New look on the Museum

Museums have changed. They are no longer places for the privileged few or for bored vacationers to visit on rainy days.

At a science museum in Ontario, Canada you can feel your hair stand on end as harmless electricity passes through your body. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, you can look at 17 century instruments while listening to their music. At the Modern Museum in Sweden, you can put on costumes provided by the Stockholm Opera. As these examples show, museums are reaching out to new audiences, particularly the young, the poor and the less educated members of the population. As a result, attendance is interesting.

Many museums have changed in appearance. Some old, gray museums have been rebuilt, and the newer ones are open and modern in their architecture. Inside, there is modern lighting, color, and sound. Instead of displaying everything they own, museum directors show fewer objects and leave open spaces where visitor can gather and sit down. They also bring together in one display a group of objects drawn drawn from various parts of the museum to represent the whole lifestyle of region or a historical period. In one room, for instance, you may find materials, clothing, tools, cooking pots, furniture, and art works of a particular place and time.

More and more museum directors are realizing that people learn best when they can somehow become part of what they are seeing. In many science museums, for example, there are no guided tours. The visitor is encouraged to touch, listen, operate, and experiment so as to discover scientific principles for himself. The purpose is not only to provide fun but also to help people feel at home in the world of science. The theory is that people who do not understand science will probably fear it, and those who fear science will not use it to the best advantage.

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When Papa was growing up at the turn of the century in a very small village in rural northern Italy, education was for the rich. Papa was the son of a poor farmer. He dropped out of school when he was in the fifth grade. He went to work in a factory. For Papa, the world became his school. He was interested in everything. He read all the books, magazines and newspapers he could lay his hands on. Papa's great respect for learning and his sense of wonder about the outside world were carried aeross the sea with him and later passed on to his family.

"There is so much to learn," he'd remind us. "Though we're born stupid, only the stupid remain that way."

To ensure that none of his children ever fell into the trap of self-satisfaction, he insisted that we learm at least one new thing each day. He felt that there could be no fact too insignificant, and that each bit of learning made us more of a person and insured us against boredom and stagnation (停滞不前).

So Papa made a rule. Dinner time was the perfect time for sharing new things we had learned that day. It would never have occurred to us to refuse Papa a request. So when my brother and sisters and I gathered in the bathroom to clean up for dinner, the unavoidable question was, "What did you learn today?" If the answer was nothing, we didn't dare sit at the table without first finding a fact in our much-used encyclopedia (百科全书). "The population of Nepal..." etc.

Now, thoroughly clean and armed with our fact for the day, we were ready for dinner. It was also a time to review the activities of the day. The events we stated, no matter how insignificant, were never taken lightly. Mama and Papa always listened carefully and were ready with some comments, often deep and right to the point. One dialogue ended, and immediately another began. Papa's attention would settle upon one of us.

There was once a boy called Jagan, whose dream was to become a famous cricket（板球）player. The boy would pray every day for his dream to come true, but Jagan was not a lazy boy, so he would also practise very hard at the club.

Jagan made sure to run, exercise and eat well. He would do his homework as soon as he got home so that there was time to play cricket with his friends at the end of each day.

One day, Jagan was told by his father that they were leaving their home and travelling to a faraway country called Britain, He was very nervous but Jagan knew that his father was doing what was best for the family.

Jagan helped his father pack their belongings and prepare for the long journey. When the family finally arrived in London, young Jagan felt out of place and alone. He was determined to make the most of his new life and so he found a club where he could play cricket and he continued to follow his dream.

He always practised very hard, and when he enrolled（注册）at the local school, he would play cricket at the end of each day. Jagan was as determined as ever and he was convinced（确信的）that one day his dream would come true.

The new school was fun. Jagan soon made lots of new friends and the time passed quickly. Jagan's friends did not understand why he was so interested in cricket. "It is a waste of your time, " said one of his friends. "Why do you spend all that energy on a silly dream that will never come true?" asked another.

At first, Jagan was able to answer these questions easily. He knew what he wanted and he knew what he had to do to get it. However, as time passed, the questions became harder and harder to answer.

One day a friend said, "Why don't you forget your silly dream and come to the cinema with us?"

Jagan did want to see the film.

School soon came to an end.

I was excited. I had been invited to go to my friend's birthday party. Tori was not my best friend, but she was in my class and we did stuff together. And I liked to go to parties. I asked my mom and she said I could go, so I told Tori that I’d be there.

And then, two days later, my very, very best friend called. She and her family were going to Disneyland for the whole day. She invited me to go with them. Disneyland! I loved Disneyland so much. I really wanted to go... more than anything. I ran to ask my mom if it was okay. That’s when my mom reminded me that Tori’s party was on the same day. She said I couldn’t change my mind just because something better came along.

I was mad. So mad. Disneyland was my favorite place in the whole world and I loved to go there ... and I especially liked going with my best friend. My excitement about going to the birthday party was gone. Tori’s party would be okay but not as fun as a whole day at Disneyland and besides that, Tori wasn’t even my best friend. I begged my mom. She said no. I cried. I sulked (生闷气). My mom still said no.

My mom explained to me – once you accept an invitation to something, you can’t change your mind and go to something just because you want to do the other thing more. That isn’t nice. She asked me to think about how I would feel if someone did that to me. I didn’t want to admit it, but my mom was right. It would hurt my feelings if someone did that to me.

Although I didn’t want to, I told my best friend that l wouldn’t be able to go to Disneyland with her. So my friend and her family went to Disneyland and my mom dropped me off at Tori’s party.

In spite of the fact that I had not wanted to go, I had a great time at the party!

When my mom came to pick me up, I didn’t want to leave.

Once upon a time there lived a stone cutter who was dissatisfied with his life. One day, on his way to work, he passed by a beautiful house. It belonged to rich merchant.

From where he stood, he saw fine possessions, honorable guests, and plenty of workers and servants all set to work. He became envious and deeply wished to have everything the wealthy and powerful merchant did.

Suddenly, the stone cutter changed into the merchant taking over his mind and body. He was aware of the merchant’s innermost feelings, thoughts and memories. He felt the joy of owning all the luxuries in the world. He knew the pleasure of holding such a respectable position in the society. Many honored him.

After a few days of enjoying the merchant’s life, he saw a king being carried in a luxurious chair accompanied by attendants, soldiers and servants. Everyone, despite of their power and wealth, was forced to bow before this figure that was worshiped as God.

After seeing this, he realized he had been mistaken about the merchant’s power and status. In a split second, he moved into the body of the king, mighty and fearless. Then he knew what it felt like to be praised and glorified by the entire kingdom, to hold the power to pardon or take a man’s life and what it was like to be respected by kings from other lands.

One day, on a hot summer noon, he was extremely uneasy. His overweight body made the heat even more intolerable. He looked up at the sun and thought about how it was absolutely unaffected by his presence. He then swiftly became the sun, shining with glory, the source of life and strength of every living creature on the planet.

He continued to radiate until a massive storm cloud gathered below him blocking his rays.

There was yet another force that faded the wind’s ego—a huge towering rock.