VOA标准英语2011--Mayan End of World Prediction Explored i

Mayan End of World Prediction Explored in Film

In recent years, the idea that the world will end on December 21, 2012 has gained attention and spawned¹ thousands of web sites, blogs, books and even a Hollywood movie. Although scientists generally dismiss the idea, curators of the Museum of Natural Science in Houston decided² to use the prediction as a hook to draw visitors into the world of the ancient Maya. They do it through a planetarium³ film and an exhibit being prepared for next year - just in time, some might say, for the end of everything.
The film shown on the museum's huge planetarium screen examines myths and rituals of the ancient Maya in southern Mexico and Central America. It focuses on the Maya calendar, or long count, which was divided into baktuns of 144,000 days each.
From the film: "All Maya kept the same ritual, solar and long count calendars, using them to describe the past and foretell⁴ the future."
On some surviving calendars, everything ends on the day equivalent to our date of December 21, 2012.
Carolyn Sumners, Vice⁵ President of the museum's Department of Astronomy and Physical Science, supervised the film project. "There is an alignment⁶ with the center of the galaxy⁷ on December 21st. It just happens that the Maya 13th Baktun starts on December 21st, at least in some of the calendars, and there is just enough going on to make one wonder if it is all connected," she said.
But the film makes clear that the Maya were not necessarily predicting catastrophe⁸.
Sumners says the end of Maya time periods generally were regarded the same way we look at such things as the start of a new century or a new millennium⁹. "It seems to be a cause of celebration. There does not seem to be any indication in the Maya writings of great disaster. They did believe in the end of time; they talked about great floods,
Sumners explained. "All these things were discussed, but they did not tie them to the long count."
To bring audiences into the world of the Maya, Sumners and her team went to four sites in Mexico and Guatemala to shoot extreme wide-angle video of the ruins.
They employed computer-generated images to show what those sites might have looked like centuries ago when they were the centers of great Maya achievements in math and astronomy.
Visitors to Houston's Natural Science Museum can also see Maya artifacts on display.
Curator Dirk Van Tuerenhout is developing an even larger exhibit for next year, to coincide with the end-of-world date. "It is a combination of all kinds of sources of information that we are pulling together to tell the story of the Maya culture, ancient Maya, colonial Maya, modern Maya," said Van Tuerenhout.
The Maya civilization collapsed¹⁰ more than 500 years ago, probably because of environmental changes that undermined its agriculture. But Maya people still live in the Yucatan peninsula and parts of Central America and many have emigrated to Houston.
Researchers have used their knowledge of modern Maya languages to decipher the ancient hieroglyphs¹¹, and many top experts in this field are at the University of Texas.
Van Tuerenhout says they offer valuable insights. "The ancient voices are speaking through these very few individuals who can read and decipher Maya writing," he said.
Van Tuerenhout says ancient Mayan sites continue to provide new information about the mysterious ancient civilization and its achievements.
He says the Museum's goal is to show people that there is much more to the Maya than a spurious prediction of doom¹².

1 spawned   

（鱼、蛙等）大量产（卵）( spawn的过去式和过去分词 )； 大量生产

参考例句：

• The band's album spawned a string of hit singles. 这支乐队的专辑繁衍出一连串走红的单曲唱片。
• The computer industry has spawned a lot of new companies. 由于电脑工业的发展，许多新公司纷纷成立。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 planetarium   

n.天文馆；天象仪

参考例句：

• The planetarium staff also prepared talks for radio broadcast.天文馆的工作人员还要准备讲稿给电台广播。
• It landed in a shallow basin fifty yards from the planetarium.它降落在离天文馆五十码处的一个浅盆地中。

4 foretell   

v.预言，预告，预示

参考例句：

• Willow trees breaking out into buds foretell the coming of spring.柳枝绽青报春来。
• The outcome of the war is hard to foretell.战争胜负难以预卜。

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 alignment   

n.队列；结盟，联合

参考例句：

• The church should have no political alignment.教会不应与政治结盟。
• Britain formed a close alignment with Egypt in the last century.英国在上个世纪与埃及结成了紧密的联盟。

7 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。

8 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

9 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

10 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

11 hieroglyphs   

n.象形字（如古埃及等所用的）( hieroglyph的名词复数 )；秘密的或另有含意的书写符号

参考例句：

• Hieroglyphs are carved into the walls of the temple. 寺庙的墙壁上刻着象形文字。 来自辞典例句
• This paper discusses the fundamental distinctions between the hieroglyphs andforerunner of writing. 英汉象形文字的比较是建立在象形文字具体内涵的基础上。 来自互联网

12 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。