英国新闻听力 对大英博物馆展览品的思考

Good morning. The British Museum opened its doors on this day in 1759, the first national public museum in the world.

早上好，大英博物馆于1759年的今天对外开放，它是全世界第一座国家级公共博物馆。

Sir Hans Sloane had gathered 71,000 artefacts from many parts of the world and these formed the core of the collection.

汉斯·斯隆爵士从世界各地收集了7.1万件文物，并构成了博物馆藏品的核心。

5,000 visitors a year to begin with has grown to six million annually¹ now. As success stories go, the British Museum is hard to beat.

最初每年只有5000名游客，现在已经发展到每年600万人。作为这方面的成功故事，大英博物馆无可匹敌。

I must have been eleven when I first went there. I recall being surprised that not everything in the British Museum came from Britain.

我第一次参观大英博物馆时应该是11岁，我还记得令我吃惊的人，大英博物馆中并非每一件藏品都来自英国。

My juvenile² and literal mind needed broadening. Fortunately my education provided windows onto different cultures and histories.

我少年的心灵需要得到扩展，幸运的是通过接受教育，我了解了各种文化和历史。

At places like the British Museum many of us realise how much we have to learn from countries we've never visited, people we've never met and things which happened long before we were born.

在像大英博物馆这样的地方，我们很多人都意识到自己能从那些从未到过的国家、那些从未遇到过的人、那些在我们出生之前就发生的事那里学到多少东西。

Recent events in France have prompted people everywhere to defend freedom of expression and assert their right to say what they think.

法国最近的事件使得各地的人们开始捍卫言论自由，维护说出心中所想的权利。

Understandably. But we rarely have much that's informed or challenging to say about different cultures, religions and ideologies³ if we know little about them.

这都是可以理解的。但如果我们对不同的文化、宗教和意识形态了解不多，我们几乎不会明智地这么说。

Those who want to destroy western culture will have done so very effectively if they stop us being curious about what makes others different.

那些希望毁掉西方文化的人，如果他们让我们对造成其他人不同的原因不再感到好奇，那么他们会很轻易地毁掉西方文化。

Diminished sympathies curb⁴ our curiosity.

同情心的减弱抑制了我们的好奇心。

The current exhibition at the British Museum Germany: memories of a nation finishes in ten days' time.

目前大英博物馆的德国馆有展览，展出了一个国家在10天内所完成事件的记忆。

Together with its associated radio series, it's taught us a great deal about the triumphs and tragedies of German history and culture.

同时还有相关的广播系列，让我们了解到关于德国历史和文化的胜利和惨败。

I was born a few years after the end of the Second World War.

我出生在二战结束后几年，

My parents' war time experience meant that as a child I feared Germany though I'd never met any Germans.

我父母的战时经历意味着，儿童时代的我很恐惧德国，尽管那时我从未遇到过任何德国人。

My attitude changed after a visit to Germany when I was 19.

19岁那年我访问德国后，态度就改变了。

Perhaps a good response to what's happened recently would be to learn more about Islamic art, religion and culture,

可能对于最近所发生事件的最佳应对就是了解更多有关伊斯兰教艺术、宗教和文化的知识，

some of which can be explored at the Victoria and Albert Museum, for example.

其中一些知识可以从维多利亚和阿尔伯特博物馆那里获得。

We should try to experience other faiths and cultures at their strongest if we are to understand them well.

如果我们想很好地了解其他的信仰和文化，就应该努力体验这种信仰和文化最强盛时的状态。

During the time of the Crusades, Francis of Assisi went on a missionary⁵ journey to Egypt.

在十字军东征期间，圣方济各前往埃及进行传教。

He was sickened by the fighting but met the Sultan, probably hoping either to convert him or die a martyr⁶.

他对战争感到厌倦，但他会见了苏丹，可能希望让他皈依天主教或者殉道而死。

Instead, Francis came away changed not in his Christian⁷ faith but in his attitude, instructing his followers⁸ to live with Muslims in peace.

结果，方济各没有改变自己的基督教信仰，而是改变了态度，并教导信徒们与穆斯林和平相处。

It's one of the reasons why wherever you go in the Holy Land today, you'll often find Franciscans manning the shrines⁹ and holy places.

也部分因为这一点，今天无论你去圣地的哪个地方，都能发现神殿和圣地有方济各会修士。

Encounter often enlarges sympathies. And can lead to unexpected outcomes.

相遇通常都能加深同情心，并促成意想不到的结果。

1 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

2 juvenile   

n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的

参考例句：

• For a grown man he acted in a very juvenile manner.身为成年人，他的行为举止显得十分幼稚。
• Juvenile crime is increasing at a terrifying rate.青少年犯罪正在以惊人的速度增长。

3 ideologies   

n.思想（体系）( ideology的名词复数 )；思想意识；意识形态；观念形态

参考例句：

• There is no fundamental diversity between the two ideologies. 这两种思想意识之间并没有根本的分歧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Radical ideologies require to contrast to their own goodness the wickedness of some other system. 凡是过激的意识形态，都需要有另外一个丑恶的制度作对比，才能衬托出自己的善良。 来自辞典例句

4 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

5 missionary   

adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士

参考例句：

• She taught in a missionary school for a couple of years.她在一所教会学校教了两年书。
• I hope every member understands the value of missionary work. 我希望教友都了解传教工作的价值。

6 martyr   

n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲

参考例句：

• The martyr laid down his life for the cause of national independence.这位烈士是为了民族独立的事业而献身的。
• The newspaper carried the martyr's photo framed in black.报上登载了框有黑边的烈士遗像。

7 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。

8 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

9 shrines   

圣地，圣坛，神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All three structures dated to the third century and were tentatively identified as shrines. 这3座建筑都建于3 世纪，并且初步鉴定为神庙。
• Their palaces and their shrines are tombs. 它们的宫殿和神殿成了墓穴。