VOA慢速英语 2007 0411b

VOICE ONE:

I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Shirley Griffith with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. At a store called 
Phil Brown at work turning a bowl on his lathe¹
Sansar Gallery in Bethesda, Maryland, you might see work by the wood turner Phil Brown. His many wooden bowls and containers have a smooth and modern look.

One tall bowl with a wide opening is made from black cherry wood. It is so perfectly² formed it is hard to believe it is handmade. How did Phil Brown make this bowl? We will answer this question as we explore the many artistic³ traditions of wood.

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VOICE ONE:

People from almost all cultures throughout history have been making objects from wood. Some of the first wooden objects included weapons and tools. Early cultures also learned⁴ to make boats, buildings and furniture for the home from this material. However, it is not always easy to say which wooden objects existed during a historical period because they often did not last as long as objects made from clay or metal.

VOICE TWO:

Experts say most current woodworking tools were developed by the beginning of the Bronze Age, about five thousand years ago. These  tools include the saw, ax⁵, chisel⁶ and drill which are used to cut and shape wood in different ways. The lathe may have been developed as early as two thousand seven hundred years ago.

This tool holds and rotates⁷ the wood. As the wood turns, the wood worker uses a sharp tool to slowly and evenly cut pieces from the wood.

VOICE ONE:

There are many methods of woodworking and each culture has its own traditions. Artistic wood creations⁸ include architectural decoration on buildings, furniture for the home or even carved animals.

For example, in Thailand, richly detailed⁹ carvings¹¹ from teak and other hard woods are an important part of ancient palaces and religious buildings. Woodcarvers were a very important group of artists. A person needed many years of training with experts to be a wood carver.  Wood carvings often include plant forms such as the lotus flower as well as figures taken from Hindu and Buddhist¹² religious stories.

VOICE TWO:

The carvings are very detailed and must be carefully planned. Usually, a carver draws out the patterns and forms on paper. Then the artist cuts holes along the outlines of the design. This paper is placed on the piece of wood then covered with chalk dust.

The white chalk dust goes through the holes in the paper and marks the wood so the carver has a visual guide to begin cutting. Finished woodcarvings are often painted, sometimes with gold to reflect the surrounding light. These expertly made golden carvings give an airy lightness to Thai buildings.

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VOICE ONE:

Some wood working traditions developed more recently. For example, wood artists in 
An animal carved by Manuel Jimenez
the state of Oaxaca in Mexico have been carving¹⁰ mask face coverings and toys for hundreds of years. But Manuel Jimenez became one of the most famous carvers in Oaxaca by creating a newer tradition.

In the nineteen fifties, he saw a growing demand for traditional Mexican art that visitors wanted to buy.  He decided¹³ to experiment with new kinds of wood and forms. He started carving expressive¹⁴ animals such as frogs, coyotes and rabbits out of copal wood.

Soon, his whole family started helping¹⁵ produce these lively, wooden creatures. The Jimenez men carved the creations while the women painted them with bright colors and patterns. Other wood carvers in the area also started making their own kinds of animals. Now, Oaxaca is famous for this special kind of wood art.

VOICE TWO:

Colorful paints are not the only way to finish a wood object. In countries like Japan and China there is a rich tradition of painting wooden bowls, boxes and other objects with lacquer. The first kinds of lacquer were made from resin¹⁶ material taken from special trees. Lacquer paint creates a very hard and smooth surface over the wood and protects it from water. Japanese and Chinese lacquer work is often red or black. Sometimes it can be decorated with pieces of silver or gold metal to create an image.

VOICE ONE:

And, sometimes wood can even decorate wood. Inlay is a way of decorating wood with a pattern or image made out of small pieces of wood. The many small pieces of wood can have different colors or patterns. Some inlay experts in seventeenth century France and Spain added valuable materials like shiny mother-of-pearl or tortoise¹⁷ shell to the detailed wood inlay.

VOICE TWO:

In the United States, the Shaker tradition of furniture making is known for its simplicity¹⁸ of form. The Shakers were a religious community that came to the United States in the eighteenth century from England. They practiced an intense¹⁹ form of spiritual observance and believed strongly in the value of hard work and keeping busy. 
An example of a Shaker chair

The Shakers developed their own style of furniture. They designed it very carefully with the idea that making something well was an act of prayer.  They made furniture that was as simple and useful as possible because they believed extra details and designs were unnecessary and wrong.  But their furniture in its total simplicity became famous for its beauty. 

Chairs to sit on are probably the most well known Shaker furniture.  The very fine and thin wood pieces give these chairs a clean and graceful²⁰ look.

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VOICE ONE:

Phil Brown is an American artist who creates art with wood in a different way.  He lives on a quiet street in Bethesda, Maryland, near Washington, D.C.  In his workshop, he turns large pieces of wood into fine containers. Let us meet this expert wood turner whose bowls we talked about earlier and learn how he started his career.

PHIL BROWN:

"I'm Phil Brown. I'm a wood turner. I make bowls out of solid wood. The wood comes from our local trees and I have a shop at my home where I do the work. I've been a wood worker ever since I was a kid. And in the early seventies I wanted to get back to doing some wood work and we saw lots of interesting work in Maine on some trips there and I had a chance to get some apple wood from a friend …what are you going to do with apple wood but maybe turn a bowl out of it. So I bought a used lathe and a book about turning and gradually taught myself to turn a bowl."

VOICE TWO:

 
A black cherry wood bowl turned by Phil Brown

In the living room of his home Phil Brown has a special area where he shows his finished art. There are bowls of all shapes and sizes. Some are deep and large with reddish brown colored wood. Others are small with yellowish wood that has dark lines and shapes.

Mister²² Brown can explain exactly where and when he found each tree that he used to make a bowl.  And he can show you what all the lines and rings in the wood represent. They are like maps of the tree's life. Some lines are caused by fungus²³ organisms²⁴ while others show the area where a branch of the tree trunk used to be. But to really understand Mister Brown's wood turning art, you have to visit his workshop downstairs.

VOICE ONE:

The workshop is filled with many tools and machine parts. On one wall there are shelves filled with roughly²⁵ cut wooden bowls that are drying out. Allowing the wood to dry helps guarantee that it will not change shape later on. Before "turning the bowl thin" Mister Brown puts a layer of epoxy paint material over the roughly cut bowl. This hardens²⁶ areas of the wood that might be softer or contain fungus. Then, Mister Brown places the bowl on his lathe.

(SOUND)

VOICE TWO:

 
A bowl made from holly²⁷ by Phil Brown

The lathe turns the wood quickly. Using a long metal tool called a gouge²⁸, Mister Brown slowly cuts away at the wooden form. With great skill he slowly keeps cutting away until the bowl has the right thinness and form.

Then, Mister Brown uses rough sandpaper to smooth the gouge marks in the wood. As the wood becomes smoother, he uses finer and finer kinds of sandpaper. He sometimes fills any holes or cracks with a mixture of epoxy glue, sanding dust, and brown paint. Finished bowls are so smooth and perfect they do not even feel like wood.

VOICE ONE:

Phil Brown shows his beautiful bowls at several fine craft²⁹ stores and in art shows. He even has a bowl at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. Sometimes he sells works²¹ directly from his workshop. His turned wood bowls cost hundreds of dollars.  Many people have collections of his bowls in their homes.

Mister Brown says he is influenced by the work of sculptors³⁰ like Henry Moore and Isamu Noguchi. He says he likes to make bowls that have smooth surfaces and that bring out the natural color of wood. His finely made art is a celebration of the life of a tree and the endless possibilities of wood.

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VOICE TWO:

This program was written and produced by Dana Demange. I’m Shirley Griffith.

VOICE ONE:

And I’m ­­­­­Steve Ember.  You can read and listen to this program on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.  Join us again next week for Explorations in VOA Special English.

1 lathe   

n.车床，陶器，镟床

参考例句：

• Gradually she learned to operate a lathe.她慢慢地学会了开车床。
• That lathe went out of order at times.那台车床有时发生故障。

2 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。

3 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。

4 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

5 ax   

n.斧子

参考例句：

• He cut a hole through the wall with an ax.他用斧子在墙上砍出一个洞。
• He carried a large ax.他带了一把大斧。

6 chisel   

n.凿子；v.用凿子刻，雕，凿

参考例句：

• This chisel is useful for getting into awkward spaces.这凿子在要伸入到犄角儿里时十分有用。
• Camille used a hammer and chisel to carve out a figure from the marble.卡米尔用锤子和凿子将大理石雕刻出一个人像。

7 rotates   

（使某物）旋转[转动]( rotate的第三人称单数 )； （使某人或某物）轮流[按顺序循环]

参考例句：

• The post of chairman rotates among members of the committee. 主席一职由委员会的成员轮流担任。
• The earth rotates on its axis once every 24 hours. 地球每24小时依其轴心自转一次。

8 creations   

创造( creation的名词复数 )； 创造物； （尤指所述由上帝）创造天地； 宇宙

参考例句：

• This artist's creations are worth collecting. 这个艺术家的作品值得收藏。
• The intellectual creations of individual nations become common property. 各民族的精神产品成了公共的财产。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

9 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

10 carving   

n.雕刻品，雕花

参考例句：

• All the furniture in the room had much carving.房间里所有的家具上都有许多雕刻。
• He acquired the craft of wood carving in his native town.他在老家学会了木雕手艺。

11 carvings   

n.雕刻( carving的名词复数 )；雕刻术；雕刻品；雕刻物

参考例句：

• The desk was ornamented with many carvings. 这桌子装饰有很多雕刻物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town. 贝雕是该城的特产。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

13 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。

14 expressive   

adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的

参考例句：

• Black English can be more expressive than standard English.黑人所使用的英语可能比正式英语更有表现力。
• He had a mobile,expressive,animated face.他有一张多变的，富于表情的，生动活泼的脸。

15 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。

16 resin   

n.树脂，松香，树脂制品；vt.涂树脂

参考例句：

• This allyl type resin is a highly transparent, colourless material.这种烯丙基型的树脂是一种高度透明的、无色材料。
• This is referred to as a thixotropic property of the resin.这种特性叫做树脂的触变性。

17 tortoise   

n.龟，乌龟

参考例句：

• The tortoise wins the race while the hare is sleeping.兔子正睡觉时，乌龟赢得了比赛。
• A tortoise has a shell on his back.乌龟背上有硬壳。

18 simplicity   

n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯

参考例句：

• She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
• The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。

19 intense   

adj.认真的，专注的；强烈的；紧张的；热情的

参考例句：

• Susan was an intense young lady.苏珊是一个热情的年轻姑娘。
• The quarrel caused her intense unhappiness.争吵令她极其不快。

20 graceful   

adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的

参考例句：

• His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
• The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。

21 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。

22 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

23 fungus   

n.真菌，真菌类植物

参考例句：

• Mushrooms are a type of fungus.蘑菇是一种真菌。
• This fungus can just be detected by the unaided eye.这种真菌只用肉眼就能检查出。

24 organisms   

n.有机物( organism的名词复数 )；有机体；生物；有机体系

参考例句：

• The organisms can be divided into discrete categories. 有机体可分为许多互不相联的种类。
• The cell is the unit of which all living organisms are composed. 细胞是构成一切生物的单位。

25 roughly   

adv.概略地，粗糙地，粗鲁地

参考例句：

• If you treat your coat so roughly,it will be worn out soon.你如果这么糟蹋你的外套，它很快就不能穿了。
• The island is roughly circular in shape.这个岛屿大致是圆形的。

26 hardens   

v.（使）变硬( harden的第三人称单数 )；（使）坚固；（使）硬化；（使）变得坚强

参考例句：

• Mould the mixture into shape while hot, before it hardens. 在混合物还没有变硬之前，趁热将它塑成形。 来自辞典例句
• Clay hardens when it becomes dry. 粘土干了的时候就变硬了。 来自辞典例句

27 holly   

n.[植]冬青属灌木

参考例句：

• I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
• People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。

28 gouge   

v.凿；挖出；n.半圆凿；凿孔；欺诈

参考例句：

• To make a Halloween lantern,you first have to gouge out the inside of the pumpkin.要做一个万圣节灯笼，你先得挖空这个南瓜。
• In the Middle Ages,a favourite punishment was to gouge out a prisoner's eyes.在中世纪，惩罚犯人最常用的办法是剜眼睛。

29 craft   

n.工艺，手艺；小船，飞机；行业；诡计

参考例句：

• The harbour was full of pleasure craft.港口满是游艇。
• He's a master of his craft.他有一手好手艺。

30 sculptors   

雕刻家，雕塑家( sculptor的名词复数 )； [天]玉夫座

参考例句：

• He is one of Britain's best-known sculptors. 他是英国最有名的雕塑家之一。
• Painters and sculptors are indexed separately. 画家和雕刻家被分开，分别做了索引。