英语听力—环球英语 999 Flower of the Earth

 　　Voice 1

 

　　Welcome to Spotlight¹ I'm 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

 

　　You are looking at a painting of the form of a bright yellow woman. She stands in front of a beautiful green hill and a large yellow and orange sun. The sky around her is a deep blue. The woman has hair as red as fire, and it blows in the wind to the right. She is painted from the waist up, leaning beautifully to the right. Her arms are raised above her head. The palms of her hand face out, as if she is opening them up. This painting is of the goddess Chasca. The artist calls her the goddess of the earth in the Inca culture.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　This painting is by the artist Andrea Arroyo². Arroyo is known for these kinds of paintings - very bright and colorful paintings of powerful women. But she is also currently³ working on a different kind of project. She is giving a voice to victims of violence in the Mexican city of Juarez. Today's Spotlight is on this art project by Andrea Arroyo. It is called "Flor de Tierra". And it is her way to honor⁴ and remember the murdered women of Juarez.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Andrea Arroyo was born in Mexico. She moved to New York City as a young woman to study dance. However, when she arrived in New York, she found what she really loved to do was art - especially sculpture and drawing.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　The subjects of Arroyo's art are always women. And many of these art pieces concentrate on amazing women from around the world. She says she wants to celebrate everything that is feminine⁵, or like a woman. She also wants to celebrate the strength of women. So, she draws and paints representations⁶ of influential⁷ women like Joan of Arc⁸ and Cleopatra. She also draws and paints goddesses from many different cultures, religions, and stories - from Bali to Thailand to ancient Aztec and Mayan cultures.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　But Arroyo uses her project Flor de Tierra in a different way. This project concentrates on female⁹ victims - women whose influence and power were taken when they were killed. In the Spanish language Flor de Tierra means "flower of the Earth."

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Since 1993, over 400 women have been murdered or have disappeared in Juarez, Mexico. This large city is on the border of Mexico and the United States. Officials have not identified the killers¹⁰ of these women. And many bodies of the women cannot even be identified. Some of the women victims show signs of sexual¹¹ abuse¹². Many bodies show signs of torture¹³. Today, women in this area still disappear. Families of victims search for signs of hope. But often, there are none. And the victims are forgotten.

 

　　Arroyo wanted to do something to help people remember these victims. She told the website Women's eNews,

 

　　Voice 3

 

　　"Although I am not an expert on the subject, as an artist I needed to create a memorial to these women and to celebrate their lives."

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Flor de Tierra concentrates on the huge number of murders. But it also looks at each individual woman killed. Each woman was a special person who did not get a chance at life. Arroyo explains.

 

　　Voice 3

 

　　"As I thought about the theme for this project, I was increasingly¹⁴ interested by the idea that these women died before their full potential was realized. Each victim may have become a modern day Joan of Arc, Marie Curie, Rosa Parks or Frida Kahlo."

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　So, what does Andrea Arroyo's project look like? Well, the project aims to show how many women have been murdered, found, or have disappeared.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　So, the project is a series of white chalk drawings on black paper. This white mineral is easy to draw with. And it is easy to see against the dark black of the paper. Arroyo chose chalk drawings for a particular reason. In popular culture in the United States, police often draw a white chalk line around a murdered person. This is not the method real police usually use. But, it is a common image people recognize. The white chalk Arroyo uses in her art makes people think of these chalk lines.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Each drawing represents one female victim from Juarez. It is a memorial just for her - a way to remember her. It also celebrates the woman's life - her beauty, and the chances she never had to live her life.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　In Juarez, authorities¹⁵ cannot even identify many of the women found murdered. That is because they have only found parts of the women. So, many of the white chalk drawings show only one part of a woman's body - a hand, a woman's back, or her hair. Even these partial¹⁶ details show the tragedy of the murders.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Andrea Arroyo has already presented "Flor de Tierra" in places around the United States. But the whole project is not yet finished. She is only half way done. She has finished about 200 drawings. In the future she hopes to show all 400 drawings together in one place. She describes that she would show the drawings together, and without frames¹⁷. She says:

 

　　Voice 3

 

　　"To me that shows how easily broken these woman are. The papers can flow in the wind and become alive. They can easily be torn and damaged."

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Arroyo also explains how she would like to include the names of all the women victims of Juarez in the presentation of Flor de Tierra. She says she would like to hang ribbons - long, thin, pieces of cloth - above the drawings. Each ribbon would have a victim's name on it. Since many of the victims discovered are not identified, some ribbons would hang without names on them. Arroyo would also like to give out white ribbons to visitors who come to see Flor de Tierra. These ribbons would help people remember the violence that continues in Mexico.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Each of the women in Juarez will be remembered by their families. But now, they will also be remembered through Flor de Tierra. People will see the memorials to the women. They will see their beauty, their power, and also their weakness. And people everywhere can pray that the violence in this part of the world will stop.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　The writer and producer of this program was Liz Waid. The voices you heard were from the United States. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can hear more Spotlight programs on our website at http://www.radio.english.net This. program is called "Flower of the Earth."

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　You can leave comments and questions on the script¹⁸ page of this program. You can also email us at [email protected]. We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye!

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 arroyo   

n.干涸的河床，小河

参考例句：

• She continued along the path until she came to the arroyo.她沿着小路一直走到小河边。
• They had a picnic by the arroyo.他们在干枯的河床边野餐过。

3 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。

4 honor   

n.光荣；敬意；荣幸；vt.给…以荣誉；尊敬

参考例句：

• I take your visit as a great honor.您的来访是我莫大的光荣。
• It is a great honor to receive that prize.能拿到那个奖是无上的光荣。

5 feminine   

adj.女性的，女子气的

参考例句：

• He has a very feminine voice.他的声音非常像女人。
• She was a very feminine person.她是个很有女性气质的人。

6 representations   

n.陈述，投诉，抗议；表现( representation的名词复数 )；陈述；表现…的事物；有代理人

参考例句：

• Naturally, we tend to use old representations in our new environments. 同样很自然的，在新的环境里，我们习惯于采用旧的表达方式。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• They made representations to the college cook about the bad food. 他们向学校厨师抗议伙食太差。 来自辞典例句

7 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

8 arc   

n.弧形（物），弧，电弧，弧光

参考例句：

• The sun appears to move in an arc across the sky.太阳看起来在天空中以弧形运行。
• The rainbow described an arc in the dark sky.彩虹在昏暗的天空划出了一道圆弧。

9 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。

10 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

11 sexual   

adj.性的，两性的，性别的

参考例句：

• He was a person of gross sexual appetites.他是个性欲旺盛的人。
• It is socially irresponsible to refuse young people advice on sexual matters.拒绝向年轻人提供性方面的建议是对社会不负责任。

12 abuse   

vt.滥用；辱骂；诋毁；n.滥用；恶习；弊端

参考例句：

• You can't make personal abuse on her.你不可对她进行人身攻击。
• She screamed abuse at me.她尖声责备我。

13 torture   

n.折磨；v.折磨，使痛苦；使苦恼，使为难

参考例句：

• No torture would make him speak.任何严刑拷打都不能使他开口。
• Through those long years of imprisonment and torture,he remained faithful and unyielding.在那些遭受囚禁和酷刑的漫长岁月里，他始终坚贞不屈。

14 increasingly   

adv.逐渐地，日益地，逐渐增加地

参考例句：

• Rivers are being increasingly made use of by man. 河流正在日益为人类所利用。
• I find it increasingly difficult to live within my income.我发现靠收入过日子越来越难了。

15 authorities   

n.当局，权力，权威；权威( authority的名词复数 )；权力；学术权威；[复数]当权者

参考例句：

• They interceded with the authorities on behalf of the detainees. 他们为被拘留者向当局求情。
• At his instigation we conceal the fact from the authorities. 我们受他的怂恿向当局隐瞒了事实。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 partial   

adj.部分的；偏爱的；偏心的

参考例句：

• I could give it only partial support.我只能给它部分的支持。
• I'm partial to a drink at bedtime.我临睡前喜欢喝杯酒。

17 frames   

n.框架( frame的名词复数 )；眼镜框；组织；边框

参考例句：

• roughly hewn timber frames 粗劈成的木架子
• The window frames had begun to warp. 窗框已经开始变形。

18 script   

n.剧本，广播稿；文字体系；笔迹，手迹

参考例句：

• It's easy to identify his script.他的笔迹容易辨认。
• The script is massaged into final form.这篇稿子经过修改已定稿。