Rock Art of the Australia Aborigines 　　P1: Ever since European first explored Australia, people have been trying to understand the ancient rock drawings and carvings created by the Aborigines, the original inhabitants of the continent. Early in the nineteenth century, encounters with Aboriginal rock art tended to be infrequent and open to speculative interpretation, but since the late nineteenth century, awareness of the extent and variety of Australian rock art has been growing. In the latter decades of the twentieth century there were intensified efforts to understand and record the abundance of Australian rock art. 　　難詞解析: 　　explore v. 探索、勘探 　　carve v. 雕刻 　　inhabitant n. 居民 　　encounter n.&v. 遭遇 　　infrequent adj. 很少發(fā)生的 　　speculative adj. 猜測性的、投機性的 　　Interpretation n. 解釋 　　awareness n. 意識 　　intensify v. 加強、強化 　　難句解析: 　　Early in the nineteenth century, encounters with Aboriginal rock art tended to be infrequent and open to speculative interpretation, but since the late nineteenth century, awareness of the extent and variety of Australian rock art has been growing. 　　在十九世紀早期，遇到的巖石藝術(shù)品還比較少，大多是猜測性的解釋，但是到了十九世紀晚期，人們意識到這些巖石藝術(shù)的范圍和多樣性一直在增加。 　　P2: The systematic study of this art is a relatively new discipline in Australia. Over the past four decades new discoveries have steadily added to the body of knowledge. The most significant data have come from a concentration on three major questions. First, what is the age of Australian rock art? Second, what is its stylistic organization and is it possible to discern a sequence or a pattern of development between styles? Third, is it possible to interpret accurately the subject matter of ancient rock art, bring to bear all available archaeological techniques and the knowledge of present-day Aboriginal informants? 　　難詞解析： 　　systematic adj. 系統(tǒng)性的 　　discipline n. 學(xué)科 　　concentration n. 集中、聚集 　　discern v. 覺察、識別 　　sequence n. 順序 　　pattern n. 模式、組合 　　subject n. 主題 　　bear v. 表明、展示 　　難句解析： 　　Third, is it possible to interpret accurately the subject matter of ancient rock art, bring to bear all available archaeological techniques and the knowledge of present-day Aboriginal informants? 　　第三，有沒有可能在利用所有可能的考古技術(shù)和對現(xiàn)有土著居民中博學(xué)者的了解，準確地了解這些巖石藝術(shù)所要表達的主題? 　　P3: The age of Australia’s rock art is constantly being revised, and earlier datings have been proposed as the result of new discoveries. Currently, reliable scientific evidence dates the earliest creation of art on rock surfaces in Australia to somewhere between 30,000 and 50,000 years ago. This in itself is an almost incomprehensible span of generations, and one that makes Australia’s rock art the oldest continuous art tradition in the world. 　　難詞解析： 　　revise v. 修改、修正 　　propose v. 提出 　　as the result of 做為……的結(jié)果 　　reliable adj. 可靠的 　　Incomprehensive adj. 無法理解的 　　P4: Although the remarkable antiquity of Australia’s rock art is now established, the sequences and meanings of its images have been widely debated. Since the mid-1970s, a reasonably stable picture has formed of the organization of Australian rock art. In order to create a sense of structure to this picture, researchers have relied on a distinction that still underlies the forms of much indigenous visual culture-- a distinction between geometric and figurative elements. Simple geometric repeated patterns-circles, concentric circles, and lines-constitute the iconography (characteristic images) of the earliest rock-art sites found across Australia. The frequency with which certain simple motifs appear in these oldest sites has led rock-art researchers to adopt a descriptive term-the Panaramitee style-a label which takes its name from the extensive rock pavements at Panaramitee North in desert South Australia, which are covered with motifs pecked into the surface. Certain features of these engravings lead to the conclusion that they are of great age. Geological changes had clearly happened after the designs had been made and local Aboriginal informants, when first questioned about them, seemed to know nothing of their origins. Furthermore, the designs were covered with "desert varnish", a glaze that develops on rock surfaces over thousands of years of exposure to the elements. The simple motifs found at Panaramitee are common to many rock-art sites across Australia. Indeed, sites with engravings of geometric shapes are also to be found on the island of Tasmania, which was separated from the mainland of the continent some 10,000 years ago. 　　難詞解析： 　　remarkable adj. 引人注目的 　　antiquity n. 古老、古物 　　sequence n. 順序 　　debate: v. 辯論 　　stable adj. 穩(wěn)定的 　　in order to 為了…… 　　rely on: 依賴于…… 　　distinction n. 區(qū)分 　　underlie v. 是……的原因;是……的基礎(chǔ) 　　indigenous adj. 本土的、當?shù)氐?　　visual adj. 視覺的 　　geometric adj. 幾何的 　　feature n. 特征 　　engraving n. 雕刻 　　難句解析： 　　The frequency (with which certain simple motifs appear in these oldest sites) has led rock-art researchers to adopt a descriptive term - the Panaramitee style - a label (which takes its name from the extensive rock pavements at Panaramitee North in desert South Australia), (which are covered with motifs pecked into the surface). 　　(某些簡單主題在這些最老地方的出現(xiàn)的)頻率導(dǎo)致巖石藝術(shù)研究者采用了一個描述性術(shù)語 - P style – (取名于澳大利亞南部沙漠的PN地區(qū)的廣泛的(表面滿覆蓋著這些主題)巖石道路)的一個標簽。 　　文章讀完了，我們一起來檢驗下你有沒有讀懂吧~ 　　P1 土著巖石藝術(shù)的研究情況： 　　19th早期研究的特征: _____________而且_____________ 　　20th研究的特征: ___________________________ 　　P2 對巖石藝術(shù)的研究聚焦于三個主要問題： 　　Q1: _________________________________________ 　　Q2: _________________________________________ 　　Q3: _________________________________________ 　　P3 回答P2的第幾個Question?_____________目前最早的日期是_____________ 　　P4 回答P2的第幾個Question?_____________ 　　現(xiàn)狀：巖石藝術(shù)的_____________已經(jīng)確定，但_____________爭議很大。 　　Answers： 　　P1：infrequent, open to speculative interpretation; understand and record the abundance of Australian rock art 　　P2: What is the age of Australian rock art? What is its stylistic organization and is it possible to discern a sequence or a pattern of development between styles? Is it possible to interpret accurately the subject matter of ancient rock art? 　　P3: Q1; 30,000 and 50,000 years ago 　　P4: Q2; antiquity of Australia’s rock art; sequences and meanings of its images