学进去

Most of us have spent time at a museum, looking at and learning about the things there. But how many of us have ever thought about how these objects are kept in good condition?

Every year, museums put a lot of money and effort into keeping their objects in good condition. They make sure the temperature and light levels are always just right, and that the air isn’t too wet.

However, even if the conditions are correct, some things still can ruin a valuable object — insects. Often they enter the museum inside the object itself. They may also be brought in by accident on visitors’ clothes. Once inside the museum, they can quickly move from one object to another, and they enjoy eating natural materials such as wood, cotton, silk and wool.

Museum experts say that the older the objects are, the more the insects seem to be attracted (吸引) to them. That’s a problem because these things can’t easily be repaired. As a result, museums will try almost anything to prevent insects from harming their collections. For example, a new object will be kept separately at first. Then, when staff are sure there are no insects inside, it can be put on show. If insects are found in a piece of clothing or art, placing it in a freezer is one way of getting rid of (除掉) them.

But now one museum in the USA has decided to try something new. They are training a dog to find insects. Dogs have an excellent sense of smell. Usually the dog sits down to show that it has found what it’s looking for. Staff at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston hope that their dog, Riley, will learn to do this when it finds insects. They say that at the moment it’s just an experiment (实验). However, if Riley can help find insects before they do a lot of harm, other museums are sure to be interested.