英语听力教程第三版张民伦主编Unit9RomancingtheStone听力原文.docx

1、英语听力教程第三版张民伦主编Unit9RomancingtheStone听力原文Unit 9 Romancing the StonePart I Getting readyA museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that ma

2、y be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities throughout the world and more local ones exist in smaller cities, towns and even the countryside. The city with the largest number of museums is Mexico City with over 128 museums. According to the World Museum Community, the

3、re are more than 55,000 museums in 202 countries.Audioscript ：1.The LouvreParis is an ancient city,w itness to revolution, celebration and war. At its center stands the Louvre, once ar oyal palace and now one of the worlds greatest museums. The Louvreis home to the mostfamous painting in human histo

4、ry - The Mona Lisa. Her enigmatic smile is said to conceal many secrets.2.The Vatican MuseumIn the middle of Rome stands the Vatican, thee picenter of Catholicism . It is both a fortified city and a place the Pope calls home. (Gracias. Gracias.) It alsoh ouses one of the most famous museums in the w

5、orld, full of timeless treasures, each one with a story to tell. Of all of these none are more famous than the Sistine Chapel. All who enter here gaze up at thelu minous frescos of Michelangelo.3.Torontos Royal Ontario MuseumIts an eye-popping Canadian landmark, a nationatlr easure chest and a place

6、 of mystery. This is the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, the ROM. For every object on display , thousands more are hidden in backrooms far from public view . Enter the hall of Ancient Egypt, and the hair stand up on the back of your neck. You feel a presence of the ghosts. How did they live and how

7、 did they die? If only the mummies could speak.4.Cairos Egyptian MuseumEgypt, here the towering monuments of the Pharaohs stand silent amid the roar of a modern city . Cairo is the largestm etropolis in Africa, home to more than 20 million people. But at its center is a refugee from urban chaos . Th

8、is is the museum of Egyptian antiquities , the treasure chest of Asian civilization and one of the most spectacular museums in the world. Visitorsf lock here by the millions to gaze into the eyes of long dead Pharaohs and marvel at their dazzling sarcophagi of silver and gold.5.Londons Natural Histo

9、ry MuseumThe Natural History Museum in London, England, its a cathedral of nature housing over 70 million specimens . During the day, thousands of visitors tour the galleries. But at night, when theyve all gone home, this place seems toc ome alive with unforgettable stories about where we came from

10、and where we are going. The galleries and dark passage ways invite those who dare to venture behind the scenes. Take a closer look and discover secrets that are disturbing and sometimes brutal.Part II The ScreamPainting is a fascinating subject. Every time when you visit a museum, you will find some

11、thing new even in the same painting.While looking at a painting, you can enjoy it for its beauty alone. Its lines, forms, colors, and composition may appeal to your senses and linger in your memory. Apart from that, you can also try to figure out what the painting describes. Does it describe the art

12、ists impression of a scene or a person? Or does it describe the artists feeling about the art of painting itself?Audioscript ：Speaker 1: This picture is The Scream by Edvard Munch, and its a very powerful picture, its in black and white as, as you see it here. And um I think its particularly powerfu

13、l because mainly because of that figure who um, who is, who seems to be running off this bridge here holding his or her head in her hands and screaming. And um, whats very interesting about the picture are the two, the two figures at the end of the bridge or further up this road. And its difficult t

14、o understand whether the person is running from them or whether theyre just er innocent bystanders.Um, so the reason I, I like this picture, the reason I find it powerful is because I think that the person is not actually running from the two dark figures at the end of the bridge, but in fact the pe

15、rson is suffering er perhaps some kind of terrible loneliness or sadness, and is, actually seems to be trying to hide that feeling from those people.And I think this is a common feeling, I think this is something which we all do sometimes when, when we feel some feeling, usually a bad feeling, somet

16、hing like loneliness or terrible unhappiness, we dont want other people to see that, and er so we, we have to try and hide that feeling from, from other members of the, of the public. And I feel thats what this man or woman is doing in the picture here.Audioscript ：Speaker 2: As a design, the pictur

17、es very strong as well. The, the bridge or the street is a very strong diagonal line which goes through the, the picture. And then to the, to the right of the screamers head theres a series of dark vertical lines - its difficult to know what that is, perhaps its a field or maybe it could be a wall,

18、its difficult to know exactly what it is, but those dark vertical lines somehow depress the picture, which is exactly what the artist wanted. And then at the, at the top, you have the sky, which the artist has, has er made in the form perhaps of clouds, which are very strong horizontal lines, very,

19、very bold black lines which again seem to push the whole picture down, and add to the depression of the, the experience which the, the screamer is er, is feeling.Part III Taj MahalThe Taj Mahal is a white marble mausoleum located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was built by Mogul emperor Shah Jaha

20、n in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal is widely recognized as the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the worlds heritage.Audioscript ：Theres no building more romantic or more tragic than the Taj Mahal. On June the 17th, 1631, Mumtaz M

21、ahal, the wife of the Mogul Emperor, Shah Jahan, died while giving birth to her fourteenth child.So, in response to the death of his wife, Shah Jahan created one of the most famous buildings in the world, the Taj Mahal, a vision of perfection, of paradise on Earth. The emotional power of the Taj Mah

22、al comes not just from its ruthless symmetry and its dazzling white material, but also from the purity and simplicity really of its forms. In line with Islamic thinking, it is not loaded with images of living beings, banned in the Koran, but by simple abstract decoration, lettering. In this sense ve

23、ry much less ornamentation gives more emotional power.As you approach nearer, the Taj Mahal, its scale, its craftsmanship become almost overwhelming. It took twenty thousand people twenty years to complete this great structure and its white marble is inlaid with twenty-eight different sorts of preci

24、ous and semi-precious stones. But, this isnt a palace or a mosque. Its a mausoleum. Its a monument to grief. At this level and so near, I can see just how exquisite and subtle the Taj Mahal is. The inlay is amazing, like a jewel box. And the white marble is carved and the surface is mottled in archi

25、tectural detail. It was a great surprise, being inside the Taj Mahal is like being inside a living being. It moans and it groans. Theres no question about it, as a monument to grief and to heartbreak and the expression of agony and pain that lost all that was precious in this world and longing for t

26、he next, the Taj Mahal has no equal. Its unsurpassed.Audioscript ：The twist to the story of the Taj Mahal is in the nearby Red Fort where the final tragic episode of Shah Jahans life was played out. Its here that the myth of the Taj was born, where it enters the world of legend.Shah Jahan, the great

27、 emperor, became ill. He suffered a stroke and this provoked a ruthless, vicious struggle for power among his four sons. They fought, they battled and Aurangzeb, the most skilful, the most vicious I suppose of the four sons, prevailed. He killed his three brothers in battle and by treachery and when

28、 he had his father, Shah Jahan in his power, he imprisoned him here in the Fort. So for Shah Jahan his great empire had been reduced to the area of this courtyard, and he would stand where I am standing now, contemplating the view, looking at the great mausoleum over there. This is a spectacular vie

29、w, but it could have been more spectacular still. It is said that Shah Jahan, if he hadnt lost control of his empire, would have built himself a mausoleum opposite that of his wife, and his one would have been clad in black marble, to match the white marble of the Taj Mahal.The story of the black Ta

30、j is an invention of the 18th century, but one that reflects, reinforces the fantasy surrounding a building dedicated to love and to what could have been.Part IV More about the topic:British Sculptures Now and ThenSculpture has changed more radically in the past 100 years than in the preceding 30 00

31、0. British sculptors have led the way thanks to their restless originality. Today British sculpture is a hugely expressive medium with almost limitless possibilities.Sometimes that sheer variety can be a bit bewildering but in British sculptures long history, this may turn out to be the greatest cha

32、pter yet.Audioscript ：Welcome to the British Museum, London, home to ancient art, and the unlikely birthplace of modern sculpture. Throughout the 19th century, British sculptors came here to study the famous ancient Greek marbles that once adorned the Parthenon in Athens. They went on show at the British Museum at the start of 1817 and were soon considered the epitome of what sculpture could and should be. Classical, heroic forms, theyre naturalistic, harmoniously proportioned, completely devoid of distortion. They offer a vision of a highly sophisticated society - the be