The sculptor speaks

原文

Appreciation of sculpture depends upon the ability to respond to form in there dimension. That is perhaps why sculpture has been described as the most difficult of all arts; certainly it is more difficult than the arts which involve appreciation of flat forms, shape in only two dimensions. Many more people are 'form-blind' than colour-blind. The child learning to see, first distinguishes only two-dimensional shape; it cannot judge distances, depths. Later, for its personal safety and practical needs, it has to develop (partly by means of touch) the ability to judge roughly three-dimensonal distances. But having satisfied the requirements of practical necessity, most people go no further. Though they may attain considerable accuracy in the perception of flat from, they do no make the further. Though they may attain considerable accuracy in the perception of flat form, they do not make the further intellectual and emotional effort needed to comprehend form in its full spatial existence.

This is what the sculptor must do. He must strive continually to think of, and use, form in its full spatial completeness. He gets the solid shape, as it were, inside his head-he thinks of it, whatever its size, as if he were holding it completely enclosed in the hollow of his hand. He mentally visualizes a complex form from all round itself; he knows while he looks at one side what the other side is like, he identifies himself with its centre of gravity, its mass, its weight; he realizes its volume, as the space that the shape displaces in the air.

And the sensitive observer of sculpture must also learn to feel shape simply as shape, not as description or reminiscence. He must, for example, perceive an egg as a simple single solid shape, quite apart from its significance as food, or from the literary idea that it will become a bird. And so with solids such as a shell, a nut, a plum, a pear, a tadpole, a mushroom, a mountain peak, a kidney, a carrot, a tree-trunk, a bird, a bud, a lark, a ladybird, a bulrush, a bone. From these he can go on to appreciate more complex forms of combinations of several forms.

--HENRY MOORE The Sculptor Speaks from The Listener--

译文

欣赏雕塑取决于对三维形式做出反应的能力。这也许就是为什么雕塑被描述为所有艺术中最难的；当然，它比那些只涉及二维形状的艺术更难。许多人“形式盲”[注：指难以感知或辨认三维形式的能力]的人比色盲者多。孩子在学习看东西时，首先只分辨二维形状；它不能判断距离、深度。后来，为了个人安全和实际需要，它不得不（部分通过触觉）发展出大致判断三维距离的能力。但在满足了实际需要的条件后，大多数人不再深入。尽管他们在感知二维形式上可能达到相当的准确性，但他们并没有做出进一步的智力上和情感上的努力，来理解形式在其完整空间存在中的含义。

这就是雕塑家必须做的事。他必须不断努力去思考和使用形式在其完全的空间完整性中。他仿佛将实体形状置于脑海中——不论其大小，他都像握在手中完全包容它一样去思考它。他在精神上从各个角度可视化一个复杂的形式；他知道在看一面时另一面是什么样的，他将自己认同于它的重心、质量、重量；他意识到它的体积，即形状在空气中排挤的空间。

敏感的雕塑观察者也必须学会单纯地将形状视为形状，而非描述或回忆。例如，他必须将一个鸡蛋视为一个简单的、单一的实体形状，完全撇开它作为食物的意义，或文学观念中它将变成鸟的想法。同样，对于如贝壳、坚果、李子、梨、蝌蚪、蘑菇、山峰、肾脏、胡萝卜、树干、鸟、芽、百灵鸟、瓢虫、芦苇、骨头这样的实体。从这些，他可以继续欣赏更复杂的形式或几个形式的组合。

--HENRY MOORE The Sculptor Speaks from The Listener--

词汇表

appreciation

名词

英:/əˌpriːʃiˈeɪʃən/

美:/əˌpriːʃiˈeɪʃən/

定义

1. 欣赏 - The recognition and enjoyment of the good qualities of something.

例子: Her appreciation of art grew after visiting the museum.

例子: The audience showed their appreciation with applause.

2. 理解 - A full understanding of a situation.

例子: He has a deep appreciation of the challenges involved.

例子: Appreciation of history requires studying primary sources.

近义词

admiration: 强调积极的情感回应，常用于赞美，而 'appreciation' 更侧重于理解和认可。

gratitude: 更专注于感谢他人，常用于人际关系中，而 'appreciation' 可以是针对事物的。

recognition: 侧重于承认或发现价值，但 'appreciation' 包括情感层面的享受。

反义词:

disregard, ignorance, contempt

用法

常用于艺术、文化或个人发展语境中，强调对事物的积极认知；可与 'of' 搭配，如 'appreciation of beauty'，在正式场合使用。

形式:

复数: appreciations, 动词形式: appreciate (verb)

关键句型 "as if [clause]"

定义

此句型用于表达一种假设或虚拟的情况，常表示与事实相反的想象或比喻。结构为：as if（好像）+ [clause]（从句），其中从句通常使用虚拟语气。根据《剑桥英语语法手册》，as if 引导一个从句，描述某事物的状态或行为如同另一种情况一样，强调非真实性。例如，在文章中：“as if he were holding it completely enclosed in the hollow of his hand”，它帮助描述雕塑家对形状的想象。

这个句型在英语中常用于生动描述，适合表达抽象概念或情感。

用法

as if 常用于描述假设场景、比喻或间接表达意见，常见于叙述性或描述性语言中。规则：主句后跟 as if 从句，从句的动词通常采用虚拟语气（如用 were 代替 was）。

在语法体系中，它属于状语从句的一部分，与其他连接词如 as though 类似（二者可互换）。横向比较：与 like 相比，as if 更正式且暗示虚拟（例如，"He runs like a cheetah" 描述真实，而 "as if he were a cheetah" 强调想象）；与 if 从句相比，as if 更侧重于相似性而非条件。

跨语法联系：它常与虚拟语气结合，学生可联系条件句（如 If I were you）来理解其虚拟性质。同时，它能扩展到高级表达，如在文学中增强描述力。

注意事项

学生易犯的错误包括：不使用虚拟语气，导致句子不自然，例如说 "as if he was holding" 而非 "as if he were holding"，这会使语言显得不正式。纠正建议：记住，在 as if 从句中，如果描述与事实相反，应使用 were 或其他虚拟形式，并练习口语以习惯这种结构。

另一个常见偏误是混淆 as if 和 as though，但二者几乎相同；或过度使用导致句子冗长。提供例句：

错误示例：He acts as if he is a king in real life. (如果强调虚拟，应改为 were)
正确示例：He acts as if he were a king, commanding respect from everyone.

练习

原创例子：想象你在描述朋友的绘画习惯：“She looks at the canvas as if she were exploring a new world.” 学生可以替换 [clause]，如 “as if he were flying in the sky”，并应用到实际场景，例如写一篇短文描述欣赏艺术时的心情："I feel the sculpture as if it were alive."

通过替换关键词，学生能加深对句型的掌握，并将其用于日常描述中。

额外内容

背景知识：as if 起源于古英语的比喻表达，在现代英语文学中常见，如在亨利·摩尔的文章中增强视觉想象。对比分析：与中文的 "好像" 类似，但英语需用虚拟语气强调非真实性，而法语中的 "comme si" 也类似，需要动词变位。了解此句型能帮助学生在阅读艺术或文学时更好地把握作者意图，丰富表达方式。