VOA慢速英语2011-Washington Exhibit Celebrates the Art of

I'm Doug Johnson.

This week we play music by Nora Jane Struthers…

And answer a question about Facebook…

But first we look at an exhibit in Washington that celebrates the art of wood turning and carving¹.

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Revolution in Wood

DOUG JOHNSON: An exhibit at the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C. is a celebration of the art of wood turning and carving. The exhibit is called “A Revolution in Wood: The Bresler Collection.” Collectors Charles and Fleur Bresler donated all sixty-six works in the show to the museum. The many artists in the show have used their creativity and skill to turn this natural material into fine art. Mario Ritter has more.

Wood turner Eliot Feldman uses a lathe² to shape a block of wood into a drinking vessel³.

MARIO RITTER: The “Revolution in Wood” exhibit shows a wide range of artistic⁴ expressions. Some works in the show are very large, such as Michelle Holzapfel’s piece “Table Bracelet⁵: Promenade⁶ Suite⁷.” The artist decided⁸ she wanted to make jewelry⁹ for the home, instead of for the body.

So she made this large movable piece that can be placed on a table. It contains three vases for holding flowers, three containers and two candle holders¹¹. The maple¹², birch, and cherry woods give each detail a different effect.

Other works are very small treasures. Janel Jacobson’s “Coiled Snake” is made from a yellow-colored wood called boxwood. This very small and finely cut snake could fit in the palm of your hand.

Many of the works are containers, like the smooth form of a large bowl by Barry Macdonald. A vase by Brenda Behrens is made out of myrtle wood. Part of the vase is carved to look like a lotus plant.

Other works are more sculptural. Todd Hoyer’s “Sphere” looks like a wooden planet. Mark Sfirri has a work called “Rejects from the Bat Factory.” It looks like five wildly formed baseball bats hanging from a holder¹⁰. The work was influenced by Mr. Sfirri’s son who requested a home-made baseball bat. The artist realized that this form could be a great way to experiment with new shapes and cutting methods on his lathe machine.

In fact, many of the works in the exhibit were made on a lathe. A wood expert uses this machine to turn a wooden form. He or she uses a tool such as a gouge¹³ to slowly cut away at the form.

People have used lathes¹⁴ for centuries to make furniture and other objects. But it is only since the nineteen forties that the machine began to be used as a way to create art.

There is even a lathe set up near the exhibit area. About twice a week, artists show visitors how they use the lathe to create a turned wood bowl.

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Fleur Bresler says seeing art at the Renwick Gallery helped her discover her love of wood. She says the goal of the exhibit is to increase public awareness¹⁵ about the great value and skill of works made by wood artists.

Facebook

DOUG JOHNSON: Our listener question this week comes from Daisy in China. She wants to know the history of Facebook. Friends, family, and co-workers use Facebook to communicate with each other. Many businesses use the site to show their products.

Users can write about themselves or their companies and include pictures and videos. They can also permit everyone, or only a few people, to see their Facebook pages.

This undated product image released by Facebook on Aug. 25, 2010, shows Facebook Places.

This past summer, Facebook announced that it has over five hundred million active users around the world. About half of them use the site every day. About seventy percent of all Facebook users are in countries outside the United States.

Mark Zuckerberg and three friends started Facebook in two thousand four. He was a second year student at Harvard University in Massachusetts. He began the project by illegally using the university’s computer system. Harvard University charged him with violating several laws. Mr. Zuckerberg was almost forced to leave school. But the university withdrew the charges. Mark Zuckerberg was also accused of stealing other people’s ideas and using them in Facebook. He has denied the charges. Several people have taken legal action against him.

At first, only Harvard students could use Facebook. But it quickly expanded to other universities. The website was also opened to high school students. Now, anyone at least thirteen years old with an e-mail address can join.

In the early days, only a small group of people managed Facebook. Now it has over one thousand seven hundred workers in twelve countries.

Facebook makes money by selling advertising¹⁶. It has been extremely successful. The financial company Second Market, Incorporated, says Facebook is worth forty-one billion dollars.

A movie about the creation of Facebook, called “The Social Network,” was released in October.

We also had a question from Vietnam. Van Nguyen wants to know about the life of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Junior.

Monday is the national holiday that celebrates the life of the civil rights leader. You can hear about Dr. King and a memorial being built to honor him on the Special English program “This is America” on Monday.

Nora Jane Struthers

DOUG JOHNSON: Nora Jane Struthers describes her music as “classic Americana.” Her songs are heavily influenced by bluegrass and folk music. Her first album performing alone is called “Nora Jane Struthers.” The twenty-six-year-old performs songs that sound like they came from another century. She says her earlier career as a teacher had a big influence on some of her songwriting. Barbara Klein tells us more.

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Nora Jane Struthers

BARBARA KLEIN: That was Nora Jane Struthers singing “Greenbriar County.” Struthers is not from the state she sings about, West Virginia, although her music may sound like it.

She grew up in New Jersey¹⁷ performing with her father Alan who is a blue grass musician. She says she learned music in the same way that folk and traditional music has been learned for ages -- by playing and singing with family members. She started writing her own songs in high school and performed in college. She later recorded an album with her father.

Here is the song “Willie” from Nora Jane Struthers’ own album. It tells about a love story with a tragic¹⁸ ending.

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Struthers began her career teaching high school English in the Brooklyn area of New York City. She says she read many works by great English writers including William Shakesp eare and Jane Austen. The universal subjects in their stories started to come out in the music she was writing.

In two thousand eight, Nora Jane Struthers decided to work on her music career full time. She left New York and moved to Nashville, Tennessee.

We leave you with the lively sound of “Mocking Bird.”

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DOUG JOHNSON: I’m Doug Johnson. Our program was written by Dana Demange and Jim Tedder¹⁹. Caty Weaver²⁰ was our producer.

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC²¹, VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.

1 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。

2 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。

3 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

4 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。

5 bracelet   

n.手镯，臂镯

参考例句：

• The jeweler charges lots of money to set diamonds in a bracelet.珠宝匠要很多钱才肯把钻石镶在手镯上。
• She left her gold bracelet as a pledge.她留下她的金手镯作抵押品。

6 promenade   

n./v.散步

参考例句：

• People came out in smarter clothes to promenade along the front.人们穿上更加时髦漂亮的衣服，沿着海滨散步。
• We took a promenade along the canal after Sunday dinner.星期天晚饭后我们沿着运河散步。

7 suite   

n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员

参考例句：

• She has a suite of rooms in the hotel.她在那家旅馆有一套房间。
• That is a nice suite of furniture.那套家具很不错。

8 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。

9 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。

10 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

11 holders   

支持物( holder的名词复数 )； 持有者； （支票等）持有人； 支托（或握持）…之物

参考例句：

• Slaves were mercilessly ground down by slave holders. 奴隶受奴隶主的残酷压迫。
• It is recognition of compassion's part that leads the up-holders of capital punishment to accuse the abolitionists of sentimentality in being more sorry for the murderer than for his victim. 正是对怜悯的作用有了认识，才使得死刑的提倡者指控主张废除死刑的人感情用事，同情谋杀犯胜过同情受害者。

12 maple   

n.槭树，枫树，槭木

参考例句：

• Maple sugar is made from the sap of maple trees.枫糖是由枫树的树液制成的。
• The maple leaves are tinge with autumn red.枫叶染上了秋天的红色。

13 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。

14 lathes   

车床( lathe的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They showed keen interest in the various lathes on exhibition. 他们对展出中的各类车床表现出了浓厚的兴趣。
• To automate the control process of the lathes has become very easy today. 使机床的控制过程自动化现已变得很容易了。

15 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

16 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

17 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。

18 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

19 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

20 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。

21 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。