Inside the Salle des Etats, Langdon stared in astonishment¹ at the six words glowing on thePlexiglas. The text seemed to hover² in space, casting a jagged shadow across Mona Lisa'smysterious smile.

　　"The Priory," Langdon whispered. "This proves your grandfather was a member!"Sophie looked at him in confusion. "You understand this?""It's flawless," Langdon said, nodding as his thoughts churned. "It's a proclamation of one of thePriory's most fundamental philosophies!"Sophie looked baffled in the glow of the message scrawled⁴ across the Mona Lisa's face.

　　SO DARK THE CON³ OF MAN"Sophie," Langdon said, "the Priory's tradition of perpetuating⁵ goddess worship is based on a beliefthat powerful men in the early Christian⁶ church 'conned⁷' the world by propagating lies thatdevalued the female and tipped the scales in favor of the masculine."Sophie remained silent, staring at the words.

　　"The Priory believes that Constantine and his male successors successfully converted the worldfrom matriarchal paganism to patriarchal Christianity by waging a campaign of propaganda thatdemonized the sacred feminine, obliterating⁸ the goddess from modern religion forever."Sophie's expression remained uncertain. "My grandfather sent me to this spot to find this. He mustbe trying to tell me more than that."Langdon understood her meaning. She thinks this is another code. Whether a hidden meaningexisted here or not, Langdon could not immediately say. His mind was still grappling with the boldclarity of Saunière's outward message.

　　So dark the con of man, he thought. So dark indeed.

　　Nobody could deny the enormous good the modern Church did in today's troubled world, and yetthe Church had a deceitful and violent history. Their

点击收听单词发音  

1 astonishment
n.惊奇，惊异
参考例句：
They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。 I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

2 hover
vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫
参考例句：
You don't hover round the table.你不要围着桌子走来走去。 A plane is hover on our house.有一架飞机在我们的房子上盘旋。

3 con
n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的
参考例句：
We must be fair and consider the reason pro and con.我们必须公平考虑赞成和反对的理由。 The motion is adopted non con.因无人投反对票，协议被通过。

4 scrawled
乱涂，潦草地写( scrawl的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
I tried to read his directions, scrawled on a piece of paper. 我尽量弄明白他草草写在一片纸上的指示。 Tom scrawled on his slate, "Please take it -- I got more." 汤姆在他的写字板上写了几个字：“请你收下吧，我多得是哩。”

5 perpetuating
perpetuate的现在进行式
参考例句：
Revenge leads to a self-perpetuating cycle of violence. 怨怨相报会导致永不休止的暴力。 It'set out to eradicate heresy, and ended by perpetuating it. 它的目的只是要根除异端邪说，结果却巩固了异端邪说。 来自英汉文学

6 Christian
adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒
参考例句：
They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。 His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

7 conned
adj.被骗了v.指挥操舵( conn的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
Lynn felt women had been conned. 林恩觉得女人们受骗了。 来自《简明英汉词典》 He was so plausible that he conned everybody. 他那么会花言巧语，以至于骗过了所有的人。 来自辞典例句

8 obliterating
v.除去( obliterate的现在分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭
参考例句：
Michael smoked the competition, obliterating field in most of his events. 迈克尔让比赛放光，几乎淹没了他所参加的大多数项目。 来自互联网 He heard Pam screaming.The noise became obliterating.Then solid darkness descended. 在一片混乱中，他听到了帕姆的尖叫。接下来，噪音消失了，黑暗降临了。 来自互联网

9 brutal
adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的
参考例句：
She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。 They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

10 clergy
n.[总称]牧师，神职人员
参考例句：
I could heartily wish that more of our country clergy would follow this example.我衷心希望，我国有更多的牧师效法这个榜样。 All the local clergy attended the ceremony.当地所有的牧师出席了仪式。

11 attuned
v.使协调( attune的过去式和过去分词 )；调音
参考例句：
She wasn't yet attuned to her baby's needs. 她还没有熟悉她宝宝的需要。 Women attuned to sensitive men found Vincent Lord attractive. 偏爱敏感男子的女人，觉得文森特·洛德具有魅力。 来自辞典例句

12 astounding
adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词)
参考例句：
There was an astounding 20% increase in sales. 销售量惊人地增加了20%。 The Chairman's remarks were so astounding that the audience listened to him with bated breath. 主席说的话令人吃惊，所以听众都屏息听他说。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 celebrated
adj.有名的，声誉卓著的
参考例句：
He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。 The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

14 banished
v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
He was banished to Australia, where he died five years later. 他被流放到澳大利亚，五年后在那里去世。 He was banished to an uninhabited island for a year. 他被放逐到一个无人居住的荒岛一年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 shameful
adj.可耻的，不道德的
参考例句：
It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。 We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

16 collaborating
合作( collaborate的现在分词 )； 勾结叛国
参考例句：
Joe is collaborating on the work with a friend. 乔正与一位朋友合作做那件工作。 He was not only learning from but also collaborating with Joseph Thomson. 他不仅是在跟约瑟福？汤姆逊学习，而且也是在和他合作。

17 accomplice
n.从犯，帮凶，同谋
参考例句：
She was her husband's accomplice in murdering a rich old man.她是她丈夫谋杀一个老富翁的帮凶。 He is suspected as an accomplice of the murder.他涉嫌为这次凶杀案的同谋。

18 defamation
n.诽谤；中伤
参考例句：
Character defamation can be either oral or written.人格诽谤既可以是口头的也可以是书面的。 The company sued for defamation.这个公司因受到诽谤而提起诉讼。

19 dexterity
n.(手的)灵巧，灵活
参考例句：
You need manual dexterity to be good at video games.玩好电子游戏手要灵巧。 I'm your inferior in manual dexterity.论手巧，我不如你。

20 radical
n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的
参考例句：
The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。 She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

21 irrational
adj.无理性的，失去理性的
参考例句：
After taking the drug she became completely irrational.她在吸毒后变得完全失去了理性。 There are also signs of irrational exuberance among some investors.在某些投资者中是存在非理性繁荣的征象的。

22 sinister
adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的
参考例句：
There is something sinister at the back of that series of crimes.在这一系列罪行背后有险恶的阴谋。 Their proposals are all worthless and designed out of sinister motives.他们的建议不仅一钱不值，而且包藏祸心。

23 pendulum
n.摆，钟摆
参考例句：
The pendulum swung slowly to and fro.钟摆在慢慢地来回摆动。 He accidentally found that the desk clock did not swing its pendulum.他无意中发现座钟不摇摆了。

24 toll
n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)
参考例句：
The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。 The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

25 ego
n.自我，自己，自尊
参考例句：
He is absolute ego in all thing.在所有的事情上他都绝对自我。 She has been on an ego trip since she sang on television.她上电视台唱过歌之后就一直自吹自擂。

26 unstable
adj.不稳定的，易变的
参考例句：
This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。 The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

27 plethora
n.过量，过剩
参考例句：
Java comes with a plethora of ready-made types.Java配套提供了数量众多的现成类型。 A plethora of new operators will be allowed to enter the market.大批新的运营商将获准进入该市场。

28 misogynistic
参考例句：
And it brings out everything that is most noxious and misogynistic about the right. 而且，这种情绪也流露出右派思想中最为保守有害，歧视女性的那一面。 来自互联网

29 doorway
n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径
参考例句：
They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。 Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

30 instinctively
adv.本能地
参考例句：
As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近，她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》 He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

31 parquet
n.镶木地板
参考例句：
The parquet floors shone like mirrors.镶木地板亮得象镜子。 The snail left a trail of slime along the parquet floor.蜗牛在镶木地板上留下一道黏液。

32 irony
n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄
参考例句：
She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。 In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。