节目资讯
刊物:空中英語教室
日期:2012-04-04
难易度:Low
关键字:quilt, exhibit, luxury, inn, textile
Hi, everybody.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
So happy you've joined us.
My name is Steve.
Are you looking for a peaceful escape from life in the city?
Well, come with us to Washington State's Skagit Valley.
We're learning what simple country living is like at the annual Tulip Festival
and on the scenic Skagit Bay boat tour.
We peeked inside the old Lincoln Theater, which is still in use today.
Now we'll continue to look back into Skagit Valley's history with a quick stop
at the Quilt and Textile Museum on page 14.
(Music).
Washington State's Skagit Valley.
Quilt and Textile Museum.
Tourists can explore the Quilt and Textile Museum and learn how cloth creations
can be art.
This museum offers an interesting collection of quilts and other things.
The items on display show the different styles of textile art.
The museum collects and exhibits quilts from all over the world.
Some of the items are nearly 200 years old.
Even the museum building is a trip into history.
It's called Gaches Mansion, and it was built in 1891.
(Music).
Hello, friends.
Thank you so much for joining us here in the studio.
My name is Kaylah.
And my name is Brandon.
We welcome you to our third day here talking about Skagit Valley, Washington.
We've talked a lot already about this place in Washington State, Kaylah.
You can go and see beautiful flowers.
You can take a boat ride.
And we also learn you can go to Lincoln Theater.
That's right.
There's lots to do in Skagit Valley.
Even though it's a non-urban area, it is a countryside, there's still lots to
see and do if you have a good imagination.
Well, the next thing we're going to talk about is more art-based.
And now we are visiting a Quilt and Textile Museum.
And so if you think of a "quilt," it's something that is very beautiful,
actually.
People make quilts, and they have a very decorative style.
You can use them for decorations.
That's right.
Quilts are very beautiful covers that you put on your bed.
It's more than just one color.
Quilt, Brandon, is usually made of different small pieces of material of
different colors and patterns and shapes that you put together to make a
beautiful design.
Now quilts are very popular in older cultures, and they're absolutely beautiful.
But Kaylah, we often have the word here "textile." And that just means a cloth
made by hand.
So this is a museum where you can go and see these different quilts and these...
different textile uses.
And you can go there and look at the beautiful handiwork that people have made.
That's right.
Different kinds of "materials" would be another word for textile.
So you can see these beautiful designs of quilts as well as new kinds of
materials, new beautiful creations.
We see that tourists, well, they can explore the Quilt and Textile Museum and
learn how cloth creations can be art.
If you create something, you can call that a creation.
That's right. We don't usually think of cloth or just a sheet for your bed as
art.
But these are art.
They are so beautiful.
They take lots of time to make and are very specific in the way you make them.
So they are art.
And this museum, well, it offers an interesting collection of quilts and other
things.
It offers a collection, a group of these things.
That's right. A collection is, as you said, a group of similarly related things.
So maybe you would like to collect baseball cards, you have a baseball card
collection.
But here we see a collection of art, textiles and quilts.
And the items on display, they show the different styles of textile art.
If something is on display, that means you are showing it to the public.
That's right, you can go and look at it.
And apparently, there's all different kinds of textile art.
Now Brandon, I am not familiar, I don't really know what textile art looks like.
So this might be a good place for me to visit so I can learn something.
That's a very good point.
I would like to learn more about that myself.
Maybe you would like to learn more about that.
Maybe you have a museum like this near you where you can go and check it out.
Well, this museum it collects and exhibits quilts from all over the world.
So it's not just from the state of Washington, but it's from all over the world.
And "exhibit" means to show publicly.
So it's very much like the word "display." But when we talk about an exhibit,
that means you're not allowed to touch it,
and usually it is in a museum-type setting.
So it is something that we can go look at.
That's right.
And Kaylah, you actually just used this word as a noun as well.
You can go to an exhibit.
But here we see it is used as a... verb.
It can... you can exhibit something as well; you can show it off.
That's right. And so you can look at things from around the world.
They're showing you all these different forms of art.
Well, some of the items are really old.
Some are nearly, which means very close to, 200 years old.
Wow! That is amazing.
And that's what I think makes this unique.
You can go there and see something that's really old, that's not something...
things that people just made last week or last month.
Well, even the museum building is a trip into history, Kaylah.
When we say a trip into history - that's an interesting phrase - we're referring
to... you get to visit or experience something from the past.
Kaylah, do you like to take trips into history?
Do you like history?
I love history so I like going and visiting places that are like visiting the
past.
And this building, the museum, is so old, it is a piece of historical art
itself.
And that's what I like.
I like to see old buildings, something that was built a very, very long time
ago.
Well, we see that the name of this building is called Gaches Mansion, and it was
built in 1891.
Now the word "mansion" means a very large home.
It is huge and usually very expensive.
But this home is no longer just someone's house.
It is now the museum and is still very old.
And this happens a lot of times.
Big, old houses are turned into museums because they're beautiful, and there's
some historical part to it.
And so people like to go in and tour the house or the building.
That's right.
And a mansion is big enough, it has enough rooms, so you can exhibit all
different kinds of art.
And that's exactly what they do here at what used to be Gaches Museum... and it
is... Gaches Mansion, and is now the Quilt and Textile Museum.
Well, we have more to talk about.
But right now we want to visit Ken in the Chat Room.
Hey, Bryan, that woman over there has been knitting for a few hours now.
Yes. She reminds me of my aunt Kathleen.
She made scarves, sweaters, mittens and hats.
She really mastered the art of knitting.
The art of knitting?
I thought art was something like paintings or sculpture that you'd see in a
museum.
Those are the most common examples of art.
But the word can refer to anything that uses creativity and skill.
You can talk about the art of knitting, cooking, sewing and even gardening.
So does that mean that when that woman finishes what she's making, it'll be a
work of art?
Well, actually we'd only call it a work of art if it comes out really beautiful.
And if something like knitting or cooking is done by someone who isn't very good
at it, we probably wouldn't call it an art either.
Interesting.
So when I hear something called an art, I know people are talking about it being
done well.
Yes. And there is actually an idiom that builds on that idea.
Oh, really? What is it?
When you say that someone has something down to a fine art, it means they do it
well usually because they've developed the skill over a long period of time.
So I could say that your aunt had knitting down to a fine art?
Yes. But the idiom can even be used to talk about things that don't seem
creative.
For example, I can say the people of the coffee shop across the street have
brewing coffee down to a fine art.
They sure do.
And you have explaining English idioms down to a fine art.
Thanks, Ken.