英国新闻听力 翠西·艾敏的床16年后再次展出

Good morning.17 years after it was created, and 16 years after it was first on public view, Tracey Emin’s bed has returned to Tate Britain where it went on display yesterday morning. Back in 1999, when it was nominated for the Turner Prize, the work became notorious. Viewers weren’t sure what to make of, or were even affronted¹ by, the stained sheets of a crumpled² bed, and on the floor by the bed, the detritus³ of a weekend of grief and depression following the breakup of a relationship - cigarette butts⁴, an empty vodka bottle, discarded clothes and worse. It is not pretty – and the fact that the collector who has loaned the bed to the Tate paid ￡2.54 million pounds for it, will not, of course, weigh with the doubters.

What is clear is that for many this work strikes a chord. If Tracey Emin’s bed was a monument to the considerable pain and heartache of her failed relationship, others plainly recognise in it an icon⁵ for the sorrow and grief of other such breakdowns⁶. Human life often begins in bed, where children are conceived and born, and it is the place where many of us hope our lives will end. But between these beginnings and endings, the bed – like human life itself - seems to be poised⁷ between joy and sadness. It is the place where we shed our clothes and in our nakedness are most vulnerable – and especially so when we invite others into this space. Certainly there is a potential for great joy, and even when relationships end, the endings are not necessarily as messy as Emin’s bed, but the potential for chaos⁸ and mess is certainly there.

Many myths which tell of a Golden Age – such as the story of the Garden of Eden – imagine humankind going unclothed, as if in some previous glorious and innocent time we had nothing to hide or fear from one another. Of course the Book of Genesis only begins with innocence⁹ - Adam and Eve are very soon covering up. For about human relationships the Bible is neither dewy eyed nor romantic. You don’t get very far in the Book of Genesis before the dreamy beginning in Chapter 1 has given way to stories of fratricide, rape¹⁰, incest, extortion, scheming and betrayal. If Genesis begins with a magnificent dream of what human relationships can be, it also provides, like Tracy Emin’s bed, a terrible nightmare of how unfortunately they often are.

Tracey Emin makes her bed – or rather unmakes it - every time the work goes on display – and that sounds like a terrible cross to bear. Depicting¹¹ our failed relationships, in all their grubby chaos, is not something most of us would relish¹² doing just the once, let alone time and again. More to the point, Christianity counsels us against making enduring monuments to our griefs, grievances¹³ and sorrows – instead we are charged with finding a way to forgive others, and ourselves. Emin is clear however, that when she decided¹⁴ to make her abject¹⁵ bed into a work of art, she was walking away from it. So if the artist found making her bed cathartic¹⁶ and redemptive, I hope those who see it find it cathartic too.

早上好。创作17年，首次进入公众视野16年之后，翠西·艾敏的床昨天早上重返最初展览的奈特美术馆。回顾1999年，它被特纳奖提名时，该作品臭名昭著。观众们不确定这张床是怎样制作而成的，甚至还觉得受到冒犯——脏污褶皱摆放在地板上，展现着分手后周末的悲伤和抑郁——烟头，空的伏特加瓶子，随意丢弃的衣服，甚至更多不堪入目的东西。场景一点都不漂亮——然而，有位收藏家不顾质疑者的声音，出价254万美元将其买走。

很明显的是，对许多人来说，该作品触动了他们的心弦。如果翠西·艾敏的床是失恋后的痛苦和伤心的纪念，其他人仅仅认为这是分手后伤心和悲痛的标志。人类生命通常是从床上开始的，孩子就是在床上孕育和出生的，也是许多人希望生命终止的地方。但是在开始和终止之间，床——就像生命本身一样——似乎总是在快乐和伤悲之间保持平衡。这是我们脱去衣服赤身裸体的地方，也是我们最容易受伤害的地方——尤其是当我们邀请他们进入这个私人领域的时候。当然也有可能获得欢愉，甚至即使分手，结局也不一定像艾敏的床那么混乱，但是混乱的可能性却是存在的。

许多讲述黄金时代的神话——比如伊甸园的故事——想像人类不穿衣服，就像以前一些辉煌而纯洁的时代，我们没有什么好隐藏的，也没有什么好恐惧的。当然，《创世纪》就是从纯洁开始的——不过亚当和夏娃很快就穿上衣服了。关于人类关系，《圣经》既不天真也不浪漫。在《创世纪》中，没用多久，第一章梦幻的开头就被杀害兄弟，强奸，乱伦，敲诈，诡计和背叛所取代。如果说《创世纪》以一个人类关系宏伟的梦想开始，它也提供了翠西·艾敏的床那样可怕的噩梦，提醒我们人类关系可能会多么不幸。

翠西·艾敏每次展览作品的时候都会整理她的床，或者说破坏她的床，这听上去非常难以忍受。以所有的混乱不堪来描述我们失败的恋情，大部分人一次都没有尝试过，更不要说一次又一次了。更重要的一点，基督教义要求我们不要永远地纪念我们的悲伤和痛苦——相反，我们应该想办法宽恕他人，宽恕自己。然而，艾敏很清楚，当他决定把混乱不堪的床改变为艺术品时，她已经走出了失恋的痛苦。所以，如果这位艺术家认为把自己的床展览是一种宣泄和救赎，我希望看到这个作品的人也能够宣泄感情。

1 affronted   

adj.被侮辱的，被冒犯的v.勇敢地面对( affront的过去式和过去分词 )；相遇

参考例句：

• He hoped they would not feel affronted if they were not invited . 他希望如果他们没有获得邀请也不要感到受辱。
• Affronted at his impertinence,she stared at him coldly and wordlessly. 被他的无礼而冒犯，她冷冷地、无言地盯着他。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 crumpled   

adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
• She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。

3 detritus   

n.碎石

参考例句：

• Detritus usually consists of gravel, sand and clay.岩屑通常是由砂砾，沙和粘土组成的。
• A channel is no sooner cut than it chokes in its own detritus.一个河道刚被切割了不久，很快又被它自己的碎屑物质所充塞。

4 butts   

笑柄( butt的名词复数 )； （武器或工具的）粗大的一端； 屁股； 烟蒂

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。
• The house butts to a cemetery. 这所房子和墓地相连。

5 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

6 breakdowns   

n.分解( breakdown的名词复数 )；衰竭；（车辆或机器的）损坏；统计分析

参考例句：

• Her old car was unreliable, so the trip was plagued by breakdowns. 她的旧车老不听使唤，一路上总是出故障。 来自辞典例句
• How do we prevent these continual breakdowns? 我们如何防止这些一再出现的故障？ 来自辞典例句

7 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

8 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

9 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

10 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

11 depicting   

描绘，描画( depict的现在分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• a painting depicting the Virgin and Child 一幅描绘童贞马利亚和圣子耶稣的画
• The movie depicting the battles and bloodshed is bound to strike home. 这部描写战斗和流血牺牲的影片一定会取得预期效果。

12 relish   

n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味

参考例句：

• I have no relish for pop music.我对流行音乐不感兴趣。
• I relish the challenge of doing jobs that others turn down.我喜欢挑战别人拒绝做的工作。

13 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

15 abject   

adj.极可怜的，卑屈的

参考例句：

• This policy has turned out to be an abject failure.这一政策最后以惨败而告终。
• He had been obliged to offer an abject apology to Mr.Alleyne for his impertinence.他不得不低声下气，为他的无礼举动向艾莱恩先生请罪。

16 cathartic   

adj.宣泄情绪的；n.泻剂

参考例句：

• His laughter was cathartic,an animal yelp that brought tears to his eyes.他哈哈大笑以宣泄情绪，声音如野兽般尖厉，眼泪都笑出来了。
• The drug had a cathartic effect.这药有导泻的作用。