时间:2018-12-07 作者:英语课 分类:人、艺术、世界


英语课

They are made up of dots and lines or abstract 1 shapes and patterns. Nothing in the natural world of the prehistoric 2 artist would have looked like this, or this. And, very often, these patterns are repeated or scattered 3 across more recognizable images in a seemingly 4 random 5 way. Here, the Pech Merel caves in France, the prehistoric artist has painted a splendid pair of horses. But, look. He's covered the image with a series of spots. It really is hard to see what a pattern of spots has got to do with the world of hunting.

Archaeologists realize they were as far away from understanding cave-painting as they had ever been. The obvious explanations, like the paintings having been created to represent things in the world or for hunting, would never unlock 6 the puzzle of these images. Because both of these theories missed the point, instead of explaining why people were painting images in caves, they should have been trying to solve the mystery of how we got the amazing ability to create images in the first place.

To be able to paint a picture or something, you first need to know what a picture is. And how could you know that if you've never seen one before? Henri Breuil himself realized that this was the heart of the problem.

He told the curious story of a Turkish man in the 19th century who was shown a picture, it was a picture of a horse. But the man was mystified. He'd no idea what he was looking at, because never in his life had he seen a picture before. This Turkish man, it seems, was a devout 7 Muslim. Now at its strictest, Islam forbids images of living creatures. So, here was someone apparently 8 who refused to believe that you could create an image of an animal in two-dimensions. He said he didn't recognize it was a horse because he couldn't move around it.

For us, looking at a painting as vivid as this one, it's almost impossible to believe, we can't imagine what it would be like not to understand what a picture was, that it can represent something in the world.

This is what it might look like for people who've never seen any pictures before, a collection of lines, colors, markings without any meaning.



1 abstract
adj.抽象的;n.摘要,梗概;vt.提取;摘录要点
  • He is an abstract painter.他是一个抽象派画家。
  • He made an abstract of a long article.他对一篇长文章做了摘要。
2 prehistoric
adj.(有记载的)历史以前的,史前的,古老的
  • 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 scattered
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的
  • Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来,塞进文件夹里。
4 seemingly
adv.从表面上看起来,似乎是
  • Seemingly,we can do nothing to prevent this from happening.我们似乎没有什么办法阻止这件事发生。
  • For several seemingly interminable seconds no one spoke.有几秒钟没有人讲话,这几秒钟似乎十分漫长。
5 random
adj.随机的;任意的;n.偶然的(或随便的)行动
  • The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
  • On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查,发现肉变质了。
6 unlock
v.启示,揭示,开...的锁
  • The border police required the traveler to unlock his luggage.边防警察要求旅客打开行李。
  • We heard somebody unlock the door.我们听见有人开门锁。
7 devout
adj.虔诚的,虔敬的,衷心的 (n.devoutness)
  • His devout Catholicism appeals to ordinary people.他对天主教的虔诚信仰感染了普通民众。
  • The devout man prayed daily.那位虔诚的男士每天都祈祷。
8 apparently
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎
  • An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽,豁然开朗。
  • He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。
标签: 艺术 世界 art world
学英语单词
absolutetemperature range
aesthetic attitude
albeluvisols
amide chloride
amphiplatyan
apochromat lens
automatic distribution phonogram equipment
Bacterium diphtheriae cuniculi
bird of paradise flower
bjorko (primorsk)
cabinet secretariat
carbon-drop rate
cardioid receiving
Cawdor Castle
centrifugal type diatomite filter
chloromethazanone
Cimicifuga nanchuanensis
clachans
collinite
cubbiest
dacryocystostomy
debonded
deca-lumens
dhrupad
diesel electric transmission automobile crane
dollar spots
double-skinned metal sheet
duality principle
earth surface system
Edjudina
encephalomeningitis
equivalent reflections
Famfos
file threaded
Ford family
frondosous
fuel drain cook bowl
function, inverse
gabarone
gas sealing system
Gemalgene
giraffelike
glogging
heterophones
hsbc
hypertensins
Kakponi
lay-day
less but better
linda
loading machine
local batteries
lyrate leaves
martial musics
mathildas
Meprindon
National-Anarchism
neural network model
niter ball
not all that good, well, etc
O Tea
oiliness index
outward-bound
parallel thread
permanent succession
polenin
ponds
potassium orthophosphate
powerful receiver
problem file
queen sacrifice
radial cutter
radial movement
reducant
remote-control channel
rigden
saralegui
schwannoglioma
self-exploiting
Selim III
Slurpee
smooth muscle cell
speed-shifting mechanism
spidox
standard response spectrum
storm-cock
syncytia
syndrome of dampness-heat diffusing downward
technology transformation
three-dimensional scanner
totally isotropic subspace
trapezists
trimethyl-n-propyl-ammonium hydroxide
tristans
tsui hui hui
two way linkage
two-way alternate communication
under-jaw
uratolysis
Varginha
voltage plane
with firm faith