The British Museumuseum

□刘晓妮

The British Museumuseum

□刘晓妮

Do you know the world’s three largest museums？They are the British Museum，the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and Louvre Museum in Paris.Today let’s learn about the biggest museum in the world——the British Museum.There are a lot of famous collections of world culture in the museum.Every year，a lot of peop le go to visit the British Museum.

你们知道世界三大博物馆吗？它们分别是大英博物馆、纽约的大都会艺术博物馆和巴黎的卢浮宫。今天让我们一起了解一下世界上最大的博物馆——大英博物馆。这里有着许多著名的世界文化收藏。每年，有很多人去参观大英博物馆。

The story of the British Museum goes back three hundred years ago to an unusual man，Sir Hans Sloane，doctor to King George II.The doctor collected books，drawings，clothes，money，animals，flowers，things from all over the world.The doctor wanted everything to stay together when he died，so that people could come and have a look.The British Museum began.King George II gave him a library，and the museum started to grow.

大英博物馆的故事可以追溯到三百年前一个不寻常的人——斯隆爵士，国王乔治二世的医生。这位医生收集了书、画、衣服、钱币、动物、花卉等来自世界各地的收藏品。这位医生想当他离世时能让所有的东西都放在一起，以便人们能来观看。大英博物馆就这样开办了。国王乔治二世给了他一个图书馆，从此博物馆开始发展壮大。

The British Museum opened in 1759，six years after Sir Hans Sloane died.A t first the museum was only open three days a week and only ten peop le could enter in an hour.There wasn’t much time to see things.Visitors had to run.

大英博物馆于1759年开幕，在斯隆爵士去世六年后。起初博物馆一周只开放三天，并且在一个小时内只有十个人能进入。参观者必须得边跑边看，因为没有太多的时间看完那些东西。

By about 1800，things began to get better.W onderful statues，three thousand years old，arrived from Egypt.King George IV sold all his books to the museum secretly.A hundred years ago not only old books but also new ones arrived at the museum，and more peop le came to read them.Since then many famous men have w ritten and studied there.And the library is grow ing faster and faster.There are four kilometers of new shelves and there are about two million visitors every year.

大约到19世纪，情况开始好转。一批具有三千年历史的美妙的雕像从埃及到达。乔治国王四世还把所有的藏书都偷偷卖给了博物馆。一百年前，旧书与新书都收藏进了博物馆，越来越多的人来这里读书。自从那时起就有许多名人在那里写作和研究。图书馆发展越来越快。每年增加的新书架可以排成四公里长，并且每年大约有二百万名游客前来参观。

There is a touring exhibition now.To let more peop le see the collections of China easily，the museum holds a touring exhibition called"China:Journey to the East".It is the second touring exhibition after the ancient Greek collection exhibition.The touring exhibition will help British kids aged between 7 and 14 know more about Chinese culture，such as Chinese languages，arts，inventions，foods，traditional clothes and so on. Jessica，an official of the museum，says，“The Chinese history is an important part of the world history.It influences many other countries，including Britain.Our kids should know more about China，not just chopsticks，pandas and the Beijing Olympics.”

而现在博物馆还会举办世界巡回展览。为了让更多的人看到中国的收藏，博物馆举办了一个叫做“中国：东方之旅”的巡回展览。它是继古希腊收藏展后的第二次巡回展览。巡回展览将有助于7至14岁的英国孩子们了解中国文化，如中国语言、艺术、发明、食品、传统服装等。博物馆的官员杰西卡说：“中国历史是世界历史的重要组成部分，它影响了许多其他国家，包括英国。我们的孩子应该更多地了解中国，而不仅仅是筷子、熊猫和北京奥运会。”