Part 2: You will hear an audio guide to the State Museum and its exhibitions.
Speaker: Welcome to the State Museum, situated in the centre of this truly multicultural metropolis which is home to more than 30 different nationalities. The museum has a number of exciting displays and exhibitions, and this audio guide is designed to help you fully enjoy your visit. There are 15 galleries in total, and this season sees the opening of three new exhibitions. We suggest that you start your tour with these highlights of the season.
Speaker: The Heritage Clothes Exhibition is located in Gallery 3 of the museum. People who live in the area have spent two years preparing this exhibition, which brings together some of the fascinating garments traditionally worn in their own communities. They looked into the history of their community’s clothing traditions and the customs and rituals related to them. Overall, there are 16 countries from five continents being represented. The photos that accompany each exhibit were taken by some of the city’s college students who are studying design and show the clothes being modelled by the real people who wear them in the course of their everyday lives.
Speaker: Another remarkable highlight of the season is the exhibition known as Toys from the Past, which can be visited in Gallery 9. This exhibition, appealing to people of all ages, is on tour throughout the country and will be here for 10 weeks only. Items on display include dolls produced over a century ago with beautiful porcelain faces and in some cases real hair. The whole collection covers antique toys such as wooden train sets from many different generations and offers plenty of fun to children and adults. The gigantic board games laid out on the gallery floor are among the most popular activities in the exhibition and should not be missed. A special display of miniature toys brings this exhibition to an end. These small objects are on loan from countries all over the world, some of which measure no more than a few centimetres. There is a tiny car made from matchsticks, a toy aeroplane with the pilot and passengers made out of seashells and some delicate mini houses no higher than 4 centimetres.
Speaker: Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 16-20.
Speaker: Now listen and answer questions 16 to 20.
Speaker: The final highlight of the season is the Biscuit Gallery No. 15. About two decades ago, this city was renowned for its biscuits, although today the factory no longer exists. Did you know, for example, that before biscuits were wrapped in paper or cardboard boxes, biscuit tins were fashion items? The factory manufactured round, square, triangular and hexagonal tins for a whole range of different occasions to celebrate national events, festivals, famous faces, etc.
Speaker: One fascinating exhibition displays people’s favourite biscuits. There are sweet biscuits and savoury ones, biscuits filled with jam and biscuits filled with currants, biscuits with coloured toppings from sugar icing to chocolate sprinkles. When the factory finally closed, it announced that people’s favourite biscuit was not as you might expect a chocolate biscuit or one filled with jam and cream, but a plain savoury one, which was eaten with cheese.
Speaker: When you get to the end of the exhibition, there is an entertaining hands-on activity to fill your own biscuit tin. All the biscuits ever produced by the company are piled up on the table along with various tins. These biscuit replicas are made out of thin pieces of wood, but the weight, colours and shapes highly resemble the original biscuits. to fill the tin with biscuits, and when the lid is taken off, the biscuits are neatly placed as if the job were performed by a machine. It may not be as easy as it seems.
