2007年VOA标准英语-Fossil Lucy Leaves on Controversial US Tour

By Caroline Sawyer
Nairobi
08 August 2007

One of the world's oldest hominid fossils, which revolutionized theories of early man, has left Ethiopia to begin a controversial tour of the United States.  Anthropologists want the remains¹ of the fossil, known as Lucy, returned home immediately, because they say she is too fragile and too valuable to travel.  Caroline Sawyer reports for VOA from Kenya.  

The framed hominid fossil 'Lucy,' is seen at a exhibition at the Ethiopian Natural History Museum in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, 24 Oct. 2006 (file photo)

Under the cover of darkness Monday, the more than 3-million-year-old fossil left Ethiopia to began a six-year tour of museums in Texas, Chicago, and New York.  

The departure of Lucy was not announced to the public.  Ethiopians, who have only seen the fossil twice, say they are shocked that it will now be on public display.

Ethiopia's natural history museum in Addis Ababa only displays a replica² of the fossil.  The partial skeleton is so delicate that it was being kept in a vault³.  
 
Ethiopian authorities say the tour is aimed at raising money to improve their museums and build new ones.  Richard Leakey, visiting professor of anthropology⁴ at Stony⁵ Brook⁶ University in New York, a renowned⁷ scientist and son of the famous paleontologists Louis and Mary Leakey, says the risk of damaging this unique fossil is far too high. 

"Many of us feel that original fossils should not be moved from country to country," he said.  "This is part of the Ethiopian responsibility to the world and in my judgment⁸ the Ethiopian government, particularly under Prime Minister Melles Zenowi, who is a man I respect, has totally abdicated⁹ its responsibility in this critical area of human understanding of our past."

In Addis Ababa, spokesman for the Ministry¹⁰ of Foreign Affairs, Teferri Meles disagrees.

"The experts believe there will not be any damage on the way, and proper care is being taken to transport it to America," he said.  "The Ministry of Tourism and Culture has seen all the proper precautions in this regard."

To paleo-anthropologists, Lucy is one of the most exciting finds in the search for man's evolutionary¹¹ development from ape to human.  Scientists believe she stood upright and walked on two legs. 

But since her discovery in northern Ethiopia in 1974, there are still questions as to whether she marks the massive leap away from ape-like behavior by preferring to walk on land, rather than moving through trees.

At the Houston Museum of Natural Science in Texas, where Lucy will be displayed for several months, the curator says his staff is experienced in looking after fragile artifacts. In 2004, the museum exhibited the Dead Sea Scrolls¹², which date to biblical times, without causing damage to the parchments.

Leakey says he fears that Lucy's tour may have far-reaching negative consequences for the scientific community. 

"I am really concerned that Lucy is traveling now and this will not only possibly endanger the specimen¹³, but will establish a precedent¹⁴ that we can ill afford," he added.  "And I really, sincerely hope that museums around the world will take their role of public education seriously and will band together and make sure that this is never repeated with other fossils, and that Lucy is brought back to Ethiopia where she belongs as soon as possible."

Some museum directors in the United States who are interested in exhibiting Lucy have yet to sign contracts with Ethiopian authorities.  They say they are still considering the additional work needed to house the fossil, and they remain concerned about the ethical¹⁵ issues of putting this one-of-a-kind artifact on display.

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 replica   

n.复制品

参考例句：

• The original conservatory has been rebuilt in replica.温室已按原样重建。
• The young artist made a replica of the famous painting.这位年轻的画家临摹了这幅著名的作品。

3 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。

4 anthropology   

n.人类学

参考例句：

• I believe he has started reading up anthropology.我相信他已开始深入研究人类学。
• Social anthropology is centrally concerned with the diversity of culture.社会人类学主要关于文化多样性。

5 stony   

adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的

参考例句：

• The ground is too dry and stony.这块地太干，而且布满了石头。
• He listened to her story with a stony expression.他带着冷漠的表情听她讲经历。

6 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

7 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

8 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

9 abdicated   

放弃（职责、权力等）( abdicate的过去式和过去分词 )； 退位，逊位

参考例句：

• He abdicated in favour of his son. 他把王位让给了儿子。
• King Edward Ⅷ abdicated in 1936 to marry a commoner. 国王爱德华八世于1936年退位与一个平民结婚。

10 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

11 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

12 scrolls   

n.（常用于录写正式文件的）纸卷( scroll的名词复数 )；卷轴；涡卷形（装饰）；卷形花纹v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的第三人称单数 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕

参考例句：

• Either turn it off or only pick up selected stuff like wands, rings and scrolls. 把他关掉然后只捡你需要的物品，像是魔杖(wand)，戒指(rings)和滚动条(scrolls)。 来自互联网
• Ancient scrolls were found in caves by the Dead Sea. 死海旁边的山洞里发现了古代的卷轴。 来自辞典例句

13 specimen   

n.样本，标本

参考例句：

• You'll need tweezers to hold up the specimen.你要用镊子来夹这标本。
• This specimen is richly variegated in colour.这件标本上有很多颜色。

14 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

15 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。