VOA常速英语2007年-Performance Artists Make Statistics Real Throug

By Mike O'Sullivan
Los Angeles
21 December 2007

Population statistics are hard to visualize¹, but an art exhibition in Los Angeles makes the numbers easier to grasp.  Mike O'Sullivan reports that the exhibition, called Of All the People in All the World, uses grains of rice, each representing a person.

In three galleries of the Skirball Cultural Center, there are piles of rice, some small and some huge.

Jake Oldershaw is part of a performance group from Birmingham, England, that put together the exhibit.

"In the Skirball currently, we've got 900 million grains of rice," he said.  "Each grain of rice represents one person, and that figure represents the population of North, South, and Central America.  And during the whole of December, we're separating those individual grains of rice into different population statistics."

Some statistics are thought provoking.  One large rice pile represents the number of people in South America who live on less than $2 a day.  Another pile represents all the people born in the world today, and all who will die.  The two piles show that the world is growing by 200,000 people a day.

Another section shows how crowded some nations are, and how much open space is found in other places.

"We've separated out these stats by people per square kilometer in each nation, so Canada has just three grains of rice, three people per square kilometer in Canada," he noted².  "And moving on up through the nations, the USA is pretty high there.  The UK is even more densely³ populated, right all the way up to places like Singapore and the Gaza Strip."

Those places have thousands of people per square kilometer.

Some important individuals have their own display, including U.S. civil rights icons⁴ Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King.  King is shown making his famous "I've Got a Dream" speech on the National Mall in Washington in 1963.  The scene, with a massive crowd, is recreated in rice grains.

Other displays are light-hearted.  One shows a grain of rice representing Hollywood actress Elizabeth Taylor and seven grains of rice representing her current and former husbands.

"They're kind of lining⁵ up," he explained.  "They're just next to different stats, just like people getting married simultaneously⁶ under water off the coast of Thailand in the year 2000.  I never knew about that, really.  People married at the Elvis wedding chapel⁷ in Las Vegas last month, which is a pretty significant amount of people."

Another part of the exhibit looks at wealthy people.

"We've begun with the millionaires, just in the USA, actually, and that's quite a staggering figure in its own right," he noted.  "But we move it through to billionaires to Bill Gates, right on his own.  Also the unmarried male billionaires in the world, if anyone is interested."

He says the world has about 100 unmarried billionaires.

Visitor Rick Brous of Livingston, New Jersey⁸, is visiting with friends.  He is impressed with the exhibition, but would like to see some numbers to learn how many grains of rice are in each pile.

"We would love to get quantity on these things as we walk around and see big piles, we would like to know if that is hundreds of thousands or millions," he said.

Hillary Schmitt of Dallas likes the display the way it is.

"I like the fact that the numbers aren't listed on here and it's just a visual comparison.  You know, the actual number of grains or rice, or people, aren't listed," she said.  "I like that."

Visitor Marsha Brous says the rice piles illustrate⁹ some points better than statistics.

"The homeless population as depicted¹⁰ in the United States, as well as in L.A., was quite overwhelming," she said.  "Our family is quite involved with social action, so my eye was tuned¹¹ in immediately to those kinds of things."

Jake Oldershaw's theater group is known as Stan's Café, pronounced "caff" in the informal British style.  It was named after the Birmingham coffee shop where the group started.  The troupe¹² has traveled the world with their unique approach to statistics, but Oldershaw, wearing a lab coat and sweeping¹³ up grains of rice, explains he is an actor.

"I describe myself at the moment during this show as pretending to be a scientist/mathematician/statistician/cleaner for a month long period," he said.  "I'm taking on those roles for a month rather than for an hour during a show."

He says Stan's Cafe, in its rice displays, is serving up statistics to make them digestible.

1 visualize   

vt.使看得见，使具体化，想象，设想

参考例句：

• I remember meeting the man before but I can't visualize him.我记得以前见过那个人，但他的样子我想不起来了。
• She couldn't visualize flying through space.她无法想像在太空中飞行的景象。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 densely   

ad.密集地；浓厚地

参考例句：

• A grove of trees shadowed the house densely. 树丛把这幢房子遮蔽得很密实。
• We passed through miles of densely wooded country. 我们穿过好几英里茂密的林地。

4 icons   

n.偶像( icon的名词复数 )；（计算机屏幕上表示命令、程序的）符号，图像

参考例句：

• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons. 用图标来区分重要的文本项。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Daemonic icons should only be employed persistently if they provide continuous, useful status information. 只有会连续地提供有用状态信息的情况下，后台应用程序才应该一直使用图标。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

5 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

6 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

7 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

8 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。

9 illustrate   

v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图

参考例句：

• The company's bank statements illustrate its success.这家公司的银行报表说明了它的成功。
• This diagram will illustrate what I mean.这个图表可说明我的意思。

10 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

11 tuned   

adj.调谐的，已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• The resort is tuned in to the tastes of young and old alike. 这个度假胜地适合各种口味，老少皆宜。
• The instruments should be tuned up before each performance. 每次演出开始前都应将乐器调好音。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 troupe   

n.剧团，戏班；杂技团；马戏团

参考例句：

• The art troupe is always on the move in frontier guards.文工团常年在边防部队流动。
• The troupe produced a new play last night.剧团昨晚上演了一部新剧。

13 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？