英语听力精选进阶版 15371

Old picnic new archaeology¹

Summary

9 June 2010

In France a bizarre piece of performance art carried out 27 years ago is helping² archaeologists test their techniques. A Swiss artist buried the leftovers³ of a picnic as an exploration of the meaning of time. His art is helping science.

Reporter:

Jonny Hogg

Report

Some people might see burying the remnants of your picnic as littering. Daniel Spoerri called it art. In April 1983 around one hundred people sat down to eat in the grounds of a chateau⁴ near Versailles in France.

After they finished their meal, an extravagant⁵ feast of pigs' udders, ears, tripe⁶ and trotters, everything, tables and all, was placed in a pre-dug trench⁷ and buried. The gesture aimed to explore the nature of time and became known as 'Dejeuner Sous L'Herbe', or Lunch Under the Grass.

Now the site is being excavated⁸ and it is scientists who are hoping they can learn something. They will use their knowledge of the original meal to try out new archaeological techniques to see whether they match. It's a way of carrying out a controlled experiment to see just how accurate chemical analysis tests are. It's also a chance to see how different materials decompose⁹.

Early signs show that the tables from the picnic have virtually vanished, whilst bottles and plates have survived.Something else that is being tested is the memory of the original guests. Those present at the dig swore that they had not used plastic cups. As it turns out, they had. Mr Spoerri has been helping oversee¹⁰ the excavation¹¹ and has said he will make a plaster cast of what's left of the picnic and bury that for future generations.

Jonny Hogg, BBC News

1 archaeology   

n.考古学

参考例句：

• She teaches archaeology at the university.她在大学里教考古学。
• He displayed interest in archaeology.他对考古学有兴趣。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 leftovers   

n.剩余物，残留物，剩菜

参考例句：

• He can do miracles with a few kitchen leftovers.他能用厨房里几样剩饭做出一顿美餐。
• She made supper from leftovers she had thrown together.她用吃剩的食物拼凑成一顿晚饭。

4 chateau   

n.城堡，别墅

参考例句：

• The house was modelled on a French chateau.这房子是模仿一座法国大别墅建造的。
• The chateau was left to itself to flame and burn.那府第便径自腾起大火燃烧下去。

5 extravagant   

adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的

参考例句：

• They tried to please him with fulsome compliments and extravagant gifts.他们想用溢美之词和奢华的礼品来取悦他。
• He is extravagant in behaviour.他行为放肆。

6 tripe   

n.废话，肚子, 内脏

参考例句：

• I can't eat either tripe or liver.我不吃肚也不吃肝。
• I don't read that tripe.我才不看那种无聊的东西呢。

7 trench   

n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕

参考例句：

• The soldiers recaptured their trench.兵士夺回了战壕。
• The troops received orders to trench the outpost.部队接到命令在前哨周围筑壕加强防卫。

8 excavated   

v.挖掘( excavate的过去式和过去分词 )；开凿；挖出；发掘

参考例句：

• The site has been excavated by archaeologists. 这个遗址已被考古学家发掘出来。
• The archaeologists excavated an ancient fortress. 考古学家们发掘出一个古堡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 decompose   

vi.分解；vt.（使）腐败，（使）腐烂

参考例句：

• The eggs began to decompose after a day in the sun.鸡蛋在太阳下放了一天后开始变坏。
• Most animals decompose very quickly after death.大多数动物死后很快腐烂。

10 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

11 excavation   

n.挖掘，发掘；被挖掘之地

参考例句：

• The bad weather has hung up the work of excavation.天气不好耽误了挖掘工作。
• The excavation exposed some ancient ruins.这次挖掘暴露出一些古遗迹。