2006年VOA标准英语-New York Exhibit Highlights the Beauty of Gold

By Kane Farabaugh
New York City
29 December 2006
 
watch Gold Exhibit report

In January of 1848, James Marshall was digging a water ditch at Sutter's Fort in California when he noticed a shining metal substance.  Marshall's finding sparked the largest "Gold Rush" in history.  Nearly 160 years later, New York - the city that now holds the largest amount of the world's monetary¹ gold in the Federal Reserve Bank - hosts the biggest exhibition of the precious metal.  VOA's Kane Farabaugh gives us a look at "Gold" at the American Museum of Natural History.

 
Gold is synonymous with wealth, beauty, and status. It has aroused greed, caused suffering, and led to war and death. It has been mined, melted, and minted into many shapes, sizes, and values.

Pirates have pillaged² for it, athletes have broken records for it, and musicians have strived for it.

 
James Webster, co-curator

Yet, it is so precious, so versatile³, so expensive, and still so very rare that co-curator at the American Museum of Natural History James Webster says all of it that exists in the world could fit in one place.

"If that was ever accumulated, which it hasn't been, but if it was ever put together in a single mass, it would be about twenty meters on the side (square).  Alternatively, another way to look at that, it would fill about sixty tractor-trailer trucks, which really is not that much material."

Gold is now a star attraction at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, profiling the connection over time between people and this precious metal.

"Societies and cultures have had this very close tie with gold for over 6,000 years, and what is interesting is, gold has been pursued for a very long time."

The pursuit of gold throughout the ages is highlighted under bright lights behind thick glass walls at the museum. 

Displays range from the Boot of Cortez, which is the largest nugget ever discovered in the Western Hemisphere, to rare gold doubloons rescued from the ocean wreck⁴ of a Spanish Galleon⁵.  From ancient Turkey to modern Hollywood, gold is on display in all its forms and fashions.

More than just an exploration of historical items, there is also a science lesson here.  The exhibition takes visitors through the natural processes that create one of the world's most sought after metals.

George Milling Stanley works for the World Gold Council, and was among the first to visit the exhibition.  Standing⁶ in a room completely covered in gold leaf, he explained that although 78 percent of all gold that is mined becomes jewelry⁷, the exhibition is a celebration of gold's diverse qualities and uses.

"The exhibits in this particular exhibition at the museum include the visor from the helmet that Neil Armstrong wore when he went to the moon.  That looks a beautiful gold color, [but] it is not done for the beauty.  It is done for the functionality," said Stanley.  "It reflects the heat best, it reflects radiation best and it was the safest possible material they could use for those visors for people traveling into space.  So it's that kind of thing, the fact that gold doesn't react with anything else in the environment, it is bio-inert means it has the most amazing list of medical and scientific uses that you can use to.  It's those unique properties that make gold special."

The exhibit is also interactive⁸, allowing visitors to step on the scales to find out what their weight would be worth in gold at current market prices.

"Gold" opened in November, and comes during a year in which commodity prices of the precious metal reached an all time high.

Stanley says there has been a come-back recently. "The last few years gold has come back into fashion as an investment;  it has also come back into fashion --  more yellow gold for jewelry. So this is an extremely timely exhibit."

The "Gold" exhibition is on display in New York at the American Museum of Natural History near Central Park West through February 2008.  The exhibit will then travel extensively throughout the United States and the world.

1 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

2 pillaged   

v.抢劫，掠夺( pillage的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They are to be pillaged and terrorised in Hitler's fury and revenge. 在希特勒的狂怒和报复下，他们还遭到掠夺和恐怖统治。 来自辞典例句
• They villages were pillaged and their crops destroyed. 他们的村子被抢，他们的庄稼被毁。 来自辞典例句

3 versatile   

adj.通用的，万用的；多才多艺的，多方面的

参考例句：

• A versatile person is often good at a number of different things.多才多艺的人通常擅长许多种不同的事情。
• He had been one of the game's most versatile athletes.他是这项运动中技术最全面的运动员之一。

4 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

5 galleon   

n.大帆船

参考例句：

• The story of a galleon that sank at the start of her maiden voyage in 1628 must be one of the strangest tales of the sea.在1628年，有一艘大帆船在处女航开始时就沉没了，这个沉船故事一定是最神奇的海上轶事之一。
• In 1620 the English galleon Mayfolwer set out from the port of Southampton with 102 pilgrims on board.1620年，英国的“五月花”号西班牙式大帆船载着102名

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

8 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。