鉴于网上发布的TPO阅读翻译有很多瑕疵和错误，导致很多考生会被错误的翻译和理解误导，因此托福阅读的正确翻译是很必要的，我将按照学科类别陆续发布TPO阅读的翻译，同时帮助学生总结阅读中词汇和长难句，本篇为托福艺术类话题文章第一篇（TPO-11-1Ancient Egyptian Sculpture古埃及雕塑）

突出显示为生词部分，字体加重的句子是长难句，文章后附了词汇列表。

　　文章段落大意

一、古埃及雕塑艺术之所以和欧洲雕塑不一样，与其雕塑创作的目的有关。

二、埃及雕塑的"正面描绘"和这些雕塑被树立的背景有关。

三、古埃及雕像的材料及其各种材料雕像的比较。

四、描绘普通大众的埃及雕像的姿势和作用与正式的雕像比较。

　　一、古埃及雕塑艺术之所以和欧洲雕塑不一样，与雕塑创作的目的有关。

In order to understand ancient Egyptian art, it is vital to know as much as possible of the elite Egyptians' view of the world and the functions and contexts of the art produced for them. Without this knowledge we can appreciate only the formal content of Egyptian art, and we will fail to understand why it was produced or the concepts that shaped it and caused it to adopt its distinctive forms. In fact, a lack of understanding concerning the purposes of Egyptian art has often led it to be compared unfavorably with the art of other cultures: Why did the Egyptians not develop sculpture in which the body turned and twisted through space like classical Greek statuary? Why do the artists seem to get left and right confused? And why did they not discover the geometric perspective as European artists did in the Renaissance? The answer to such questions has nothing to do with a lack of skill or imagination on the part of Egyptian artists and everything to do with the purposes for which they were producing their art.

为了能理解古埃及艺术，就要尽可能多地了解埃及精英阶层的世界观以及埃及艺术的功能和产生背景。若是没有这些认识，我们只能欣赏到埃及艺术的形式上的内容，我们便不会理解为什么古埃及艺术被创造，以及创造埃及艺术和所采取的各种设计形式的观念。实际上，我们往往对埃及艺术的创作目的缺乏理解，这也通常导致我们把古埃及艺术与其他文化的艺术进行不恰当的比较：为什么埃及人没有创造出像经典希腊雕塑那样有身体转动和转身姿势的雕像。为什么埃及艺术家似乎把左和右混淆？，为什么埃及人艺术家没有像欧洲艺术家在文艺复兴时期那样发现几何透视法？这些问题的答案与埃及艺术家缺乏技能或者想象力没有关系，却和他们创造的埃及雕塑艺术的目的有关。

　　二、埃及雕塑的"正面描绘"和这些雕塑被树立的背景有关。

The majority of three-dimensional representations, whether standing, seated, or kneeling, exhibit what is called frontality: they face straight ahead, neithertwisting nor turning. When such statues are viewed in isolation, out of their original context and without knowledge of their function, it is easy to criticize them for their rigid attitudes that remained unchanged for three thousand years. Frontality is, however, directly related to the functions of Egyptian statuary and the contexts in which the statues were set up. Statues were created not for their decorative effect but to play a primary role in the cults of the gods, the king, and the dead. They were designed to be put in places where these beings could manifest themselves in order to be the recipientsof ritual actions. Thus it made sense to show the statue looking ahead at what was happening in front of it, so that the living performer of the ritual could interact with the divine or deceased recipient. Very often such statues were enclosed in rectangular shrines or wall niches whose only opening was at the front, making it natural for the statue to display frontality. Other statues were designed to be placed within an architectural setting, for instance, in front of the monumental entrance gateways to temples known as pylons, or in pillaredcourts, where they would be placed against or between pillars: their frontality worked perfectly within the architectural context. 大部分的三维立体雕像, 无论是站着，坐着抑或是跪着的，都呈现出"正面描绘"的形式：雕像的面向前，不转向一边或后面。如果脱离了原先的背景，不了解这些雕塑的作用而孤立的去看待他们，很容易因为他们三千年一成不变的僵硬的姿势而去评论他们。然而，"正面描绘"和埃及雕塑的作用以及这些雕塑被放置的背景直接有关。人们创作雕像不仅仅因为他们的装饰作用，还因为他们在神、国王和逝去的人的膜拜仪式上有重要作用。这些古埃及雕塑被放置在宗教仪式中显眼的地方，从而来接受宗教活动中人们的祭拜，因此让雕像正面向前，看到它前面所发生的事情是有意义的。这样的话宗教仪式上的表演者就能够和受膜拜的神灵以及逝去的人进行互动。通常这些雕像都位于矩形的圣殿或者墙壁的壁龛之中，他们的正前方是唯一的开口,自然而然这些雕塑就从正面来展示自己。其他的雕塑被放置在建筑的背景中，例如，在庙宇的纪念性入口塔门的前方，或者在柱形的宫殿之中，这些雕塑被放置在这些柱子相对的方向或者在柱子之间，正面描绘可以与这些建筑的背景互相衬托。

三、古埃及雕像的材料及其区别

Statues were normally made of stone, wood, or metal. Stone statues were worked from single rectangular blocks of material and retained the compactness of the original shape. The stone between the arms and the body and between the legs in standing figures or the legs and the seat in seated ones was not normally cut away. From a practical aspect this protected the figures against breakage and psychologically gives the images a sense of strength and power, usually enhanced by a supporting back pillar. By contrast, wooden statues were carved from several pieces of wood that were pegged together to form the finished work, and metal statues were either made by wrapping sheet metal around a wooden core or cast by the lost wax process. The arms could be held away from the body and carry separate items in their hands; there is no back pillar. The effect is altogether lighter and freer than that achieved in stone, but because both perform the same function, formal wooden and metal statues still display frontality.

古埃及雕塑通常是由石头，木材或者金属制成的。石像是用长方形的石块加工而成，并且保持着原有的石头的坚实度。站立的雕像的手和身体之间的石料，以及腿部之间的石料，坐着的雕像的腿和座位之间的石料，这些通常没有去掉。从实用性的角度看，这保护了雕像免受破裂，从心理学角度看，这给予雕像强大的力量感。这种感觉通常可以通过一个支撑背面的柱子来增强。与之相比, 木质雕像是把许多块木头固定在一起雕刻而成，而金属雕像是通过在木头核心外包裹金属薄片制成或者通过失蜡铸造法浇铸而成。这些雕塑手臂通常远离身体，手里持有其他的物品，背部没有支柱支持，这样设计的效果是比石像更加轻盈和自由，但是因为他们和石像都有相同的作用，木制雕像和金属雕像仍然体现了正面描绘表现形式。

　　四、埃及描绘大众的雕像的姿势和作用与正式的雕像不同

Apart from statues representing deities, kings, and named members of the elite that can be called formal, there is another group of three-dimensional representations that depicts generic figures, frequently servants, from the nonelite population. The function of these is quite different. Many are made to be put in the tombs of the elite in order to serve the tomb owners in the afterlife. Unlike formal statues that are limited to static poses of standing, sitting, and kneeling, these figures depict a wide range of actions, such as grinding grain, baking bread, producing pots, and making music, and they are shown in appropriate poses, bending and squatting as they carry out their tasks.

除了描绘神灵，国王，和著名的精英贵族成员的所谓的正式雕像，还有另外一类三维的雕像描绘的是一般的大众，通常是非贵族身份的仆人。这些雕塑的作用就完全不同了。他们很多被放到贵族成员的坟墓中服侍坟墓主人死后的生活。也不像正式雕像那样，局限于站，坐，跪等静止的姿势，这些雕像刻画了各种各样的动作，如研磨谷物，烤焙面包，制作陶瓷，演奏音乐，同时他们也以弯腰或蹲下等恰当的姿势来完成他们的工作。

　　文章词汇列表