VOA美语咖啡屋 Lesson 39: Erica Art and Science of Web Design

 

VOA美语咖啡屋 Lesson 39: Erica Art and Science of Web¹ Design

Y: 各位听众好，我是杨晨。欢迎您到美语咖啡屋!  

J: Hello, I’m Jody. Welcome to American Cafe! So, Yang Chen, I was looking at our web site for American Cafe and we have a problem.  

Y: 我们的网页有问题？我觉得挺好的啊。  

J: Well, it’s okay. But I thought we could find better artwork. Don’t you? Our web site is just not very artistic².  

Y: 哎呀, 网页只要实用就好了，要那么花哨干什么？  

J: A good web site does more than just work. It has to be kind of like a work of art.  

Y: Art? 艺术。我觉得电脑是个科学工具，根本没必要弄那些华而不实的东西。  

J: Art.  

Y: 科学！  

J: Art!  

Y: 科学！  

J: Okay, okay, let’s not argue ! Hey, I have an idea. Let’s talk to our friend Erica. You remember Erica, don’t you?  

Y: 没错。我还记得Erica。她自己有一个网页设计公司。  

实录1: Erica: Web design is very much an art and a science. It’s both together because the artistic side is pretty obvious. You need to have visual³ design.  

J: See, Erica says you need to have visual design, V-I-S-U-A-L visual D-E-S-I-G-N design, the way things look.  

Y: 哎呀，你耐心一点！ 我敢担保她接下来一定会强调网页设计的科学性。 

实录2: Erica: There’s a very technical side to it. You experiment. You try things. You test things. They fail. They give you errors. You try again. You keep playing with it.  

Y: 你看，我说什么。Erica 也强调设计网页是一项技术性很强的工作。  

J: She did say that there is a very technical side to it.  

Y: 就是吗。  

J: Well, just hold on a minute! Let’s spell technical. Technical is spelled T-E-C-H-N-I-C-A-L, technical side to it. 

实录3: Erica: So, it’s really that marriage between art and technical skills that are so important for web site design.  

Y: Erica刚才说的一句话很有意思。她说网页设计是 A marriage between art and technical skills. Marriage 这个词也可以这样用啊？  

J: Marriage, M-A-R-R-I-A-G-E, marriage, can be used to mean a union to other things besides a spouse⁴. Maybe the best way is to give an example. Well, like Erica said, "It’s really that marriage between art and technical skills." I can also say "I like that idea, but I’m not married to it." Meaning, I like the idea but I’m not committed⁵ to it.  

Y: 我想在marriage这里的意思就是两者的结合。  

J: But Yang Chen, I wonder. Does Erica consider herself an artist or a scientist?  

Y: 对， Erica 认为她自己是一个艺术家呢，还是科学家？ 

实录4: Erica: I’m really an artist. The reason I’m doing web design is because it gives me an opportunity to do art all the time. Make pretty things and show them to people ’cause (because) I love an audience too.  

Y: 听起来Erica更象是一个艺术家，而不是科学家。  

J: Erica considers herself an artist. She likes making pretty things and showing them to people and she loves an audience. Sounds like an artist to me.  

Y: 以前我倒是从来没有从艺术的角度来看待网页设计!  

J: A web site is not just art that you hang up in your house, like a painting. It’s art that the whole world can see!  

实录5: Erica: It works⁶ out perfectly⁷. People actually pay me to do art. But it’s not just the kind of art, you know, that you hang up in your house. It’s art that the whole world can see. And it’s art that’s really functional⁸ and useful. And actually I’m really proud of the functional part too, the fact that it’s very user-friendly and very useful, not just pretty to look at.  

Y: 看来我要改变我的想法，网页设计的确包含着很多艺术创作的成份。你觉不觉得Erica的确是在艺术和科学之间找到了一个很好的平衡。她设计的网页真是又漂亮又实用。  

J: It really sounds like Erica has found a good marriage between art and science in her web design company. So what do think, Yang Chen? Our web site needs artistic help?  

Y: 也许Erica可以帮助我们。  

J: Erica would love to help us.  

Y: 谢谢您收听美语咖啡屋。我们下次节目再见！  

J: Thanks for joining us on American Cafe! See you next time!  

1 web   

n.网，蛛丝，蹼，织物，圈套，卷筒纸；vi.生蹼，形成网；vt.织蜘蛛网于，使落入圈套

参考例句：

• The spider weaves a web.蜘蛛织网。
• You mean the World Wide Web?你是说国际互联网？

2 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

3 visual   

adj.视力的，视觉的，观看的，直观的，看得见的，光学的

参考例句：

• The film is a visual art.电影是一种视觉艺术。
• His designs have a strong visual appeal.他的设计在视觉上很有感染力。

4 spouse   

n.配偶(指夫或妻)

参考例句：

• Her spouse will come to see her on Sunday.她的丈夫星期天要来看她。
• What is the best way to keep your spouse happy in the marriage?在婚姻中保持配偶幸福的最好方法是什么？

5 committed   

a.坚定的，献身的，忠诚的

参考例句：

• They called for assurances that the government is committed to its education policy. 他们要求保证政府切实执行其教育方针。
• He committed the cardinal sin of criticizing his teammates. 他犯了指责队友的大错。

6 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

7 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

8 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。