Five famous symbols of American culture美国文化的五大象征

Five Famous Symbols of American CultureThe Statue of LibertyIn the mid-1870s, French artist Frederic Auguste Bartholdi was working on an enormous projectcalled 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. Hismother could not approve of her son's affection for a woman she had never met, but Bartholdi wentahead and married his love in 1876.That same year Bartholdi had assembled the statue's right arm and torch, and displayed them inPhiladelphia. It is said that he had used his wife's arm as the model, but felt her face was too beautifulfor the statue. He needed someone whose face represented suffering yet strength, someone moresevere 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'sface and his wife's body, but Bartholdi called it "my daughter, Liberty".BarbieBefore all the different types of Barbie dolls for sale now, there was just asingle Barbie. Actually, hername was Barbara.Barbara Handler was the daughter of Elliot and Ruth Handler, co-founders of the Mattel ToyCompany. 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 havingthe 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 ateenager.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 worldevery 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 toplay with it," he said in 1993.American GothicGrant Wood instantly rose to fame in 1930 with his painting American Gothic, an often-copiedinterpretation of the solemn pride of American farmers. The painting shows a serious-looking man anda woman standing in front of a farmhouse. He was strongly influenced by medieval artists and inspiredby the Gothic window of an old farmhouse, but the faces in his composition were what captured theworld'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' necksa 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 boringlife.The Buffalo NickelToday, American coins honor prominent figures of the US government —mostly famous formerpresidents. But the Buffalo nickel, produced from 1913 to 1938, honored a pair of connected tragediesfrom the settlement of the American frontier — the destruction of the buffalo herds and the AmericanIndians.While white people had previously been used as models for most American coins, famed artist JamesEarle 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, Fraserwas 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 itshorns.Uncle SamFourteen-year-old Sam Wilson ran away from home to join his father and older brothers in the fightto liberate the American colonies from the British during the American Revolution. At age 23, hestarted 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, workingwith a man who had signed a contract with the government to provide meat to the army. Barrels ofmeat 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 andasked about the letters, acreative employee told him "US" was short for "Uncle Sam" Wilson. Soon soldiers were saying all Armysupplies were from "Uncle Sam".After the war, a character called Uncle Sam began appearing in political cartoons, his form evolvingfrom an earlier cartoon character called Brother Jonathan that was popular during the AmericanRevolution. Uncle Sam soon replaced Brother Jonathan as American's most popular symbol. The mostenduring portrait of Uncle Sam was created by artist James Montgomery Flagg in his famous armyrecruiting posters of World Wars I and II. That version — a tall man with white hair and a small whitebeard on his chin, a dark blue coat and a tall hat with stars on it — was a self-portrait ofFlagg.Words: 900 New Wordsstatue 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 Expressionswork 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 Namesthe 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）。

19世纪70年代中期，法国艺术家弗里德里克?奥古斯特?巴托尔迪正在设计一个大项目，名为“自由照耀世界”。

这是一座庆祝美国独立和美法联盟的纪念碑。

与此同时，他爱上了一位他在加拿大认识的女子。

他母亲不赞成自己的儿子和一个她没有见过的女子恋爱，然而巴托尔迪不为所动，和心中所爱于1876年结为伉俪。

同年，巴托尔迪组装完雕像的右臂和火炬，并将它们陈列在费城。

据说，他用了妻子的手臂为模本，但觉得她的脸太漂亮，不适合做雕像模本。

他需要这样一个女人：面容沧桑却不失坚定，庄重多于美丽。

他选择了自己的母亲。

1886年，自由女神像在纽约湾北部落成。

雕像综合了他母亲的脸和他妻子的身材，不过巴托尔迪称之为“我的女儿，自由之神”。

芭比娃娃在现今销售的各式各样的芭比娃娃之前，原本部门只有一种芭比娃娃。

实际上，她的名字叫芭芭拉。

芭芭拉*汉德勒是马特尔玩具公司的联合创始人艾略特和鲁思?汉德勒夫妇的女儿。

鲁思是在见到女儿玩纸娃娃之后才想到做芭比娃娃的。

芭比娃娃的三维模特是一个德国洋娃娃，一个哄成年人开心的礼物，被描绘成具有“风尘女子”的模样。

马特尔公司将这个娃娃做了一番改造，变成了体面而地道的美国版本，尽管胸围有些夸张。

它以当时10多岁的少女芭芭拉的名字命名。

自从1959年面世，芭比娃娃就成了全球公认的“娃娃女王”。

马特尔公司说，一般的美国女孩拥有10个芭比娃娃，全球每秒钟就有两个芭比娃娃售出。

如今芭芭拉已有60多岁了，她拒绝接受采访，但据说她非常喜欢芭比娃娃。

她可能是当今世上最著名的不为人知的人物了。

1961年，芭比娃娃的男朋友面世，按芭芭拉的弟弟肯的名字命名。

真正的肯于1994年去世。

他对令自己全家名扬天下的娃娃极为厌恶。

他在1993年说：“我可不想让我的孩子玩这洋娃娃。

”《美国哥特人》1930年，格兰特?伍德因其画作《美国哥特人》一举成名。

此画体现了美国农民庄严的自豪，常常被人复制。

画面展示了一位神色严肃的男子和一位女子站立在农舍之前。