英语听力—环球英语 461：Art Prize

　　Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight¹. I'm Adam Navis.
Voice 2
And I'm Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
It is August, 2009, in the city of Grand² Rapids, Michigan, in the United³ States. Children of all ages have come from across the city. They gather in the Grand Rapids Children's Museum and at a nearby art center. They paint pictures on many small hard round tiles⁴. They paint flowers, words, colors or anything they can imagine.
Voice 2
Afterwards, an artist, Tracy VanDuinen, and his team, attached⁵ these tiles, and other colorful materials, to the side of the Grand Rapids Children's Museum. The tiles were part of a mural. The mural used many small pieces of material to make a large picture. The finished piece showed three children, each a different age, race and sex. Around them were many colors, words and interesting pictures to discover. It celebrated⁶ the creativity⁷ and imagination of children. Tracy called it, "Imagine That!"
Voice 1
"Imagine That!" was created as part of Grand Rapids' biggest art competition. It is the biggest art prize in the world! And it is called, simply, ArtPrize. Today's Spotlight is on ArtPrize. This competition included artists from places all over the world. It asked some interesting questions about art. And it had a very big influence on the city of Grand Rapids, where it was held.
Voice 2
Grand Rapids is a city in Michigan. Many years ago, this city received many of the great results of Michigan's car industry. But as the American car industry failed, many people in Grand Rapids lost jobs. Currently⁸ Michigan has the highest unemployment⁹ rate in the United States. Young people are not staying in the area. Downtown Grand Rapids seemed empty, and many stores were permanently¹⁰ closed. Grand Rapids needed something big to happen.
Voice 1
The idea for ArtPrize came from Rick DeVos. He lives in Grand Rapids. But he has travelled around the world. He has visited art events and film festivals in many places. He saw the good influence of these events for their home cities. He wanted those same good results for Grand Rapids. So in April of 2009, Rick announced his idea. Rick described his hopes for ArtPrize to Rapid Growth¹¹ Media¹², in Grand Rapids.
Voice 3
"ArtPrize will gather people from all over the world. It will gather anyone who has art they want to show, or they want people to talk about. ArtPrize is totally multimedia¹³, multidisciplinary - we are not putting any limits on the form of the art. It is really just about creative expression and reaction to that creative expression. You will see art everywhere - from the riverside to the sides of buildings, from empty warehouses¹⁴ to office rooms. The idea is to change the idea of a traditional gallery where people can show art. The CITY is the gallery!"
Voice 2
ArtPrize was different than other art competitions. Any person over eighteen years old could enter a piece of art in the new art competition. And the art could be anything! Artists only had to find venues¹⁶ - places to show their work. Any place in the center of Grand Rapids could be a venue¹⁵ and show art. All the venues were in a five kilometer area.
Voice 1
People had to visit downtown Grand Rapids to see the pieces of art. Then each person could vote on what pieces of art they liked best. After two weeks, ArtPrize would add up the votes. And the winner of ArtPrize would receive 250,000 dollars.
Voice 2
In all, 1,262 artists found venues and showed their art in ArtPrize. Most of the artists were from the United States. But artists did come from all over the world, from fifteen different countries. These included Mexico, Italy, and Romania.
Voice 1
As September came closer, many people were excited for this competition. Art began to fill the streets and stores of downtown Grand Rapids. Some were performance pieces - people danced or played music. Some pieces were paintings or large statues.
Voice 2
Art was everywhere - even in the river! A group of artists carved a large sea monster and set it in the river as if it were swimming. It was over 33 meters long. At night its eyes were red lights. It was based on the Loch Ness monster - a water creature from a popular story in Scotland¹⁷. They called it "Nessie."
Voice 1
On September 23 Rick announced the beginning of ArtPrize. People could now officially see all of the pieces and start voting. He encouraged people to visit and enjoy places all over Grand Rapids and to look at the art everywhere. He encouraged them to talk to each other about the art and discuss it. And most of all, he encouraged people to VOTE!
Voice 2
The voting process was simple, but it had two parts. Any person over the age of eighteen, and in Grand Rapids, could vote. Many people visited the city just so they could vote on the art.
Voice 1
For one week, people voted on ALL the art in ArtPrize. People could vote by visiting the ArtPrize website or by texting a vote using their mobile¹⁸ telephones. A person could vote an art piece "up" or "down." They could only vote once for each art piece. But, they could vote on as many art pieces as they wanted - one, ten, or a thousand!
Voice 2
At the end of the first week, ArtPrize added¹⁹ up all the votes. The ten art pieces with the most votes went on to the second half of the competition. For the second week of the competition voters could vote only ONCE for ONE of the top ten pieces.
Voice 1
At midnight on October 10, ArtPrize ended. More than 32,000 people had registered²⁰ to vote. There had been more than 334,000 votes! And ... there was a winner!
Voice 2
Remember the mural, "Imagine That!," we told about in the beginning of this program? It did not win first place. But it did win second place! And it will permanently stay on the side of the Grand Rapids Children's Museum.
Voice 1
So, who won first place? It was a very large painting by Ran Ortner. The painting was of waves of water. It looked so real that many people even believed it was a photograph!
Voice 2
Rick DeVos hopes that ArtPrize will happen again next year. And he hopes it continues even after that. ArtPrize encouraged many people to look at and like art. It encouraged them to see what art can do for a community. Writer Michael Kaiser visited Grand Rapids and ArtPrize. He wrote:
Voice 4
"To the people who believe that art has the power to inspire our communities and give life to them, this was a beautiful example."
 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 grand   

adj.豪华的，宏伟的，壮丽的，主要的，重大的；n.(美俚)一千美元

参考例句：

• The pianist played several pieces of music on a grand piano.钢琴家在一架大钢琴上弹了几首乐曲。
• Come on,I'll give you the grand tour of the backyard.跟我来，我带你去后院来一次盛大的旅游。

3 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

4 tiles   

n.瓦片，瓷砖( tile的名词复数 )；扁平的小棋子

参考例句：

• The wind dislodged one or two tiles from the roof. 大风从屋顶上刮下了一两片瓦来。
• On both slopes of the roof there are broken tiles. 屋顶的两面斜面都有破瓦片。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 attached   

附加的

参考例句：

• The lease entitles the holder to use the buildings and any land attached thereto.本租约持有人有权使用此建筑物以及所附属的土地。

6 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

7 creativity   

n.创造力，创造

参考例句：

• There is limited scope for creativity in my job.我的工作中发挥创造力的空间有限。
• She got an unusually low score for creativity.在创造力方面，她得了异乎寻常的低分。

8 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

9 unemployment   

n.失业，失业状态

参考例句：

• The government will look into how to reduce unemployment.政府将研究如何降低失业率。
• He gave a talk on the theme of teenage unemployment.他就青少年失业的主题作了一次报告。

10 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

11 growth   

n.生长，栽培

参考例句：

• All living things depend on the sun for their growth.万物靠太阳生长。
• Youth is the time of physical growth.青年时期是长身体的时期。

12 media   

n.(medium的复数)媒体，新闻媒介，传播媒介

参考例句：

• The local media reported rioting across the country.当地媒体报道了全国范围的骚乱。
• His latest movie is being hyped up by the media.他新近的电影正被媒体大肆炒作。

13 multimedia   

adj.多种手段的，多媒体的；n.多媒体

参考例句：

• Multimedia is the combination of computer and video technology.多媒体是计算机和视频技术的结合。
• Adam raised the issue of multimedia applications and much useful discussion ensued.亚当提出了多媒体应用的问题，从而引发了许多有益的讨论。

14 warehouses   

仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee. 威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• Row upon row of newly built warehouses line the waterfront. 江岸新建的仓库鳞次栉比。

15 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

16 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

17 Scotland   

n.苏格兰

参考例句：

• He has been hiking round Scotland for a month.他围着苏格兰徒步旅行了一个月。
• Scotland is to the north of England.苏格兰在英格兰之北。

18 mobile   

adj.可移动的，易变的，机动的；n.运动物体

参考例句：

• The old lady sits on a mobile chair every morning.那位老妇人每天上午坐在一把可携带使用的椅子上。
• She's much more mobile now that she's bought a car.自从她买了汽车后，活动量就大多了。

19 added   

adj.更多的，附加的，额外的

参考例句：

• They have added a new scene at the beginning.在开头他们又增加了一场戏。
• The pop music added to our enjoyment of the film.片中的流行音乐使我们对这部电影更加喜爱。

20 registered   

adj.登记的，注册的

参考例句：

• Ships were registered abroad to circumvent employment and safety regulation. 船只在外国注册以逃避有关雇佣和安全的规定。
• In former times, only property owners could be registered as voters. 从前，只有有财产的人才能登记作选民。