【一起听英语】原住民

考古学家最近发现了很久之前生活在澳大利亚的土著原住民的遗骸，他们都有什么新的调查结果呢？

Rob: Hello, I'm Rob.

Cath: And I'm Cath.

Rob: And welcome to 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. Today we're

talking about bones.

Cath: Yes but not any bones, these are very old bones from past generations of

Aborigines – the native people of Australia.

Rob: And these bones have become artefacts on display in museums around the

world – but not for much longer. More about that soon. But first, I've got a

question for you Cath. Are you ready?

Cath: Yes!

Rob: Where in your body would you find the humerus bone? In your:

a) leg

b) arm

c) head

Cath: I'm very confident about this. I think it's in your arm and sometimes we call it

 your funny bone.

Rob: OK, well, we'll see if you're right at the end of the programme. Bones are the

subject of today's programme and particularly ones belonging to the ancestors

of one of the oldest and smallest ethnic¹ groups in the world. 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011

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Cath: Yes the Aborigines of Australia.

Rob: They now only account for approximately 2% of the Australian population and

they've maintained many of their traditions and beliefs.

Cath: Yes, they attach a lot of importance to the bones of their dead.

Rob: That's why The University of Sydney's Museum of Anatomy² is returning the

bones it has in its collection to the Aboriginal³ people following a long

campaign. Let's hear from the BBC's Phil Mercer about why the bones were

collected in the first place. Listen to how he describes what people thought of

Aborigines.

Phil Mercer, BBC

For more than 150 years the bones of indigenous⁴ Australians were collected around the world

as part of studies into an ancient and enduring culture. Aborigines were often considered to be

anthropological⁵ oddities. Their bone structure and skull⁶ size attracted great scientific interest.

Other remains⁷ were found during construction work or by farmers and given to institutions for

safekeeping.

Rob: So Phil Mercer was talking about how, for 150 years, people collected the

bones of indigenous Australians.

Cath: Indigenous – that means people who belong to a place. In this case the

Aboriginal people. And scientists considered these people to be

anthropological oddities.

Rob: Anthropology⁸ is to do with studying the origins of the human race.

Cath: And oddities here means something unusual. So the Aborigines are called

anthropological oddities because their bone size and skull structure were

different from most other humans. So scientists were fascinated by this and

when bones were found they were given to institutions – museums – for

safekeeping. 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011

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Rob: Yes, they were looked after and put on display. But there's a sad side to this

because Aborigines attach great importance to them. They believe that unless

the dead are totally buried they will remain as souls in torment⁹.

Cath: Torment means extreme suffering. So obviously they were very very keen to

get the bones back.

Rob: And now the remains of six people have been returned and this was marked by

a special event, or ceremony. Community elders from remote towns across

Australia travelled to attend and carry out some of their rituals.

Cath: A ritual is something carried out in the same way every time. We can hear

more about it from the deputy vice-chancellor of Sydney University, Professor

Shane Houston. Hear how he describes the event…

Shane Houston, deputy vice-chancellor of Sydney University

It is a point in culture that says that spirits cannot rest far from country and we engage in a

smoking ceremony to prepare ourselves and to prepare our ancestors for the trip back home.

And it is an incredibly moving event where people embrace remains and embrace each other

as if you would embrace a family member who has been apart for many years.

Rob: That was a very happy Shane Houston describing the ceremony as very

moving – or emotional. He says their ancestors were prepared for the trip back

home.

Cath: I'm sure it was a very emotional time so it's not surprising that people were

embracing – or hugging - each other and embracing the remains like a family

member who they haven't seen for a very long time. A very touching¹⁰ moment.

So Rob, what happens to the bones now, do they pass to the community elders?

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011

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Rob: Well there's an amazing amount of information about these people and the

Aboriginal community have a lot of knowledge about their background so the

museum has returned the bones to the descendants – or relatives – of the dead.

Cath: That's good to hear but there must be a lot more bones still being exhibited

around the world?

Rob: There are, so campaigners are continuing to lobby museums and colleges

overseas to return their collections. But some have been repatriated¹¹ – or

brought home – in recent years.

Cath: Still a lot of work to do, it sounds like.

Rob: And I set you some work earlier, to work out the answer to this question.

Where in your body would you find the humerus bone? In your:

a) leg

b) arm

c) head

Cath: And I was very confident and I said arm.

Rob: And you're right. We do sometimes call it our funny bone when you knock it, it

doesn't make you laugh though, it hurts!

Cath: No it just hurts actually, it's horrible!

Rob: OK Cath, could you please remind us of some of the vocabulary we've heard

today?

Cath: Sure. We had: 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011

Page 5 of 6

native

artefacts

ancestors

indigenous

safekeeping

torment

ceremony

rituals

moving

embracing

lobby

Rob: Thanks Cath. We hope you've enjoyed today's programme, and don't forget

you can download it as a podcast. Please join us again for another 6 Minute

English very soon.

Both: Bye! 

1 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

2 anatomy   

n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织

参考例句：

• He found out a great deal about the anatomy of animals.在动物解剖学方面，他有过许多发现。
• The hurricane's anatomy was powerful and complex.对飓风的剖析是一项庞大而复杂的工作。

3 aboriginal   

adj.（指动植物）土生的，原产地的，土著的

参考例句：

• They managed to wipe out the entire aboriginal population.他们终于把那些土著人全部消灭了。
• The lndians are the aboriginal Americans.印第安人是美国的土著人。

4 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

5 anthropological   

adj.人类学的

参考例句：

• These facts of responsibility are an anthropological datums- varied and multiform. 这些道德事实是一种人类学资料——性质不同，形式各异。 来自哲学部分
• It is the most difficult of all anthropological data on which to "draw" the old Negro. 在所有的人类学资料中，最困难的事莫过于“刻划”古代的黑人。 来自辞典例句

6 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 anthropology   

n.人类学

参考例句：

• I believe he has started reading up anthropology.我相信他已开始深入研究人类学。
• Social anthropology is centrally concerned with the diversity of culture.社会人类学主要关于文化多样性。

9 torment   

n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠

参考例句：

• He has never suffered the torment of rejection.他从未经受过遭人拒绝的痛苦。
• Now nothing aggravates me more than when people torment each other.没有什么东西比人们的互相折磨更使我愤怒。

10 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

11 repatriated   

v.把（某人）遣送回国，遣返( repatriate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The refugees were forcibly repatriated. 难民被强制遣送回国。
• Ancient artworks were repatriated from the US to Greece. 古代艺术品从美国遣送回希腊。 来自《简明英汉词典》