VOA标准英语2013--Russians, Americans Build Musical Bridges

 

Russians, Americans Build Musical Bridges

MOSCOW — In the early 1960s, at the height of the Cold War, the Yale Russian Chorus came to Moscow to break the ice between the Soviet¹ Union and the United States.

Fast forward 50 years and Americans and Russians are once again using music to defrost the chill between their two countries.

The turn to culture comes as relations between the two nations have hit their low point since the end of the Soviet Union.

Mikhail Prokhorov is a leading Russian businessman and opposition² politician. He owns the New York basketball team, the Brooklyn Nets. In late April, he brought the rap group IllStyle and Peace Productions from Philadelphia to Moscow.

“It is very difficult to maintain stable political relations,” Prokhorov said at a press conference. “That’s why I believe that culture, art and sport are the areas on which we should concentrate deeply, and do everything so that mutual³ trust and good relations between our people continue to develop.”

The American hip⁴ hip group is touring Moscow and Siberia as part of Transcultural Express, an exchange supported by the Mikhail Prokhorov Fund.

“A major cultural exchange between our countries will force our politicians to listen to one another better,” said Prokhorov, who ran for president of Russia last year.

“When people communicate directly, their general interests regarding culture, literature and fine art allows for the strengthening of relations.”

Karen Hopkins, president of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, helped to arrange the Russia tour.

“I think that the IllStyle troupe⁵ is going to be a huge success in Russia,” she said in Moscow. “They’re so talented, they’re so young, they’re so athletic⁶, they’re so urban, they’re so American.”

A few days earlier, Irvin Mayfield and his New Orleans Jazz Orchestra played to a packed house in Spaso House, the residence of the United States Ambassador to Russia.

“It’s played an important role because the political relationship’s always been difficult, and was particularly difficult during Cold War times,” said U.S. Embassy public affairs counselor⁷ Jeffrey Sexon of the role of music.

“The United States government has traditionally invested a lot of money in cultural diplomacy⁸ in Russia,” he added. “And we’ve found it to be a very effective tool in communicating with Russians, precisely⁹ because they love culture so much themselves here.”

Indeed, The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra played in the same Spaso House ballroom¹⁰ where the Yale Russian Chorus enchanted¹¹ Soviet audiences half a century ago. 

1 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。

2 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

3 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

4 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

5 troupe   

n.剧团，戏班；杂技团；马戏团

参考例句：

• The art troupe is always on the move in frontier guards.文工团常年在边防部队流动。
• The troupe produced a new play last night.剧团昨晚上演了一部新剧。

6 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

7 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

8 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

9 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

10 ballroom   

n.舞厅

参考例句：

• The boss of the ballroom excused them the fee.舞厅老板给他们免费。
• I go ballroom dancing twice a week.我一个星期跳两次交际舞。

11 enchanted   

adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She was enchanted by the flowers you sent her. 她非常喜欢你送给她的花。
• He was enchanted by the idea. 他为这个主意而欣喜若狂。