2007年VOA标准英语-Paleo-Artists Depict Prehistoric Worlds for Mod

By Mike O'Sullivan
Los Angeles
14 May 2007

Dinosaurs¹ and other prehistoric² creatures hold an enduring fascination³, especially to the artists known as paleo-artists who bring the ancient animals to life. Mike O'Sullivan reports on the work of two paleo-artists, now on display in California and Florida.

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Charles R. Knight exhibit at the Florida Museum of Natural History

The best-known paleo-artist was Charles R. Knight. His paintings and sketches⁵ were widely seen in encyclopedias⁶, textbooks and children's books through the 20th century. The images captivated Douglas Jones, and he went on to become the director of the Florida Museum of Natural History in the city of Gainesville.

Jones says Knight inspired generations of scientists, by bringing fossils to life. The artist's paintings adorn⁷ the walls of great museums, from the American Museum of Natural History in New York to Chicago's Field Museum and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

Knight died in 1953, and since then, our understanding of dinosaurs and other ancient creatures has changed. Dinosaurs were once viewed as sluggish⁸ giants, but Jones says the huge creatures were energetic and agile⁹, and Knight sensed that.

"They were more vigorous, and more successful and more animated¹⁰ than some of the earlier paintings would seem to indicate," said Douglas Jones. "I hasten to add that in many ways, Charles Knight led the way because he painted some of the dinosaurs in their more active poses, and it was the paleontologists whose paradigm¹¹ of a sluggish reptilian¹² view held them back."

In addition to dinosaurs, Knight painted such later ice-age creatures as mammoths, saber-tooth cats and giant sloths¹³, and ancient fish that were ancestors to modern marine¹⁴ life.

Seven of Knight's paintings, as well as a self-portrait, are on display in the Florida museum in a special exhibition called Charles R. Knight: Studies of Lost Worlds.

In California, William Stout¹⁵ is a modern paleo-artist who is completing 12 large murals for the San Diego Natural History Museum. He was inspired by Knight's paintings, but was set on his career path at an early age when he saw a classic fantasy film that featured a gigantic ape.

"They had a re-release of the original 1933 King Kong," said William Stout. "And I think it did damage at a genetic¹⁶ level." [this is a joke, meaning the film had a great impact on him.]

King Kong, with special effects created by Willis O'Brien, was one of several films inspired by the work of Charles R. Knight. The special effects pioneer Ray Harryhausen also credits Knight as an inspiration. Harryhausen's films include another tale of a giant ape, Mighty¹⁷ Joe Young, and The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms¹⁸.

One of Bill Stout's paintings

There are continuing connections between the work of paleo-artists and Hollywood. Bill Stout has designed creatures and makeup¹⁹ for the films Conan the Barbarian²⁰, Men in Black, Predator²¹, Disney's Dinosaurs and many other movies.

He wrote a best-selling book about dinosaurs in 1981, updated in 2000 as The New Dinosaurs. He says, like Charles R. Knight, he is a communicator.

"I see paleo-artists as conduits to the public on behalf of the scientists," he said. "They take scientific papers and scientific ideas that are pretty hard for the public to digest, put them into visual terms, and get the public very excited."

Douglas Jones says the paintings of Charles Knight, some 100-years-old, still fascinate visitors to the Florida Museum of Natural History.

"The paintings do not seem to have lost anything in terms of their interest to the public, and in a day when the kids are increasingly exposed to electronic media, it is gratifying to see how many of them will stop in front of these paintings with their mom or dad or their grandparents, and point to them and talk about the unusual creatures that they see in these paintings," he said. "So I think they still have that capacity to ignite a young person's imagination."

Rhoda Knight Kalt, the artist's granddaughter, says adults get just as excited when they see her grandfather's pictures.

"It is hard to believe such creatures once inhabited the earth," said Rhoda Knight Kalt. "And they were really here. This is not in somebody's head. They were really here. So what he did was, he brought alive a world that nobody had seen, but it actually existed."

The land that is now Florida was under water in the time of the dinosaurs, but was rich with life in the ice age, so the Knight paintings on display at the Florida museum show that more recent period, which ended about 10,000 years ago.

Bill Stout's murals at the San Diego Natural History Museum cover millions of years of biological history.

1 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 prehistoric   

adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的

参考例句：

• They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
• It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。

3 fascination   

n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋

参考例句：

• He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
• His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。

4 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

5 sketches   

n.草图( sketch的名词复数 )；素描；速写；梗概

参考例句：

• The artist is making sketches for his next painting. 画家正为他的下一幅作品画素描。
• You have to admit that these sketches are true to life. 你得承认这些素描很逼真。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 encyclopedias   

n.百科全书， （某一学科的）专科全书( encyclopedia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• However, some encyclopedias can be found on the Web. 同时，一些百科全书能也在网络上找到。 来自互联网
• Few people think of encyclopedias as creative enterprises; but they are. 鲜少有人想到百科全书是创意的工作，但它确实是。 来自互联网

7 adorn   

vt.使美化，装饰

参考例句：

• She loved to adorn herself with finery.她喜欢穿戴华丽的服饰。
• His watercolour designs adorn a wide range of books.他的水彩设计使许多图书大为生色。

8 sluggish   

adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的

参考例句：

• This humid heat makes you feel rather sluggish.这种湿热的天气使人感到懒洋洋的。
• Circulation is much more sluggish in the feet than in the hands.脚部的循环比手部的循环缓慢得多。

9 agile   

adj.敏捷的，灵活的

参考例句：

• She is such an agile dancer!她跳起舞来是那么灵巧！
• An acrobat has to be agile.杂技演员必须身手敏捷。

10 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

11 paradigm   

n.例子，模范，词形变化表

参考例句：

• He had become the paradigm of the successful man. 他已经成为成功人士的典范。
• Moreover,the results of this research can be the new learning paradigm for digital design studios.除此之外，本研究的研究成果也可以为数位设计课程建立一个新的学习范例。

12 reptilian   

adj.（像）爬行动物的；（像）爬虫的；卑躬屈节的；卑鄙的n.两栖动物；卑劣的人

参考例句：

• The chick is ugly and almost reptilian in its appearance. 这只小鸡长得很丑，看起来几乎像个爬行动物。 来自辞典例句
• Being from Orion do Zetas contain DNA from the Reptilian race? 齐塔人是从猎户座而来，DNA来自爬虫族吗？ 来自互联网

13 sloths   

懒散( sloth的名词复数 )； 懒惰； 树獭； （经济）停滞。

参考例句：

• Mummies of pleistocene ground sloths, with original skin, hair, tendons and claws have been found. 还发现了保存原有皮肤，毛发，腱和爪的更新世时期地面树懒的木乃伊。
• He was inspired by fossils of armadillos and sloths. 犰狳和树懒化石让他获得了灵感。

14 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

15 stout   

adj.强壮的，粗大的，结实的，勇猛的，矮胖的

参考例句：

• He cut a stout stick to help him walk.他砍了一根结实的枝条用来拄着走路。
• The stout old man waddled across the road.那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。

16 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

17 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

18 fathoms   

英寻( fathom的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The harbour is four fathoms deep. 港深为四英寻。
• One bait was down forty fathoms. 有个鱼饵下沉到四十英寻的深处。

19 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

20 barbarian   

n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的

参考例句：

• There is a barbarian tribe living in this forest.有一个原始部落居住在这个林区。
• The walled city was attacked by barbarian hordes.那座有城墙的城市遭到野蛮部落的袭击。

21 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。