小学英语阅读练兵：Treasures of the World’s Cultures

The British Museums touring exhibit Treasures(财富) of the Worlds Cultures has attracted over 80,000 visitors in its first month.

It is amazing (令人吃惊)that such an exhibit on foreign cultures has become so popular in Beijing, said Yao An, deputy (副的)curator (馆长) of the Capital Museum of Beijing.

Many companies bought group tickets for employees and young people made up a large part of the audience, according to Yao. (姚表示,许多公司给员工买了团票,观众中有相当大一部分是年轻人)

Not only were the treasures warmly received, but also related picture albums (集物薄册) and souvenirs, Yao said. More than 200 albums on the displayed items(主题) have been bought every day.

The exhibit displays 272 artefacts including a 3,000-year-old mummy (木乃伊), an ancient statue of Dionysos,(酒神) son of Zeus(宙斯), a 2,100-year-old gold pendant(垂饰) featuring Aphrodite and Eros,(爱神) and Leonardo da Vincis works.

Treasures on show also include ancient Egyptian tablets (牌匾), Greek busts (半身像), Roman sculptures and the worlds oldest tool.

It is the first large scale(大规模) international exhibition since the newly built Capital Museum opened last year. The British Museum, which has loaned (借出)the 272 artefacts to the Capital Museum of Beijing for an 80-day exhibition, plans to arrange more displays in China in the future, said museum director Neil MacGregor.

The launch of the exhibition on March 18 marks the first time that the 253-year-old British Museum, the worlds oldest national public museum, has showcased(陈列) some of its collections in Beijing.

Five lectures on world history have been arranged during the exhibition with the first one given by MacGregor entitled Around the World in 20 Objects at the exhibits opening.

The Treasures of the Worlds Cultures collection has been displayed in Japan and the Republic of Korea, (大韩民国)attracting 1.3 million people during its four-city tour of Japan and 600,000 in Seoul.(首尔)

Help:

artefact n.人工品，赝象

sculpture n. 雕刻, 雕刻品, 雕塑, 雕塑品

entitle vt. 给...权利(或资格), 给...题名, 给...称号