在线英语听力室

VOA慢速英语 2007 1031b

时间:2007-12-20 06:39:48

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号:tingroom,领取免费英语资料大礼包。

(单词翻译)

VOICE ONE:

I’m Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Steve Ember with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. We continue our series of reports about efforts to keep alive traditional ways of doing things.  Today we tell about building homes out of a simple natural material -- straw.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

It was a cold winter in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the early nineteen eighties.  Athena Swentzell was a student in college there.  She owned some property.  She wanted her own place to live in but she did not have much money to build a house.  The usual building materials of wood, concrete and brick were too costly1.  So she decided2 to try to build a house using big rectangular3 bales of straw, the waste material that remains4 after wheat and other grains are harvested.  She covered the outside of the small house with a cement plaster5 to keep the straw dry.

Miz Swentzell had never seen or heard of a house built of straw.  She thought she had invented the idea and was surprised how livable it was.  Later she learned that straw bale houses have been built since the late eighteen hundreds after a machine was invented to form the dry straw into bales.   And she learned there are straw bale houses in many countries throughout the world.

VOICE TWO:

 
A straw bale house at the Canelo Project in Arizona
In nineteen eighty-nine, Bill Steen was taking photographs for a small book about straw bale houses.  He met Athena Swentzell after he took a picture of the house she had built.  

Athena Swentzell and Bill Steen married and she moved to his home in Canelo, Arizona.  They decided to hold a workshop.  They wanted to teach other people how to make buildings out of straw bales, clay, sand and water -- materials that are available almost everywhere.

VOICE ONE:

The workshop was a success.  Through the years more people became interested in learning how to build a house by hand with natural materials.  The Steens's first book, "The Straw Bale House," was published in nineteen ninety-four.  Miz Steen says interest really increased after that.

The book demonstrated how to use natural materials throughout a house.  It showed how people who are not experts can build straw bale houses.  It explained how the thickness of the straw walls kept the house warm in the winter and cool in the summer.  And it showed how beautiful these hand-built houses made of natural materials can be.

VOICE TWO:

In recent years, the interest in straw bale building has spread across the United States and in other countries.  Workshops and demonstrations6 of straw bale building are popular.  Many books on the subject have been published, including several more by Athena and Bill Steen.  

Straw bales are used in large houses and very small ones, in office buildings and in schools.  The structures may have metal or wood supports for the roof with straw bales used to fill the walls.  Or the straw bales alone may support the roof.  Windows and doorways8 may be round or unusual shapes.  Walls may be gently curved.

A plaster made of clay, lime9 or cement is used to cover the outside of the straw bale 
An imaginative10 doorway7 in a straw bale structure
walls.  The inside walls are covered with clay and then painted with naturally colored paints made of clay, wheat paste and water.  The designs are very creative.  The resulting structures look very different from modern buildings with their straight walls of wood, cement or brick.  Some small straw bale buildings look like works of art.


(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

In the nineteen nineties, Bill and Athena Steen started the Canelo Project.  It is a small non-profit organization that aims to connect people, culture and nature.  It explores natural building methods that are simple, low cost and pleasing to look at. 

 
A small building at the Canelo Project done with mostly local materials
Through the Canelo Project, the Steens work with people to create simple, livable shelters using local and natural materials.  They are concerned with balancing the wisdom and skills of the past with modern improvements.  Bill Steen says they try to match the materials to the skills of people doing the building.  Athena Steen says their goal is to keep the materials and tools simple so people can work with family and friends to build their own homes.  This way, she says, they feel a connection to their home that is lost when someone else is the builder.

VOICE TWO:

The Steens hold workshops at their home in Canelo, Arizona, in the spring and autumn.  They live in the large old house made of adobe11 that was on the property.  The dried clay and straw adobe mixture is the same building material used by people living in dry areas all over the world.

Now, there are about twelve smaller structures used for storing things or for visitors.  Some were built to demonstrate new ideas.   The small buildings look like the big adobe house but all have straw bales inside the earth covered walls. 

VOICE ONE:

People who attend the workshops are from many places including Australia, South Korea, Japan, South America, as well as the United States and Canada.  They learn the methods of building with straw bales by helping12 build a small structure. 

One of the workshops is called Straw Bale Comprehensive.  It is for people who are seriously considering building a home out of straw bales and want to do much of the work themselves.  This week-long class lets people take part in a group project to design and build a small structure. 

People learn the methods of building with straw bales.  They learn that the straw must be kept completely dry or it will not last.  They learn how to put in electricity and plumbing13.  And they learn how to build roofs that will keep rain from the walls.

VOICE TWO:

Another week-long workshop is called Artistry in Clay and Lime.  The Steens show how natural materials can be used to cover walls and floors, build furniture and create paints.

During the workshop, the Steens teach traditional plastering14 methods used to cover walls in Japan, Mexico, Germany and the American Southwest.  And they demonstrate methods and plaster materials they have developed.  People learn how to make clay or earth plasters15 especially for inside walls and lime plasters that are less affected16 by the weather.

VOICE ONE:

People using straw bales for their main building material often want to use other natural materials inside the building.  So the workshop includes information about natural paints that are easy to make and cost very little.  These paints of clay or other earth materials provide beautiful colors ‿warm rich red, brown and gray.  Clay paints can be used over almost any wall surface including wood and cement.  The workshop also includes ways to make furniture out of clay, straw and local plant materials. 

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen ninety-five, the Steens began working in Sonora, Mexico.  The organization, Save the Children, invited them to help people living in a poor farming community near the city of Obregon build low cost houses. 

Athena Steen says the people in the community were not happy at first with the idea of building new houses with straw and clay.  They wanted to use modern materials like cement and brick.  

Then the Save the Children organization decided it wanted a new office building in Sonora.  The Steens and a team of local women and men were trained by two skilled Mexican builders, Emiliano and Teodoro Lopez.  They produced an office building of more than four hundred fifty square meters. 

VOICE ONE:

They started with a floor plan so the space would meet the organization’s needs.  Yet the building itself was designed as it was built.  Bill Steen says they all learned and invented together as the building grew, room by room.  They worked as friends and equals. 

The office building has outside walls made of straw bales to keep the desert heat out. The inside walls are made of straw and clay blocks.  The walls are covered in earth plaster with clay from the area in colors of soft yellow, dark red and rich brown.

VOICE TWO:

 
Straw bale structure being built on a ranch17 in Sonora, Mexico
The result is a useful and beautiful office building.  The women in the poor Mexican village decided they wanted to build their own small houses of the same materials.  They worked with the Steens and others who had taken part in their workshops.  It was a cooperative18 community effort, which is the way houses have been built for centuries. They built twelve one-room houses for about five hundred dollars each.

One owner of a new straw bale house said that she always thought she would have to have a lot of money to have something beautiful.  "Now I know that is not true," she said.  "You just have to be willing to work for it."

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This program was written by Marilyn Rice Christiano and produced by Mario Ritter.  I’m Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Steve Ember.  Listen again next month to EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English for another program about efforts to keep traditional ways alive.


分享到:


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 costly 7zXxh     
adj.昂贵的,价值高的,豪华的
参考例句:
  • It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
  • This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用,左不过贵了些。
2 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • 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。
3 rectangular 6UTx4     
adj.矩形的,成直角的
参考例句:
  • He put a rectangular box on the table.他把一个长方形的箱子放在桌子上。
  • The equations are written in rectangular coordinates.这些方程是在直角座标系中写出的。
4 remains 1kMzTy     
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。
5 plaster LO7xz     
n.石膏,灰泥,膏药;v.涂以灰泥,敷以膏药,使...平
参考例句:
  • He mixed up some plaster to repair the wall.他和了一些灰泥去补墙。
  • She applied the plaster on his shoulder.她将膏药贴在他的膀子上。
6 demonstrations 0922be6a2a3be4bdbebd28c620ab8f2d     
证明( demonstration的名词复数 ); 表明; 表达; 游行示威
参考例句:
  • Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
  • The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。
7 doorway 2s0xK     
n.门口,(喻)入门;门路,途径
参考例句:
  • They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
  • Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。
8 doorways 9f2a4f4f89bff2d72720b05d20d8f3d6     
n.门口,门道( doorway的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The houses belched people; the doorways spewed out children. 从各家茅屋里涌出一堆一堆的人群,从门口蹦出一群一群小孩。 来自辞典例句
  • He rambled under the walls and doorways. 他就顺着墙根和门楼遛跶。 来自辞典例句
9 lime URIzd     
n.石灰,酸橙,酸橙树,粘鸟胶,钙;vt.施石灰,涂上粘性物质,沾上粘鸟胶
参考例句:
  • Lime exists in many soils.许多土壤中都含有石灰。
  • A broad avenue of lime trees led up to a grand entrance with huge oak doors.一条栽有酸橙树的宽阔林阴道通向巨大的橡木门的雄伟入口。
10 imaginative qa3xq     
adj.富有想象力的,爱想象的
参考例句:
  • The imaginative child made up fairy stories.这个想像力丰富的孩子自己编神话故事。
  • Scott was an imaginative writer.司格特是位富于想象力的作家。
11 adobe 0K5yv     
n.泥砖,土坯,美国Adobe公司
参考例句:
  • They live in an adobe house.他们住在一间土坯屋里。
  • Adobe bricks must drived dried completely before are used.土坯砖块使用前一定要完全干燥。
12 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
13 plumbing klaz0A     
n.水管装置;水暖工的工作;管道工程v.用铅锤测量(plumb的现在分词);探究
参考例句:
  • She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche. 她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。
  • They're going to have to put in new plumbing. 他们将需要安装新的水管。 来自《简明英汉词典》
14 plastering 43f22d19b3fd2fcc2def214423951fc8     
n.涂以灰泥,石膏工艺
参考例句:
  • Sue's cousin was plastering the ceiling in a dank basement. 苏的表弟当时正在一间潮湿的地下室抹房顶。 来自互联网
  • For a really smooth surface, use a plastering float. 要想获得真正光滑的表面,请使用灰泥抹子。 来自互联网
15 plasters 1e9bef25bf8093006a388f7b6ee52046     
n.塑料学,整形外科,塑制信用卡;灰泥( plaster的名词复数 );膏;药膏;石膏
参考例句:
  • Surgical Dressings, Laparotomy, Cottton Wool, Plasters, Tapes, Bandages, Surgical Clothes. 采购产品外科的穿衣,剖腹手术,羊毛,石膏,音带,绷带,外科的衣服。 来自互联网
  • Shandong Anticancer Plasters is a black adhesive plaster spread upon a gauze. 本品为摊于布上的黑膏药。 来自互联网
16 affected TzUzg0     
adj.不自然的,假装的
参考例句:
  • She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
  • His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。
17 ranch dAUzk     
n.大牧场,大农场
参考例句:
  • He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
  • The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。
18 cooperative NZ5yS     
adj.有合作意向的,合作的;n.合作社(企业)等
参考例句:
  • The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作,所以工作进展顺利。
  • We decided to set up a cooperative.我们决定开办一家合作社。

本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎 点击提交 分享给大家。