新托福考试阅读Readingmaterial
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Thelibrary at Alexandria was said to have been a marvel, the greatestcollection of scholarship in the ancient world. It was founded byPtolemy I, the general that Alexander the Great installed as ruler ofthe city named after himself. It was Ptolemy’s son, Ptolemy IIPhiladelphus, who had the vision of expanding the library to make itthe largest collection imaginable." g! v- {+ J2 \- `( p
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UnderPtolemy II and those who followed, the library was expandedtremendously. Ptolemy II’s vision was to create a library with everyGreek work ever written as well as with as many works from other partsof the Western world as could be gathered together. 6 u5 k6 |5 U$ f" `' r
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The number of volumen, or scrolls, in the library has been estimated at anywhere between 300,000 and 700,000.
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+ M+ H! i2 Q1 y$ oAhuge number of people were employed in preparing scrolls for thelibrary, in as much as each scroll to enter the library had to becopied by hand. Manuscripts were bought or borrowed or taken from allover the Western world to be copied and placed in the library (althoughit was rather common to copy an original manuscript and then return thecopy to the owner and keep the original for the library). * ]2 y/ H8 P% z' f5 e( E
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PtolemyII often asked for manuscripts from foreign powers in return for tradedgoods, and manuscripts were often demanded from citizens to pay debtsto the government. 1 V) s$ A1 ^: I# e# ~+ M
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4 w3 ~6 w* `/ |% YInaddition, any time that manuscripts were found on trading ships in theport at Alexandria, the manuscripts were taken and copied and added tothe library. It was in these ways that so many manuscripts werecollected in the library at Alexandria.
