VOA慢速英语2013 蓄须已然成为美国时尚
时间:2019-01-12 作者:英语课 分类:2013年VOA慢速英语(十二)月
AS IT IS 2013-12-05 Facial Hair Is Becoming More Popular in the United States 蓄须已然成为美国时尚
Hello again, and welcome back. I’m Jim Tedder 1 in Washington. For today’s program …something a little different. We will travel across the United States to Los Angeles, California, to examine the latest in men’s fashions. But we’re not looking for new shirts or coats. We will be talking about something that more and more men seem to be doing to improve their looks.
And a little later, we’ll leave the noisy big city in search of the quietest place on earth. Our guide is a man who thinks he may have only a short time to find what he is looking, and listening, for. The program is As It Is, a way to learn and improve your American English, courtesy of the Voice of America.
More American men these days are growing facial hair – beards and mustaches. For some of them, hair on their faces is more than a statement of fashion and style. Let’s ask an expert.
Daniel Winter cuts hair for a living in California. He says the rugged 2, hairy look is growing in Los Angeles and other major cities. He says that look sometimes includes even body art.
“Bigger corporations, like huge companies, that are geared more towards fashion are now hiring models with beards and tattoos 3 -- writings and drawings on the skin. They are going for a bit of a more alternative look. And it’s really starting to spill over into the general public.”
Mr. Winter has worn a beard for 10 years. He says that the growth of beards and mustaches is rooted in history.
“Facial hair was associated with masculinity, sexual vitality 4 and overall awesomeness 5. You look at Greek mythology 6 and almost every god had some sort of facial hair, whether it had been a full beard or some sort of goatee.”
Styling facial hair also has become popular. Just ask Nicholas Watsford. He manufactures a beard and mustache wax called Dubs 7 Stache wax.
“If I want to do full curls or what not, I can do full curls.”
Mr. Watsford decided 8 to create an organic wax after other products on the market harmed his skin. He says growing a beard in Los Angeles is not just a temporary happening. He says it is a lifestyle – a way of living.
“Your appearance and everything now…Just how you’re representing yourself, like a mane for a lion. It’s really in full effect.”
Thousands of men around the world were growing facial hair during November to bring attention to men’s health issues. But some people in Los Angeles take facial hair-awareness very seriously the year round. Nathan “Chops” Johnson has a huge handlebar mustache that reaches to his waist.
“I take care of this guy by myself. I don’t let anybody near it.”
The Los Angeles Facial Hair Society was started by two men and two women. Their goal was to unify 9 California’s community of people with beards and mustaches and those who love them. Alana Beck helped establish the organization.
“I only date guys that have beards. I don’t do mustaches. There’s a manliness 10 to it that’s very attractive.”
Hair Society member Roberto Campos says facial hair brings people together.”
“All of a sudden your Facebook friend number jumps to the thousands after meeting all these people.”
Members like Roberto Campos and “Chops” Johnson like the friendly competition. They enjoy seeing who can grow the best beard and mustache. But they say the unique – the extremely unusual – family that they have formed is what is most important.
What? I Can’t Hear You! There Is Too Much Noise!
Our world is a noisy place, filled with the sounds of traffic, airplanes, machines and people. But quiet places remain, if you know where to look. Eight years ago, audio engineer Gordon Hempton identified the quietest place in the continental 11 United States. He calls the place “One Square Inch of Silence.” He has used this symbolic 12 spot in a northwestern rain forest to campaign against noise pollution. But the self-described “Sound Tracker” is now going deaf. Steve Ember continues our story.
For Gordon Hempton, it started with an experience known to many people. He had to repeatedly ask “What? What did you say?” Then his hearing got worse.
“I was laying in bed in the springtime about a year ago. The sun was shining. The birds could be singing. They should be singing. And I was hearing none.”
Hempton leaned over to his partner at their home in a wooded, rural neighborhood on Washington’s Puget Sound.
“And I said, 'Kate, do you hear birdsong?' And she said yes. I knew my life was going to be different.”
Hempton's eyes get watery 13 as he describes the cruel irony 14 of his situation. More than twenty years ago he trademarked his nickname as “The Sound Tracker.” Sharp hearing defined his career as an Emmy award winning sound recordist. It also led to his activism against noise pollution.
He has circled the globe three times in search of the perfect sounds of nature.
Those are howler monkeys in a tropical rain forest in Belize. Closer to home, coyotes howl in an eastern Washington canyon 15.
He also found places so quiet that he could hear the soft sound of a hummingbird's wings.
Hempton says his hearing loss is quickly getting worse; creating what he says is a “real urgency” to finish his project.
“I'm not totally deaf. But I have lost most of my hearing. So I am running a race to finish the Quiet Planet collection.”
That's the title of a planned 19-volume set of nature recordings 16. The sound tracks could be licensed 17 for use in movies, video games, exhibits, plays and the like.
Volunteer assistants now help Hempton review and edit sound files and identify imperfections.
“I miss it. I feel so connected when I can listen to the place I am. And the difference between hearing where you are and not is like the difference being awake and not.”
The exact cause of his hearing loss is not clear. Doctors say it may be the result of an infection, or a tumor 18 or a combination of things. More tests are needed.
Hempton is self-employed. He says his health care plan does not pay for hearing loss treatment. So, for now, he's directing his attention to completing his “greatest hits” album.
“After I get Quiet Planet finished, out there and I have an economic cash flow to get my hearing back, then we're going to do it. That's the first thing on my to-do list.”
The Sound Tracker says he's hopeful his hearing loss can be reversed. I'm Steve Ember.
- Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆?特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
- Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆?泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网
- Football players must be rugged.足球运动员必须健壮。
- The Rocky Mountains have rugged mountains and roads.落基山脉有崇山峻岭和崎岖不平的道路。
- His arms were covered in tattoos. 他的胳膊上刺满了花纹。
- His arms were covered in tattoos. 他的双臂刺满了纹身。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- He came back from his holiday bursting with vitality and good health.他度假归来之后,身强体壮,充满活力。
- He is an ambitious young man full of enthusiasm and vitality.他是个充满热情与活力的有远大抱负的青年。
- Dominion and awesomeness are his who brings about harmony in his heavens. 权能和威严为他所有,他在高天缔造和平。 来自互联网
- There is no charge?for awesomeness, or attractiveness. 彪悍不求回报,迷人更无所需。 来自互联网
- In Greek mythology,Zeus was the ruler of Gods and men.在希腊神话中,宙斯是众神和人类的统治者。
- He is the hero of Greek mythology.他是希腊民间传说中的英雄。
- 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。
- How can we unify such scattered islands into a nation?我们怎么才能把如此分散的岛屿统一成一个国家呢?
- It is difficult to imagine how the North and South could ever agree on a formula to unify the divided peninsula.很难想象南北双方在统一半岛的方案上究竟怎样才能达成一致。
- She was really fond of his strength, his wholesome looks, his manliness. 她真喜欢他的坚强,他那健康的容貌,他的男子气概。
- His confidence, his manliness and bravery, turn his wit into wisdom. 他的自信、男子气概和勇敢将他的风趣变为智慧。
- A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
- The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。
- It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
- The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。
- In his watery eyes there is an expression of distrust.他那含泪的眼睛流露出惊惶失措的神情。
- Her eyes became watery because of the smoke.因为烟熏,她的双眼变得泪汪汪的。
- She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
- In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。
- The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
- The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。
- a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
- old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐
- The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
- Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗?