博物館應該歸還非法獲得的文物嗎？

四川蔣建平（特級教師）

針對博物館中一些通過不正當手段得來的文物是否應該歸還的問題，出現了不同的聲音：一些專家不同意歸還，另一些則認為應該歸還。

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難詞探意

1.antiquity/?n't?kw?ti/n.古董；文物

2.property/'pr?p?ti/n.財產；財物

3.loan/l??n/n.借出；貸款

Antiquitiesare ancient objects and artworks.Many people visit museums to view antiquities.They enjoy seeing these relics of the ancient world as a way of understanding past cultures and sometimes connecting with their own heritage.

Museums get works to show from many different sources.Sometimes they buy them.Other times they receive donations.Today there are strict guidelines forbidding art that has been stolen from other countries.However,antiquities that have been at museums for many years or even centuries may have arrived there by dishonest means.Now,some countries say that museums have a duty to return these antiquities to their original locations.

Should museums return the antiquities?Malcolm Bell says yes.Bell is a professor of art at the University of Virginia.He says,“Many antiquities and works of art have special cultural value for a particular community or nation.When these works are taken from their original cultural setting,they lose their context and the culture loses a part of its history.”

According to Bell,a country's request for the return of an antiquity usually has a strong legal basis.“It was exported illegally,probably also dug out illegally,and is now stolenproperty.”He called the return of antiquities“an expression of justice”.

James Cuno says not always.Cuno is the president of the J.Paul Getty Museum,an art museum in Los Angeles.Cuno agrees that museums have a legal duty to return illegally exported antiquities.However,he doesn't support the return of works which were got legally.“Land held today by a given nation-state in the past likely belonged to a different country...even if one wants to return those stolen works of art,where will one do so?Which among the many countries,cities,and museums that own parts of a work of art should be the home of the returned work?”Cuno believes that museums should collect art from the world's various cultures.This should be done through buying or long-termloanand working together with museums and nations around the world.

This debate is far from over.As a complex question with no easy answer,the issue requires more study.

Reading Check

1.What can we learn from the first two paragraphs?

A.Museums get antiquities through various means.

B.Antiquities from other countries are more valuable.

C.Antiquities are greatly appreciated by foreign visitors.

D.Museums around the world have lost many antiquities.

2.Both Bell and Cuno seem to agree that

A.antiquities from other countries may lose their cultural value

B.museums should collect antiquities from different cultures

C.museums should return illegally-owned antiquities

D.illegally-owned antiquities should not be shown

3.What is the author's attitude toward the issue?

A.Positive.

B.Negative.

C.Objective.

D.Uninterested.

Language study

Useful expressions

connect with與……有聯系

have a duty to do sth有義務做某事

a request for sth請求某事

far from根本不；遠不

Cultural Background

中國流失海外的文物有多少

國際博物館協會稱，中國出境文物總量約164萬件，分布在47個國家的200余家博物館中。中國文物學會據此得出另一組數字，認為從中國流出的文物總數達1,000萬件，是博物館藏品的6倍。由于涉及文物定義和信息不易獲取等諸多困難，準確統計流失文物的數量其實是一項“不可能完成的任務”。