英语听力教程第三版(张民伦主编)Unit 9 Romancing the Stone听力原文

Listen this way 听力教程第三册-9

Unit 9 Romancing the Stone

Part I Getting ready

A 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 may 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, there are more than 55,000 museums in 202 countries.

Audioscript：

1. The Louvre

Paris is an ancient city, witness to revolution, celebration and war. At its center stands the Louvre, once a royal palace and now one of the world's greatest museums. The Louvre is home to the most

famous painting in human history -- The Mona Lisa. Her enigmatic smile is said to conceal many secrets.

2. The Vatican Museum

In the middle of Rome stands the Vatican, the epicenter of Catholicism. It is both a fortified city and a place the Pope calls home. (Gracias. Gracias.) It also houses one of the most famous museums in the world, 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 the luminous frescos of Michelangelo.

3. Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum

It's an eye-popping Canadian landmark, a national treasure chest and a place 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 did they die? If only the mummies could speak.

4. Cairo's Egyptian Museum

Egypt, here the towering monuments of the Pharaohs stand silent amid the roar of a modern city. Cairo is the largest metropolis in Africa, home to more than 20 million people. But at its center is a refugee from urban chaos. This is the museum of Egyptian antiquities, the treasure chest of Asian civilization and one of the most spectacular museums in the world. Visitors flock here by the millions to gaze into the eyes of long dead Pharaohs and marvel at their dazzling sarcophagi of silver and gold.

5. London's Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum in London, England, it's a cathedral of nature housing over 70 million specimens. During the day, thousands of visitors tour the galleries. But at night, when they've all gone home, this place seems to come alive with unforgettable stories about where we came from 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 Scream"

Painting is a fascinating subject. Every time when you visit a museum, you will find something 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 artist's impression of a scene or a person? Or does it describe the artist's feeling about the art of painting itself?

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Speaker 1: This picture is "The Scream" by Edvard Munch, and it's a very powerful picture, it's in black and white as, as you see it here. And um I think it's particularly powerful 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, what's very interesting about the picture are the two, the two figures at the end of the bridge or further up this road. And it's difficult to understand whether the person is running from them or whether they're 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 person 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, something like loneliness or terrible unhappiness, we don't 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 that's what this man or woman is doing in the picture here. Audioscript：

Speaker 2: As a design, the picture's 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 screamer's head there's a series of dark vertical lines -- it's difficult to know what that is, perhaps it's a field or maybe it could be a wall, it's 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, 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 Mahal

The Taj Mahal is a white marble mausoleum located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was built by Mogul emperor Shah Jahan 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 world's heritage.

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There's no building more romantic or more tragic than the Taj Mahal. On June the 17th, 1631, Mumtaz Mahal, 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 Mahal 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 very 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 precious and

semi-precious stones. But, this isn't a palace or a mosque. It's a mausoleum. It's 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 architectural detail. It was a great surprise, being inside the Taj Mahal is like being inside a living being. It moans and it groans. There's 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 the next, the Taj Mahal has no equal. It's unsurpassed.

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The twist to the story of the Taj Mahal is in the nearby Red Fort where the final tragic episode of Shah Jahan's life was played out.

It's here that the myth of the Taj was born, where it enters the world of legend.

Shah Jahan, the great 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 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 view, but it could have been more spectacular still. It is said that Shah Jahan, if he hadn't 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 Taj 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 Then Sculpture has changed more radically in the past 100 years than in the preceding 30 000. 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 sculpture's long history, this may turn out to be the greatest chapter yet.

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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, they're naturalistic, harmoniously proportioned, completely devoid of distortion. They offer a vision of a highly sophisticated society -- the bedrock, if you like, of Western civilization.

But at the beginning of the 20th century, a group of bohemian, bold, renegade young sculptors began to look elsewhere in the museum for inspiration. The hieratic art of Ancient Egypt, carved direct into stone. The carving of the Pacific, free of classical proportions. The reliefs of ancient Assyria, so different from the Parthenon. And the sculpture of Central America -- full of sex and death. Early in the

20th century, non-European works like these kick-started a revolution in British sculpture.

Since then, in the search for new forms of self-expression, British sculptors have broken all the old rules. There's been controversy as their vision has clashed with convention.

TV news: The sculptor of a house who won this year's Turner Art Prize has watched her work being demolished.

There's been conservatism, whimsy, mass-production. But in a golden age of creativity, our artists have often led the way -- making British sculpture part of a new, international language. Instead of gods or heroes, they project their own inner world, leaving us to decide what their sculptures mean. They've pushed the boundaries so far, we're no longer even sure what sculpture is.

It's been a story of revolution and liberation of the sculptor free to soar unfettered into the realm of the imagination, to the point where the concept behind the work, not the skill of its execution, has become king. Today, the sculptor isn't someone chipping away at a block of marble, but a kind of sage who can spot beauty and meaning in the world around us, and bring it to our attention in the gallery.

Part V Do you know ...?

Most of us like to hang beautiful things on our walls. They're statements of our personal taste or reflections of the things we love. But few of us can afford to go to swanky Mayfair galleries or posh auction houses to buy art. 1.5 million quid for a slice of abstract expressionism is a bit beyond most pockets in these recessionary times. In fact, half of Britain's living rooms have art on the walls which has been bought on the high street from stores like Ikea, Habitat, B&Q or Argos.

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Aside：Nowadays, art is all around us. It's in the streets, and it's part of the modern landscape. In the past few years, we've built

great temples to art up and down the country, whether it's

the Baltic in Gateshead or the Tate Modern in London. Art

galleries have become people-friendly places drawing huge

crowds. Modern art is now something we can all participate

in. It's fashionable, it's cool. Its artists are superstars. But

what sort of art do we want in our living rooms?

Hostess：I'm going to venture into the domestic art galleries we all inhabit. It's a world where individuality meets mass market

and personal taste is more important than art history.

Man 1：Yeah, I don't know anything about the history of these ...

these pictures, but I just like the colors. Colors repre ...

They're superb for what we wanted. Wo

Man 1：Natural landscapes I really like, so stormy seas and skies with wintry trees, just the skeletons, but I think they're more

effective in black and white. Girl: It's the ... The sky's like

in a nice color, and the sea is very beautiful.

Man 2：I like mountains. I'm a mountain guy, so I like pictures with mountains on it. Wo

Man 2：I don't like Pollock, because it just seems a bit messy, but I do like that wild flinging, painter to canvas.

Aside：If you want to buy art for your home, you could start at the top. This is London's Mayfair, where you can spend

squillions on an original work of art. Down the road at Tate

Modern, things are a little bit more user-friendly. There's

fun to be had for all the family. And in the shop, there's a

vending machine where you can order your own personal

masterpiece to take home. The mass reproduction of art is

now big business, and one of the biggest players in town is

the Art Group, which supplies art galleries, shops and

superstores around the world from its factory in

Northampton. The Art Group started off with just a single

stall on Camden Market 25 years ago. Its slogan was, "Art

for all." Now it runs a 24-hour production line and is a

multimillion-pound business employing 300 people. Hostess：So when people think of art, they think of these perfect white spaces, silent, contemplative, and here you've got the

thunder of machinery, the vaulted warehouse ... Darren

Booker (Operation Director): Absolutely.

Hostess：I like it, actually.

Darren：This is ... This is art on a big scale. It doesn't matter if you make ten a day or 10 000 a week. It still has to be perfect. Hostess：Amazing how recognizable all these images are. I don't have any, I don't own any, but they've sort of seeped into

my consciousness from, you know, trips to Ikea or Habitat

or Argos or wherever. So what's the effect of the price of

this sort of art coming down?

Darren：I think the real effect is that it's now in ... in more reach of everyone. People are now able to afford this, and in many

ways it now becomes a disposable piece of artwork. Art's

becoming more fashionable, and people will tend to

decorate more frequently, change their art more frequently,

which is all so great for us.

Hostess：Because they can.

Hostess：I can see Klimt hanging on the wall. Is this a big ... is Klimt a big guy for you?

Darren：Yeah, he's a very successful artist, very well known, a good seller.

Hostess：Do you think Klimt would have ever thought, as he anguished over that picture, that years later people in a

factory would be nailgunning it to a piece of MDF? It's art

as lifestyle, I guess.

Part VII Watch and enjoy

The Sistine Chapel is a large and renowned chapel of the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in the Vatican City. The fame of the Sistine Chapel lies mainly in the frescos

that decorate the interior, and most particularly the Sistine Chapel ceiling and The Last Judgment by Michelangelo. The fame of Michelangelo's paintings has drawn multitudes of visitors to the chapel, ever since they were revealed five hundred years ago

Videoscript：

In the middle of Rome stands the Vatican, the epicenter of Catholicism. It is both a fortified city and a place the Pope calls home. (Gracias. Gracias.) It also houses one of the most famous museums in the world, 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 the luminous frescos of Michelangelo. What few people know is that his masterpiece was an afterthought. When the chapel was constructed the walls were filled with monumental murals. But the ceiling was just decorated with a simple field of stars. Thirty years later Pope Julius II decided it needed a new paint job. When he gave the task to Michelangelo, he took a leap of faith because the artist was not then a famous painter, but an upcoming sculptor of the human form. His transformation of the ceiling, an area the size of two basketball courts, would be

completed in just four years. How did a brilliant but inexperienced painter complete the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in such a short time? Five hundred years later when Vatican's staff embarked on the restoration project, they got the chance to uncover this museum secret.

The restoration team spent nine years up onto the ceiling in the 1980s. It took them twice as long to clean the ceiling as it did Michelangelo to paint it.

The largest figures on the ceiling are nearly 20 feet across. Michelangelo did not attempt to paint them freehand. Each figure started as a sketch or cartoon, followed by a procedure that art experts like William Wallace refer to as pouncing.

Wallace: Pouncing is the means of transferring the cartoon to the plaster, so the cartoon is actually being pricked with little tiny holes and charcoal dust in a bag is actually pounced or pounded onto the cartoon. Okay. We see the head beautifully pounced and the hand beautifully pounced.

But pouncing was a slow process and Michelangelo was under pressure for an aging Pope who wanted to see the ceiling completed before he died. So Michelangelo exchanged the charcoal for a blade,

allowing him to quickly incise the lines of the sketch directly onto the plaster.

On a scaffold 18 hours a day, seven days a week, constantly craning his neck up, paint dripping into his eyes, no one can say Michelangelo didn't suffer for art. In the fourth year of his labor, he even described it in a poem:

"With my neck puffed out like a pigeon,

Belly hanging like an empty sack,

Beard pointed at the ceiling and,

My brain fallen back within my head."

Michelangelo kept going because he was tough and determined, but that doesn't explain how he could work on a scaffold just a few feet from the ceiling and yet paint figures in perfect perspective when seeing from far below. The answer may be because he started his career as a sculptor.

Elizabeth (Art historian): When Michelangelo imagines a figure moving, it's moving inwards, outwards and space, and therefore creates this wonderful perspective. People ask all the time, "Is that

real? Is the architecture real? Are they sticking out the ceiling? Are they 3D?"

If one removes the frescos from the ceiling, Michelangelo's mastery of perspective becomes even more impressive. He works magic with his paints, creating lifelike 3 D figures even when the background tilts the wrong way.

Elizabeth (Art historian): Jonah was painted on a piece of plaster that tilts towards us, and yet looking at the figure Jonah appears to tilt backwards. It was something that he knew would fly in the face of all the people that criticized him at the beginning of the assignment say, "Oh, but Michelangelo doesn't know anything about painting." Michelangelo denies the laws of physics through his painting. It's the same kind of special effect that people marvel at in something like Avatar.

So how did Michelangelo complete his masterpiece in just 4 years? Determination, physical endurance and 3D virtualosity are only part of the answer. The rest is surely quite simply, genius.

Every morning when the gates open, thousands of visitors head straight to the Sistine Chapel. To stand for a moment in a place that combines the power of god and the genius of man.

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