Unit1 《Cultural relics》文本素材42(新人教版必修2)

Unit 1 Cultural relics
备课素材
I. What is a culture relic? 何谓“文化遗产”?
Cultural relics are physical reminders of what different peoples valued in the past and continue to value now. Without these relics, we could not cherish cultural traditions as much or appreciate the lives of the people who practiced those traditions. Although we may not often consider it, cultural relics are not only the possession of one culture. In a larger sense, it can be said that they belong to all peoples. For these reasons, this unit describes cultural relics not from China but other places. Looking at it from another angle, it can also be said that cultural relics preserves some aspect of cultural heritage and each relic, regardless of whether the same hands created many examples of it, is still a unique cultural expression and contribution.
2. The cultural relics of China in the world heritage site list《世界文化遗产名录》中的30处中国文化遗产
本单元的主题是“文化遗产”，学生很可能已经亲身接触过当地的文化遗产，或是能过电视、报纸等媒体对此有了一定的了解，因此，在课前教师可让学生列举国内外著名的文化遗产，然后对“文化遗产”给出定义、分类或划分标准。

到2004年底，我国已有30处文物古迹和自然景观被联合国科教文组织世界遗产委员会列入《世界遗产名录》，以下是这些文化遗产的名称、性质和列人《世界遗产名录》的年份：
3. Mystery of The Amber Room
The Amber Room was the most beautiful and elaborate artistic creation in amber that the world had ever known. This entire room built of specially selected pieces of amber had been commissioned by the German king Frederick I in 1701, had taken almost ten years for countless craftsmen to make, and was eventually installed in the Main Palace in Berlin. In 1716, Frederick William I, son and successor of Frederick I, signed the Prussian-Russian Alliance with Czar Peter I. To commemorate this occasion, Frederick presented the czar with the Amber Room. It was then installed in the old Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, but in 1755 was moved to the Catherine Palace in Zarskoje Selo (now Pushkin), During World War II, the German advance on Leningrad was so rapid that the Russians had no time to remove or conceal the Amber room. Although the Germans never reached Leningrad, whose inhabitants defended themselves gallantly, they did reach Pushkin and there they found the amber treasures. Just as many fine works of art were confiscated by the advancing troops, so was the Amber Room destined to change hands again. The entire room was dismantled and packed in crates, and awaited shipment to
Königsberg.
The crates were loaded aboard the German ship Wilhelm Gustloff, which left the Leningrad harbor at night. But before it could reach Germany the ship was torpedoed and sunk by a Russian submarine. Thus the Amber Room settled to the bottom of the Baltic Sea in no-man's-land. Of course, nothing could be done about it until the war had ended. Several months later, a group of Russian divers found the sunken ship and launched a large underwater expedition to recover the Amber Room. When they finally entered the boat, they discovered that a large hole had been cut into the hull and all of the crates containing the Amber room were gone.
To this day, nobody knows what happened to the Amber Room or where it is now...
4. Bianlian Revealed
变脸被泄漏
The secret performing technique of "Bianlian", or face-changing, in one of the oldest forms of Chinese opera - Sichuan Opera - has been revealed by some performers without authority allowance. The disclosure has provoked intense disputes in China on keeping secret or publishing tricks in the sector of performing technique. 中国的最古老的戏剧形式之一的川剧的变脸技术被一些演员在没有官方许可的情况下泄漏了。

这一秘密的泄漏引起了演艺界关于公开还是保守表演技巧秘密的激烈讨论。

Some artists of Sichuan Opera have sold the trick to other parts of the country and even overseas, according to Wang Daozheng, a 68-year-old face-changing master in Sichuan. Some cultural experts have called for the case to be investigated the secret-teller to be punished. Some others believe China should not consider the art a state secret. 据川剧变脸传人，现年六十八岁的王道正说，一些川剧演员把变脸技术卖到外地甚至海外。

一些文化学者则呼吁对此事进行调查，制裁肇事者。

还有些人认为我们不应该把变脸看成国家秘密。

"An art recognized by the world has the most powerful life force," Peng Denghuai, another Sichuan-based face-changing master, told Xinhua, "We should let the technique go abroad and make it a renowned Chinese cultural attraction to a global audience," Peng said. 川剧的另一位传人彭登怀对新华社记者说：“被全世界认识的艺术才是最具生命力的，我们应该让变脸弘扬海外，使之成为众所周知的中国文化以吸引全世界观众。

Sichuan Opera is distinguished by the face-changing technique. Performers change masks in quick succession with a wave of the hand or by turning around. Professionals can change around some 10 masks in 20 seconds. In China, there are only 200 artists who are able to perform face-changing. 变脸是川剧的标志。

演员通过挥手或转身连续快速地变换面具。

职业演员可在二十秒内变换十次。

全国只有约200个演员能够表演变脸。

Hu Jixian, vice-director in charge of art affairs of Sichuan province, said face-changing is a rare art heritage in China, calling for better protection and development of the technique. 四川艺术事务所副总监胡继先说，变脸是中国的稀有艺术遗产。

他呼吁对这项技术的更好保户和发展。

“Since it is listed as a high-level secret of China, this case of disclosure is an individual one and we will take appropriate measures to deal with it,”the official said. 官方称：“变脸既然被列为国家的高度机密，那么他的泄漏属于个认行为，我们将采取适当的手段对此事进行处理。