AMERICAN MOSAIC - Music from Los Lonely Boys / Question abou

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - Music from Los Lonely Boys / Question about Helen Keller / A new place for Cereal Lovers
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Broadcast: Friday, January 21, 2005

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HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA. Special English.

I'm Doug Johnson. On our show this week:

Music from Los Lonely Boys ...

A question about Helen Keller ...

And a new place for cereal lovers.

Cereal Bars

HOST:

 
AP Photo
Students at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia have a new place to go to eat. It serves many different kinds of ... cereal. Bob Doughty² explains.

BOB DOUGHTY: The Cereality Cereal Bar and Cafe is supposed to feel more like a home than a business. Servers are dressed in sleep clothes. Some students sit at a big table as they eat their cereal. They watch cartoons on a television, probably just like they did as children. Tired students lie on a couch. Still others read their computer mail.

Cereal is what millions of people eat for breakfast. But at this place, it is eaten not just for the first meal of the day, but for any meal.

Most of the popular cereals that Americans buy contain oats, corn, wheat or rice. Some contain lots of added sugars. This may help explain why many college kids are big cereal eaters.

More than thirty kinds of cold cereal are served at the Cereality Cereal Bar and Cafe. Students can choose from kinds like Cheerios, Corn Chex and Cap'n Crunch³ to Frosted Flakes⁴, Cocoa Puffs⁵ and Lucky Charms.

Also on the menu are more than thirty kinds of toppings to put on the cereal, from nuts and fruit to candies. And there are several kinds of milk, including soy milk. People can also order hot cereals and, true to the name of the place, cereal bars. These you hold in your hand.

The two businessmen who opened the cafe at the University of Pennsylvania tested the idea first at the University of Arizona in Tempe. Now they are looking at other cities and other kinds of places to offer people their favorite breakfast cereal any time of day.

Helen Keller

DOUG JOHNSON: Our VOA listener question this week comes from Kharkov, Ukraine. Sergey D. asks about the life of Helen Keller.

 
Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan
Helen Keller was born in eighteen eighty in a small town in Alabama, in the American South. She developed an infection at the age of nineteen months. She lost her ability to see and hear.

When Helen was seven years old, her parents hired a special teacher. The teacher was Anne Sullivan. She herself had once been almost completely blind, but regained⁶ her sight.

Anne Sullivan began teaching Helen the names of things. Miss Sullivan formed letters with her finger in Helen's hand to spell out words. Helen learned more and more words. She learned how to use her hands to speak for her. In addition to sign language, Helen also learned to use her voice.

Later, she learned to read Latin, Greek, French and German. She read with her fingers using the braille system of raised dots. She also learned to use a typewriter.

Anne Sullivan stayed with Helen Keller for many years. She helped her get ready for school and college. Helen Keller was sixteen years old when she started at Radcliffe College in Massachusetts. She completed her studies with honors in nineteen oh four.

Helen Keller worked for many years for the American Foundation for the Blind. She met with presidents and traveled to many countries. She wrote books and articles. She showed other disabled people that they, too, could succeed.

Helen Keller died in nineteen sixty-eight. Her life story has been told in books, plays and movies. "Life," she said, "is either a daring adventure or it is nothing."

Los Lonely Boys

HOST:

A group called Los Lonely Boys is enjoying much success these days. Their first album has sold more than one million copies. And the band has four nominations⁷ at the Grammy Awards next month, including Best New Artist. Barbara Klein has our story.

 
Graphic⁸ Image
BARBARA KLEIN: Los Lonely Boys are three brothers. Henry Garza plays the guitar. JoJo Garza plays the bass⁹. And Ringo Garza Junior plays the drums. They grew up in a small town in Texas. They performed with their father, a successful musician.

Another Texas musician, Willie Nelson, calls Los Lonely Boys his favorite new band. The brothers performed with him on the album "Outlaws¹⁰ and Angels." One of the songs is "Cisco Kid."

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Los Lonely Boys recorded their first album at Willie Nelson's studio in Austin, Texas. The title song is nominated for Record of the Year and Best Pop Performance Grammys. Here is "Heaven."

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Los Lonely Boys are not so lonely. They have been called one of the most exciting acts performing today. They mix the sounds of Mexican music with American rock and blues¹¹.

We leave you with another song nominated for a Grammy, this one for best rock instrumental performance. Here are Los Lonely Boys with "Onda."

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DOUG JOHNSON: This is Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program. The writers were Nancy Steinbach and Jerilyn Watson. Our producer was Caty Weaver¹².

Send your questions about American life to [email protected]. Be sure to include your full name and mailing address. Or write to American Mosaic, V.O.A. Special English, Washington, D.C., two-zero-two-three-seven, U.S.A.

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, V.O.A.'s radio magazine in Special English.

1 mosaic   

n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的

参考例句：

• The sky this morning is a mosaic of blue and white.今天早上的天空是幅蓝白相间的画面。
• The image mosaic is a troublesome work.图象镶嵌是个麻烦的工作。

2 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

3 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

4 flakes   

小薄片( flake的名词复数 )； （尤指）碎片； 雪花； 古怪的人

参考例句：

• It's snowing in great flakes. 天下着鹅毛大雪。
• It is snowing in great flakes. 正值大雪纷飞。

5 puffs   

n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• We sat exchanging puffs from that wild pipe of his. 我们坐在那里，轮番抽着他那支野里野气的烟斗。 来自辞典例句
• Puffs of steam and smoke came from the engine. 一股股蒸汽和烟雾从那火车头里冒出来。 来自辞典例句

6 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

7 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

8 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。

9 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

10 outlaws   

歹徒，亡命之徒( outlaw的名词复数 )； 逃犯

参考例句：

• During his year in the forest, Robin met many other outlaws. 在森林里的一年，罗宾遇见其他许多绿林大盗。
• I didn't have to leave the country or fight outlaws. 我不必离开自己的国家，也不必与不法分子斗争。

11 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

12 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。