Murals in Australia's outback

河南固始縣高級中學 湯 潤

在澳大利亞的鄉村，生活并不容易，這里每隔幾年才下一次雨，而你最近的鄰居可能住在幾百英里之外。 那么，怎么做才能讓鄉村充滿勃勃生機呢？

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難詞探意

1.reinvigorate/?ri??n?v?ɡ?re?t/v.使再振作；使復興

2. mural /?mj??r?l/ n. 壁畫

3. silo /?sa?l??/ n. 筒倉

4. depict /d??p?kt/ v. 描繪

5. moisture /?m??st??(r)/ n. 水分；潮氣

6. detour /?di?t??(r)/ v. 繞行；（使）繞道

Life isn't easy in rural Australia, where your nearest neighbor might be hundreds of miles away, and it could be years between each rainfall. In southwest Queensland, Thallon is one of many Australian outback towns now at risk of being wiped off the map by climate and population changes.

“In 2015 Thallon was on its knees, so we got the community together to see what we could do toreinvigoratethe town,” said Leanne Brosnan, secretary of the Thallon Progress Association. Then some changes took place, including a massivemuralcovering four 98-foot-tall grainsilosopposite the town campground. Named“The Watering Hole”, the outsize mural by Brisbane street artists Joel Fergie and Travis Vinsondepictsa fiery sunset over a landscape dotted with sheep, rainbow-coloured parrots and a scarred tree. It took the artists 21 days and 500 cans of spray paint to finish the piece. They worked from the basket of a long-armed crane.

Their great efforts were worth it: “The Watering Hole” has been a lifeline for Thallon, and it was named the best work of public art at the first Australian Street Art Awards in 2019. “Thallon wasn't a tourist destination at all before,” said Brosnan. “The mural now attracts visitors to come out here and they maybe spend a few dollars at the local pub. It has given locals a bit of hope for the future.”

Thallon was not the only town with a mural in Australia. Melbourne Art Agency has helped put 17 murals up on silos across the country. While painting silos isn't a huge stretch for street artists accustomed to large-scale projects, they do face challenges—paint that dries slowly due tomoisture,wind or uncomfortable weather. They had to get up before dawn, work until around 11 am, and then go back in the evening when it's hot.

While the silo trails may be hard to be found, it's easy to get a picture of what they look like and where to find them, thanks to two retirees from Western Australia. Setting out for a fishing trip in 2018, retirees Annette and Eric Greendetouredto see the painted silo in Tumby Bay, South Australia.“After we finished our fishing trip and were deciding where to go next, I thought, well, there's some silos in Victoria—let's go there,” said Annette. Frustrated by a lack of online information about the silos, Annette created a Facebook page to guide other road trippers and launched the Australian Silo Art Trail website in 2019 to document the trails on a national level.

“It has taken us to so many places we would never have thought to visit,” she said, adding that the economic impacts of the art are also being felt beyond the silo towns. “There are often a couple of towns between each silo.That means more people stopping for fuel or a meat pie, which helps to support the small businesses keeping some of these towns alive.”

Reading

Check

1. Which can best describe Thallon before 2015?

A. Prosperous. B. Peaceful. C. Developing. D. Endangered.

2. What can we know about “The Watering Hole”?

A. It's about a beautiful sunrise.

B. It was completed in more than a month.

C. It made a great difference to Thallon.

D. It was done by street artists working with ladders.

3. Why did Annette create a Facebook page?

A. To show her travel journals. B. To guide other travelers.

C. To post her wonderful pictures. D. To inspire other fishermen.

Language

Study

Sentence for writing

That means more people stopping for fuel or a meat pie, which helps to support the small businesses keeping some of these towns alive.

【信息提取】該句中which引導非限制性定語從句，對主句進行補充說明。

【句式仿寫】他最優秀的電影，就是榮獲幾項大獎的那一部，是關于甘地的生平的。