VOA慢速英语2013 参观美国植物园及其特殊的节日展品

 

AS IT IS 2013-12-24 A Visit to the US Botanic Garden and its Special Holiday Exhibits 参观美国植物园及其特殊的节日展品

From VOA Learning English, welcome to As It Is. I’m Steve Ember.

On our program today, we tell about beautiful green things that are part of the winter holiday season.

We’ll visit the United States Botanic Garden and its special seasonal¹ exhibits…Then we’ll learn how the ancient evergreen² tree developed into the traditional  Christmas tree.

But first, to America’s plant museum…Festive holiday exhibits bring many visitors to the US Botanic GardenEach year, the United States Botanic Garden in Washington  D.C. gets into the spirit of the winter holidays. Botanic Garden officials celebrate with an exhibit called “Season’s Greenings.”

Winter has arrived in Washington, and an icy wind is blowing.  Many people are covered up in thick warm clothes. They wear heavy coats.  Scarves hide their necks and  gloves hide their hands.  What can be seen of their faces look red as the visitors move from monument to monument, museum to museum. 

0Inside the US Botanic Garden Conservatory³ building it is very warm, almost tropical. The whole place smells of flowers and other growing plants.  The Conservatory, an  outdoor garden and the nearby Bartholdi Fountain make up America’s plant museum. It is one of the oldest in North America.

And it happens to be a neighbor of ours here at the Voice of America.

Many things are in bloom in the greenhouse.  Today, it is decorated with seasonal exhibits.  Such exhibits have invited visitors in for almost ten years.  One of the  most interesting displays contains tiny versions of some of the most famous buildings in Washington.

There is the White House. And there is the Lincoln Memorial with the statue of President Lincoln inside.  Turn around and there is a model of the U.S. Capitol  building. The real building lies just a few hundred meters away.

Holly⁴ Shimizu is executive director of the Botanic Garden.  Ms. Shimizu says the models are special because they are made of plant materials.

“You can notice that things like leaves are used and acorns⁵ from the oak trees and some of the wood from the willow⁶ tree.  These are gathered in the woods by the  artists that make these incredible structures.”

One model took more than 600 hours to complete.

“We also have one of the Smithsonian buildings and we have the Supreme⁷ Court.  We have the Library of Congress…many of the buildings that a visitor to Washington,  would see when they come to Washington, lining⁸ the National Mall.”

Model trains are another holiday favorite at the Botanic Garden.  They run on more than 244 meters of track.  The trains are in settings representing past world’s  fairs.

“That’s the Eiffel Tower!”

It is a model of the Eiffel Tower from the 1889 Paris Fair and the Space Needle from the World’s Fair in Seattle, Washington in 1962.

A visitor named Rachel Smalley says her favorite display is not a tiny building or a model train.

“I particularly like the indoor Christmas tree which is the largest in a public building in Washington.  And of course the poinsettias are just beautiful with all the  colors.” 

The US Congress established the Botanic Garden in 1820.

In 2006, the National Garden opened next to the greenhouse.  And, across the street from the National Garden and the Conservatory there is still more beauty.

Plants and garden designs are set around the historic Bartholdi Fountain, sculpted⁹ by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. He was the French sculptor¹⁰ whose better known works  in the United States include the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.

It’s As It Is from VOA Learning English. I’m Steve Ember.

The traditions behind the Christmas tree…

And now, we tell how the Christmas tree developed over the ages. Listen as Shirley Griffith explores the tradition of the evergreen.

Many Americans buy an evergreen tree for Christmas.  They put the tree in their home and hang small lights and colorful objects on it.  The evergreen is usually a pine  or a fir tree.  It remains¹¹ green during the cold, dark months of winter in the northern part of the world.  So, it is a sign of everlasting¹² life.

The use of evergreens¹³ during winter holiday celebrations started in ancient times.  Early Romans, for example, probably included evergreens with other plants during a  celebration in honor of their god of agriculture. The Christmas tree may have developed in part from a popular play performed hundreds of years ago in what is now  Germany.  Traditionally, the play was held on December twenty-fourth, the day before Christmas.  The play was about the first people that God created -- Adam and Eve.   People put apples on an evergreen to represent the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden.

By the year 1600, some Germans began bringing evergreen trees into their homes.  They put fruit, nuts and sweets on the trees.  They shared the food among family  members and friends after the holiday season.

Some people say the German religious reformer Martin Luther was the first person to add lighted candles to a tree.  They say he did this to show how wonderful the  stars had appeared to him as he traveled one night.

In the early 1800’s, German settlers in the state of Pennsylvania were the first to celebrate the holiday with Christmas trees in the United States.

The Christmas tree tradition spread to many parts of the world.  Today, some form of Christmas tree is part of most Christmas celebrations.  Some people put a star on  top of their Christmas tree.  It represents the star that led the three wise men to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem. This is Shirley Griffith wishing you a joyous¹⁴ holiday  season. I can almost smell those pine trees here in the studio. You are listening to As It Is, from VOA Learning English.

Cabbage, anyone?

And finally, the Washington, D.C. area is not what you would call warm in winter.  Most flowers and bushes have stopped blooming. Many people in the capital grow a  version of the popular cabbage plant for its winter beauty. Cabbages love cold weather. It is a favorite food in most countries with cold winters. The version called  flowering cabbage shows bright colored leaves.  The center leaves in cabbage flowers change color from green to white to purple as the temperature drops.

Cabbage flowers add a little welcome beauty and color as we wait for our cherry trees to bloom in the spring. 

1 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

2 evergreen   

n.常青树；adj.四季常青的

参考例句：

• Some trees are evergreen;they are called evergreen.有的树是常青的，被叫做常青树。
• There is a small evergreen shrub on the hillside.山腰上有一小块常绿灌木丛。

3 conservatory   

n.温室，音乐学院；adj.保存性的，有保存力的

参考例句：

• At the conservatory,he learned how to score a musical composition.在音乐学校里，他学会了怎样谱曲。
• The modern conservatory is not an environment for nurturing plants.这个现代化温室的环境不适合培育植物。

4 holly   

n.[植]冬青属灌木

参考例句：

• I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
• People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。

5 acorns   

n.橡子，栎实( acorn的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Great oaks from little acorns grow. 万丈高楼平地起。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Welcome to my new website!It may not look much at the moment, but great oaks from little acorns grow! 欢迎来到我的新网站。它现在可能微不足道，不过万丈高楼平地起嘛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 willow   

n.柳树

参考例句：

• The river was sparsely lined with willow trees.河边疏疏落落有几棵柳树。
• The willow's shadow falls on the lake.垂柳的影子倒映在湖面上。

7 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

8 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

9 sculpted   

adj.经雕塑的

参考例句：

• a display of animals sculpted in ice 冰雕动物展
• The ladies had their hair sculpted by the leading coiffeur of the day. 女士们的发型都是当代有名的理发师做的。

10 sculptor   

n.雕刻家，雕刻家

参考例句：

• A sculptor forms her material.雕塑家把材料塑造成雕塑品。
• The sculptor rounded the clay into a sphere.那位雕塑家把黏土做成了一个球状。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

12 everlasting   

adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的

参考例句：

• These tyres are advertised as being everlasting.广告上说轮胎持久耐用。
• He believes in everlasting life after death.他相信死后有不朽的生命。

13 evergreens   

n.常青树，常绿植物，万年青( evergreen的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The leaves of evergreens are often shaped like needles. 常绿植物的叶常是针形的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The pine, cedar and spruce are evergreens. 松树、雪松、云杉都是常绿的树。 来自辞典例句

14 joyous   

adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的

参考例句：

• The lively dance heightened the joyous atmosphere of the scene.轻快的舞蹈给这场戏渲染了欢乐气氛。
• They conveyed the joyous news to us soon.他们把这一佳音很快地传递给我们。