VOA慢速英语2010年-American Mosaic - A Forest of Art That

DOUG JOHNSON: Welcome to American Mosaic¹ in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I’m Doug Johnson.

Today we celebrate our thirteen-hundredth show on Friday the thirteenth with music from the band Arcade² Fire,

and a story about a huge shopping center in Minnesota.

But first let’s walk among the bamboo …on top of one of the most famous museums in the world.

(MUSIC)

Big Bambu

DOUG JOHNSON: Imagine a piece of artwork that combines sculpture, building design, performance — and trees. Artists and twin brothers Doug and Mike Starn and a team of rock climbers have been building a work called “Big Bambu” since April. This sculpture is on the roof of the Metropolitan³ Museum of Art in New York City. It has been a huge hit with summer visitors. Shirley Griffith has more.

Inside Big Bambu with a view of New York City

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: From a distance, Big Bambu looks like a huge nest in the shape of a wave. Parts of the sculpture extend⁴ up to twelve meters high. This nest is made up of thousands of pieces of bamboo tied together with the kind of brightly colored rope usually used by mountain climbers.

It may seem disorderly, but the placement of each piece of bamboo has been carefully planned.

The full title of this work is "Big Bambu: You Can’t, You Don’t and You Won’t Stop.” The second part of the title is taken from a song by the Beastie Boys. Doug and Mike Starn chose this title to bring attention to the fact that their sculpture is about growth and change.

The artists have been adding new areas to the sculpture all summer, so it is slowly changing. They plan to continue working on it until the end of October when it will be taken apart. The sculpture is made up of small individual parts. They say it shows the interconnected dependency that all humans have on each other.

The bamboo is a natural product harvested in the states of Georgia and South Carolina. The artists chose bamboo because it is light, strong and can survive all kinds of weather. They have compared the pathways on the sculpture to the arteries⁵ in the human body.

Visitors can experience Big Bambu in two ways. They can walk under and around the sculpture on the Roof Garden. Or, they can make plans for a guided visit and enter into the sculpture and walk around on its pathways.

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Climbing into Big Bambu is like entering a magical tree-house. The sculpture is exciting because it invites visitors to explore and experience art physically⁶ as well as mentally. And, this sculpture permits visitors to climb up into the sky to enjoy an extraordinary -- and temporary -- view of New York City.

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Mall of America

DOUG JOHNSON:Our listener question this week comes from China. Margaret wants to know about the most popular shopping place in America.

The largest and most popular shopping mall in the United States is the Mall of America. It is in Bloomington, Minnesota, in the north-central part of the country near the twin cities of Minneapolis and Saint⁷ Paul. It opened in nineteen ninety-two and cost six hundred fifty million dollars to build.

Each year about forty million people visit the Mall of America. Mall officials say four out of ten people who visit have traveled long distances.

Visitors come from more than thirty-two countries. Many people stay several days when they visit the mall. There are more than forty hotels within eight kilometers.

The Mall of America has more than five hundred twenty stores. It also has more than fifty places to eat. If you lined up all the stores side by side, they would cover a distance of almost seven kilometers. If you stayed only ten minutes in each store, it would take over eighty-six hours to complete your visit.

About eleven thousand people work at the Mall of America. During the winter holidays, about thirteen thousand people work there.

When the owners designed the mall, they wanted it to be more than just a place to shop and eat. So they made entertainment a big part of their plan. The Nickelodeon Universe is an indoor theme park. It has more than twenty-five rides including several roller coasters.

Another popular part of the mall is the Underwater Adventures Aquarium⁸. It holds about five thousand sea animals. Visitors walk through a ninety-one meter glass tube. Sharks and other ocean animals swim above and beside you as you walk through the tube.

Some people who visit the Mall of America have other things on their mind besides sharks, shopping, eating and roller coasters. They go to the Chapel⁹ of Love to be married. More than five thousand couples have had their weddings at the Mall of America.

More than six hundred fifty million people have visited the Mall of America since it opened eighteen years ago. Now the owners have plans for a large addition. The “Phase Two” plan will nearly double the size of the mall. When it is complete, there will be enough room for up to nine hundred stores.

(MUSIC)

Arcade Fire

DOUG JOHNSON: The band Arcade Fire is very hot right now. It released¹⁰ a new album, “The Suburbs¹¹,” last week. The band played two sold-out shows at the twenty thousand seat Madison Square Garden in New York City. And director Terry Gilliam filmed one of those concerts for a live video broadcast on YouTube August fifth. Mario Ritter has more on Arcade Fire and its music.

MARIO RITTER: Régine Chassagne and Win Butler formed Arcade Fire in Montreal, Canada, in two thousand three. The husband and wife both play several instruments and sing.

They are joined in the band by Butler’s brother William, Richard Reed¹² Parry, Tim Kingsbury, Sarah Neufeld and Jeremy Gara.The seven musicians produce a big sound, like in “Wake Up” from their first album, “Funeral.”

(MUSIC)

Arcade Fire was a critical favorite from the beginning. “Funeral” came out in two thousand four. Rolling Stone magazine named it the number two rock album of the last ten years. Blender Magazine said it was one of top one hundred indie rock albums of all time. Arcade Fire starting opening in concerts for major bands like U2 and working with big names like David Bowie.

In two thousand seven, Arcade Fire released “Neon Bible¹³.” It opened at number two on Billboard¹⁴ Magazine’s Top Two Hundred albums chart. “Neon Bible” was number one on the rock and indie rock charts. Here is the title track.

(MUSIC)

Arcade Fire has been performing this summer in the United States, Canada and Europe. “The Suburbs” opened on Billboard's Top Two Hundred Albums at number one. It was already number one in Britain. We leave you with the title track from Arcade Fire’s new album, “The Suburbs.”

(MUSIC)

DOUG JOHNSON: I'm Doug Johnson. Our program was written by Dana Demange, Jim Tedder¹⁵ and Caty Weaver¹⁶, who was also the producer.

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 arcade   

n.拱廊；(一侧或两侧有商店的)通道

参考例句：

• At this time of the morning,the arcade was almost empty.在早晨的这个时候，拱廊街上几乎空无一人。
• In our shopping arcade,you can find different kinds of souvenir.在我们的拱廊市场，你可以发现许多的纪念品。

3 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

4 extend   

v.伸开；展开，伸展；扩大；加大

参考例句：

• Can you extend your visit for a few days more?你能把你的访问再延长几天吗？
• The examinations extend over two weeks.考试持续两个星期。

5 arteries   

n.动脉( artery的名词复数 )；干线，要道

参考例句：

• Even grafting new blood vessels in place of the diseased coronary arteries has been tried. 甚至移植新血管代替不健康的冠状动脉的方法都已经试过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This is the place where the three main arteries of West London traffic met. 这就是伦敦西部三条主要交通干线的交汇处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 saint   

n.圣徒；基督教徒；vt.成为圣徒，把...视为圣徒

参考例句：

• He was made a saint.他被封为圣人。
• The saint had a lowly heart.圣人有谦诚之心。

8 aquarium   

n.水族馆，养鱼池，玻璃缸

参考例句：

• The first time I saw seals was in an aquarium.我第一次看见海豹是在水族馆里。
• I'm going to the aquarium with my parents this Sunday.这个星期天，我要和父母一起到水族馆去。

9 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。

10 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

11 suburbs   

n.郊区，城郊( suburb的名词复数 )；四乡；隧；四郊

参考例句：

• The poor suburbs traditionally formed the bedrock of the party's support. 贫穷的郊区在传统上构成了支持该党的牢固基础。
• The new college will be located in the suburbs. 这所新建的学院将设在郊区。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 reed   

n.芦苇，芦丛，簧舌，簧片

参考例句：

• The river banks were overgrown with reed.河岸长满了芦苇。
• They inhabit reed huts built on stilts above the water.他们住在建于水中木桩之上的芦苇草屋里。

13 bible   

n.《圣经》；得到权威支持的典籍

参考例句：

• According to the Bible we are all the seed of Adam.根据《圣经》所说的，我们都是亚当的后裔。
• This dictionary should be your Bible when studying English.学习英语时，这本字典应是你的主要参考书。

14 billboard   

n.布告板，揭示栏，广告牌

参考例句：

• He ploughed his energies into his father's billboard business.他把精力投入到父亲的广告牌业务中。
• Billboard spreads will be simpler and more eye-catching.广告牌广告会比较简单且更引人注目。

15 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

16 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。