VOA慢速英语--词汇典故:文艺复兴时期的人

The World Needs More Renaissance¹ People 词汇典故:文艺复兴时期的人

Hello and welcome to Words and Their Stories.

Each week we report on words and expressions commonly used in American English.

Today, we talk about people who can do many things.

Someone with many abilities often is called a “Jack-of-all-trades” or a “Renaissance person.”

A “Jack-of-all-trades” is a person who can do many different jobs. “Jack” is an old word for a worker and a “trade” is a kind of job or skill.

A Renaissance man or a Renaissance woman is a little different. This expression deals with a person’s education and knowledge, not so much with his or her skills.  

The word “Renaissance” comes from Old French and means “rebirth.”

The Renaissance is a period of European history that began in the 14th century. It’s a time when Europe began to awaken² from the long period known as the Middle Ages.

Classical learning from Ancient Greece and Rome was reborn in many parts of Europe.

During the Renaissance, people became more interested in learning and educating themselves.

The word renaissance can describe anything that is experiencing a rebirth.

Arts, crafts and musical styles often undergo a renaissance. For example, you might say that currently³ in the U.S. playing the ukulele is experiencing a renaissance.

Many people are learning to play this small, Hawaiian guitar. Used in this way, “renaissance” is not capitalized.

This video features Hawaiian ukulele player and singer Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" with footage of his island home. Beloved around the world, his funeral at sea was much celebrated⁴ by his family, friend and fans.

In the U.S, the Harlem Renaissance is an African-American cultural movement of the 1920s and 1930s.

Named after a neighborhood of New York City, this Renaissance celebrated African-American culture, traditions, and ways of life.

However, when talking about people, the term Renaissance man or woman refers to a person who is talented in many areas, especially the arts and sciences. Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Benjamin Franklin often are called Renaissance men.

Everyone knows about these guys. The names of Renaissance women in history may be less well known. In the past it wasn’t as easy for women to get a formal education, even during the “awakening.” Also, women were often too busy at home to study up on their science.

But some women did find time.

A German woman named Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) was a Renaissance woman. She spent her life investigating and drawing nature. After her husband died, she and her daughters traveled to Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname. For two years, they observed insects, birds, reptiles⁵ and amphibians⁶.

Her book titled “The Metamorphosis of the Insects of Suriname,” showed Europeans for the first time the great diversity of the South American rain forest.

A more recent example of a Renaissance woman is the Austrian Hedy Lamar.

During the 1930s and 1940s, Lamar was one of Hollywood’s biggest movie stars. She was also an inventor.

During the Second World War, she created a way to protect radio communications from enemy troops. Her method switched radio frequencies in a preprogrammed pattern.

While the Navy did not use the technology, other inventors built upon her idea. Eventually, the U.S. government did use frequency hopping⁷ as do many telecommunications companies today.

Lamar once said she hated being known for her beauty and not her mind – a problem Renaissance men like da Vinci and Franklin most likely did not have to face. 

And that brings us to the end of this Words and Their Stories.

Do you have a favorite Renaissance woman or man? Do you have a similar word in your language? Let us know in the Comments Section.

1 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。

2 awaken   

vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起

参考例句：

• Old people awaken early in the morning.老年人早晨醒得早。
• Please awaken me at six.请于六点叫醒我。

3 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

4 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。

5 reptiles   

n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Snakes and crocodiles are both reptiles. 蛇和鳄鱼都是爬行动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Birds, reptiles and insects come from eggs. 鸟类、爬虫及昆虫是卵生的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 amphibians   

两栖动物( amphibian的名词复数 )； 水陆两用车； 水旱两生植物； 水陆两用飞行器

参考例句：

• The skin of amphibians is permeable to water. 两栖动物的皮肤是透水的。
• Two amphibians ferry them out over the sands. 两辆水陆两用车把他们渡过沙滩。

7 hopping   

n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The clubs in town are really hopping. 城里的俱乐部真够热闹的。
• I'm hopping over to Paris for the weekend. 我要去巴黎度周末。