CNN news 2013-04-18 加文本

cnn news 2013-04-18

Fridays may be awesome, the severe weather moving across parts of the U.S. this week is not. But it is leading off today’s show. Earlier in the week, some states got hit with huge snowfalls. A blizzard warning in Denver and South Dakota; the snow and ice knocked down power lines and trees. The storm system moved east bringing wind, rain, and reports of tornadoes with it. At least one person was killed. Several others were injured after twisters touched down in Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama.

Wildfires, tornadoes, snow, ice, flooding - all of that probably sounds crazy that it’s all happening at the same time. This is a symptom of the season, and as temperatures change, so does the weather. cnn meteorologists say that in spring, we should expect the unexpected.

Emil Kapaun served in the U.S. Army during World War II and the Korean War. He didn’t carry a rifle. He never fired a shot. Kapaun was a captain. He was also a Roman Catholic chaplain - Father Kapaun. During the Korean War, when his unit moved, Captain Kapaun stayed behind to help the wounded. He knew there was a risk of being captured by the enemy and that’s what happened. As a prisoner of war, Captain Kapaun helped save other prisoners from being shot. He snuck around the camp, ministering to other prisoners. He snuck out of the camp, stealing food, and sneaking it back for others. Eventually, he died as a prisoner. This week his actions earned him the medal of honor, the military’s highest award for valor. President Obama presented Kapaun’s nephew at the White House yesterday, saying he couldn’t imagine a better example for all of us, whether in uniform or not.

Is this legit? The Roman Empire once covered parts of Africa, Asia, and Europe. Totally true. The empires stretched across areas of three continents.

On a modern map, you can go from England down to Egypt, and from Syria across to Spain. All of that was part of the Roman Empire. Two thousand years ago, one out of every four people on earth lived under Roman law. The empire, of course, is long gone, but archaeologists are digging up relics from the empire to this day and what they find can give a glimpse at what life was like back then. Erin McLaughlin looks at some recent discoveries.

These are the very beginnings of Roman Londinium.

Hugely important town for the Romans even when the Romans were based in Rome, across the empire. So we are learning much more about the development of a major city in the Roman Empire.

Pottery, jewelry, and tools, clues as to how an ancient people once lived, buried in what is now a very modern city.

This is the heart of the city of London. You have the Gherkin over there as well as the Bank of England, and over here, you have a construction site. Inside that building site, a team of archaeologists is in the process of uncovering thousands of artifacts dating all the way back to the Roman period.

Artifacts preserved in the lining of what was once an old riverbed.

The deposits we are excavating are waterlogged, and they have anaerobic conditions - which means there was no oxygen getting to them. So metalwork doesn’t rust. So it comes up looking as shiny as the day it was dumped or dropped in.

The find includes rare objects like a tiny amber amulet in the shape of a gladiator(格斗士)’s helmet. Archaeologists believe it once belonged to a child.

What was life like back in the Roman times?

Well, we’ve learned that life in the early Roman period was pretty hard for lots of people. Very, very small rectangular simple dwellings thrown up(匆匆建成) quite quickly, lots of small-scale industrial activity going on. Very busy, very smelly.

Thousands of years of history. Archaeologists say there’s likely more out there lying right under our feet. Erin McLaughlin, cnn, London.