Sun Chen: 今天的城市掠影节目我们要向大家介绍的是英国著名的维多利亚和阿尔伯特博物馆。

Lily: Yes. The Victoria and Albert Museum, sometimes referred to as the V and A, is one of the largest museums in London and attracts thousands of visitors from all over the world.

Sun Chen: 你要是有机会来伦敦玩儿的话，我一定会向你隆重推荐这个维多利亚和阿尔伯特博物馆。为什么呢？就是因为这座博物馆的确太精彩了。

Lily: I went to the V and A last week and talked to one of the senior experts at the museum: Beth McKillop.

Sun Chen: Beth 是这家博物馆的亚洲部的主任。

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The V and A is the world's greatest museum of art and design. It has very unusual collections that are very broad and varied in their scope.

Lily: She said the V and A is the world's greatest museum of art and design.

Sun Chen: 在艺术和设计上，这是全球最领先的一家博物馆。

Lily: It has a lot of unusual collections which are very broad and varied in their scope.

Sun Chen: 每一种类型的馆藏，都覆盖面极广，而且种类繁多。

Lily: To find out how big is the collection let's listen to Beth again:

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The collection has over 4 million items in it. We have well over 200 galleries and the galleries cover everything from paintings and sculpture, from architecture, ceramics, furniture, fashion, photography, glass, jewellery, metals and textiles.

Lily: What an impressive list! 200 galleries and 4 million items in their collection.

Sun Chen: 听到了吗，在这里的200个展馆里，总共展出了四百万件展品。

Lily: She also said that the galleries cover everything.

Sun Chen: Yes, everything. Let's have a look at the list.

Lily: Paintings and sculpture.

Sun Chen: 有绘画和雕塑。

Lily: Architecture.

Sun Chen: 建筑。

Lily: Ceramics.

Sun Chen: 陶瓷。

Lily: Furniture.

Sun Chen: 家具。

Lily: Fashion.

Sun Chen: 连时装都有。

Lily: Photography.

Sun Chen: 摄影作品。

Lily: Glass and jewellery.

Sun Chen: 玻璃器皿和珠宝。

Lily: Metals and textiles.

Sun Chen: 金属制品和纺织产品。

Lily: All of these words and expressions are associated with museums.

Lily: In BBC Learning English today we are taking you to the famous Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Sun Chen: 说起来，维多利亚和阿尔伯特博物馆始建于1852年，当时把它叫做是南肯辛顿博物馆。后来到了1899年，这家博物馆被改名叫做维多利亚和阿尔伯特博物馆，用来记念维多利亚女王和她去世的丈夫，阿尔伯特。

Lily: Like some of the other great museums in London the V and A is free of charge.

Sun Chen: Free of charge 这家博物馆可以免费参观。 但是就这家博物馆的馆藏内容来看，它和伦敦其他主要博物馆，又有什么不同呢？

Lily: That's a very good question. Let's hear what Beth has to say about it:

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The British Museum specialises more in antiquities and archaeology; the Tate Gallery specialises in one place in contemporary art, and in the other in British painting; and the National Gallery is great treasures of European painting. The V and A is an international museum and it has very wide collections of what we call decorative arts.

Lily: That's Beth, a museum expert, telling us about the distinctive features of the major museums in London.

Sun Chen: Distinctive features 区别于其他博物馆的明显特征。

Lily: The British Museum specialises more in antiques and archaeology.

Sun Chen: 说起大英博物馆呢，它更侧重于文物和考古。

Lily: The Tate Gallery specialises in both contemporary art and British painting.

Sun Chen: 现代艺术和英国绘画。

Lily: The National Gallery has great treasures of European painting.

Sun Chen: 国家美术馆，更是欧洲绘画的宝库。

Lily: Now, the V and A is an international museum and has very wide collections of decorative art.

Sun Chen: 看来，跟别的博物馆不同，维多利亚和阿尔伯特博物馆有两个明显的特点。首先，它是一家展示全世界藏品的博物馆；其次，它主要侧重的是装饰艺术。

Lily: That's right. If you are interested in applied and decorative art from different countries, then the V and A is the place to visit. And it even allows visitors to take photos in most galleries.

Sun Chen: That's very unusual. So do bring your camera along.

Lily: Hope you've enjoyed this programme and we'll see you soon.

Sun Chen: Bye.

Lily: Bye.