VOA常速英语2014--玫瑰花车游行推广品牌与事业（在线收听）

Rose Bowl Floats Promote Brands, Causes 玫瑰花车游行推广品牌与事业

PASADENA — Volunteers are busy decorating floats for the Rose Parade, which will take place January 1 in Pasadena, California.  Dozens of organizations and companies  are ready to promote their causes and products with the rolling displays covered with petals, leaves and seeds.

帕萨迪纳 — 志愿工作者正在为玫瑰游行的花车进行装饰，这个游行每年都在1月1号在加州的帕萨迪纳举行。游行也包括鼓乐队游行，它总是在元旦的玫瑰碗大学美式足球赛之前举行。在元 旦花车游行之前，让我们来看看花车的准备工作。

One California warehouse is a sea of color, as volunteer decorators like Anita Vandervelden place flowers, seeds and other vegetation over each square centimeter of   every parade float.

数千名义工正在将花朵、种子和其他植物放到游行花车的每一平方公分表面上。

“A lot of work, but it's a lot of fun.  You get a job given to you and do you do it and move on to the next,” she said.

Volunteer Virginia Brownworth came all the way from Minnesota to help out.

义工阿尼塔·范德威尔顿说： “它很费工夫，不过也很好玩。你拿到分配给你的工作，把它做好，然后接着做下一个工作。”

“We work with seeds, we work with flowers, we work with glue, we work with pins, just a variety of materials,” she said.

义工维吉尼亚·布朗沃斯说： “我们用了种子，我们也用了花，还有粘胶和针，各式各样的材料都有。”

For Meg Farrell, the parade provides a chance to tell the story of her mother, and of 1,000 other members of the Women Airforce Service Pilots during World War II.    The volunteers flew aircraft from base to base to free up male pilots for combat.

对美格·法瑞尔来说，这个游行让她有机会告诉人们关于她母亲，还有1000名其他在二战期间担任妇女空军飞行员义工的故事。她们将飞机从一个基地运到另一个基地，以便让男飞行员能够 投入战斗。

“We feel that putting a float in the Rose Parade is one way to get the message out that these women served our country and helped to successfully conclude the war,”   Farrell said.

The aviation-theme float has flowers in the shape of 38 stars, in memory of the women who lost their lives in training or transport accidents.

义工美格·法瑞尔说： “我们认为在玫瑰游行里加入一部花车是将信息传出去的一种方式，它告诉世人，这些妇女为我们国家做出奉献并成功地协助将战争终结。”

 Others also are using the Rose Parade to make a statement.  Gay couple Aubrey Loots and Danny Leclair will celebrate their marriage atop a float shaped like a wedding   cake, an entry sponsored by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

其他人也利用玫瑰花车游行发出信息。奥布瑞·鲁茨和丹尼·勒克莱尔是一对同性恋伴侣。他们将在一个结婚蛋糕形状的花车上庆祝他们的婚礼。他们的花车是由艾滋病健保基金会赞助。

奥布瑞·鲁茨同丹尼·勒克莱尔是同性恋伴侣。

“This is the first same-sex marriage on top of a float in a Rose Bowl Parade,” Leclair said.

勒克莱尔说：“这是首次在玫瑰碗游行中有同性婚姻在一部花车上举行。”

“In front of millions of people around the world, so it's exciting,” said Loots.

鲁茨说：“在全球千百万人面前结婚，这令人感到非常兴奋。”

A non-profit group is promoting animal welfare and another will highlight the role of police dogs.  An entry from the SeaWorld amusement parks depicting orca whales   has sparked some controversy, drawing protests from an animal welfare organization that alleges the parks abuse those sea creatures.

其他团体有人推动动物福利，也有一个团体在提醒人们认识警犬的角色。都乐食品公司则是以一个热带主题推广它的品牌。

The Dole Food Company is promoting its brand of fruits and vegetables with a tropical-themed entry.  Dole executive Dave Spare says that for three years in a row, the   company has had award-winning parade floats.

都乐公司主管戴维·斯佩尔说，连续3年该公司的花车都得奖。

“The biggest prize in the parade is called the Sweepstakes Award.  It's for the most beautiful entry, and we've won it the last three years, and God willing, we'll   win it again,” he said.

都乐食品公司戴维·斯佩尔说：“游行的最大奖叫做独得大奖。它是颁给游行中最美丽的花车，我们已经在过去3年里赢得这个大奖，如果上帝保佑的话，我们今年也会再度赢得这个奖。”

But there is more decorating to do, as the hours tick down to the start of the parade. On Wednesday, hundreds of thousands of people will line the parade route, and   tens of millions more will watch on television. 不过在游行之前，还有更多的装饰工作要做。星期三，有数十万人排列在游行路线旁观赏花车，还有更多人在电视上欣赏了这个每年一度的新年盛事。