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AMERICAN MOSAIC -January 4, 2002: Top books, movies and music of 2001
HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC —.. VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.
(THEME)
This is Doug Johnson. On our program today, we tell about the most popular books, movies and recordings of the
year Two-Thousand -One.
Top Books of 2001
HOST:
The newspaper USA Today recently listed the most popular books of last year in the United States. It creates the
list from information about the number of books sold during the year. Bob Doughty tells us about a few of them.
ANNCR:
Three of the top five books on the list are stories for children about a boy named Harry Potter. These books were
at the top of the list last year, too ... and the year before that. They are “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’.. s
Stone,” “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,”.. and “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.”..
They were written by British writer Joanne Rowling [ROE-ling].
On his eleventh birthday, Harry Potter learns that he has magical powers. He goes away to
the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. All the books tell about the adventures
of Harry and his friends at the Hogwarts School. Harry is usually in danger. He is
threatened by the evil Lord Voldemort.
Joanne Rowling has published four Harry Potter books so far. The fifth one is expected to
arrive in bookstores later this year.
USA Today says the second most popular book of the year was “Who Moved My
Cheese?”.. It was written by Spencer Johnson. The book gives advice about how people
can deal with changes in their lives.
The newspaper says the third ost popular book in the United States last year was “The Prayer of Jabez”.. (JAYbez).
It was written by an American Christian religious leader, Bruce Wilkinson.
In the Old Testament of the Bible, Jabez was a tribal leader whose prayer was answered by God. Mister
Wilkinson says in the book that the prayer of Jabez can help everyone who uses it. And he gives examples of
how the prayer has helped him in life.
Other religious leaders have criticized the book. But they also say it is meant to help people do good. They say
that praying each day will improve peoples’.. lives.
Top Movies of 2001
HOST:
At the end of the year, the American movie industry reports about the most popular movies of the year. The three
most popular movies last year were made for children. But many adults also enjoyed them.
The movie that earned the most money in ticket sales in the United States last year was
'Sorcerer's Stone':
The book ...
“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
”
It has earned more than two-hundred-ninety-fourmillion
dollars since it opened in November.
The movie is based on the international best selling book of the same name by British writer
Joanne Rowling. It tells the same story as the first book in the Harry Potter series. Harry learns
he has magical powers and spends his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry.
... and the movie.
As the movie was opening in November, its actors were beginning to film a movie based on the second book in
the series, “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
”
It will open next November. It will be interesting to see
if the second movie is as popular as the first one.
The second most popular movie of last year in the United States is called “Shrek”
. “Shrek”
earned more
than two-hundred-sixty-seven-million dollars since it opened in May.“Shrek”
is a computer-animated movie
about a huge, ugly, green man who saves the life and wins the love of a princess. Critics say both children and
their parents liked the lesson of the movie --that what a person thinks and feels are more important than what he
or she looks like.
The third most popular movie of the year in the United States was another computer-animated movie,
“Monsters, Inc.
”
It earned more than two-hundred-thirty-six-million dollars last year. It tells a story about two
creatures whose job is to scare children. But their movie adventure teaches the monsters that laughter is more
powerful than fear.
Top Recordings of 2001
HOST:
Each December, Billboard magazine lists the most popular albums, records and performers of the year. Jim
Tedder tells us about a few of them.
ANNCR:
Billboard magazine says the top record album of Two-Thousand -One was a surprise to
everyone. It was the Beatles’
greatest hits collection, called “One.
”
The magazine says this
is the first time in the history of their record-keeping that the Beatles had the most popular
album of the year.
“One”
includes twenty-seven Beatles songs that were number one hits when they were first
released. Among them is a song written and sung by George Harrison, who died last month. It
is called “Something.
”
((CUT 1: SOMETHING))
Billboard says the top country album of the year was also a “Greatest Hits
”
collection. It is by country singer
Tim McGraw. Here he sings “My Next Thirty Years.
”
((CUT 2: MY NEXT THIRTY YEARS))
Billboard says the top jazz album of the year was “The Look of Love”
by Diana Krall. The magazine also says
Diana Krall was the number one jazz album artist for the third year. We leave you now with a song from “The
Look of Love”
album. It is called “Dancing in the Dark.
”
((CUT 3: DANCING IN THE DARK))
HOST:
This is Doug Johnson . I hope you enjoyed our program today. And I hope you will join us again next week for
AMERICAN MOSAIC
—
VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.
This AMERICAN MOSAIC program was written by Nancy Steinbach. Our studio engineer was Tom Verba.
And our producer was Paul Thompson.
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