▍课程导航
《文明的轨迹》（Civilisation）于1969年在 BBC 播出，由著名艺术历史学家克拉克爵士（Kenneth Clark）担任编剧与主持，被誉为 BBC“电视史上的里程碑”、当代艺术历史中最具雄心壮志的纪录片。克拉克爵士引人入胜的对白，再加上欧洲地标的动人画面，带领观众探索了自罗马帝国沦亡至工业革命及其后的文明发展。这种通过艺术、音乐来呈现历史观点的做法，成为日后无数纪录片看齐并努力超越的基准。在近半个世纪之后，BBC 为新一代的观众制作了全新的 Civilisations——不止一个文明，也不止一个视角。新的纪录片将于3月1日在 BBC 播出，由三位专攻不同领域的历史学家讲解。此次拍摄历时3年，跨越31个国家，并利用无人机等最新技术拍摄，讨论的主题包括但不限于：为什么裸体会成为西方艺术的一个标志，色彩在印度的意义，以及在殖民时期不同文化之间是如何相互借鉴的。
本篇课程首发于2018年2月27日
▍原文
题目：Colorful stories, again: "Civilisations"
正文：
① Almost half a century after Kenneth Clark's ground-breaking【adj. 先锋性的；开创性的】 television series about the history of Western art helped to popularise colour television, the BBC's remake【n. 翻拍；重制】 begins airing【vi. 播放；播出 on air: 正在播出 in the air: 悬而未决】 on Thursday (a different version will be broadcast in America on PBS from April 17th).
② The update of the series is far more ambitious.
③ Three years in the making 制作 and filmed in 31 countries, it features sweeping drone【 n. 无人机】 footage【 n. 影片片段】 to help show off 炫耀 the art works under discussion.
④ Simon Schama, Mary Beard and David Olusoga—each a historian with a particular speciality—present their own episodes.
⑤ Among other themes, they focus on how the nude【n.裸体】 became the hallmark【n. 标志；特征】 of Western art, the meaning of colour in India and its absence in the war-time paintings of Francisco Goya, and how different cultures borrowed from one another during colonial【殖民地】 encounters in countries ranging from Mexico to Mali.
⑥ Expect to be surprised as well as enchanted【vt. 使着迷】.
▍生词好句
civilisation/civilization /ˌsɪvɪlʌɪˈzeɪʃ(ə)n/: n. 文明
ground-breaking /ˈɡraʊn(d)breɪkɪŋ/: adj. 先锋性的；开创性的
remake /ˈriːmeɪk/: n. 翻拍；重制
air /ɛː/: vi. 播放；播出
on air: 正在播出
in the air: 悬而未决
series /ˈsɪəri:z/: n. 剧集；系列
in the making: 制作（the process of developing or being made）
drone /drəʊn/: n. 无人机
footage /ˈfʊtɪdʒ/: n. 影片片段
nude /njuːd/: n. 裸体
hallmark /ˈhɔ:lmɑ:k/: n. 标志；特征
range from /reɪn(d)ʒ/: 从……到……的范围
enchant /ɪnˈtʃɑ:nt, ɛnˈtʃɑ:nt/: vt. 使着迷
▍相关背景介绍
①Civilisation:
《文明的轨迹》，英国 BBC 1969年首播，通过艺术呈现历史观点（也通过艺术作品的展示，来给彩色电视做了广告）
②Kenneth Clark:
艺术史学家，BBC 1969年版 Civilisation 的编剧及主持人
Kenneth Mackenzie Clark was a British art historian, museum director, and broadcaster.
③Simon Schama:
Simon Michael Schama is an English historian specialising in art history, Dutch history, and French history. He is a University Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University, New York.
④Mary Beard:
Winifred Mary Beard is an English scholar and classicist. The New Yorker characterises her as "learned but accessible".
⑤David Olusoga:
David Adetayo Olusoga is a British Nigerian historian, writer and broadcaster. He has presented a number of historical documentaries on the BBC and contributed to The One Show and The Guardian.
Francisco Goya:
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of late 18th and early 19th centuries and throughout his long career was a commentator and chronicler of his era.