VOA慢速英语2012 AMERICAN MOSAIC - An Explosion of Color at the National Cathedral Flower Mart; Sheep and Wool Celebrated at Maryland Festival

 

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - An Explosion of Color at the National Cathedral Flower Mart; Sheep and Wool Celebrated² at Maryland Festival

JUNE SIMMS: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

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I’m June Simms. This week on our program we visit two outdoor celebrations in the Washington DC area…

And play music by some of the performers at the festivals…

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JUNE SIMMS: Spring and summer mean outdoor festivals and fairs across America. Washington, DC is no exception. We recently attended two such events in the area. Shirley Griffith starts us off with a visit to a flower show at a very famous church in Washington.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: About ten thousand people attend the National Cathedral Flower Mart every year. An organization called All Hallows Guild³ has been putting on the show since nineteen thirty-nine.

The event includes extraordinary flower exhibits, musical performances and fine food. There are activities for children, including games, a Ferris wheel, a moon bounce and a climb up a rock wall.

The All Hallows Guild also owns a beautiful merry-go-round from the eighteen nineties. The Guild spent years restoring the carousel⁴. It has colorfully painted representations of animals including horses, deer and zebras. The merry go round also some more unusual animals including a lion, an elephant and two camels. The All Hallows Guild carousel is only operates once a year at the Flower Mart.

Each year, All Hallows Guild members choose a country to honor at the Cathedral Flower Mart. Jamaica was the twenty-twelve celebrant. The Caribbean island nation is marking its fiftieth year of independence.

The Jamaican Embassy helped prepare exhibits about the country’s history and culture for the show. Jamaica’s leading garden and flower expert Marigold Harding was a special guest. The embassy also brought in guest artists and musicians for the show.

The Jamaican musical group, Akwaaba Drummers, was among the performers.

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Nature lovers explored than twenty-one hectares of trees, flowers and other plants at the Cathedral Flower Mart. Many kinds of flowers were available for sale.

Jamaican artists displayed pottery⁵, carvings⁶, drawings painting, jewelry⁷ and cloth works.

Jamaican potter Phillip Supersad was one of the guest artists. He was at work in a tent during the show. He gave visitors a chance to try the wheel and learn about the art of making pottery.

The all women singing group Capital Blend was among the performers at the National Cathedral Flower Mart.

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The National Cathedral Flower Mart takes is a two day event. There is no fee for visitors. But some of the money from sales of gardening goods, food and crafts goes back to the All Hallows Guild. The organization uses the money to help take care of the beautiful grounds and gardens of the Cathedral.

This year financial support was especially important. The historic Cathedral was seriously damaged by an earthquake last year. Then, the large, heavy equipment used to repair the old stone building damaged several of the gardens. It took extra effort to restore those areas before this year’s Flower Mart.

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JUNE SIMMS: Now Christopher Cruise takes us into nearby Maryland for a more rural festival that attracts tens of thousands of visitors each year.

Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival

CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: The two-day Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival is held in West Friendship, Maryland, a town just under sixty kilometers from the nations capital. The festival is the largest and longest of its kind in America. This year, it turned thirty-nine.

Organizers from the Maryland Sheep Breeders Association say the festival is designed to educate the public about sheep and wool. But it also celebrates traditional farm arts and traditional music of rural America.

The Martin Family Band performed at this year’s Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.

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The organizers of the Sheep and Wool Festival meet in committees all year. The planners spend the winter months developing the special events for farmers and fiber⁸ artists, musicians and cooks. The committees want to create an event that takes visitors back in time.

One of the popular events is the sheep herding¹⁰ demonstration¹¹. Border collie dogs are used on farms to protect the sheep from wild animals. The dogs also help the shepherd move the sheep to the fields to eat in the morning. At night the dogs help return the sheep safely to the barn.

At the festival, crowds watch quietly as the small dogs expertly move a group of sheep. It looks somewhat like a dance of animals, with the dogs in the lead.

A shepherd directs them. The dogs run in and around the legs of the sheep to encourage them to move this way and that. When a sheep rebels and leaves the group, a dog will herd⁹ it back into place. The sheep are crowded by the dogs but the dogs never hurt the sheep.

Here the Martin Family performs “The Friendly Beasts.”

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Several competitions are held at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. A photography contest is among them. Photographers try to capture images that best show the spirit of farming and caring for animals.

Fiber artists compete for awards that declare their hand made items the most beautiful that year.

And of course there are sheep competitions and shearing¹³ competitions. There are many breeds of sheep. Their overall looks and health are judged.

Shearing competitors use electric cutters to remove the heavy wool coat on the sheep. The fastest removal wins.

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The Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival also hold many educational events. There are tables where people provide information on wool spinning, yarn-making and wool dying. There are also experts on s fiber art and clothes making.

Or you can learn how to be a shepherd or improve your shepherding skills. You can also learn how to shear¹².

Finally, there is another way to enjoy sheep at the Festival. Festival food is based around the animal. There are lamb kabobs, leg of lamb, lamb sausage and, of course, sheep’s milk cheese.

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And, if you wanted to prepare such food at home local chef Scott Blair provided a lamb cooking demonstration.

We leave you with the music of another Sheep and Wool Festival Performer. Here is the Annapolis Bluegrass Coalition¹⁴ playing “Skip Jackin.’”

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JUNE SIMMS: I’m June Simms. Our program was written by Onka Dekker. Caty Weaver¹⁵ was the producer.

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 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

3 guild   

n.行会，同业公会，协会

参考例句：

• He used to be a member of the Writers' Guild of America.他曾是美国作家协会的一员。
• You had better incorporate the firm into your guild.你最好把这个公司并入你的行业协会。

4 carousel   

n.旋转式行李输送带

参考例句：

• Riding on a carousel makes you feel dizzy.乘旋转木马使你头晕。
• We looked like a bunch of awkward kids riding a slow-moving carousel.我们看起来就像一群骑在旋转木马上的笨拙的孩子。

5 pottery   

n.陶器，陶器场

参考例句：

• My sister likes to learn art pottery in her spare time.我妹妹喜欢在空余时间学习陶艺。
• The pottery was left to bake in the hot sun.陶器放在外面让炎热的太阳烘晒焙干。

6 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》

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 fiber   

n.纤维，纤维质

参考例句：

• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。
• The material must be free of fiber clumps.这种材料必须无纤维块。

9 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

10 herding   

中畜群

参考例句：

• The little boy is herding the cattle. 这个小男孩在放牛。
• They have been herding cattle on the tableland for generations. 他们世世代代在这高原上放牧。

11 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

12 shear   

n.修剪，剪下的东西，羊的一岁；vt.剪掉，割，剥夺；vi.修剪，切割，剥夺，穿越

参考例句：

• Every spring they shear off the sheep's wool and sell it.每年春天他们都要剪下羊毛去卖。
• In the Hebrides they shear their sheep later than anywhere else.在赫伯里兹，剪羊毛的时间比其他任何地方都要晚。

13 shearing   

n.剪羊毛，剪取的羊毛v.剪羊毛( shear的现在分词 )；切断；剪切

参考例句：

• The farmer is shearing his sheep. 那农夫正在给他的羊剪毛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The result of this shearing force is to push the endoplasm forward. 这种剪切力作用的结果是推动内质向前。 来自辞典例句

14 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

15 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。