时间:2019-01-11 作者:英语课 分类:VOA慢速英语2007年(五)月


英语课

VOICE ONE:


Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.


VOICE TWO:


And I'm Barbara Klein. What do you get when the people who design buildings ask members of the public to choose their favorites? You get the subject of our program for this week.


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VOICE ONE:


The American Institute of Architects is a professional group with close to eighty thousand members. It was formed in eighteen fifty-seven. To celebrate its one hundred fiftieth year, the AIA decided 1 to create a list of what it calls America's Favorite Architecture.


Almost two thousand people were asked to choose from a list of about two hundred fifty structures. From their answers came a list of what the AIA calls the best of America's architectural heritage. And here now are the top ten favorites.


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VOICE TWO:


 
Three young visitors to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial examine the names of the dead 
Number ten is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, located in the same city as five others in the top ten: Washington, D.C. Maya Lin was a twenty-one year old architecture student at Yale University when she won a competition to design the memorial. 


Two walls of black stone, smooth and shiny, are set into the earth in the shape of the letter V. Carved into the stone are the names of more than fifty-eight thousand men and women. Their names are listed by the year they were killed or went missing in action.


The memorial, know simply as "the Wall," starts out low, gets taller and taller, and then shrinks again. It represents an image of the war in terms of the number of service members killed each year.


The memorial opened in nineteen eighty-two. Some people argued that the design was too simple. But the Wall has proven to be a powerful memorial, bringing more than one and a half million visitors each year.


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VOICE ONE:


 
Chrysler Building
Number nine of the list of America's Favorite Architecture is the Chrysler Building in New York City. It was designed by architect William Van Alen in the late nineteen twenties and went up in nineteen thirty.


The top of the Chrysler Building is easy to recognize among the tall buildings of New York. Steel arches of shiny silver hold triangular 2 windows that light up at night. Many other decorative 3 elements represent designs that were found on Chrysler automobiles 4 of the same time period.    


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VOICE TWO:


The Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, comes in at number eight.


 
Biltmore Estate
George Washington Vanderbilt, a very wealthy man, built a house on the estate. But this was not just any home; it was the nation's largest. And the two-hundred-fifty-room Biltmore House was meant to be just a summer home.


It was built between eighty eighty-eight and eighteen ninety-five. The style is French Renaissance 5. The architect was Richard Morris Hunt.


The Vanderbilt family still owns the Biltmore Estate but the house is no longer used as a private home. Now visitors can pay to look around.


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VOICE ONE:


 
Lincoln Memorial
We go back to Washington for number seven on the list of America's Favorite Architecture: the Lincoln Memorial. It has four sides which are open except for large columns that support the roof.


In the center is a huge statue of the sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln. He is sitting down and he faces the long reflecting pool just outside the memorial. His eyes seem to look farther, toward the Washington Monument beyond the pool.


Congress approved the building of the Lincoln Memorial in nineteen eleven. The memorial opened in nineteen twenty-two.


Ancient Greek architecture influenced the design by Henry Bacon. He used limestone 6 and marble. He won a Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects in nineteen twenty-three for the Lincoln Memorial.


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VOICE TWO:


 
United States Capitol
Number six on the list of favorites is at the other end of the National Mall from the Lincoln Memorial: the United States Capitol.


William Thorton won a competition to design the Capitol, the building where Congress meets. He proposed a central domed 7 building with two square buildings on either side. Thorton was not even an architect. He was a doctor living in the West Indies at the time.


Work on the Capitol began in seventeen ninety-three. President George Washington laid the cornerstone. Building -- and rebuilding -- continued for more than a century under many different architects.


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VOICE ONE:


 
The Golden Gate Bridge
Number five on the list of America's Favorite Architecture is the Golden Gate Bridge over San Francisco Bay in California. The bright orange bridge links the city of San Francisco with Marin County.


Husband-and-wife architects Irving and Gertrude Morrow designed the Golden Gate Bridge. The chief engineer was Joseph Strauss.


Work began in nineteen thirty-three and the bridge opened four years later. The main span of nearly one thousand three hundred meters made it the world's longest suspension bridge. It held that record for almost thirty years.


Today the Golden Gate Bridge is still considered one of the most beautiful bridges in the world.


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VOICE TWO:


 
Jefferson Memorial
Back now to Washington for number four on the list of favorites. The American Institute of Architects says people chose the Jefferson Memorial.


The memorial to the nation's third president is a round, open structure supported by columns. Steps go all the way around the base. In the center is a statue of a standing 8 Thomas Jefferson.


The architect John Russell Pope designed the memorial in the neoclassical style. It was completed in nineteen forty-three, after the death of the famous architect and after years of dispute about his design.


Thomas Jefferson himself was an architect. His designs included his home at Monticello and parts of the University of Virginia.


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VOICE ONE:


 
National Cathedral
Third on the list of America's Favorite Architecture is the National Cathedral in Washington. This house of worship is open to all religions. It was completed in nineteen ninety -- eighty-three years after the first stone was laid. George Bodley and Henry Vaughn designed the building.


The cathedral, one of the largest in the world, is made of limestone. In the center is a bell tower ninety-one meters high. The building is in the style of many of the great cathedrals built in Europe about eight hundred years ago.


There are one hundred ten gargoyles 9 on the National Cathedral. The small sculptures can look scary, but they have a job to do. They help keep rainwater away from the building.


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VOICE TWO:


 
White House
Two more to go. Number two on the list of America's Favorite Architecture is the building where the president lives and works -- the White House.


An architect named James Hoban won a competition called by George Washington to design a presidential home. Hoban was an immigrant from Ireland. He was influenced by the design of Leinster House, the parliament building in Dublin.


Work on the White House began in seventeen ninety-two. Its whitish gray sandstone walls were finished with a mixture of surface materials including rice, lime and lead.


George Washington never lived in the White House. America's second president was the first to live there. John Adams and his wife, Abigail, moved into the White House in eighteen hundred.


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VOICE ONE:


 
Empire State Building
Finally, we come to number one on the list of America’s Favorite Architecture. It is one of the tallest, most photographed and most recognized buildings in the world. Any ideas? The Empire State Building in New York City.


It opened in nineteen thirty-one and was designed by the architectural firm of Shreve Lamb and Harmon. There are one hundred three floors. The name comes from the fact that the state of New York is called the Empire State.


But the building does more than just help define a city, and a state. It stands as a powerful symbol of one of the most public of all art forms -- architecture.


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VOICE TWO:


Our program was written and produced by Caty Weaver 10. I’m Barbara Klein.


VOICE ONE:


And I'm Steve Ember. You can find a link to the America's Favorite Architecture Web site at our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. You can also download transcripts 11 and audio archives of our programs. And be sure to join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.



adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
adj.三角(形)的,三者间的
  • It's more or less triangular plot of land.这块地略成三角形。
  • One particular triangular relationship became the model of Simone's first novel.一段特殊的三角关系成了西蒙娜第一本小说的原型。
adj.装饰的,可作装饰的
  • This ware is suitable for decorative purpose but unsuitable for utility.这种器皿中看不中用。
  • The style is ornate and highly decorative.这种风格很华丽,而且装饰效果很好。
n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )
  • When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后,就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上,汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
n.复活,复兴,文艺复兴
  • The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
  • The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。
n.石灰石
  • Limestone is often used in building construction.石灰岩常用于建筑。
  • Cement is made from limestone.水泥是由石灰石制成的。
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
n.怪兽状滴水嘴( gargoyle的名词复数 )
  • Week of Gargoyle: Double growth for Gargoyle and O idia Gargoyles. 石像鬼周:石像鬼产量加倍。 来自互联网
  • Fixed a problem that caused Gargoyles to become stuck in Stone Form. 修正了石像鬼在石像形态卡住的问题。 来自互联网
n.织布工;编织者
  • She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快,而且布的质量很好。
  • The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。
n.抄本( transcript的名词复数 );转写本;文字本;副本
  • Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样,都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
  • You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书,你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句
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