《新概念英语》第四册 Lesson 31 The sculptor speaks

Appreciation of sculpture depends upon the ability to respond to form in there dimension. That is perhaps why sculpture has been described as the most difficult of all arts; certainly it is more difficult than the arts which involve appreciation of flat forms, shape in only two dimensions. Many more people are 'form-blind' than colour-blind. The child learning to see, first distinguishes only two-dimensional shape; it cannot judge distances, depths. Later, for its personal safety and practical needs, it has to develop (partly by means of touch) the ability to judge roughly three-dimensonal distances. But having satisfied the requirements of practical necessity, most people go no further. Though they may attain considerable accuracy in the perception of flat from, they do no make the further. Though they may attain considerable accuracy in the perception of flat form, they do not make the further intellectual and emotional effort needed to comprehend form in its full spatial existence.

This is what the sculptor must do. He must strive continually to think of, and use, form in its full spatial completeness. He gets the solid shape, as it were, inside his head-he thinks of it, whatever its size, as if he were holding it completely enclosed in the hollow of his hand. He mentally visualizes a complex form from all round itself; he knows while he looks at one side what the other side is like, he identifies himself with its centre of gravity, its mass, its weight; he realizes its volume, as the space that the shape displaces in the air.

And the sensitive observer of sculpture must also learn to feel shape simply as shape, not as description or reminiscence. He must, for example, perceive an egg as a simple single solid shape, quite apart from its significance as food, or from the literary idea that it will become a bird. And so with solids such as a shell, a nut, a plum, a pear, a tadpole, a mushroom, a mountain peak, a kidney, a carrot, a tree-trunk, a bird, a bud, a lark, a ladybird, a bulrush, a bone. From these he can go on to appreciate more complex forms of combinations of several forms.

HENRY MOORE The Sculptor Speaks from The Listener

New words and expressions

生词和短语

colour-blind [ˈkʌlər blaɪnd] adj. 色盲的

Sixteen times as many men are colour-blind as women.

男性色盲为女性色盲的16倍。

perception [pərˈsepʃn] n. 知觉

per 完全，贯穿 + cept 抓 + ion 名词后缀 → 完全抓住 → 知觉

We all experience various types of experience including perception, imagination, thought, emotion, desire, volition, and action.

我们都经验到各种不同类型的经验，包括知觉，想象，思想，情感，欲望，意志和行为。

comprehend [ˌkɑːmprɪˈhend] v. 理解

com 加强 + prehend 抓 → 全部抓住，掌握住 → 了解；包括

The infinite distances of space are too great for the human mind to comprehend.

太空的无垠距离遥远得让人类的大脑无法理解。

spatial [ˈspeɪʃl] adj. 空间

同源词：space，spacial。

changes taking place in the spatial distribution of the population

人口的地域分布所发生的变化

visualize [ˈvɪʒuəlaɪz] v. 使具形象，设想

visual 视力的 + ize 动词后缀 → 使具体化

visual [ˈvɪʒuəl] adj.视力的;视觉的 n.视觉资料(指说明性的图片、影片等)

vis 看 + u + al 形容词后缀 → 视力的

I can't visualize what this room looked like before it was decorated.

我想象不出这个房间在装修之前是什么样子。

reminiscence [ˌremɪˈnɪsns] n. 回忆，联想

re 再次 + min 思考 + isce + ence 名词后缀

reminiscent [ˌremɪˈnɪsnt] adj.怀旧的;使回忆起(人或事);回忆过去的;缅怀往事的 n.回忆者;追记前事者

re 再次 + min 思考 + isce + ent

reminisce [ˌremɪˈnɪs] vi.回忆;追忆;缅怀(昔日的快乐时光)

re 再次 + min 思考 + isce

The book is a collection of his reminiscences about the actress.

这本书辑录了他对那位女演员的回忆。

tadpole [ˈtædpoʊl] n. 蝌蚪

词源：tad-和toad（蟾蜍）同源；-pol-是词根“头”，蝌蚪给人印象最深的就是它的头部；如单词poll指“投票”，它的本义就是“头”，而最初投票票数的统计是按人头算的；再如poll tax“人头税”。“头”可引申为“顶端，尖端”，所以单词pollard指“截去树的枝梢”。

来源：童里民

mushroom n. 蘑菇

可能来自moss.

fried mushrooms

油炸蘑菇

carrot [ˈkærət] n. 胡萝卜

词源同horn，角。因形似动物角而得名。

bud [bʌd] n. 花蕾

lark [lɑːrk] n. 云雀

ladybird n. 瓢虫

合成词：lady + bird

bulrush [ˈbʊlrʌʃ] n. 芦苇

Analysis and Suggestion of Treating Waste Water by Bulrush Wetland

利用芦苇湿地处理污水的分析及建议

参考译文

对雕塑的鉴赏力取决于对立体的反应能力。雕塑被说成是所有艺术中最难的艺术，可能就是这个道理。欣赏雕塑品当然比欣赏平面的艺术品要难。“形盲”的人数比“色盲”的人数要多得多。正在学看东西的儿童起初只会分辨二维形态，不会判断距离和深度。慢慢地，由于自身安全和实际需要，儿童必须发展（部分通过触觉）粗略判断三维空间距离的能力。但是。大部分人在满足了实际需要后，就不再继续发展这种能力了。虽然他们对平面形的感觉能达到相当准确的程度，但他们没有在智力和感情上进一步努力去理解存在于空间的整个形态。

而雕塑家就必须做到这一点。他必须勤于想像并且利用形体在空间中的完整性。可以说，当他想像一个物体时，不管其大小如何，他脑子里得到的是一个立体的概念，就好像完全握在自己手心里一样。他的大脑能从物体周围的各个角度勾画出其复杂的形象，他看物体的一边时，便知道另一边是个什么样子。他把自身和物体重心、质量、重量融为一体。他能意识到物体的体积，那就是它的形状有空气中所占的空间。

因此，敏锐的雕塑观赏者也必须学会把形体作为形体来感觉，不要靠描述和印象去想象。以鸟蛋为例。观赏者必须感觉到它是一个单一的实体形态，而完全不靠它的食用意义或它会变成鸟这样的文字概念来感觉。对于其他实体，如，贝壳、核桃、李子、梨子、蝌蚪、蘑菇、山峰、肾脏、胡萝卜、树干、鸟儿、花蕾、云雀、瓢虫、芦苇以及骨头也应这样来感觉。从这些形体出发，观赏者可进一步观察更为复杂的形体或若干形体的组合。

长按识别二维码可关注该微信公众平台