VOA标准英语2010年-Museum Brings a Bit of South Africa to

An African landscaped garden is growing (and thriving) in front of The British Museum. The plants were brought from South Africa's Cape¹ region by ship and include a quiver tree and poker² plants.

Jennifer Glasse | London 09 August 2010
 

South Africa landscape exhibit at The British Museum

 

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The British Museum

In the shadow of London's British Museum, is a bit of South Africa's desert.

The museum, working with Kew Botanical Gardens, shipped two refrigerated containers full of South African flowers, shrubs³ and trees for a six-month exhibit.

"They came from Cape Town in the summer to sort of Britain in the winter through 14 days of darkness," said Steve Ruddy, of Kew Gardens.

A time lapse⁴ photography shows how the landscape was put together.

Clearing the soil, arranging tons of sand colored rocks and then planting everything took nearly a month. 

Because it was April, there was still a danger of frost, or even snow, so some of the trees were wrapped up to protect them. Months later, the plants are thriving in an uncommonly⁵ hot British summer.

"It's called the Quiver Tree and the large branches are hollowed out to keep arrows in," Steve Ruddy explained.

 

Visitors like Mary, who left South Africa as a child, say they love it.

"It's always thrilling to see the flowers that you were brought up with and that you have seen all tame and domesticated⁶ in European gardens and here they are en masse and more as you knew them," she said.

"You look at that quiver tree, it's just amazing how it was brought here," said Bob, an American tourist who did not expect to see anything like this in London.  "But, we're glad that we did. Now we don't have to go to South Africa."

Stone carvings⁷ in the garden are replicas⁸ of ones made by the San people who have lived in South Africa for 20,000 years

It's not a walk on the wild side, but there are animals here, sort of.

"This is a rhino⁹, a wonderful rhino from South Africa, a very important animal," said Chris Springer, The British Museum's Africa curator.

The stone carvings are replicas of ones found in South Africa. They were made by the San people who have lived in South Africa for 20,000 years.

Springer, says they connect to a mystic past.

"These animals may not necessarily be replicas of real animals," he said. "They may be kind of dream animals and the San, the spirit healers amongst the San people today, one of their main roles is to hunt these rain animals in their dreams in a trance state."

The South Africa landscape exhibit at The British Museum

One corner of the garden is devoted¹⁰ to South African plants under threat from agriculture, housing and invasive plant species. The importance of the country's flora¹¹ and fauna¹² was one reason for this exhibit.

"South Africa has two percent of the world's land mass but has 10 percent of the world's flora," says Steve Ruddy. "It's a biodiversity hotspot."

About three million people will have a chance to visit the desert landscape on their way to or from the Museum.

 

1 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

2 poker   

n.扑克；vt.烙制

参考例句：

• He was cleared out in the poker game.他打扑克牌，把钱都输光了。
• I'm old enough to play poker and do something with it.我打扑克是老手了，可以玩些花样。

3 shrubs   

灌木( shrub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gardener spent a complete morning in trimming those two shrubs. 园丁花了整个上午的时间修剪那两处灌木林。
• These shrubs will need more light to produce flowering shoots. 这些灌木需要更多的光照才能抽出开花的新枝。

4 lapse   

n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效

参考例句：

• The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
• I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。

5 uncommonly   

adv. 稀罕(极，非常)

参考例句：

• an uncommonly gifted child 一个天赋异禀的儿童
• My little Mary was feeling uncommonly empty. 我肚子当时正饿得厉害。

6 domesticated   

adj.喜欢家庭生活的；（指动物）被驯养了的v.驯化( domesticate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He is thoroughly domesticated and cooks a delicious chicken casserole. 他精于家务，烹制的砂锅炖小鸡非常可口。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The donkey is a domesticated form of the African wild ass. 驴是非洲野驴的一种已驯化的品种。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 carvings   

n.雕刻( carving的名词复数 )；雕刻术；雕刻品；雕刻物

参考例句：

• The desk was ornamented with many carvings. 这桌子装饰有很多雕刻物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town. 贝雕是该城的特产。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 replicas   

n.复制品( replica的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His hobby is building replicas of cars. 他的爱好是制作汽车的复制品。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The replicas are made by using a thin film of fusible alloy on a stiffening platen. 复制是用附着在加强托板上的可熔合金薄膜实现的。 来自辞典例句

9 rhino   

n.犀牛，钱, 现金

参考例句：

• The rhino charged headlong towards us.犀牛急速地向我们冲来。
• They have driven the rhino to the edge of extinction.他们已经令犀牛濒临灭绝。

10 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

11 flora   

n.(某一地区的)植物群

参考例句：

• The subtropical island has a remarkably rich native flora.这个亚热带岛屿有相当丰富的乡土植物种类。
• All flora need water and light.一切草木都需要水和阳光。

12 fauna   

n.(一个地区或时代的)所有动物，动物区系

参考例句：

• This National Park is an area with unique fauna and flora.该国家公园区域内具有独特的动物种群和植物种群。
• Fauna is a biological notion means all the animal life in a particular region or period. 动物群是一个生物学的概念，指的是一个特定时期或者地区的所有动物。