Guatemala

袁泉

主題語(yǔ)境：人文風(fēng)情 篇幅：353詞 建議用時(shí)：6分鐘

1 Coming into the town of Santa Catarina Palopó，in the highlands of Lake Atitln in Guatemala， thefirst thing you notice is bright colors. Most of thebuildings along the main street are eye?catching， indeep， varied hues of blues and greens; interspersedwith red and yellow to form complex patterns anddesigns.

2 Santa Catarina Palopó was once a sleepy town of 5000 people， most of themindigenous （當(dāng)?shù)氐模?and dependent on agricultural work. As agriculture began to dry uphere， decline for the town and poverty for many of its families came. To deal with povertyand stimulate economic growth through tourism， a small but mighty group of laborers， artisans，domestic workers and stay?at?home moms created the Pintando Santa Catarina Palopóproject.

3 The project was initially to paint all 850 homes and buildings in bright colors， in aneffort to change the hillside town into a work of art.“ We wanted to paint the houses withcolors and figures that represent the community，” said the project's executive directorStephany Blanco.“ A range of designs were created so that families can choose designs fortheir houses that are representative of the family.”

4 One of the most representative characteristics of the region is the blue blouse， a?traditional blouse which has been worn prominently by local women since the 16th cen?tury. That deep sky blue was chosen as the primary color for the Pintando project， withsecondary colors found in sunset and the nearby lake to make the design more attractive.As for the designs that would be used， they would also find inspiration in local culture， symbolssuch as volcanoes， flowers， Mayan?styled butterflies and the national bird ofGuatemala.

5 Each week， local artists， community members and tourists pick up paintbrushes tomake buildings colorful.“ At first， the idea of the project left many unsure about participating，but now you can see a considerable difference in the town，” Melissa Whitbeck said.“The color of the buildings is believed to improve the quality of peoples life. It upliftspeople's moods and encourages them to be proud of where they come from.”

Reading

Check

1. What problem did Santa Catarina Palopó face？

A. A labor shortage.

B. Poor economic conditions.

C. A rapid increase in population.

D. Outdated agricultural technology.

2. What is the project about？

A. Building art galleries in Guatemala.

B. Creating job opportunities for local artisans.

C. Developing local tourism by selling artworks.

D. Transforming the town into a cultural destination.

3. What is the inspiration of the primary color for the project？

A. The nearby lake.

B. Mayan?styled butterflies.

C. A type of traditional clothing.

D. A national bird of Guatemala.

4. What was Melissa's attitude towards the project？

A. Positive.

B. Uncaring.

C. Ambiguous.

D. Disapproving.

Language

Study

Ⅰ. Text?centered chunks

intersperse with 用……點(diǎn)綴著

dry up 干涸

in an effort to 試圖做……

a range of 一系列……

as for 至于

be proud of 為……感到自豪

Ⅱ. Difficult sentence in the text

One of the most representative characteristics of the region is the blue blouse， a traditionalblouse which has been worn prominently by local women since the 16th century. 該地區(qū)最具代表性的特色之一是藍(lán)色襯衫，自 16 世紀(jì)以來(lái)，當(dāng)?shù)貗D女一直穿著這種傳統(tǒng)上衣。

【點(diǎn)石成金】本句中的which引導(dǎo)的是一個(gè)定語(yǔ)從句，which在從句中作主語(yǔ)。