VOA标准英语2009年-Poor US Economy Has Guitar Makers Singing

By Roger Hsu
Nazareth, Pennsylvania
21 October 2009

The Martin Guitar Company in Nazareth, Pennsylvania is world-renowned for making some of the finest guitars ever made. However, the economic downturn in the U.S. has cast a shadow over the company, which has been making guitars for 176 years.

Nazareth is an old industrial town located in central Pennsylvania. For many years its economy was supported by two companies.

But one of them, Bethlehem Steel, filed for bankruptcy¹ in 2001. Today, the Martin Guitar Company is the only major employer in town. Dick Boak designs guitars and also helps customers choose the guitar that is best suited to them.

 
Dick Boak designs guitars. This guitar is $275,000 and there were only 91 made
"I love music, I would listen to music under my pillow with my transistor² radio … especially when the Beatles played on Ed Sullivan," he recalls, "I really wanted to learn guitar.... My father was a wood worker and we had a nice wood shop with tools in the basement of our house. He always encouraged us to do wood working. "

When he grew up, Boak found his dream job, one that combines his love of music with his love of woodworking. He has been designing guitars at Martin for more than 30 years.

"Genuine mahogany or Brazilian rose wood," Boak says, "this wood is considered the finest tone wood."

Constructing - or building -- one Martin guitar requires more than 200 steps, and the cost is pretty high. The least-expensive models are more than $1,000, while more expensive models can surpass $10,000. And limited-edition collectors' grade guitars can cost hundreds of thousands dollars, and more.

"This guitar is $275,000...there were only 91 of these made, so they were very highly sought after by professional musicians," he said.

But even a legendary³ brand like Martin is not immune to poor economic conditions, and the company has had to start limiting the hours its employees work. Boak says if conditions don't improve soon, the jobs of many of the company's 600 employees will be in jeopardy⁴.

 
Guitars made at the Martin factory priced more than $10,000
But if conditions are bad at Martin, independent guitar makers⁶ are having it even rougher. Dale Unger learned his craft working at the Martin factory, and today he is a well-known independent luthier -- maker⁵ of stringed instruments. Some of his guitars have sold for more than $10,000.

"The real pleasure of doing it is hearing your guitar being played by some of the great guitar players also," Unger said. But over the past year orders have shrunk dramatically and Unger has had to pick up part time work to supplement his income.

These two young workers at the Martin factory have in their hands guitars priced at more than $10,000. The song they are playing is a 1968 rock song called "The Weight." They say that the title of the song reflects the heavy feeling among many of the workers in the factory, the feeling they may soon be out of a job.

 

1 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

2 transistor   

n.晶体管，晶体管收音机

参考例句：

• This make of transistor radio is small and beautifully designed.这半导体收音机小巧玲珑。
• Every transistor has at least three electrodes.每个晶体管至少有三个电极。

3 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

4 jeopardy   

n.危险；危难

参考例句：

• His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
• It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻，上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。

5 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。

6 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》