时间:2019-01-06 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2012年(八月)


英语课

 


Couple Aims to Preserve Yemen's Past Amid Present Chaos 1



The ancient land of Yemen is known more today for its fight against poverty, tribalism and terrorism.


Perhaps it's not the best place for an American couple to build a house. But that's what scholars Stephen and Kate Steinbeiser recently did, giving themselves the added challenges of making it environmentally sustainable, in a traditional Jewish design, primarily out of mud.


"When we first started, the neighbors around us, who generally have more modern homes built in cement, kind of made fun of me as the foreigner new to the block and not knowing what I was doing," said Stephen Steinbeiser.


Undaunted, Steinbeiser, the resident director of the American Institute for Yemeni Studies, hired architect Abdullah al Hadrami. Together they devised a plan showcasing Yemeni craftsmanship 2 while paying homage 3 to this Sana'a quarter's once vibrant 4, now dispersed 5 Jewish presence - a brave statement in a country al-Qaida calls home.


“It was all done by hand and so, for example, there were three workers who cut 2,240 stones from basically this bizarre shape into more like squares," he said.


All the metalwork is handmade, by a blacksmith in Old Sana'a.


"This is kind of a simplified version of a more traditional lock... There is actually a hidden latch 6 here that allows this to come out from the bottom and for the door to open. Yemenis are very clever with locks,” said Steinbeiser.


There's a traditional mafraj - or room to chew qat, a national pastime.


“We don't use it for chewing qat, but most Yemenis do, and the point is that you're at a high point, you know, of a city or place, and you're surrounded by windows so you can look out,” he said.


The main feature though, from traditional Yemeni architecture, is the use of mud: mud bricks, mud plaster, with, in some places, a coating of animal fat to seal it tight.


“This room is a very cool room of the house, especially in the summer. Mud architecture has that effect. It's basically a type of insulation 7 that allows temperature to remain constant,” said Steinbeiser.


Not only does the mud make air conditioning unnecessary - it offered another benefit during the tumultuous uprising of last year.


“My Yemeni friends will reassure 8 me by saying, 'Well, if there is a bullet that goes through the walls, it's not a big deal. It's mud. You just patch it over and it's fine,'” Steinbeiser said.


Few foreigners have stayed during the hard times. And for honoring Yemen's past, the Steinbeisers have changed their neighbors' opinions.


“When they saw the finished product and they saw it was really a kind of testament 9 to Yemeni craftsmanship, Yemeni ingenuity 10 and Yemeni heritage, they fell in love with it,” he said.


The house also is a commitment to Yemen's future, a small promise of continuity and self-reliance in a country struggling to find its way. 




n.混乱,无秩序
  • After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后,城市一片混乱。
  • The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。
n.手艺
  • The whole house is a monument to her craftsmanship. 那整座房子是她技艺的一座丰碑。
  • We admired the superb craftsmanship of the furniture. 我们很欣赏这个家具的一流工艺。
n.尊敬,敬意,崇敬
  • We pay homage to the genius of Shakespeare.我们对莎士比亚的天才表示敬仰。
  • The soldiers swore to pay their homage to the Queen.士兵们宣誓效忠于女王陛下。
adj.震颤的,响亮的,充满活力的,精力充沛的,(色彩)鲜明的
  • He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
  • She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。
adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的
  • The clouds dispersed themselves. 云散了。
  • After school the children dispersed to their homes. 放学后,孩子们四散回家了。
n.门闩,窗闩;弹簧锁
  • She laid her hand on the latch of the door.她把手放在门闩上。
  • The repairman installed an iron latch on the door.修理工在门上安了铁门闩。
n.隔离;绝缘;隔热
  • Please examine the insulation of the electric wires in my house.请检查一下我屋子里电线的绝缘情况。
  • It is always difficult to assure good insulation between the electric leads.要保证两个电触头之间有良好的绝缘总是很困难的。
v.使放心,使消除疑虑
  • This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点,于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
  • The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。
n.遗嘱;证明
  • This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
  • It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明,编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。
n.别出心裁;善于发明创造
  • The boy showed ingenuity in making toys.那个小男孩做玩具很有创造力。
  • I admire your ingenuity and perseverance.我钦佩你的别出心裁和毅力。
学英语单词
alpha-proton reaction
alpinia officinarum
alterna-
answer-back signal
archimimes
Arequipite
as like as chalk to cheese
autonomous amplitude limiter
autoregressive deconvolution
avantgardistic
benzhydryl amine
Bermudian rig
bertalanffies
biennial bearing
bitser
blue tulips
Booth, Edwin (Thomas)
brass instrument
bus-fare
casting surface
cherogrils
Chinese lexicology
CORDAT
craplets
critical melting point
descended upon
DIS/SEC
ephedine
epidermolysis acquisita
ethenylene
Ferospace
fibre optic memory
film disk
floating sludge
flobber
fluorocomplex
free-response
gamed
gastrostyle
good wishes
Gr. S.
gradient projection method
graduates
hemochromatosis
hunting-cat
hydroxy-malonic acid
hyperboloidal mirror
industrially advanced country
Kirovskaya
Lytton, Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-,lst Baron Lytton
manograph
Mansonia annulatus
mid ordinate
miediling
modulation formats
native vermilion
onerari non debet
orizio
part-time bowler
peltate tentacle
pigeonhole principle
point-contact
polychromism
postboat
preemulsion
primary tentacle
promote the sale of products
Pueblan
rail loading machine
renal fibroid sarcoma
rescue cutter
rich chromium ball bearing steel wire
rio bravoes
rogueish
Sarcosperma arboreum
scientific notation
search frequency generator
second reserve
signal instructions
smart structure technology
sodium dodecylsulfate
spelye
square normal closed double head wrench
steam-powers
steering engine valve
subnuclear particle
subsizar
Syringa julianae
tarsal pulvilli
text-understanding
twin-cams
unnarratable
uova
vacuum diffusion pump
valley girls
varitypers
Villiers
vinylcarbenoids
vizament
walruslike
Web Pad
withametelins