时间:2019-02-05 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2008年(六月)


英语课

By Faiza Elmasry
Berkeley, CA
09 June 2008


Over the past century, the University of California at Berkeley has assembled a vast collection of East Asian treasures. Now in their new home on campus, the museum-quality materials are available for students to see, touch and study.
 






C.V. Starr Library is the first freestanding building ever constructed to house an East Asian collection in the United States




In the middle of the Berkeley campus stands the four-story C.V. Starr Library. "This is the first freestanding building ever constructed to house an East Asian collection in the United States," says library director Peter Zhou.

The new $46.4 million facility brings together under one roof collections of wood-block prints, rare maps, scrolls 2, manuscripts and much more.
 






Library Director Peter Zhou says he hopes the facility will be the place where the West meets and understands the East




"We have over 900,000 volumes in our collections, covering all fields of humanities and social sciences," Zhou says. "We collect materials from primarily 3 countries: China, Japan and Korea. In terms of languages, all collections are in Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Tibetan, some Mongolian and some Manchu."

"We have items that simply couldn't be purchased today no matter at what price tag," says Deborah Rudolph, executive manager of the library.

"A lot of these books have annotations 3, which may give a scholar insights into the way a particular work was received at that time," Rudolph says.
 






Deborah Rudolph says they have items that are simply priceless




The library also has a lot of manuscripts that have never been published, some by well-known intellectuals, she says. "We have other items that are simply unique. They have never been reprinted, like some of the rubbings. Many of the objects these rubbings were taken from no longer exist. So, they are unique records."

The library is named after the late Cornelius Vander Starr, a UC Berkeley alumnus with a deep interest in Asia. Starr made his fortune in the insurance industry and the Starr Foundation contributed $8 million to the project.

Since it opened two months ago, the library has attracted scholars from universities across Asia, visitors from the Asian American community, and many of Berkeley's professors and their students.

Art History professor Patricia Berger brings her class to the library for a weekly seminar. She says they focus on two particular categories.
 






Art History professor Patricia Berger and her class come to the library to see unique art items




"First, a group of books and albums that have some of the great plays and novels that were written in China from the 15th to the 18th centuries," she says. "Also we looked at rubbings taken from stone engravings. Some of the great sculpture monuments in China are represented here in rubbing form. It's wonderful. This is an early way of producing things before photography."

Graduate students Sung Lim Kim and Michelle Wang say visiting the library with their professor adds to their understanding.

"It really helped me to learn from my professors, from librarians, for example, how to unroll and roll a hanging scroll 1, how to flip 4 over pages, how to cover my breath when I look at these thousands-year-old books and paintings and stuff," Kim says.

"I never had an opportunity to be up-close and personal with these objects," Wang adds. "In Taiwan, when I was in the National Palace Museum, you know, there are very thick glasses between you and the object. But when I came to Berkeley, it became this unique opportunity to actually see or handle some of the materials."

Having all the university's East Asian collections in one place benefits students like Louis Habbersted, who is working toward a doctorate 5 degree in Chinese History.

"Before, there were three libraries where the materials were, all scattered 6 around the campus," he says. "So sometimes you might look up something in the main library, but find you have actually to walk across to the other library, which was really frustrating 7. Here you can get to all materials, which makes it a lot more convenient."
 






The library's reading hall has large windows overlooking a grove 8 of oak trees that let in plenty of light




The library's reading hall has large windows overlooking a grove of oak trees that let in plenty of light. The space attracts many students who are not majoring in East Asian studies. Randal Brown, who is studying South East Asian Political Economy, is one of them.

"The atmosphere is very attractive, the natural lighting," he says. "It's a new facility on campus. It also provides kind of a unique intellectual connection. The groups of young intellectuals that are attracted here, I think this is appealing."

Library Director Peter Zhou is delighted by students' feedback. He says he hopes the facility will continue to support research and the exchange of ideas, and be the place where the West meets and understands the East.



n.卷轴,纸卷;(石刻上的)漩涡
  • As I opened the scroll,a panorama of the Yellow River unfolded.我打开卷轴时,黄河的景象展现在眼前。
  • He was presented with a scroll commemorating his achievements.他被授予一幅卷轴,以表彰其所做出的成就。
n.(常用于录写正式文件的)纸卷( scroll的名词复数 );卷轴;涡卷形(装饰);卷形花纹v.(电脑屏幕上)从上到下移动(资料等),卷页( scroll的第三人称单数 );(似卷轴般)卷起;(像展开卷轴般地)将文字显示于屏幕
  • Either turn it off or only pick up selected stuff like wands, rings and scrolls. 把他关掉然后只捡你需要的物品,像是魔杖(wand),戒指(rings)和滚动条(scrolls)。 来自互联网
  • Ancient scrolls were found in caves by the Dead Sea. 死海旁边的山洞里发现了古代的卷轴。 来自辞典例句
n.注释( annotation的名词复数 );附注
  • I wrote annotations in the margin of the book. 我在书的边缘作注。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • My annotations appear in square brackets. 在方括号里有我给的注解。 来自辞典例句
vt.快速翻动;轻抛;轻拍;n.轻抛;adj.轻浮的
  • I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书,看来似乎很有趣。
  • Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。
n.(大学授予的)博士学位
  • He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
  • Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士?
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的
  • Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来,塞进文件夹里。
adj.产生挫折的,使人沮丧的,令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 );挫败;使受挫折;令人沮丧
  • It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间,真令人懊恼。
  • It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》
n.林子,小树林,园林
  • On top of the hill was a grove of tall trees.山顶上一片高大的树林。
  • The scent of lemons filled the grove.柠檬香味充满了小树林。
学英语单词
alembics
alkaline-resistant mortar
archaeological remote sensor
aridum
ars longa,vita brevis
arsenical dip
arteriae mediastinales ventrales
as if one owned the place
auctioneer's commission
bed moisture
bending magnet
blockhole
chelifers
chlorthal dimethyl
closed cardiac massage
clutch release fork lever
Coalgate
constant, gradient
cow-parsleys
decoding memory drive
ease of use
electron beam probe
elliptical wave guide
end shield
estaminet
ex facie absolute disposition
exon-introns
eye-nut
farm drain tile
Felidae
fire-refining copper
free aquifer
gas-mileage test
Granta
half-lights
haydars
hemuse
hose union
hydrosulfuric acid
Imperial Medical Academy
Ipatovskiy Rayon
isothermal-orthogonal system of curves
labelled antigen
leclairs
lobes of mammary gland
map factor
martail
Master in Business Administration
mckimmie
medieval mode
medmenhams
Miaotse
microcephalous
mode of processor operation
montan wax
multi-product firm
nontrailable switch
oatess
odman
pacificus
pencil pitch
periscope hole
pouring machine
primary listing
profit forecast
pudding-bowls
regeneration theory
regenerus
rfa (radio-frequency authorizations)
rice stem nematode
Roquemaure
rough crepe
Rueda de Jalón
rynchopss
sandshoe crusher
sardonic expression
scoradato
screw gearing
securities borrowing
securities in portfolio
Shorea assamica
simple steam-engine
singlet scattering
Skoonspruit
stitching horse
subconducting
suberite
subscaphocephaly
surveying compass
tail vane
teletranscription
tent circus
thailan
the Reign of Terror
therps
took our breath away
trezetas
unsistered
Vila Franca das Naves
vorticity in isotropic turbulence
waxiest
with-in