Modern sculpture rarely surprises us any more.

rarely ^{adv.罕有，很少；异乎寻常地，极度}

英文中自带“屎”的使役动词

• His reaction made me feel deeply disappointed. → His reaction deeply disappointed me. ^{disappoint v.使失望}
• What he said made me totally confused. → What he said totally confused me.

The idea that modern art can only be seen in museums is mistaken.  ^{圆周句（掉尾句）}

The idea is mistaken that modern art can only be seen in museums. ^{避免头重，同位语从句通常放到后面。}

Although Tchaikovsky himself thought of the Pathetic Symphony as his crowning masterpiece, the premiere on October 28th 1893 in St. Petersburg proved a disappointment. ^{从句引出、主句句尾才揭示迷底}

Even people who take no interest in art cannot have failed to notice examples of modern sculpture on display in public places.

take + 名词 + 介词

cannot have failed to notice ... ^{不可能没有注意到（强）}

• must have noticed... ^{肯定注意到了（稍弱）}
• Cats never fail to fascinate human beings.

“on + 名词”^{表示处于某种状态}

• on display / show / exhibition
• The house is on sale. ^{出售中/甩卖/打折出售}
• The workers are on strike.
• I'm here on vacation.
• I'm here on business.
• The nurse is on call 24 hours a day.  ^待命

Strange forms （of sculpture）stand in gardens, and outside buildings and shops.We have got quite used to them.

Some so-called 'modern' pieces have been on display for nearly eighty years.

so-called ^所谓的...

• Where are your so-called friends now?

• air conditioner: Thanks to the air conditioner, the house is nice and cool.
• charger: I need my charger to charge my phone.
• computer: I do all my work on my computer.
• digital camera: I take lots of pictures with my digital camera.
• earphones: I use my earphones to listen to music on my way to work.
• headphones: Sam couldn’t hear me as he had his headphones on.
• heater: The house was cold, so I turned on the heater.
• lamp: I wanted to read in bed, so I turned on the lamp.
• monitor: We’re connected to WiFi through a monitor.
• notebook: I work on my notebook when I’m travelling.
• phone: I picked up the phone and called my mother.
• printer: I used the printer to print out my essay.
• remote: I wanted to change channels, so I picked up the remote.
• robot vacuum: I watched my robot vacuum as it moved round the room.
• scanner: I used the scanner to scan all my documents.
• speakers: The music became louder when we switched on the speakers.
• stereo: There was loud music coming from the stereo.
• tablet: Peter was reading on his tablet.
• television: When my programme ended, I switched off the television.
• vacuum cleaner: I use my vacuum cleaner to pick up cat hair from the carpet.