On 16 and 18 September, China received 64 pieces of cultural relics and fossils back from the United States. The handovers took place in Washington and New York. One group of 58 pieces came from US Homeland Security Investigations. The other group came from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which has now sent Chinese objects home five times.
Among the returned items is the body of a bodhisattva statue from Cave 17 of the Tianlongshan Grottoes in Shanxi Province. It was cut from the cave wall in the 1920s and carried abroad. Sadly, its head is still missing. The group also includes other stone statues, pottery figures, dinosaur bone fossils, fish fossils and dinosaur eggs. They come from different periods and are made of different materials.
How did these objects come back? In 2009, China and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding that limits the illegal import of Chinese cultural property into America. The agreement has been renewed three times since then. Under it, US police seize illegal objects, and the two sides work together to send them home. This return is the latest result of that long cooperation.
Cultural relics are not just old objects. When a statue is cut from a cave, the cave itself loses part of its meaning, and a piece of history is broken. Officials from both countries said the handover shows respect for history and for different civilizations. The returned pieces will be shown to the public at an exhibition about cultural property that has come back to China.
The road home can be very long. Some of these objects waited almost a hundred years. Every return repairs a small part of the past, and it also reminds us that the work is not finished. The missing head of the Tianlongshan bodhisattva is still out there somewhere, waiting for its own journey home.
Words to know:
- relic (文物，遗物)
- fossil (化石)
- statue (雕像，造像)
- grotto (石窟)
- handover (移交，交接)
- memorandum (备忘录)
- renew (续签，延长)
- civilization (文明)
长难句拆解 · 表语前置倒装 + 并列列举
例句：Among the returned items is the body of a bodhisattva statue from Cave 17 of the Tianlongshan Grottoes in Shanxi Province.
这个句子不是正常语序。主语是 the body of a bodhisattva statue（一尊菩萨造像的身躯），谓语是 is，而 Among the returned items（在返还的物品当中）本来该放在 is 后面作表语，却被提到了句首。英语里当「范围、地点」这类介词短语放到句首、而主语又很长的时候，句子常整体倒装，写成「介词短语 + be + 主语」，这样重心更稳，读者也不会一上来就被一长串名词压住。
主语内部还挂了两层修饰：from Cave 17 of the Tianlongshan Grottoes 说明它来自哪座石窟，in Shanxi Province 进一步限定石窟所在的省份。中文习惯把这些信息放在名词前面，所以翻译时要颠倒过来。
直译：在返还的物品当中，有来自山西省天龙山石窟第 17 窟的一尊菩萨造像的身躯。
再看一句：The group also includes other stone statues, pottery figures, dinosaur bone fossils, fish fossils and dinosaur eggs.
主干是 The group includes …，后面并列了五个宾语。英语列举时只在最后两项之间加 and，前面用逗号隔开，这与中文用「、」连接的习惯不同。读长列举句时先数清有几项，再回到主句确认它讲的是哪一类东西。
同义替换 · 雅思阅读利器
下面 6 组替换都出自本文，右侧是对应的替换说法，点开核对。
- return → give back / hand over（表示「归还」）
- illegal → unlawful / against the law（形容非法）
- carry abroad → take overseas / move out of the country（说文物流失海外）
- repair → fix / mend（表示「修补」）
- missing → lost / nowhere to be found（表示下落不明）
- work together → cooperate / join hands（表示合作）
阅读自测 · 3 题
三道题分别对应细节、依据与数字，先不看答案。
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- 判断正误（T / F / NG）：The head of the Tianlongshan bodhisattva statue was returned together with its body.
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- 简答：Which document gives the two countries a legal basis for returning these objects?
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- 简答：How many pieces were returned by US Homeland Security Investigations?
参考答案与解析
每题给出答案与判断依据，注意最后提到的干扰项套路。
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- F（错误）。第二段写 Sadly, its head is still missing，即回来的只有身躯，佛首仍下落不明。题目把「部分回归」说成「整体回归」，属于「以偏概全」。
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- A memorandum of understanding signed in 2009, which limits the illegal import of Chinese cultural property into America. 依据在第三段。注意干扰项会拿 1920s（被盗凿的年代）来充数，那是文物流失的时间，不是返还的法律依据，属于「张冠李戴」。
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- 58. 第一段明确写 One group of 58 pieces came from US Homeland Security Investigations。若答 64，那是两批合计的总数，属于「偷换总量」。
中文译文
9 月 16 日和 18 日，中国从美国接回 64 件（套）文物艺术品和古生物化石。交接分别在美国首都华盛顿和纽约举行。其中一批共 58 件（套），由美国国土安全调查局返还；另一批来自纽约曼哈顿区检察官办公室，这已经是该办公室第五次把中国文物送回中国。
在返还的物品中，有一尊菩萨造像的身躯，来自山西省天龙山石窟第 17 窟。它在上世纪 20 年代被人从洞窟壁上凿下并带往海外。遗憾的是，它的佛首至今仍下落不明。这批文物里还有别的石造像、陶俑、恐龙骨架化石、鱼类化石和恐龙蛋化石。它们分属不同时代，材质也各不相同。
这些文物是怎么回来的？2009 年，中美两国签署了一份谅解备忘录，限制中国文物非法入境美国。此后这份文件又连续三次续签。依据它，美国执法部门查扣非法文物，两国政府携手把它们送回家。这次返还是这项长期合作的最新成果。
文物不只是旧物件。一尊造像被从洞窟上凿走，洞窟本身就失去了一部分意义，一段历史也随之残缺。中美双方的官员都表示，这次交接体现了对历史的尊重，也体现了对不同文明的尊重。这些回归的文物将在流失文物追索返还成果展上与公众见面。
回家的路可能很长。这批文物中的一些，等了将近一百年。每一次返还，都是对过去的一点修补，也提醒我们这项工作还没有结束。那尊天龙山菩萨的佛首仍不知身在何处，等着属于自己的归途。