THIS IS AMERICA - Pulitzer Prizes

THIS IS AMERICA - Pulitzer Prizes
By Jerilyn Watson

Broadcast: Monday, April 19, 2004

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA, in VOA Special English. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Doug Johnson. Today we tell about the Pulitzer Prizes. These important yearly awards honor the best in American newspaper reporting, books and the arts.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

 
Joseph Pulitzer
Columbia University in New York City has awarded the Pulitzer Prizes since nineteen-seventeen. The newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer established the prize. Mister Pulitzer was born in Hungary in eighteen-forty-seven. He moved to the United States and settled in Saint Louis, Missouri. He became a newspaper reporter.

In eighteen-eighty-three, Joseph Pulitzer bought the New York World. Soon it sold more copies than any other newspaper in the country.

VOICE TWO:

Mister Pulitzer died in nineteen-eleven. He left two-million dollars to Columbia University. Part of this money was to establish a graduate school of journalism¹ to train reporters. He wanted the rest of the money to be used as prizes for the best writing in the United States.

 
Graphic² Image
Each year, judges from around the country choose the best American journalism. They also recognize the best books, drama, poetry and music. This year's winners were announced two weeks ago. They were honored for work done during two-thousand-three.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Anthony Shadid of the Washington Post newspaper was in Baghdad, Iraq when he heard that he had won a Pulitzer Prize. Mister Shadid won the international reporting award for his work in Iraq before, during and after the war. The Pulitzer Prize judges praised his ability to describe the conditions and feelings of Iraqis. They noted³ that he did so while he himself was in danger.

The Los Angeles Times newspaper, in California, won five Pulitzer Prizes. That was the second largest number ever won by a newspaper. The New York Times holds the record for Pulitzer Prizes. It won seven of these awards in two-thousand-two. The awards mainly honored reporting about the attacks against the United States on September eleventh, two-thousand-one.

VOICE TWO:

More than ninety reporters at the Los Angeles Times earned a Pulitzer Prize for timely news reporting. Their stories were about wildfires that struck a large area of southern California last year. The deadly fires caused millions of dollars in damage.

The Los Angeles Times also won the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting. Four of its reporters wrote about Wal-Mart. This company has become the largest in the world. Its stores sell many kinds of goods at reduced prices. The stories told about Wal-Mart's effects on American communities and developing nations. Abigail Goldman, Nancy Cleeland, Evelyn Iritani and Tyler Marshall wrote the stories.

VOICE ONE:Los Angeles Times writer Daniel Neil became the first automobile⁴ writer ever to win the Pulitzer Prize for criticism. He was honored for his reporting and commentary about cars. Pulitzer officials said Mister Neil's stories made interesting observations about human nature and American culture.

William Stall of the Los Angeles Times won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. Mister Stall writes opinion pieces for the newspaper. His work included editorials about the problems of the state government of California. Mister Stall also proposed possible solutions. His editorials appeared after California voters removed former Governor Gray Davis from office and replaced him with current Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

VOICE TWO:

Pictures of the war in Liberia earned the feature photography prize for Carolyn Cole of the Los Angeles Times. Mizz Cole's photographs especially showed the suffering of innocent civilians⁵.

Photography during armed conflict also brought a Pulitzer Prize to David Leeson and Cheryl Diaz Meyer. They work for the Dallas Morning News in Texas. Judges honored them for pictures they took during the war in Iraq. The judges said they succeeded in capturing both the war's violence and sadness.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The Wall Street Journal newspaper in New York City won two Pulitzer Prizes. The judges honored Wall Street Journal reporters Kevin Helliker and Thomas M. Burton. They won the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting. They wrote ten stories explaining aneurysms. A problem in a blood vessel⁶ wall causes this serious medical condition. Last year, many Americans suffered from aneurysms – including reporter Kevin Helliker. He survived the sometimes deadly problem to write about it.

Education writer Daniel Golden of the Wall Street Journal won the Pulitzer Prize for continued excellent reporting about one subject. Mister Golden told how some American colleges choose students. He reported that these colleges are more likely to accept students whose parents graduated from the college. He also wrote that the children of people who give money to the colleges are also more likely to be accepted.

VOICE TWO:

The New York Times won the Pulitzer Prize for public service. Reporters David Barstow and Lowell Bergman told of harmful conditions in the nation's factories. Their stories showed how some employers violated safety rules. The reporters said the employers did not fear punishment for violations⁷ that led to deaths and injuries. The newspaper and Times Television cooperated with American and Canadian public television for one series of stories on the subject. It was called "Dangerous Business." Mister Bergman wrote a second series called "When Workers Die."

VOICE ONE:

Three writers for The Blade newspaper in Toledo, Ohio were awarded Pulitzer Prizes for investigative reporting. Mitch Weiss, Michael D. Sallah and Joe Mahr wrote about a United States Army group during the Vietnam War. They produced evidence that some Tiger Force members killed many unarmed civilians during that war.

Leonard Pitts won the commentary prize. He was honored for his stories in the Miami Herald⁸ newspaper in Florida. Mister Pitts wrote about subjects including marriages between people of the same sex and rap music.

Matt Davies of The Journal News in White Plains, New York was honored for his editorial cartoon drawings. Mister Davies' winning drawings targeted political events.For the first time, no Pulitzer Prize was awarded for feature writing this year. The judges could not agree on a winner.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Judges for the Pulitzer Prize gave seven awards for the arts. Anne Applebaum won for a general nonfiction book. Her book is called "Gulag: A History. " It tells about punishment labor⁹ camps in the former Soviet¹⁰ Union.

William Taubman also wrote about the former Soviet Union. His book, "Khrushchev: The Man and His Era" tells about former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. It won the Pulitzer Prize for biography, a book about someone's life. Mister Taubman spent twenty years researching and writing the book.

VOICE ONE:

Edward P. Jones was honored for his book, "The Known World." It won the Pulitzer Prize for a work of fiction. The book tells a story about a black man who owned slaves in the southern United States.

A nonfiction book about African American life in the United States won the Pulitzer Prize for history. Steven Hahn wrote "A Nation Under Our Feet: Black Political Struggles in the Rural South from Slavery to the Great Migration¹¹."

VOICE TWO:

Musician Paul Moravec won for his composition called "Tempest Fantasy." Mister Moravec says his instrumental chamber¹² piece is linked to William Shakespeare's play "The Tempest." Mister Moravec creates tonal music – music with traditional melody.

Doug Wright won the Pulitzer Prize for drama for his play, "I Am My Own Wife." In this unusual drama, one actor takes the part of more than thirty-six people. It is playing on Broadway in New York City. One critic said the play should receive every prize that exists.

Franz Wright won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry for his collection, "Walking to Martha's Vineyard." Martha's Vineyard is an island in the Atlantic Ocean near the state of Massachusetts. Mister Wright's father, James Wright, won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in nineteen-seventy-two.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Caty Weaver¹³. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Doug Johnson. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

1 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

2 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

4 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

5 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

6 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

7 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

8 herald   

vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎

参考例句：

• In England, the cuckoo is the herald of spring.在英国杜鹃鸟是报春的使者。
• Dawn is the herald of day.曙光是白昼的先驱。

9 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

10 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

11 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

12 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

13 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。