VOA慢速英语2013 Women Kept Guitars Strumming During WWII

Women Kept Guitars Strumming During WWII

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ in VOA Special English.

I’m June Simms.

Today we hear from country singer Gary Allan and play music from his latest album.

And, we answer a question about the number thirteen.

But, first we learn about women who went to work during World War Two at a famous guitar manufacturer.

The Women of Gibson Guitars' Past

During World War Two, as American men went off to war, women filled the jobs they left behind. Women worked in factories, stores and shipyards. One group of women made musical instruments, building Gibson guitars. Christopher Cruise has more on their story.

John Thomas is a writer and a lover of guitars. He was surprised when he saw a wartime photograph of the Gibson guitar factory in Michigan. Nearly all of the 75 people in the picture were women. Irene Stearns, now age 90, spent several of the war years working at the factory.

“I got out of high school and everybody is looking for a job, and there weren’t any jobs. Then one day, they called and I started at Gibson. I suppose it was because of the war.”

Irene Stearns is one of the former Gibson factory workers who John Thomas found in the Kalamazoo, Michigan area. She made guitar strings² for some of the thousands of instruments the factory produced in the 1940s.

“All the celebrities³ and people who were buying the guitars would come and they would be on the other side of the wall where I sat making strings. So, it was really nice in that part. I could hear them playing all these beautiful guitars.”

John Thomas calls the women who worked at the Gibson factory, the “Kalamazoo Gals⁴.” That is also the name of his new book about the female guitar makers⁵. He believes the company kept their work secret because it did not think guitar buyers of the day would use instruments built by women.

Mr. Thomas collected three of the World War II Gibson guitars and borrowed several others to help tell the story. Then a friend told him about Lauren Sheehan, a professional musician who agreed to help.

“When the author said, 'I'm thinking about making this record,' and wouldn't it be cool if a woman played the guitar since it's a whole women's story, I thought, God this gets better and better, that would be a great project. And then he invited me to do it. Certainly I'm a champion for a story about women excelling at work that is traditionally a man's domain⁶.”

For the new CD that comes with John Thomas’ book, Lauren Sheehan plays songs that were popular during World War II. Each tune⁷ was played on a different Gibson guitar.

“Okay, so here’s one.”

After she finished recording⁸ the songs, Lauren Sheehan bought a restored Gibson guitar for herself. She says she wanted to own a piece of America’s musical heritage.

Unlucky Number 13

Now we answer a question from Bangladesh. Out listener wants to know about the history of the number thirteen and why Americans consider this number to be bad luck.

It is not only Americans who consider this number to be unlucky. People around the world have what are called superstitions⁹ about the number thirteen. Superstitions are popular beliefs that are not based on reason or science. A person believes something brings good or bad luck. The fear of the number thirteen is called triskaidekaphobia.

This fear is so strong around the world that many tall buildings do not have a thirteenth level. And, many airports do not have a gate numbered thirteen.

Some experts say fears about this number come from ancient religious stories. One Norse myth is about twelve gods who were having a party in their heaven, Valhalla. Loki, the god of evil and disorder¹⁰, arrived at the dinner party uninvited. He became the thirteenth person at the table.  Loki then helped cause the death of Balder, the god of joy.

In the Christian¹¹ book, the Bible, Judas is the thirteenth guest at the dinner called the Last Supper. Judas is the man who betrays Jesus, leading to his death. 

Many people around the world also consider Fridays that fall on the thirteenth day of a month to be especially bad luck.

But don’t worry. We have time to prepare. The next Friday the 13th is not until September.

Gary Allan 'Set You Free'

Country singer Gary Allan has been making records since the middle 1990’s. But his latest album, “Set You Free,” is his first to hit number one on Billboard’s top two hundred albums chart.  Faith Lapidus has more on the album and the musician.

That is “Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain).” It is the lead single from Gary Allan’s new album, “Set You Free.” The song has sold one million copies and is number one on Billboard’s country music chart. It has risen faster than any other single in the California native’s career.

Gary Allan says “Every Storm” is about hope, the common idea throughout the new album.

“You can expect a lot of honesty and a lot of songs about life. It’s going to roll you through a breakup and it’s going to roll you through the anger and the healing and win you up as good as new. So what I think you can expect is something a little bit different musically out of this.”

Gary Allan says his favorite song on “Set You Free” is “One More Time.” He says he wrote it after his father died.

The country singer is supporting the album with performances around the United States for most of the rest of the year. He says the shows are energetic.

“We play hard. We have an absolute blast and I think it’s transparent¹². I think that’s why people love to come and see us. It’s authentic¹³. We’re giving it everything that we have every night.”

We leave you with Gary Allan performing his new single “Pieces” from his album, “Set You Free.”

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 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

3 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

4 gals   

abbr.gallons （复数）加仑（液量单位）n.女孩，少女( gal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jim came skipping out at the gate with a tin pail, and singing Buffalo Gals. 这时，吉姆手里提着一个锡皮桶，嘴中唱着“布法罗的女娃们”蹦蹦跳跳地从大门口跑出来。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• An' dey thinks dey wants mousy lil gals wid bird's tastes an' no sense at all. 他们想要的是耗子般的小姑娘，胃口小得像雀子，一点儿见识也没有。 来自飘（部分）

5 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 domain   

n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围

参考例句：

• This information should be in the public domain.这一消息应该为公众所知。
• This question comes into the domain of philosophy.这一问题属于哲学范畴。

7 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

8 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

9 superstitions   

迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Old superstitions seem incredible to educated people. 旧的迷信对于受过教育的人来说是不可思议的。
• Do away with all fetishes and superstitions. 破除一切盲目崇拜和迷信。

10 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

11 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

12 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

13 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。