VOA慢速英语2011--Chopsticks For China, But Made in Americ

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - Chopsticks For China, But Made in America

DOUG JOHNSON: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.
I'm Doug Johnson. This week on our show, we play new music from Bon Iver.
We also answer a question about the hours of American workers.
But, first, we learn about a small American company that is answering a big demand for chopsticks in China.
(MUSIC)
DOUG JOHNSON: In the United States, many manufactured goods include the words “Made in China.” But one small company in the American state of Georgia is making traditional Chinese chopsticks -- and sending them to China. Faith Lapidus has more.
FAITH LAPIDUS: Chopsticks are sticks used in some Asian countries to eat food. They are often made out of wood, but can also be made of plastic. Most of the world’s chopsticks are made in China. Several hundred Chinese manufacturers produce about sixty three billion pairs of chopsticks a year. However, those manufacturers need more wood.
One small company in the American city of Americus, Georgia has recognized this demand.
It started producing chopsticks for export to China. Korean-American Jae Lee is the president of Georgia Chopsticks. He says the world market for chopsticks is huge.
JAE LEE: “Right now, we are making about two million pairs of chopsticks per day. But we are increasing. End of this month, we’ll have seven machines coming in. So it’ll increase to like four million per day. End of this year, we will produce ten million per day.”
FAITH LAPIDUS: About one-third of the world’s population uses chopsticks. Japan, for example, uses about twenty three billion pairs of the sticks each year.
China may need more wood for producing chopsticks. But David Garriga says there is plenty of wood near Americus, Georgia. Mr. Garriga is the head of the local economic development council.
DAVID GARRIGA: “Rural Georgia and the cities of rural Georgia, they’re blessed with tons of natural resources. The Pacific Rim², especially areas in China and Japan, they’ve run out of wood, but we have an abundance³ of it.”
In central Georgia, sweetgum and poplar trees grow in large numbers. In fact, these trees make good chopsticks. This is because the wood is not firm and has a nice color. Unlike many Asian chopsticks, these Georgia-made chopsticks do not need to be lightened with chemicals and bleach⁴.
Georgia Chopsticks opened at the end of last year. It received four hundred fifty requests for jobs in just two weeks. Today, the company employs fifty seven people at its factory. Jae Lee hopes to increase production and add one hundred more workers by the end of the year.
Every chopstick his company makes goes to Asia, where they are sold to stores in China, Korea, and Japan. Right now, Georgia Chopsticks cannot keep up with demand for its product.
It costs Jae Lee less than one cent to make a pair of chopsticks. But he says he is not making any money yet. To earn a profit, he needs to produce more than four million chopsticks a day. He says he hopes to do this in the next month or two.
David Garriga notes that the American connection to the production of chopsticks has a funny side.
DAVID GARRIGA: “Suddenly, there’s a huge nation, the fastest growing in the world, that finances⁵ part of our national debt, and here we are making their basic products and shipping⁶ it to them, like they’ve done for us for years. It’s just kind of a reverse⁷.”
(MUSIC)
DOUG JOHNSON: Our question this week comes from China. Lisa wants to know about the work hours of Americans. Lisa says she works from seven thirty until eleven in the morning. She then has an hour to eat and rest. She returns to work at twelve, and stays on the job until four thirty.
Her question is timely⁸ since the Bureau of Labor⁹ Statistics¹⁰ recently released results of its American Time Use Survey for twenty ten. The survey began in two thousand three. Its aim was to provide estimates about how, where and with whom Americans spend their time. This kind of information can be helpful to media organizations, economists¹¹, sociologists and other experts as part of their research.
Rachel Krantz-Kent is program manager of the American Time Use Survey. She says one finding showed that men who have a job worked, on average, more hours than employed women.
RACHEL KRANTZ-KENT: “One of the interesting things we know from the American Time Use Survey is that, on average, American men spend more time working for pay than American women. However, while men work more hours than women, we also observe that women are spending more time providing childcare and doing household work such as cleaning and food preparation.”
The American Time Use Survey found that employed people work an average of seven and a half hours a day. Full-time¹² male workers average eight point two hours a day, while women average seven point eight hours.
The report shows that more people work on weekdays than on Saturday and Sunday – the traditional weekend days. Eighty-two percent of employed people work on an average weekday, compared with thirty-five percent who work on an average weekend.
The report notes the times individuals work. Between two thousand five and two thousand nine, over fifty percent of American workers were at their job by eight in the morning.
The report also tells how Americans spend their time away from work.
On an average day, nearly everyone fifteen years of age and older took part in a non-work activity like watching television, socializing or exercising. The study found that people spend an average of two point seven hours a day watching television.
Time spent reading was linked to age. Adults seventy-five years and older averaged one point one hours of reading a day on weekends. But people between the ages of fifteen and nineteen averaged about six minutes of reading a day. Those individuals spent more time playing games or using a computer for non-work activities.
How many hours do you spend at work and at play? Leave a comment on our website, voaspecialenglish.com.
(MUSIC)
HOST: Bon Iver is the musical project of singer and songwriter Justin Vernon. His second album, “Bon Iver” has received praise from critics across the United States. One reporter says this album proves that rock is not dead -- it is only sleeping and dreaming. Jim Tedder¹³ has more.
(MUSIC)
JIM TEDDER: That was the song “Calgary.” Like many songs on the album “Bon Iver” this one is soft, dreamy, and poetic¹⁴. It is often hard to understand the meaning of the words Justin Vernon is singing.
But what is clear is that every song is linked to a place. All of the songs are named after a place, either real or imaginary. Justin Vernon is more interested in listeners having an emotional experience from his music than understanding meaning of the words.
His first album, “For Emma, Forever Ago,” was released in two thousand seven. He recorded most of the music in a small house in the woods in his native Wisconsin. He went there to be alone for several months and to recover from personal problems, including the breakup of his band.
The extreme quiet had a major influence on him. He began to write new music. This resulted in the creation¹⁵ of an album that caught the attention of several performers, including Kanye West. He asked Justin Vernon to work with him on his two thousand ten album “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.”
On his latest album, Justin Vernon has expanded his sound and added more musical instruments and effects.
(MUSIC: “Minnesota, WI”)
We close with the last song on the album “Bon Iver, Bon Iver.” “Beth/Rest” sounds like it could have been recorded in the nineteen eighties. Justin Vernon says he loves the song and wanted it to be last on his album. He says he wants listeners to get lost in its sound.
(MUSIC)
DOUG JOHNSON: I’m Doug Johnson. Our program was written and produced by Dana Demange, with reporting by Philip Graitcer. If you have a question about American life, write to [email protected].
Join us again next week for music and more on AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

1 mosaic   

n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的

参考例句：

• The sky this morning is a mosaic of blue and white.今天早上的天空是幅蓝白相间的画面。
• The image mosaic is a troublesome work.图象镶嵌是个麻烦的工作。

2 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

3 abundance   

n.大量，丰富，充足

参考例句：

• At the feast there was food and drink in abundance.宴会上有丰富的饮食。
• There is an abundance of commodity supplies on the markets.商品供应充足。

4 bleach   

vt.使漂白；vi.变白；n.漂白剂

参考例句：

• These products don't bleach the hair.这些产品不会使头发变白。
• Did you bleach this tablecloth?你把这块桌布漂白了吗？

5 finances   

n.(pl.)财源，资产

参考例句：

• I need a professional to sort out my finances. 我需要专业人士为我管理财务。
• The company's finances are looking a bIt'shaky. 这个公司的财政情况看来有点不稳定。

6 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

7 reverse   

v.推翻，颠倒，反向；n.反面，逆境；adj.反向的

参考例句：

• His answer was just the reverse of what I expected.他的回答正好与我期望的相反。
• Please reverse the positions of two pictures.请把两张图片的位置倒转过来。

8 timely   

adj.及时的，适时的；adv.及时地

参考例句：

• We are particularly grateful to him for his timely help.我们特别感谢他的及时帮助。
• Your arrival was most timely yesterday.你们昨天来得非常及时。

9 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

10 statistics   

n.统计，统计数字，统计学

参考例句：

• We have statistics for the last year.我们有去年的统计资料。
• Statistics is taught in many colleges.许多大学都教授统计学。

11 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

13 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网

14 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

15 creation   

n.创造，创造的作品，产物，宇宙，天地万物

参考例句：

• Language is the most important mental creation of man.语言是人类头脑最重要的产物。
• The creation of new playgrounds will benefit the local children.新游戏场的建立将有益于当地的儿童。