英语听力精选进阶版 6371

Take every single object out of you--r house. Pose for a photo. Then, put everything back inside again.

This is what photographer Huang Qingjun has been convincing people to do for the past decade. Families from 14 of China's 33 provinces agreed to stand outside their house and pose for Mr Huang with all their possessions. An exhibition of his work, called 'Belongings¹' (财产), is now on display in Beijing.

It was not always easy to explain the object of the project. "Most people thought what I was proposing was not normal. When I explained I wanted to set up a photo, that it would involve taking everything out of their house and setting it up outside, that took quite a lot of explaining," Mr. Huang says. "But almost all of them, when they realised what I was trying to do, they understood the point."

On one level, the photos are intimate family portraits: an art dealer² surrounded by his collection of ceramics³, or a fishing family with objects mostly related to cooking. On another level, the pictures capture the social change that is taking place in China. The four most sought-after items in 1950s for newly married couples were a sewing machine, a bicycle, a watch and a radio. By the 1980s the stuff people longed for was quite different: a TV, a washing machine, a rice cooker and a fridge. In some pictures, the sewing machine was pushed to the back, which shows it's no longer as desirable as it used to be.

In other photos, luxury items are on display: a BMW car and a flat-screen TV feature in the portrait of film director Zhang Yuan. Since brand names and consumer goods already flood China's cities, will these soon reach the more remote parts of the country and become more prominent in Mr. Huang's snaps? Next year will mark the 10th anniversary of the start of the project, and Mr. Huang plans to visit the same families to see what has changed. "In the last 10 years, China has seen such a fast rate of growth, I want to go back and see what the effects have been on their lives," he says.

Which new goods will appear in the next batch⁴ of pictures? And which will no longer feature because they've become a thing of the past?

Quiz 测验

True, false or not given? Photographer Huang Qingjun convinced 14 families to pose for him.

False. He convinced families from 14 different provinces to pose for him.

Find six words in the article that can mean 'things'.

Objects, possessions, belongings, stuff, items, goods.

Which word in the article means 'that people want'?

Sought-after.

According to the article, which item was much more desirable in the 1950s than in more recent decades?

A sewing machine.

Why is Mr. Huang planning to revisit the families next year?

Next year will mark the 10th anniversary of the project, so Mr. Huang wants to see how things have changed.

Glossary 词汇表

possessions 拥有物

belongings 所属物品（家什），财产

the object of 目的

a portrait 肖像

to capture 捕捉

sought-after 想得到的

a sewing machine 缝纫机

stuff 圆物品，东西

a washing machine 洗衣机

desirable 理想的；人人都想要的

luxury items 奢侈品

a flat-screen TV 平板电视

brand names 名牌

consumer goods 消费品

goods 物品

batch 一批

a thing of the past 已经是过去的事了

1 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

2 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

3 ceramics   

n.制陶业；陶器

参考例句：

• an exhibition of ceramics by Picasso 毕加索陶瓷作品展
• The ceramics bore the imprint of Luca della Robbia. 陶器上印有卢卡·德拉·罗比亚的字样。

4 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。