfred did not risk open battle but harried the enemy．He was constantly on the move, drawing the Danes after him．His patrols halted the raiding parties: hunger assailed the Danish army．Now Alfred began a long series of skirmishes----and within a month the Danes had surrendered．The episode could reasonably serve as a unique epic of royal espionage!
BERNARD NEWMAN Spies in Britain
New words and expressions 生词和短语
espionage(title)/'espi+n%:N/n．间谍活动
slack(1.7)/sl$k／adj．涣散的
Alfred(849-899)(1.1)公元 871-899年间任英国国王
conqueror(1.8)/'k&Rk+r+/n．征服者
casual(1.8)/'k$Nu+l/adj．马虎的，随便的
Danish(1.1)/'dernrM/adj．丹麦的，丹麦人的，丹麦语的
precaution(1.8)/prr'k&:M+n/ n．预防，警惕
proceeds(1.8)/'pr+ui:dz/n．所得
minstrel(1.2)/'minstr+l/n．中世纪的吟游歌手
assemble(1.11)/+'semb+l/v．集合
wandering(11.1-2)／'w&d+riR/ adj．漫游的
trivial(1.11)/'trivi+l/ adj．微不足道的
harp(1.2)/ha:p/ n．竖琴
prolonged(1.12) /pr+'l&Rd/ adj．持久的
ballad(1.3)/'b$l+d/ n．民歌
commissariat(1.13)/?k&mr'se+ri+t/n．军粮供应
acrobatic(1.3)/?$nkr+'b$trk/adj．杂技的
episode(1.17)/'eprs+ud/ n．一个事件，片断
conjuring(1.4)/'k)nDN+riR/ n．魔术
epic(1.17)/'eprk/ n．史诗
Athelney(1.5)/'$I+lni/n．阿塞尔纳（英国一个小岛）
harry(1.14)/'h$ri/v．骚扰
Chippenham(1.7)/'tMrp+n+m/n．切本哈姆（英国一城市)
assail(1.15)/+'serl/ v．袭击
thither(1.7)/'JrJ+/ adv．向那里
skirmish(1.16)/'sk*:mrM/n．小规模战斗
Dane(1.7)/dern/ n．丹麦人
Notes on the next 课文注释
1 settle down，驻扎。
2 They lived well, on the proceeds of raids，他们的生活舒适，*袭击（周围地区）掠夺得到的财物为生。 live on，*为生。 |
