VOA慢速英语2014 America Loves Blue Jeans 美国钟爱蓝牛仔裤

 

America Loves Blue Jeans 美国钟爱蓝牛仔裤

Welcome to American Mosaic¹ from VOA Learning English.

I’m June Simms.

Today on the show: a little history of one of the most popular pieces of clothing in America.  Then some music to go along with it.

今天的节目：美国最流行的布块的一些历史。接着音乐响起。

History of Blue Jeans

蓝色牛仔裤的历史

What defines American clothing or fashion?  Can you think of a piece of clothing that is inseparably linked to American culture?  There is a good chance your answer would be blue jeans.  Many listeners have written to ask about the history of these well-loved pants.

怎么去定义美国服饰后者美国时尚？你可以想象一块衣服的布料紧密地和美国的文化连系在一起吗？对于你的答案最好的回答是蓝色牛仔裤。很多听众写信来问关于这些广受喜爱的裤子的历史。

So today we will give it a try.

因此今天我们将来讲一下这段历史。

Levi Strauss did not invent jeans, but he is considered the first person to make and sell great numbers of them.  

李卫 施特劳斯并没有发明牛仔裤，但是他算得上是第一个制造和销售大量牛仔裤的人。

He was born in Bavaria, an area that today is part of Germany. In 1847 he and his family immigrated² to the United States

他出生在如今是德国一部分的巴伐利亚州。在1847年，他和他的家人移民到了美国。

Levi Strauss opened a small dry goods store, first in New York, then in San Francisco, California.  Among the products he sold were jeans.  These pants were especially useful for miners in California.  They needed clothing made from a strong material. Jeans are usually made from a heavy cotton cloth called denim³.

李卫 施特劳斯开了一个小的干货商店，首先是在纽约，然后是在三藩市，加利福尼亚。他售卖的商品中有牛仔裤。这些工装裤对加利福尼亚的淘金者来说特别有用的。他们需要坚固的布料制作的衣服。工装裤通常是由一种名为丁尼布的厚重棉布制作而成。

 

Levi Strauss partnered with a clothing maker⁴ named Jacob Davis. Davis had invented a process for making rivets⁵ for jeans.  These little metal connectors helped hold the pieces of cloth together to make the jeans stronger.

李卫 施特劳斯和一个名为雅各布达维斯衣服制造商合作。达维斯发明了为牛仔裤铆钉的制作流程。这些小小的金属连接头帮忙把每块布连接起来使牛仔裤更加牢固。

In 1873, the government gave Strauss and Davis a patent for their invention.  That meant no one else could legally copy it without their permission. They began producing what they called “copper-riveted waist overalls⁶.” 

在1873年，政府给施特劳斯和达维斯的发明授予了专利。这意味着没有他们的许可没有人可以合法地复制他们的产品。他们开始了他们称之为“铜铆接齐腰工装裤”的生产。

 In 1928, the Levi Strauss company registered the word “Levi’s” as a trademark⁷ for their product.  The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington has one of the oldest known pairs of Levi’s. 

在1928年，李卫 施特劳斯公司注册了单词“Levi’s”作为他们商品的商标。 位于华盛顿的美国历史史密森国家博物馆有其中一个最古老的有名的里维斯牛仔裤。

Writer James Sullivan published a book called “Jeans: A Cultural History of an American Icon⁸.” In it, he says jeans represent two American values: creativity and rebellion.

作家吉姆斯苏利文发行了一本名为“牛仔裤：一个美国文化历史的图标”的书。在书中，他提到牛仔裤代表了两种美国价值：创造力和叛逆。

Cowboys wore jeans in the old Wild West. In the 1950s, people saw famous Hollywood actors like James Dean and Marlon Brando wearing jeans in movies.

牛仔们在老西大荒穿牛仔裤。在19世纪50年代，人们看到了像吉姆斯迪恩和马龙布兰度这样的著名好莱坞演员在电影里穿着牛仔裤。

Today jeans still come in blue but also lots of other colors.  They can also differ widely in price. You might find jeans for 15 dollars in an American discount store. However, they can also sell for thousands of dollars a pair.

如今，牛仔裤依然主要是以蓝色为主同时也还有其他很多颜色。他们的价位也有很多差异。 你也有可能在美国的折扣店里找到15美元的牛仔裤。然而，他们每条也可以卖到上千美元。

Some people like to buy jeans that look fresh and new.  Others like to buy new jeans that are torn and look old. What kind of jeans do you like? Let us know.  Send an email to [email protected].

有一些人喜欢买看起来很新潮的牛仔裤。其他人却喜欢买那些看起来很破旧的新牛仔裤。 你喜欢哪种牛仔裤呢？ 发一封邮件到www.easyvoa.com .让我们知道。

Blue Jeans in Music

音乐中蓝色牛仔裤

That is the famous 1979 song “Forever in Blue Jeans,” from American singer-songwriter Neil Diamond.  It was a top twenty single on Billboard⁹ music charts back then and is still popular today.

这是1979年的一首来自美国创作型歌手尼尔戴蒙德有名的歌曲“永恒的蓝色牛仔裤”。它连续20期占据美国音乐排行榜榜首而且到了今天依然很流行。

There are lots of other songs about blue jeans. Christopher Cruise plays a few of them for us.

还有其他很多歌曲是关于蓝色牛仔裤的。克里斯多夫克鲁斯为我们演奏了其中的几首。

Early rock and roller Gene¹⁰ Vincent released “Blue Jean Bop” in 1956.  The energetic song includes a line with the word “dungaree.”  That is another way of saying blue jeans. 

早期的摇滚歌手吉恩文森特在1956年发行了“蓝色牛仔波普”。这首精力充沛的歌曲包括了一些列的例如“蓝粗布”的单词。这是蓝色牛仔裤的另一种表达方式。

It is an old Hindi word meaning coarse calico, or denim.  The word came from the name of a village in what is now Mumbai.

这是一个表示粗平布或者丁尼布的古老北印度语单词。这个单词来自于如今在孟买的一个村庄的名字。

That is Ginuwine with “In Those Jeans,” from his 2003 album, “The Senior.” The song is all about how good a pair of jeans look on a girl. In fact, so good it might be painful. He sings, “make a thug want to cry something terrible."

这是吉纳文和他的2003年专辑“成人世界”里的“在那些牛仔裤里”。歌曲是表达一条牛仔裤在一个女孩子身上穿着是多么好看。实际上，太好也有可能是痛苦的。他唱到，“制造一个让暴徒都哭的东西”

Two years ago, singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey released a sexy song called “Blue Jeans.” She performed the song on the television show “Saturday Night Live.”  Many media experts sharply criticized her performance and questioned her ability to sing. But she received good reviews in later performances.

两年前，创作型歌手拉娜德尔瑞发行了一首名为”蓝色牛仔裤“的性感的歌曲。她在电视节目”周六夜场“里演唱了这首歌。很多媒体专家很犀利地批评了她的表演和质疑他演唱的能力。然而她在后面的表演里得到了好评。

We leave you with Lana Del Rey and “Blue Jeans.”

我们给你带来拉娜德尔瑞和她的歌曲”蓝色牛仔裤“ 

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 immigrated   

v.移入( immigrate的过去式和过去分词 )；移民

参考例句：

• He immigrated from Ulster in 1848. 他1848年从阿尔斯特移民到这里。 来自辞典例句
• Many Pakistanis have immigrated to Britain. 许多巴基斯坦人移居到了英国。 来自辞典例句

3 denim   

n.斜纹棉布；斜纹棉布裤，牛仔裤

参考例句：

• She wore pale blue denim shorts and a white denim work shirt.她穿着一条淡蓝色的斜纹粗棉布短裤，一件白粗布工作服上衣。
• Dennis was dressed in denim jeans.丹尼斯穿了一条牛仔裤。

4 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

5 rivets   

铆钉( rivet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Straighten the rivets, please. 请把那铆钉铆直。
• Instead of rivets there came an invasion, an infliction, and a visitation. 但是铆钉并没有运来，来的却是骚扰、混乱和视察。

6 overalls   

n.（复）工装裤；长罩衣

参考例句：

• He is in overalls today.他今天穿的是工作裤。
• He changed his overalls for a suit.他脱下工装裤，换上了一套西服。

7 trademark   

n.商标；特征；vt.注册的…商标

参考例句：

• The trademark is registered on the book of the Patent Office.该商标已在专利局登记注册。
• The trademark of the pen was changed.这钢笔的商标改了。

8 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

9 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。

10 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。