Pink sandstone houses carved into the cliffs, mud brick mosques, lively markets, and sunrises in the desert over the legendary city of Timbuktu. Come take a closer look at Mali.
鑿壁興建的粉紅沙岩屋、泥磚清真寺、熱鬧市集，以及傳說之城廷巴克圖的沙漠日出。讓我們一同深入探索馬利。
A closer look 說古論今
Landlocked Mali is the world's 24th largest country, and one of the poorest. At the same time, it is one of Africa's most stable countries both politically and socially and offers much to the traveller in terms of indigenous culture, handicrafts and some pretty unusual landscapes.
Much of Mali is flat and 65 percent is covered by the Sahara desert or semi-desert. This leaves the country prone to droughts and makes agriculture tricky. One way round this is to grow crops in pots on the cliff face like Mali's largest indigenous people, the Dogon.
The Niger river, Africa's third longest river, is central to the country's trade and livelihood. Around 80 percent of the labor force live off farming and fishing. Another 10 percent are nomadic. Fortunately Mali has considerable reserves of gold, uranium, salt and phosphates. Their main export is cotton. Mali is particularly famed for bogolon, hand painted cloth dipped into dyes made from mud over a period of several weeks.
Djenne, just west of the Bani river, is home to the world's largest mud brick structure, the Grand Mosque. The city is also unusual in that in the rainy season, the river rises around it and makes the city an island.
Typical meals in Mali are Poulet Yassa, grilled chicken in chilli sauce, and Riz Yollof, vegetables or meat in oil and tomatoes. Couscous, rice and fried bananas are staple foods.
地處內陸的馬利是全球第二十四大的國家，也是最貧窮的國度之一。它同時也是非洲政治、社會最穩定的國家之一，當地固有文化、手工藝品及旖旎風光都極具觀光價值。
馬利地勢多平坦，撒哈拉沙漠或半沙漠涵蓋了境內６５％的面積，因此常發生乾旱，農業發展不易，應對之道就是像馬利最大原住民部落多岡族一樣，將作物栽植在壺罐中，再置放於崖面。
非洲第三長河尼羅河是馬利貿易及民生的命脈，約８０％的勞動人口仰賴農漁維生，還有１０％的人靠游牧過活。幸運的是，馬利蘊藏豐富的金、鈾、鹽及磷酸鹽礦。棉花是主要出口品，稱為bogolon的手工泥染尤其聞名，通常得耗費好幾個星期才能製成。
巴尼河西岸的傑內市是全球最大泥磚清真寺「大清真寺」的所在。雨季時河水暴漲，傑內市宛若一座孤島的景象，也十分特殊。
馬利最具代表性的料理是Poulet Yassa（紅番椒醬烤雞）和Riz Yollof（油蕃茄蔬菜或肉），主食則是北非小米、米飯和炸香蕉。
（翻譯：林倩如）
WHO KNEW? 你知道嗎?
Mali has several tribes, the largest of which are the Bambara who account for more than 30 percent of the population and whose language is widely spoken. In fact, the capital of Mali, Bamako, means "place of the crocodiles" in the Bambara language.
The most renowned tribe, the Dogon, makes up only 5 percent of the population. However, they are one of Africa's oldest tribes and their way of life has remained relatively unchanged for thousands of years. The majority of their villages are built along a 200km escarpment near Timbuktu, and their homes are often built into the cliffs. There are around 700 Dogon villages.
Masks play an important role in Dogon culture, in religious ceremonies, funerals, rain welcoming ceremonies and events honoring guests. The Dogon are also famed for their woodcarvings and mudcloth.
馬利境內有好幾個部族，其中最大的是班巴拉族，佔馬利總人口的三成以上，而班巴拉語也是最通用的語言。首都巴馬科在班巴拉語中意指鱷魚之地。
僅佔總人口數５％的多岡族是馬利最廣為人知的部族，不過身為非洲最古老部族之一的他們，生活方式數千年來不曾改變。多岡族村落多半分布在廷巴克圖附近綿延兩百公里的懸崖邊，屋舍常建於峭壁之內。目前約有七百個多岡族村落。
面具在多岡文化中扮演重要地位，不論是宗教儀式、喪禮、祈雨，甚至向賓客致敬的場合，都可見其蹤跡。多岡族也以木雕及泥布印染聞名。
A LOOK AT CONTEXT 思前想後猜字義
1. The children and elderly are prone to catching cold in the winter months.
Prone means ...
a. popular.
b. unpopular.
c. inclined.
d. disinterested.
2. We noticed that our table was wobbly. We called the waiter over and he placed a wedge of paper under one of the table legs. After he had done this we found the table to be perfectly stable.
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