新视野大学英语读写教程第三册unit4-a Five Famous Symbols of American Cultur

Section (A)

Five Famous Symbols of American Culture

The Statue of Liberty

In the mid-1870s, French artist Frederic Auguste Bartholdi was working on an enormous project called Liberty Enlightening the World, a monument celebrating US independence and the France-America alliance. At the same time, he was in love with a woman whom he had met in Canada. His mother could not approve of her son's affection for a woman she had never met, but Bartholdi went ahead and married his love in 1876.

That same year Bartholdi had assembled the statue's right arm and torch, and displayed them in Philadelphia. It is said that he had used his wife's arm as the model, but felt her face was too beautiful for the statue. He needed someone whose face represented suffering yet strength, someone more severe than beautiful. He chose his mother.

The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on an island in Upper New York Bay in 1886. It had his mother's face and his wife's body, but Bartholdi called it "my daughter, Liberty".

Barbie

Before all the different types of Barbie dolls for sale now, there was just a single Barbie. Actually, her name was Barbara. Barbara Handler was the daughter of Elliot and Ruth Handler, co-founders of the Mattel Toy Company. Ruth came up with the idea for Barbie after watching her daughter play with paper dolls. The three-dimensional model for Barbie was a German doll — a joke gift for adults described as having the appearance of "a woman who sold sex". Mattel refashioned the doll into a decent, all-American — although with an exaggerated breast size — version and named it after Barbara, who was then a teenager.

Since her introduction in 1959, Barbie has become the universally recognized Queen of the Dolls. Mattel says the average American girl owns ten Barbie dolls, and two are sold somewhere in the world every second.

Now more than sixty years old, Barbara — who declines interviews but is said to have loved the doll - may be the most famous unknown figure on the planet. Barbie's boyfriend, Ken, was introduced in 1961 and named after Barbara's brother. The real Ken, who died in 1994, was disgusted by the doll that made his family famous. "I don't want my children to play with it," he said in 1993.

American Gothic

Grant Wood instantly rose to fame in 1930 with his painting American Gothic, an often-copied interpretation of the solemn pride of American farmers. The painting shows a serious-looking man and a woman standing in front of a farmhouse. He was strongly influenced by medieval artists and inspired by the Gothic window of an old farmhouse, but the faces in his composition were what captured the world's attention.

Wood liked to paint faces he knew well. For the grave farmer he used his dentist, a sour-looking man. For the woman standing alongside him, the artist chose his sister, Nan. He stretched the models' necks a bit, but there was no doubt who posed for the portrait. Nan later remarked that the fame she gained from American Gothic saved her from a very boring life.

The Buffalo Nickel

Today, American coins honor prominent figures of the US government — mostly famous former presidents. But the Buffalo nickel, produced from 1913 to 1938, honored a pair of connected tragedies from the settlement of the American frontier — the destruction of the buffalo herds and the American Indians.

While white people had previously been used as models for most American coins, famed artist James Earle Fraser went against tradition by using three actual American Indians as models for his creation. For the buffalo on the other side, since buffalo no longer wandered about the great grasslands, Fraser was forced to sketch an aging buffalo from New York City's Central Park Zoo. Two years later, in 1915, this animal was sold for $100 and killed for meat, a hide, and a wall decoration made from its horns.

Uncle Sam

Fourteen-year-old Sam Wilson ran away from home to join his father and older brothers in the fight to liberate the American colonies from the British during the American Revolution. At age 23, he started a meatpacking business and earned a reputation for being honest and hard working. During a later war in 1812, Wilson gained a position inspecting meat for US Army forces, working with a man who had signed a contract with the government to provide meat to the army. Barrels of meat supplied to the army were stamped "EA-US", identifying the company (EA) and country of origin (US).

According to one story, when a government official visited the plant and asked about the letters, a creative employee told him "US" was short for "Uncle Sam" Wilson. Soon soldiers were saying all Army supplies were from "Uncle Sam".

After the war, a character called Uncle Sam began appearing in political cartoons, his form evolving from an earlier cartoon character called Brother Jonathan that was popular during the American Revolution. Uncle Sam soon replaced Brother Jonathan as American's most popular symbol. The most enduring portrait of Uncle Sam was created by artist James Montgomery Flagg in his famous army recruiting posters of World Wars I and II. That version — a tall man with white hair and a small white beard on his chin, a dark blue coat and a tall hat with stars on it — was a self-portrait of Flagg.

Words: 900

New Words

　statue n. 雕像，塑像，铸像
　liberty n. 1.自由，自由权 2.许可，准许 3.放肆，无礼，冒昧行为
▲enlighten vt. 启发，开导
　monument n. 纪念碑，纪念馆
　alliance n. 同盟，联盟
　approve vi. 赞成，称许 vt. 批准，同意
　affection n. 1.喜爱 2.爱情，爱慕之情
　assemble vt. 组装，装配 v. （使）集合，（使）聚集
　torch n. 1.火炬 2.手电筒
　bay n. （海或湖泊的）湾
　exaggerate v. 夸张，夸大
　breast n. 1.乳房 2.前胸，胸部
　version n. 1.版本；型号 2.叙述，说法
　universal a. 1.全体的，一致的，普遍的 2.通用的，广泛的，万能的 3.宇宙的，全世界的
　Universally ad. 全体地，普遍地，无例外地
　sixty num. 六十，六十个
　fame n. 名誉，名望
　interpretation n. 1.解释，说明，描述 2.（表演、演奏的）艺术处理
　solemn a. 1.庄严的，肃穆的 2.严肃的
▲medieval a. 中古的，中世纪的
　inspire vt. 1.给……以灵感 2.鼓舞，激励
　grave a. 1.（指人）表情严肃的，端庄的 2.严重的 n. 坟墓，墓穴
▲dentist n. 牙科医生
　alongside prep. 在... ...旁边，和... ....一起 ad. 在旁边，并排地
　stretch vt. 1.拉长，拉紧，伸展 2.使尽全力，到（超过）... ... 的极限 vi. 扩展，延伸，延续
　portrait n. 肖像，画像
◆buffalo n. 水牛，野牛
▲nickel n. （美国或加拿大的）五分镍币，五分钱
　tragedy n. 1.悲剧，惨案，不幸的事件 2.悲剧（艺术）
　settlement n. 1.殖民，移民，拓居 2.解决；协议
　frontier n. 1.边境，边界，（美国靠近未开发地带的）边远地区 2.前沿，新领域
　herd n. 兽群， 牧群 vt. 使集中在一起，把……赶在一起
　horn n. 1.（牛、羊、鹿等的）角 2.喇叭，号角，警报器
　liberate vt. 解放，释放
　reputation n. 名声，名望
　inspect vt. 1.检查 2.视察
　contract n. 合同，契约 v. 订合同，订契约
　evolve v. （使）演变，（使）演化，（使）发展
　recruit vt. 招募，征兵，吸收（新成员） n. 新兵，新成员
　poster n. 招贴（画），海报，布告
　beard n. 胡子，胡须
　chin n. 下巴

Phrases and Expressions

　work on sth. 从事于，致力于
　be in love with sb. 与……恋爱，相爱
　approve of sth. 赞成，称许，满意
　go ahead 继续；进行
　for sale 出售，待售
　come up with 找到，想出（答案、解决办法等）
　rise to fame 成名
　name after sb. 以某人姓名命名
　save sb. from 拯救，使免于
　go against 与... ... 相反，违背
　run away from 突然离开，逃离

Proper Names

　the Statue of Liberty 自由女神像
　Frederic Auguste Bartholdi 弗里德里克·奥古斯特·巴托尔迪（1834-1904，法国雕塑家）
　Liberty Enlightening the World "自由照耀世界"
　Philadelphia 费城（美国宾夕法尼亚州东南部港市）
　New York Bay 纽约湾（靠美国纽约州东南岸和新泽西州东北岸，临哈得逊河）
　Barbie 芭比娃娃（一种十分畅销的金发碧眼玩具娃娃的商标名）
　Barbara Handler 芭芭拉·汉德勒
　Elliot Handler 艾略特·汉德勒
　Ruth Handler 鲁思·汉德勒
　Mattel Toy Company 马特尔玩具公司
　Ken 肯（人名）
　American Gothic 《美国哥特式》（格兰特·伍德的名画）
　Grant Wood 格兰特·伍德
　Nan 南（人名）
　Indian 印第安人
　James Earle Fraser 詹姆斯·厄尔·弗雷泽
　Central Park Zoo （纽约）中央公园动物园
　Uncle Sam 山姆大叔（指美国政府或美国人）
　Sam Wilson 山姆·威尔逊
　the American Revolution 美国独立战争（1775-1783）
　US Army 美国陆军
　Brother Jonathan 乔纳森大哥（原为18世纪英国兵对美国民兵的谑称，现可指美国或典型的美国男人）
　James Montgomery Flagg 詹姆斯·蒙哥马利·弗拉格（1877-1960，美国插图和广告画家）