How might some of the exhibits have been dangerous?

Modern sculpture rarely surprises us any more. The idea that modern art canonly be seen in museums is mistaken. Even people who take no interest in artcannot have failed to notice examples of modern sculpture on display in publicplaces. Strange forms stand in gardens, and outside buildings and shops. We havegot quite used to them. Some so-called 'modern' pieces have been on display fornearly 80 years.

In spite of this, some people -- including myself -- were surprised by arecent exhibition of modern sculpture. The first thing I saw when I entered theart gallery was a notice which said: 'Do not touch the exhibits. Some of themare dangerous!' The objects on display were pieces of moving sculpture. Oddlyshaped forms that are suspended from the ceiling and move in response to a gustof wind are quite familiar to everybody. These objects, however, were different.Lined up against the wall, there were long thin wires attached to metal spheres.The spheres had been magnetized and attracted or repelled each other all thetime. In the centre of the hall, there were a number of tall structures whichcontained coloured lights. These lights flickered continuously like trafficlights which have gone mad. Sparks were emitted from small black boxes and redlamps flashed on and off angrily. It was rather like an exhibition ofprehistoric electronic equipment. These peculiar forms not only seemed designedto shock people emotionally, but to give them electric shocks as well !

New words and expressions 生词与短语

current

n. 电流

sculpture

n. 雕塑

mistaken

adj. 错误的

gallery

n. 美术馆

exhibit

n. 展品，陈列品

oddly

adv. 古怪的

attach

v. 连，系

sphere

n. 球体

magnetize

v. 使磁化新概念英语

repel

v. 排斥

flicker

v. 闪烁

emit

v. 放射

flash

v. 闪光

prehistoric

adj. 史前的，老掉牙的

electronic

adj. 电子的

peculiar

adj. 奇异的

shock

v. 令人震惊，刺激人

emotionally

adv. 事情上

本文参考译文

现代雕塑不再使我们感到惊讶了。那种认为现代艺术只能在博物馆里才能看到的观点是错误的。即使是对艺术不感兴趣的人也不会注意到在公共场所展示的现代艺术品。公园里、大楼和商店外竖立着的奇形怪状的雕塑，对这些，我们已经司空见惯了。有些所谓的“现代”艺术品在那里已经陈列了近80年了。

尽管如此，最近举办的一次现代雕塑展览还是使一些人(包括我在内)大吃了一惊。走进展厅首先看到的是一张告示，上面写着“切勿触摸展品，某些展品有危险!”展品都是些活动的雕像。人们所熟悉的是悬挂在天花板上、造型奇特、随风飘荡的雕塑品。这些展品却使人大开眼界。靠墙排列着许多细长的电线，而电线又连着金属球。金属球经过磁化，互相之间不停地相互吸引或相互排斥。展厅中央是装有彩色灯泡的许多高高的构件，灯泡一刻不停地闪烁着，就像失去了控制的红绿灯。小黑盒子里迸出火花，红色灯泡发怒似地忽明忽暗。这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。好像设计这些奇形怪状的展品不仅是为了给人感情上的强烈刺激，而且还想给人以电击似的!

(兼职编辑：张博)