VOA慢速英语 2007 1114a

EXPLORATIONS - Making Soaps with a Story
By Dana Demange / Broadcast: Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:00:00 UTC
VOICE ONE:

I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Barbara Klein with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Have you ever wondered when washing your hands what materials go into a bar of soap and why it cleans? Today, we answer that question with a visit to a soap maker¹ at her Mount Harmony farm in Middleburg, Virginia. Each kind of soap made by Jean Ann Feneis has a special story. She started her business to support local farmers and their markets.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Mount Harmony's barn and herb garden

At the Dupont Circle Farmers' Market in Washington, D.C., you can buy fresh fruits, vegetables, and plants from many local producers. In one area of the market, there is a friendly woman with white blonde hair who sells soaps made from these naturally grown products. Jean Ann Feneis and her husband Ralph own Mount Harmony, a nineteenth century farm in the state of Virginia. Miz Feneis named her soap business Mount Harmony in honor of the place where she makes her creations.

JEAN ANN FENEIS: I am Jean Ann Feneis. I am a farmer entrepreneur with a cottage industry near Middleburg, Virginia. I wanted to do value-added agriculture. When we bought this little, tiny farm I had several ideas. I wanted it to be a learning center of some kind. But I was looking for a product that we could grow things, add to them, and sell them at the farmers market because I wanted to be a part of saving open land, helping² small farmers, helping to control growth. I studied soap and I decided³ it was a product that I could perfect, that I could make the very best soap in the world.

VOICE TWO:

To really understand the spirit behind Mount Harmony soaps, it helps to visit its planted gardens. Many of the materials in the soaps come from Miz Feneis' farm.

JEAN ANN FENEIS: You'll see little plum trees and little peach trees, apple trees. And in that corner are our large dahlias...We have different kinds of thyme, different kinds of mint, rosemary, marjoram.

At Mount Harmony, soap making takes place in a large cooking area in the barn building. Miz Feneis has workers to help her in the many steps of the process. Mount Harmony soaps are made from olive oil. They also contain palm and coconut⁴ oils so that the soap lathers⁵, or creates a foam⁶ when rubbed with water.

VOICE ONE:

Mount Harmony soap makers⁷ first add water and sodium⁸ hydroxide little by little to a large pot of heated oil. When the soap has reached trace it means the liquid soap has come to a point where it will not separate back into oil and water. Later, the soap makers add exact measurements of herbs, flowers and essential oils. The dried herbs and flowers are mostly added for looks and texture⁹. The essential oils give the soap its intense smell. Miz Feneis has many bottles of different kinds of essential oils that she buys from producers all over the world. Smelling these oils is like breathing in an entire field of lavender flowers or a forest of pine trees.

VOICE TWO:

Soaps during the curing process

Next, the liquid soap is poured into rectangular wooden mold forms. The molds are wrapped in plastic for several days so the soap can dry and harden. Later, the soap is taken out of the mold and placed in a storage area to cure or dry for four weeks. This curing process permits water to evaporate from the soap. The soap soon becomes firmer which helps it last longer. The soaps are taken to the markets as soon as they have cured so that they are fresh and have an intense smell.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Understanding soap making also requires a short chemistry and history lesson. Soap is made from a chemical reaction called saponification. During saponification, an alkali base such as sodium hydroxide reacts with a fat to form a small amount of alcohol called glycerol and a metal salt of fatty acids, or soap. Soap cleans because its molecules¹¹ attach to nonpolar molecules like oil and polar molecules like water. One end of the soap molecule¹⁰ is attracted to oil and keeps away water, while the other end attaches itself to water and repels¹² oil. This special quality of the soap molecule allows it to suspend oils, which attract dirt. Water can then wash away the soap and the dirt.

VOICE TWO:

No one knows exactly when humans first developed soap. Archeologists have found containers filled with a material similar to soap while studying the ancient cultures of Babylon and Egypt. One story says that soap got its name from Mount Sapo, a place where ancient Romans used to sacrifice animals to their gods. Rainwater washed melted animal fat and wood ashes down the mountain into a river where women were washing clothes. The women found that the ashes and fat combination made their clothes much cleaner. The story may not be true. But it is likely that the discovery of how to make soap may have been accidental.

VOICE ONE:

Soap businesses began to appear in England, France, and Italy during the Middle Ages. By the twelfth century, soap making centers had developed in cities such as Marseilles, France and Savona, Italy. Later, Bristol, England also became an important city for soap production.

Two scientists helped modernize¹³ soap production. The French chemist Nicolas Leblanc discovered how to make soda¹⁴ ash from salt in the late eighteenth century. As a result, soda, a main material in soap, became easier to make.

But this process also released large amounts of deadly hydrochloric acid gas. The Belgian chemist Ernest Solvay later developed a better method of soda ash production in the eighteen sixties.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

When Jean Ann Feneis first started her Mount Harmony business, she hired a soap expert to help her develop different kinds of products. She soon started to develop her own ideas for new combinations of smells and colors. She has created about two hundred kinds of soaps. We asked Miz Feneis what influences her to create a new product.

Jean Ann Feneis named one of her soaps after Zaphora, a girl she met in Uganda

JEAN ANN FENEIS: People! Or a cause. I try to make soaps for people that we love. For our families, our friends, our staff. Or occasionally for a fundraiser. This is our newest soap to support the elephant sanctuary¹⁵. The sanctuary takes in elephants that have been in circuses or zoos and need a place to retire. Zaphora has her own soap. She's a child I met in Uganda and it gives us a little bit towards her schooling¹⁶ and her books.

VOICE ONE:

She says some soaps are influenced by current movies, or by places that are important to her. Other soaps are just made for fun.

JEAN ANN FENEIS: This one is called the 'Yellow Submarine' because it has a little block of yellow in the middle of it. One of our first soaps was called 'Sir Robert the Bruce of Bergamot.' People always think I am talking about the Scottish warrior¹⁷ Robert the Bruce. But, really, Robert Bruce was a three-year-old boy. He was my first soap maker's son. I am blessed with great soap makers who aren't afraid to try new things.

VOICE TWO:

Mount Harmony soaps at the Dupont Circle Farmer's Market

People can buy pieces of Mount Harmony soaps that are cut off of a large rectangular block. Or, they can buy soap that has been beautifully wrapped in brightly colored tissue paper and cloth ribbons. The thin paper wrapping allows the soap to breathe and continue to dry out. The idea for this colorful presentation came from the expertly wrapped objects Miz Feneis discovered in stores on trips to Paris, France.

VOICE ONE:

Mount Harmony soaps are sold at as many as thirteen different farmers' markets every week. Miz Feneis employs about twenty-six part time workers to sell at the markets. She says she is very careful about choosing the people who work for her. She says she does not check the number of soaps that her workers take to and bring back from the markets. She says her business operates on a system of trust.

Mount Harmony produces about forty-five thousand bars of soap every year. Extra soaps are donated to children without parents who live in an orphanage¹⁸ home in Juarez, Mexico. The company also gives soaps to a women's shelter and a retirement¹⁹ home for old people.

VOICE TWO:

When Jean Ann Feneis is not working on her soap business, she likes to travel. While visiting South America, she studied different herbs as possible materials in her soaps. In Africa, her visit to the spice farms in Zanzibar also gave her new ideas for her creations.

Jean Ann Feneis also travels internationally as a volunteer. She travels with a group led by Five Talents. This religious-based organization helps people in poor communities get small loans to start businesses. Every year Miz Feneis goes to Rwanda and Uganda to teach people about her own business experiences and to train people in micro-financing methods.

When she travels to these countries in Africa, she brings hundreds of soaps to give as gifts. The people Miz Feneis meets on her travels may never actually visit Mount Harmony. But they can experience an important part of the farm by using one of its handmade products.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This program was written and produced by Dana Demange. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Barbara Klein

1 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 coconut   

n.椰子

参考例句：

• The husk of this coconut is particularly strong.椰子的外壳很明显非常坚固。
• The falling coconut gave him a terrific bang on the head.那只掉下的椰子砰地击中他的脑袋。

5 lathers   

n.肥皂泡( lather的名词复数 )；紧张；激动；（马的）汗沫v.（指肥皂）形成泡沫( lather的第三人称单数 )；用皂沫覆盖；狠狠地打

参考例句：

• This toilet soap lathers so nicely and has several fragrances. 这种香皂起泡很多，并且有好几种香味。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• This soap lathers so nicely. 这种肥皂泡沫很多。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

7 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 sodium   

n.（化）钠

参考例句：

• Out over the town the sodium lights were lit.在外面，全城的钠光灯都亮了。
• Common salt is a compound of sodium and chlorine.食盐是钠和氯的复合物。

9 texture   

n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理

参考例句：

• We could feel the smooth texture of silk.我们能感觉出丝绸的光滑质地。
• Her skin has a fine texture.她的皮肤细腻。

10 molecule   

n.分子，克分子

参考例句：

• A molecule of water is made up of two atoms of hygrogen and one atom of oxygen.一个水分子是由P妈̬f婘̬ 妈̬成的。
• This gives us the structural formula of the molecule.这种方式给出了分子的结构式。

11 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

12 repels   

v.击退( repel的第三人称单数 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开

参考例句：

• His manner repels me. 他的举止让我厌恶。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Her callous attitude repels me. 她冷酷无情的态度引起我的反感。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 modernize   

vt.使现代化，使适应现代的需要

参考例句：

• It was their manifest failure to modernize the country's industries.他们使国家进行工业现代化，明显失败了。
• There is a pressing need to modernise our electoral system.我们的选举制度迫切需要现代化。

14 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

15 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

16 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

17 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

18 orphanage   

n.孤儿院

参考例句：

• They dispensed new clothes to the children in the orphanage.他们把新衣服发给孤儿院的小孩们。
• They gave the proceeds of the sale to the orphanage.他们把销售的收入给了这家孤儿院。

19 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。