2014英语四级听力练习慢速4.4(2)_大学英语听力

2014英语四级听力练习慢速4.4(2)

　　The Citizen Medal of Honor recipients say they hope their acts of bravery and service will move other ordinary people to help those in need, and make a difference in their communities.

　　A popular exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington explores human evolution. The exhibit includes lifelike representations of ancient primates, or hominids, the early versions of us. Paleo-artist John Gurche creates a world that modern humans can relate to.

　　Artist-Scientist Shapes Our Past

　　The Hall of Human Origins is crowded with visitors. They study five life-size bronze models. The models show what scientists believe ancient everyday life looked like, starting millions of years ago. In one representation a homo erectus struggles to carry a newly-killed antelope. Another model shows a homo floresiensis surprised by a deadly animal. This look at homo floresiensis is set about 18,000 years ago.

　　John Gurche also created the models of hominid heads found in the exhibit. The artist is an expert in prehistoric subjects and ape and human body structure.

　　Really to succeed in doing one of these reconstructions, it has to be something you can relate to as a living being, that you almost expect to see breathe and you also have to base it on the best science available or else you really have just a fantasy.

　　Mr. Gurche brings faces from the past to life. He starts with a plaster form of a skull. He adds layers of clay and sculpts a face. He covers the work in silicone and adds details and color and to the face. He also attaches hair, one single piece at a time. He says what makes the pieces seem so real, though, are the eyes.