英语听力—环球英语 839 Silk Grandmothers

　　Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight¹. Joshua Leo
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
For years, Mister² Kikuo Morimoto has studied the art of making cloth. Each culture has different ways of making cloth. Each culture has particular designs. Each culture's cloth is special. Today's Spotlight is on the silk cloth of Cambodia and the people working to bring it back.
Voice 2
When Mr. Morimoto was younger, he worked painting traditional Japanese clothes in Kyoto. In 1980 Mr. Morimoto started helping³ at refugee⁴ camps in Thailand. He worked with weavers⁵ - people who make cloth.  Later, he began studying traditional methods of making cloth from silk. He left his old job and started doing more research about silk cloth.
Voice 1
In 1994, the United⁶ Nations sent Mr. Morimoto on a special trip to Cambodia. For many years, Cambodia faced times of war. The Khmer Rouge⁷ ruled the country and killed many people. It was a very harmful government. After the Khmer Rouge was removed from power, the country faced civil wars. Families became separated⁸. Businesses closed. Silk cloth was not being made by many people any more.
Voice 2
The government did not know who still knew how to make Cambodian silk cloth. It was Mr. Morimoto's job to find people in Cambodia who still knew the old silk cloth traditions. He needed to find if this thousand-year old art was still alive.
Voice 1
Workers from the United Nations gave Mr. Morimoto a map written by hand. It showed some areas in Cambodia where some of these silk cloth makers⁹ may be living. He went to one of the villages on the map and saw old women weaving¹⁰. He saw the beautiful cloth the women were making. Mr. Morimoto wondered if there was a way to work with these women. Together, he hoped they could bring back these cloths.
Voice 2
Mr. Morimoto lived in the Cambodian capital city of Phnom Penh while he did his research. One day he met a man who had just returned from a refugee camp. Mr. Morimoto asked the man if he knew of anyone who was good at making traditional silk cloth. The man thought for a while and then remembered his mother's sister. Mr. Morimoto asked to meet her.
Voice 1
The man took him to meet his aunt, Chan Sot. Chan Sot is 74 years old. She has been making silk cloth all her life. She learned¹¹ from her mother. She experienced¹² war for much of her life, so she never was able to go to school. But she says there were two things she did learn how to do well. She knew how to grow rice and make beautiful silk cloth.
Voice 3
"From my mother to my grandmother, it has always been silk weaving for us"
Voice 2
Mr Morimoto asked if Mrs. Sot would come work for him making silk. He also asked six other old women. The women agreed. These old women were the only people left in Cambodia who still knew the old ways of making silk cloth. Mr. Morimoto had big plans for these women. He wanted them to keep the tradition of silk cloth-making going.
Voice 1
Making silk is a long process. Silk is a material produced by an insect, the silk worm¹³. The worm eats leaves from mulberry trees. The worm then covers its body with silk to form a cocoon¹⁴ - a kind of shelter¹⁵ to protect itself. The women then collect these cocoons¹⁶ and boil them in water. This separates¹⁷ the silk into long, very thin rope-like thread. The women use natural chemicals from plants to add color to the thread. Then they take this thread and roll it up. This is the silk thread used to make silk cloth.
Voice 2
The women use a weaving machine called a loom¹⁸ to push the threads together to make cloth. There are many ways to do this and many designs of cloth. It takes a long time to learn exactly how to make the cloth.
Voice 1
The old women are called the "Silk Grandmothers". Today, they teach young women how to make silk. This is all part of a new organization started by Mr. Morimoto. It is called the Institute for Khmer Traditional Textiles¹⁹, or IKTT. The group's aim is to save the old traditions of Cambodian silk making.
Voice 2
The group has three main goals. First, they want to bring back the damaged traditions of Cambodian silk making. Second, they want to protect and continue these traditions for all time. They do this by encouraging young people to follow the traditions of their parents and grandparents. And third, the group wants to help rebuild the cloth industry. They do this by helping all the businesses that support cloth making. The IKTT wants Cambodian people to be proud of their silk cloth traditions. It wants to help poor people be able to support themselves by weaving silk cloth.
Voice 1
But Mr. Morimoto is also expanding the work of the IKTT. He said that long ago there was a special silk worm insect that made beautiful red silk. But the leaves the insect ate are not very common. So Mr. Morimoto is helping to bring back this tree to Cambodia
Voice 2
In 2001 the IKTT bought land about one hour away from the weaving center. Before, this land had dangerous exploding land mines on it left from past wars. But, today those land mines are gone. Instead, the group planted mulberry trees and other plants on the land. This is where the silk worms²⁰ live and eat.
Voice 1
The Silk Grandmothers use the silk from these worms to create their cloth. And today, people all around the world buy their silk. Their silk cloth has won awards in many countries. And many natural history museums show the IKTT's silk in their collections.
Voice 2
Traditions and art are an important part of every culture. Mr. Morimoto and the United Nations knew it was important to protect the silk traditions of Cambodia. And with the help of the Silk Grandmothers, the beautiful art of silk making in Cambodia will never disappear again.
Voice 1
Are there any traditional objects that people from your country make? Write to us and tell us about the traditions that make your culture special.
 

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 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 refugee   

n.难民，流亡者

参考例句：

• The refugee was condemned to a life of wandering.这个难民注定要过流浪的生活。
• The refugee is suffering for want of food and medical supplies.难民苦于缺少食物和医药用品。

5 weavers   

织工，编织者( weaver的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Navajo are noted as stockbreeders and skilled weavers, potters, and silversmiths. 纳瓦霍人以豢养家禽，技术熟练的纺织者，制陶者和银匠而著名。
• They made out they were weavers. 他们假装是织布工人。

6 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。

7 rouge   

n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红

参考例句：

• Women put rouge on their cheeks to make their faces pretty.女人往面颊上涂胭脂，使脸更漂亮。
• She didn't need any powder or lip rouge to make her pretty.她天生漂亮，不需要任何脂粉唇膏打扮自己。

8 separated   

adj.分开的v.分开(separate的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• Her parents are separated but not divorced. 她父母分居但没离婚。
• No child should ever be separated from his mother by force. 绝不能强行使任何一个孩子与母亲分开。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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》

10 weaving   

v.编，织，织成( weave的现在分词 )；编排；杜撰；（把…）编成

参考例句：

• Weaving and knitting are traditional cottage industries. 编织和针织是传统的家庭手工业。
• traditional crafts like basket-weaving 像编篮子之类的传统工艺

11 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

12 experienced   

adj.有经验的；经验丰富的，熟练的

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather.有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• Perhaps you and I had better change over;you are more experienced.也许我们的工作还是对换一下好，你比我更有经验。

13 worm   

n.虫，蠕虫，蚯蚓，小人物，螺纹，蜗杆；vi.蠕行，慢慢前进；vt.使蠕行，慢慢地走；网络病毒，（可以在网络上传播的病毒）

参考例句：

• She believes that an early bird can catch the worm.她相信早起的鸟儿有虫吃。
• The bird had a worm in its beak.鸟儿嘴里叼着一条虫。

14 cocoon   

n.茧

参考例句：

• A cocoon is a kind of silk covering made by an insect.蚕茧是由昆虫制造的一种由丝组成的外包层。
• The beautiful butterfly emerged from the cocoon.美丽的蝴蝶自茧中出现。

15 shelter   

n.掩蔽，掩蔽处，避身处；庇护所，避难所，庇护；vt.庇护，保护，隐匿；vi.躲避

参考例句：

• We took shelter from the rain in a cave.我们在一个山洞里避雨。
• Trees are a shelter from the sun.树木可以遮挡阳光。

16 cocoons   

n.茧，蚕茧( cocoon的名词复数 )v.茧，蚕茧( cocoon的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The silkworms have gone into the bushes to spin their cocoons. 蚕上山了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• In two more days the " little darlings" would spin their cocoons. 再得两天，“宝宝”可以上山。 来自汉英文学 - 春蚕

17 separates   

n.可搭配穿着的女服v.分开( separate的第三人称单数 )；（使）分离；区分；隔开

参考例句：

• A chasm separates my generation from my parents'. 分歧使我这一代人不同于我父母那一代。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Bering StraIt'separates Asia and America. 白令海峡隔开了亚洲和美洲。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 loom   

n.织布机，织机；v.隐现，(危险、忧虑等)迫近

参考例句：

• The old woman was weaving on her loom.那位老太太正在织布机上织布。
• The shuttle flies back and forth on the loom.织布机上梭子来回飞动。

19 textiles   

n.纺织品，织物( textile的名词复数 )；纺织业；布帛

参考例句：

• a factory producing a range of textiles 生产一系列纺织品的工厂
• Another 75,000 jobs will be lost in textiles and clothing. 纺织和服装业又要减少75，000个工作岗位。 来自辞典例句

20 worms   

计算机网络"蠕虫"(可自我复制但无危害)

参考例句：

• Worms have a lifespan of a few months. 蠕虫的寿命为几个月。
• birds looking for worms 觅食蠕虫的鸟