VOA标准英语2010年-Ancient Japanese Art of Origami Thrivi

The ancient Japanese art of origami - or paper folding - is thriving today in San Francisco - thanks largely to an American scientist.

Remember how much fun it was to play with paper airplanes as a kid? Most people give up those kinds of hobbies once they grow up, but not Robert Lang.

"The biggest thing was just like this paper airplane, it was a way that you can make something with found materials, cheap paper, scraps¹, even trash," said Lang.

Lang lives in the San Francisco bay area. He is a laser physicist² and graduate of the California Institute of Technology, and has nearly 50 U.S. patents to his name. Eight years ago he gave up his job to pursue origami, making him one of the few professional origami artists in the country.  He never stops creating, even during lunchtime.

"I'll give it to the waitress. It'll be part of the tip," he added.

But Lang can turn bills into lots of other things besides butterflies.

"This was folded from two individual dollar bills," he added.  "I paid two dollars for the two dollar bills."

This flower was made from six one-dollar bills. This plate was made with three, and another three for the lobster³.  Under his expert hands, paper of almost any type, stiffness⁴ or thickness can be turned into a work of art.

"Different papers suggest different subjects. And in some cases, the paper itself suggested what the best subject was. When I saw this paper, the Mexican paper, I immediately thought I want to fold it into a pot," he said.

Using his understanding of complex geometric forms, Lang has played an important role in origami's evolution.  Many of these models were unheard of just 10 or so years ago.

"The reason I do a lot of animals is because I'm inspired by the real thing," he explained.

Lang's works have been displayed in the Lindsay Wildlife Museum near San Francisco for years. Loren Behr is executive⁵ director of the museum.

"It is kind of hard to believe sometimes when I look at his work to realize that one sheet of paper goes into each of the animals with all of the complexities," she said.  "All the amazing number of folds … I can't imagine that he can actually do that."

Many countries around the world have origami traditions. But it has played a particularly important role in Japanese culture.  The English term origami is a transliteration of the Japanese word. "Ori" means "paper," and "gami" means "to fold."  San Francisco's Japantown is home to some origami masters, including Linda Tomoko Mihara.

Linda is a third-generation Japanese-American. She is famous for her origami cranes, which once played an important role in Japanese culture.

"It was tradition for the bride to fold 1,000 cranes to wish for a long and prosperous marriage, and also to demonstrate her patience and I guess her humility⁶ to show that she would be a good wife, which is a very old way of thinking, but that's how it was in that time," she explained.

Linda's grandparents compiled⁷ the first origami handbook⁸ ever published in the United States. She began doing origami at the age of five.

She and Lang have worked together. They once created all the origami models for a 3D animated⁹ commercial.

"Everything you saw in that commercial except the car was origami. So we did buildings, city buildings, Victorian houses, even the decorations in the streets around the houses. Trash cans, potted plants, street lamps," explained Robert Lang.

The great response that the commercial got has further spurred the two artist's passion to create. They are now hoping to one day do the first-ever origami movie.
 

1 scraps   

油渣

参考例句：

• Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
• A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。

2 physicist   

n.物理学家，研究物理学的人

参考例句：

• He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
• The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。

3 lobster   

n.龙虾，龙虾肉

参考例句：

• The lobster is a shellfish.龙虾是水生贝壳动物。
• I like lobster but it does not like me.我喜欢吃龙虾，但它不适宜于我的健康。

4 stiffness   

n.硬度

参考例句：

• You may want to boil out some of the stiffness. 你也许想烫掉一些浆性。
• The stiffness and self-consciousness soon disappeared. 那种不自然和害羞的感觉不久便消失了。

5 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

6 humility   

n.谦逊，谦恭

参考例句：

• Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。
• His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和，甚至有点谦卑。

7 compiled   

v.收集( compile的过去式和过去分词 )；编辑；编制；编译

参考例句：

• They have compiled a collection of Elementary Readings on the Natural Scieces to help young people in their studies. 为了便于青少年学习，他们编了一套《自然科学小丛书》。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Bibliographies are lists of books and are compiled in many different forms. 书目是以许多不同形式编制的图书目录。 来自辞典例句

8 handbook   

n.手册，便览，指南

参考例句：

• Her mother bought a handbook of English grammar for her last Sunday.上星期天她母亲给她买了一本英语语法手册。
• None of them has got a handbook to tourists.他们谁也没搞到旅游指南。

9 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。