VOA慢速英语2015 纽约地下博物馆娱乐路人

 

New York's 'Underground Museum' Pleases Passerby 纽约地下博物馆娱乐路人

Millions of New Yorkers and visitors ride the city’s subway and other trains each day. The public transportation system offers more than just a trip, however. It also has one of the most extensive public art collections in the world, with much of it under city streets.

Some people call it New York’s “underground art museum.” It includes more than 250 works of art. They are meant to brighten everyone's ride around the city.

There is the huge painting of the night sky on the ceiling of Grand Central Terminal. New Yorkers have been looking up at that artwork for 100 years.

In the nearby Grand Central Market, you can find a large, crystal light fixture¹. The ice-like stones hang on the chandelier’s many branches, making the piece look like an upside-down olive² tree. Sculptor³ Donald Lipski completed the work in 1988.

Other artists include new ones and the long-famous: Roy Lichtenstein’s pop art porcelain⁴ enamel⁵ mural is found at Times Square. Sol Lewitt’s intensely colored “Whirls and Twirls” is at Columbus Circle.

Sandra Bloodworth has directed the Metropolitan⁶ Transportation Authority’s arts program since it began in 1985.

“But actually, it really began much earlier. When the subway was founded in 1904, a percentage, if you will, of money was set aside to create a special ornamentation within the system, in order to make the place this very special place that people would want to use.”

For the past 30 years, artists have been asked to make works that relate to city life or to the neighborhood around a train station. There are coastal⁷ scenes at stations near the Atlantic Ocean. Native plants and flowers can be found in a garden scene in Brooklyn.

Wildlife mosaics⁹ greet visitors arriving at the subway station next to the American Museum of Natural History. Sculptor Tom Otterness created the small, rounded, metal creatures that populate another station.

At Times Square, Jane Dickson’s mosaics of “The Revelers,” suggest New Year’s Eve celebrants. Rider Tonya Pierre praises the underground art.

“When I’m stressed, I look at the subway art. I love the colors. Where I live, they have a mosaic⁸ of a man and a woman, like, floating across the water, and it’s beautiful. It’s just beautiful to have art everywhere.”

Nearby is Alejandra Acosta, a visitor from Colombia. She stopped to take a picture of a colorful glass mosaic mural by the former artist Jacob Lawrence.

“I think it’s nice when you see these kinds of things that catch your eye when you’re walking in spaces like the subway stations that seem a little bit dull. They don't have a lot of decoration.”

The new Fulton Center train station connects nine major subway lines. A massive¹⁰ work by James Carpenter sits atop the center. Sandra Bloodworth calls it the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s “crowning piece of art.”

“Together they’ve created this work of art that brings light into the station. As Jamie Carpenter says, the sky is folded onto the sky reflector and down onto the people as they travel through the station.”

Even on cloudy winter days, the piece brings life into the dark passages. The same could be said, in fact, about all the works in New York’s underground art museum.

Words in This Story

subway – n. a system of underground trains in a city

ceiling – n. the inside surface at the top of a room

chandelier – n. a large, decorated light that hangs from a ceiling and has branches for holding many light bulbs or candles

mural – n. a usually large painting that is done directly on the surface of a wall

scene – n. a view or sight that looks like a picture

mosaic – n. a decoration on a surface made by pressing small pieces of colored glass or stone into a soft material that then hardens to make pictures or patterns

1 fixture   

n.固定设备；预定日期；比赛时间；定期存款

参考例句：

• Lighting fixture must be installed at once.必须立即安装照明设备。
• The cordless kettle may now be a fixture in most kitchens.无绳电热水壶现在可能是多数厨房的固定设备。

2 olive   

n.橄榄，橄榄树，橄榄色；adj.黄绿色的，黄褐色的，橄榄色的

参考例句：

• Have you eaten a kind of fruit called olive?你吃过橄榄这种水果吗？
• She likes olive because It'symbolizes peace.她喜欢橄榄色因为它象征着和平。

3 sculptor   

n.雕刻家，雕刻家

参考例句：

• A sculptor forms her material.雕塑家把材料塑造成雕塑品。
• The sculptor rounded the clay into a sphere.那位雕塑家把黏土做成了一个球状。

4 porcelain   

n.瓷；adj.瓷的，瓷制的

参考例句：

• These porcelain plates have rather original designs on them.这些瓷盘的花纹很别致。
• The porcelain vase is enveloped in cotton.瓷花瓶用棉花裹着。

5 enamel   

n.珐琅，搪瓷，瓷釉；(牙齿的)珐琅质

参考例句：

• I chipped the enamel on my front tooth when I fell over.我跌倒时门牙的珐琅质碰碎了。
• He collected coloured enamel bowls from Yugoslavia.他藏有来自南斯拉夫的彩色搪瓷碗。

6 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。

7 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

8 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。

9 mosaics   

n.马赛克( mosaic的名词复数 )；镶嵌；镶嵌工艺；镶嵌图案

参考例句：

• The panel shows marked similarities with mosaics found elsewhere. 这块嵌板和在其他地方找到的镶嵌图案有明显的相似之处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The unsullied and shining floor was paved with white mosaics. 干净明亮的地上镶嵌着白色图案。 来自辞典例句

10 massive   

adj.巨大的，大规模的，大量的，大范围的

参考例句：

• A massive sea search has failed to find any survivors.经过大规模的海上搜救仍未找到幸存者。
• He drank a massive amount of alcohol.他喝了大量的烈酒。