誤打誤撞
American PhD student Luke Auld-Thomas recently discovered a lost Maya city.
美國博士生路克‧奧德湯瑪斯最近意外發現了一座失落的馬雅古城。
recently(adv.)最近地=of laterecent(adj.)最近的
He did it accidentally while looking at special digital maps of a jungle area in Mexico.
他在查看墨西哥叢林區的特殊數位地圖時，無意間發現了這座古城。
run／bump into sb.偶然碰到某人jungle(n.)叢林forest(n.)森林
The BBC has reported that the city is around 16.6 square kilometers.
根據BBC的報導，這座古城面積約16.6平方公里。
around(adv.)大約=about／approximately
It has two city centers, a reservoir and thousands of buildings.
有兩個市中心、一座蓄水池及上千棟建築物。
reservoir(n.)水庫、蓄水池
Some say it could have been a capital city that was home to 30,000 to 50,000 people between 750 and 850 A.D.
有人說這座古城可能曾是公元750到850年間的都城，當時有三到五萬人居住。
capital city首都capital(n.)資金、資本starting capital啟動資金capitalize(v.)利用capitalize on sth.充分利用、從…中獲得好處=take advantage of sth.be home to…的所在地
Auld-Thomas has said that he found the city while looking at LiDAR maps that were made by a Mexican environmental organization in 2013.
奧德湯瑪斯表示，他是在查看由墨西哥環保組織於2013年製作的光學雷達地圖時，發現了這座古城。
LiDAR=Light Detection And Ranging光學雷達environment(n.)環境environmental protection環境保護、環保organization(n.)組織organize(v.)籌辦、組織organized(adj.)有組織性的
LiDAR images are created using lasers on airplanes.
光學雷達影像是利用飛機上的雷射製作的。
laser(n.)雷射
Because of this, Auld-Thomas was able to remove the tree data from the maps and see what was underneath.
這項技術讓奧德湯瑪斯能夠剔除地圖上的樹木數據，看到底下的建築結構。
because of因為=owing to／as a result ofbe able to+VR=be capable of+V-ing能夠…remove(v.)移除remove A from B將A從B中移除removal(n.)去除data(n.)數據underneath(adv.)(prep.)在下面、底下
He told ABC News Australia that this allowed him to locate the city’s many buildings.
他接受澳洲ABC新聞的採訪時提到，這項技術讓他找到了古城中許多建築物的位置。
allow sb. to do sth.讓某人能做某事locate(v.)找到…的位置
Now this previously lost city has been found thanks to Auld-Thomas’ luck and his use of technology.
這座失落的古城現在因奧德湯瑪斯的好運和科技應用而重見天日。
previously(adv.)先前地thanks to由於、幸虧luck(n.)運氣be in luck走運be out of luck運氣不好luck out走運
Auld-Thomas and his colleagues at Tulane University have named the city Valeriana after a nearby lagoon.
奧德湯瑪斯與杜蘭大學的同事將這座古城命名為「瓦萊里安娜」，名稱取自附近的潟湖。
colleague(n.)同事=coworkername…after…以…為…命名lagoon(n.)潟湖
Although there are no known pictures of the city, its discovery is very important. It gives researchers a better understanding of the ancient Maya civilization and the way its people lived.
雖然目前尚無這座古城的照片，但它的發現意義重大，讓研究人員更加了解古代馬雅文明及馬雅人的生活方式。
although(conj.)雖然、儘管=even though／thoughbe of great importance很重要understanding(n.)了解(adj.)體諒的ancient(adj.)古代的modern(adj.)現代的civilization(n.)文明