阅读材料:
The United Kingdom (sometimes referred to as Britain) has a long and rich history of human settlement. Traces of buildings, tools, and art can be found from periods going back many thousands of years: from the Stone Age, through the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, the time of the Roman colonization, the Middle Ages, up to the beginnings of the industrial age. Yet from most of the twentieth century, the science of archaeology dedicated to uncovering and studying old cultural artifacts was faced with serious problems and limitations in Britain.
英国(有的时候被称为不列颠)在人类居住建筑方面有久远丰富的历史。建筑、建筑工具以及建筑艺术的遗迹的历史可以追溯到数千年。从石器时代开始,历经青铜时代、铁器时代、罗马殖民时代、中世纪,一直到工业时代的初期。但是在20世纪的大部分时间里的英国,致力于挖掘和研究古代文化遗迹的考古学面临着严峻的问题和局限性。
First, many valuable artifacts were lost to construction projects. The growth of Britains population, especially from the 1950s on, spurred a lot of new construction in British cities, towns, and villages. While digging foundations for new buildings, the builders often uncovered archaeologically valuable sites. Usually, however, they proceeded with the construction and did not preserve the artifacts. Many archaeologically precious artifacts were therefore destroyed.
首先,建筑工程破坏了很多有价值的估计。从1950年以来愈加明显的人口增加导致了英国建筑业的迅猛发展,无论是在城市、乡镇还是村庄。在给新建筑打地基的时候,建筑者常常会挖掘到一些有价值的文物遗迹。然而,常常建筑工人会继续进行工作,而不是保护这些文物。很多很多珍贵的考古文物就因此遭到了破坏。
Second, many archaeologists felt that the financial support for archaeological research are inadequate. For most of the twentieth century, archaeology was funded mostly through government funds and grants, which allowed archaeologists to investigate a handful of the most important sites but which left hundreds of other interesting projects without support. Furthermore, changing government priorities brought about periodic reductions in funding.
第二,很多考古学家都感觉到考古学研究的经费不足。在二十世纪的大部分时间里,考古的经费大多来自于政府的基金和拨款。经费的不足导致考古学家只能研究很少了的最重要的遗迹,而数以千计的其他有意义的项目都缺乏经费。而且,政府预算优先权的改变也导致了经费的周期性减少。
Third, it was difficult to have a career in archaeology. Archaeology jobs were to be found at universities or with a few government agencies, but there were never many positions available. Many people who wanted to become archaeologists ended up pursuing other careers and contributing to archaeological research only as unpaid amateurs.
第三,考古事业难以为继。只有在大学和很少数的政府部门才能找到考古学相关的工作。但是职位总是供不应求。很多想成为考古学家的人都放弃了,选择了其他的领域,仅仅把考古学研究当做一个没有收益的业余爱好。
阅读部分需要提取的观点是:
- Main point: 英国考古学的发展面临着严峻的问题和局限性
- Sub point 1: 建筑工程破坏考古遗迹
- Sub point 2: 考公项目缺乏资金支持
- Sub point 3: 考古学家的考古事业发展困难
听力材料:
In 1990, new rules and guidelines were adopted in the United Kingdom that has changed the whole field of Archaeology in that country. The new guidelines improved the situation in all there areas discussed in the passage.
在1990年,英国颁布了新的法规和指南,从而改变了英国整过考古学领域。新的指南改善了阅读部分提到的所有领域出现的问题。
First, the new guidelines state that before any construction project can start, the construction site has to be examined by archaeologists to see whether the site is of archaeological interest or value. If the site is of archaeological interest, the next step is for the builders, archaeologists and local government officials to get together and make a plan for preserving the archaeological artifacts, either by building around them or by excavating and documenting them properly before the construction is allowed to proceed.
首先,新的指南要求所有建筑工程开工之前都要经由考古学家检查以确定该地是否有考古价值的遗迹。如果有考古价值,那么下一步就是建筑者、考古学家和当地政府的联合行都了。他们要在一起制定一个保护考古遗迹的计划。要么在周围的地方建房子,要么在开工之前把文物妥善地挖掘保存起来。
Second, an important part of the new guidelines is a rule that any archaeological work done on the construction site will be paid for by the construction company not by the government. The construction company has to pay for the initial examination of the site, and then for all the work carried out under the preservation plan. This is a whole new source of financial support. The funding from construction companies has allowed researchers to study a far greater range of archaeological sites than they could in the past.
第二,新指南很重要的一部分就是规定对于建筑工地的考古学检查的费用由建筑公司而不是政府支付。建筑公司要为工地最初的检查付费,同时随之而来的全部保存计划都由建筑公司付费。这是一个全新的资金来源。来自建筑公司的资金保证研究人员可以进行逼以往更为深入的考古研究。
Last, the new guidelines provide a lot of paid work for archaeologists, work that didnt exist before. Expert archaeologists are now hired at all stages of the process to examine the site for archaeological value, then to help draw up the preservation plan to do the research in a professional scientific manner and finally to process the date and write reports and articles. The increased job and career opportunities in Archaeology have increased the number of professional archaeologists in Britain, which is now the highest its ever been.
最后,新的指南为考古学家提供了很多新的就业机会,而这在以前是不可能的。整过的考古研究过程都需要雇佣考古专家。从检查地基的考古学价值,然后帮助制定符合专业科学研究的保护机会,到最后处理数据、撰写报告和文章,这些都需要考古学家。增加的考古类工作岗位和事业发展机会使得现在英国有了更多的专业考古学家,而这是有史以来最多的时候。
听力部分需要提取的观点是:
- Main point: 阅读中提到的所有问题都可以通过新的法规和指南加以解决
- Sub point 1: 开工之前让考古学家进行检查,可以避免建筑工程破坏考古遗迹
- Sub point 2: 考古费用由建筑公司承担
- Sub point 3: 整个考古过程会提供很多新的工作机会