VOA慢速英语2009年-AMERICAN MOSAIC - Golden Orb Spiders Help

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson. This week on our program:

We play music by the jazz-influenced singer Melody Gardot ...

And, answer a question about New York City’s Central Park.

But first, a report about a new exhibit brought to you by spiders.

(MUSIC)

HOST:

Silk is a smooth, shiny and costly² natural material. People usually get their silk supply from worms. But spiders make silk, too. In fact, their silk is even lighter³ and softer than silk from silkworms. But getting silk from a spider might seem more difficult. Especially from a big spider that can bite. Recently, two men in Madagascar proved it can be done with extraordinary results. Mario Ritter has more.

MARIO RITTER:

The American Museum of Natural History in New York City has a most unusual object on exhibit. It is a beautiful wall covering made of shiny, bright golden silk. The tapestry⁴ is about three meters long and one meter wide. It is light as a feather but strong as steel. The tapestry was woven with silk provided by the golden orb⁵ spider.

It took more than a million of them to produce that much silk. Simon Peers is a British art historian and expert in woven materials. He moved to Madagascar about twenty years ago. He started a textile business in that island nation in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa. Nicholas Godley is an American clothing designer. He also had a business in Madagascar making purses.

Both were interested in the idea of making a textile piece from silk of the golden orb spider. These spiders are native to Madagascar as well as many other places. The females make huge webs, sometimes large enough to hang between trees on either side of a rural road. The webs have an intense golden color. The female spiders have a bright yellow splash of color on their bodies and can grow as large as a human hand.

Mister Peers had researched stories of spider silk being used by human weavers⁷. Together he and Mister Godley paid local people to gather about three thousand female spiders daily. They placed twenty-four spiders at a time in a holding device. Each spider produced a line of silk about three hundred fifty meters long. Then, the creatures were released back into the wild.

The tapestry was finished after about four years of gathering⁸ the silk and weaving it together. The piece has a traditional Malagasy design woven into it.

Mister Godley and Mister Peers hope the tapestry will help protect the golden orb spider and bring attention to the needy⁹ country of Madagascar.

(MUSIC)

HOST:

Our question this week is about New York City. Djamel wants to know about Central Park. This outdoor area is more than three hundred and forty hectares. It was the first public park built in the United States.
　
Belvedere Castle

In eighteen fifty-eight a design competition was held to find the best idea for planning this huge area in the center of New York City. The winners were two landscape designers, American Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux from Britain.

It was not easy to create this park. It may look like a natural environment of lakes and woodlands, but it was entirely¹⁰ built by human labor¹¹.

Workers moved millions of cubic meters of stone and earth to clear the area. They brought in more than fourteen thousand cubic meters of fertile soil from New Jersey¹² to make it possible to grow trees and other plants.

It took fifteen years to complete the project. Central Park was a huge success and helped create a movement across the United States for creating public gardens.

Today, the park is managed by the Central Park Conservancy under an agreement with the city of New York. The Conservancy raises about eighty-five percent of the park’s twenty-seven million dollar yearly budget.

Here are a few facts that help show just how big – and busy – Central Park is. It contains seven kilometers of paths for horseback riding and about ninety-three kilometers of walking paths. When you get tired from all that walking, there are more than nine thousand benches where you can sit down.

There are twenty-one playgrounds for children as well as areas to play basketball, baseball, football and even chess. There is also a zoo. And, every summer, visitors can watch plays by William Shakespeare in an outdoor theater. About twenty-five million people visit Central Park each year to enjoy its many sights and activities.

The park is also important for natural life. It contains more than twenty-six thousand trees. And hundreds of kinds of birds have been sighted in the park which serves as a stopping area for birds as they fly to other places.

This week, Central Park has been a good place to get into the spirit of Halloween. On Tuesday, there was a large party called the Halloween Ball. People attending the event wore wild clothing and took part in a competition for best costume. On Friday, brave children can visit the nineteenth century Belvedere Castle. Park organizers turned the building into a frightening place where families could enjoy both tricks and treats.

(MUSIC)

HOST:

Melody Gardot did not always plan to be a singer and songwriter. She had learned to play the piano as a child. In college, she took classes in art and clothing design. But a severe car accident in two thousand three changed her life. During almost a year of recovery, Gardot turned to music to help her heal both mentally and physically¹³. Critics are praising her expressive¹⁴ voice and songs influenced by jazz and blues¹⁵ music. Barbara Klein has more.

(MUSIC)

BARBARA KLEIN:

That was the song “Some Lessons” from Melody Gardot’s first full length album, “Worrisome Heart.” It tells about her accident and how it taught her a very difficult lesson about life and chance. When Gardot was nineteen, a large car ran into her while she was riding her bicycle in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
　
Melody Gardot

She suffered broken bones and severe head injuries which continue to affect her hearing, sight, and memory. While she was recovering, her doctor suggested musical therapy as a way to heal her brain.

She knew she could no longer sit at the piano without pain. So she learned to play the guitar in bed. And she began writing songs about her experience.

Melody Gardot later produced a short record with some of her songs. They became popular and soon record companies became interested in her music.

Here is the song “Baby I’m a Fool” from her second album, “My One and Only Thrill.”

(MUSIC)

Melody Gardot says after her accident, she could only listen to soft and quiet music such as bossa nova.

She says she does not approve of the word “disabled” to describe her condition. She says she simply can do some things and cannot do others. And she says her near death experience has made her realize what really matters in life.

(MUSIC: “If the Stars Were Mine”)

HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson. Our program was written by Caty Weaver⁶ and Dana Demange who was also the producer.

For transcripts¹⁶, MP3s and podcasts of our programs, go to voaspecialenglish.com. You can also comment on our programs.

Do you have a question about people, places or things in America? Send it to [email protected] and we may answer it on this show.

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazine in 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 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

3 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

4 tapestry   

n.挂毯，丰富多采的画面

参考例句：

• How about this artistic tapestry and this cloisonne vase?这件艺术挂毯和这个景泰蓝花瓶怎么样？
• The wall of my living room was hung with a tapestry.我的起居室的墙上挂着一块壁毯。

5 orb   

n.太阳；星球；v.弄圆；成球形

参考例句：

• The blue heaven,holding its one golden orb,poured down a crystal wash of warm light.蓝蓝的天空托着金色的太阳，洒下一片水晶般明亮温暖的光辉。
• It is an emanation from the distant orb of immortal light.它是从远处那个发出不灭之光的天体上放射出来的。

6 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

7 weavers   

织工，编织者( weaver的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Navajo are noted as stockbreeders and skilled weavers, potters, and silversmiths. 纳瓦霍人以豢养家禽，技术熟练的纺织者，制陶者和银匠而著名。
• They made out they were weavers. 他们假装是织布工人。

8 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

9 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

10 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

11 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。

12 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

13 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

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 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

16 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句