AMERICAN MOSAIC - Olympic songs/question about Carnival in t

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ -February 15, 2002: Olympic songs/question about Carnival² in the US/a history of

African American hairstyles
HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC
—
VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.
(THEME)
This is Doug Johnson. On our program today we:
Play some songs for the Olympic Games ..
.
Answer a question about Carnival in the United States ..
.
And report about a museum show for Black History Month.

African American Hairstyle Exhibit

HOST:

A show about the history of African American hair is taking place at a museum near Washington, D.C. The
expressive³ nature of African American hairstyles is celebrated⁴ through pictures, drawings and historical objects.
Barbara Klein tells us about it.

ANNCR:

The exhibit is at the Montpelier Cultural Arts Center in Laurel, Maryland. It shows many different ways African
Americans have worn their hair during different periods in history. In Africa, as in other parts of the world,
hairstyles are linked to cultural identity. They show an individual’s group, age, sex, social position and
profession.

Traditional African hairstyles include braids and twists. Some of the more complex designs were produced with
bones, shells or seeds. Well-kept hair was important in African societies.

Hairstyling traditions of Africans greatly changed after they were brought to America as slaves. Long hours of
work in the fields left blacks too tired to produce traditional hairstyles. So they developed new ways to wear their
hair. Records show that slaves wore their hair in ways that established a link to their African past.

After slavery ended, blacks began accepting European ideas of beauty as a way to gain social acceptance and to
get jobs. However, attempts to straighten their curly⁵ hair were difficult and often dangerous. In the early
Nineteen-Hundreds, Madam C.J. Walker developed a product called the hot comb which made it easier for blacks
to straighten their hair. Her efforts made her very rich and also created thousands of jobs for women.

In the Nineteen-Sixties, the American civil rights movement led to a renewed interest in African culture. Blacks
began to celebrate their African appearance by wearing more natural hairstyles. For example, a natural hairstyle
called the Afro became very popular. The Afro also became linked with the Black Power Movement.

African Americans have continued to wear their hair in many different natural styles linked
to Africa. One example is a twisted hairstyle called dreadlocks. Dreadlocks were first worn
in Africa. The name dreadlocks came from early European travelers. They thought the style
was ugly or “dreadful⁶”
because it was not combed and grew into rope -like pieces. The
hairstyle is popular in Jamaica among members of a religious group called Rastafarians.

Experts say African-American hairstyles such as braids and dreadlocks have led to social
tensions, problems in the workplace and legal action. Exhibit organizers suggest this may be


because some people have not fully⁷ accepted the appearance of African American hair in any
style.

Carnival

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week comes from Brazil. Valmecir Jose de Souza asks about
Carnival celebrations in the United States.

The Carnival celebrations in Brazil are world famous. Each year, hundreds of thousands of people gather in the
city of Rio de Janeiro. They enjoy a series of lively parties and parades.

Carnival is a traditional time of celebration before the Christian⁸ season of Lent. Lent is a forty-day period of
spiritual renewal⁹ before the holiday of Easter. Carnival ends with a wild celebration on Mardi Gras, the Tuesday
before the start of Lent. This year, Mardi Gras was celebrated on February twelfth.

Traditionally, Mardi Gras is celebrated in many Roman Catholic¹⁰ countries and other communities. French
colonists¹¹ first celebrated Mardi Gras in what is now the United States in the Seventeen-Hundreds. Mardi Gras
means “Fat Tuesday”
in French. The tradition became popular in New Orleans, Louisiana and spread to
nearby areas. Today, Mardi Gras is a legal holiday in the states of Alabama, Florida and parts of Louisiana.

New Orleans is the oldest major city in the southern United States. It is known for its music, food, and noisy
celebrations. New Orleans has one of the world’s biggest Mardi Gras celebrations. Different groups called
krewes have parades. People wear strange, colorful clothes. Beautiful, sometimes frightening, masks cover their
faces. Dances and a huge party end the celebration on the night before Lent begins.

Several other American cities had their own celebrations this year. For example, the
Brazilian community in New York planned its own Carnival celebration. Part of
Saint¹² Louis, Missouri, held almost four weeks of parties and celebrations. The main
event was a parade last Saturday.

Another celebration was held in the Florida city of Leesburg. This was the fifth year
for Leesburg’s Mardi Gras celebration and parade. The celebration included music
shows, dancers, food and drinks. Organizers of the Leesburg event chose a man and

a woman to help lead the parade. They also named two dogs to lead a Mardi Gras parade for animals. Money
raised from the event went to the Leesburg Arts Center.

Olympics Music

HOST:

Athletes from around the world have come to the United States and are taking part in the Winter Olympic Games
in Salt Lake City, Utah. American television has been using a popular song to communicate this message. It is
“America,
”
written and performed by Neil Diamond.

((CUT 1: AMERICA))

Here is Shep O’Neal with some more Olympics music.

ANNCR:

American songwriter and conductor John Williams wrote music for the Olympic Games that were held in Los
Angeles, California, and Atlanta, Georgia. The theme from the Atlanta Games is called “Summon¹³ the Heroes.
”

((CUT 2: SUMMON THE HEROES))

John Williams also wrote the music for the Salt Lake City Olympics. He recorded it with the Utah Symphony¹⁴
Orchestra¹⁵. At the start, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir¹⁶ sings the three-word Olympic message, “Citius, Altius,


Fortius.
”
The words are Latin for “swifter, higher, stronger.
”
We leave you now with the official Salt Lake
City Olympics theme, “Call of the Champions.
”
((CUT 3: CALL OF THE CHAMPIONS)
)

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 George Grow, Cynthia Kirk and Nancy Steinbach. Our
studio engineer was Tom Verba. And our producer was Caty Weaver¹⁷.

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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 carnival   

n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演

参考例句：

• I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
• Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。

3 expressive   

adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的

参考例句：

• Black English can be more expressive than standard English.黑人所使用的英语可能比正式英语更有表现力。
• He had a mobile,expressive,animated face.他有一张多变的，富于表情的，生动活泼的脸。

4 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

5 curly   

adj.卷曲的，卷缩的

参考例句：

• The little boy has curly hair.这小男孩长着一头卷发。
• She is tall and dark with curly hair.她高高的个子，黑皮肤，卷头发。

6 dreadful   

adj.糟透了的，极端的，可怕的，令人畏惧的

参考例句：

• I cannot imagine what to do in this dreadful situation.我不能想像在这么糟的情况下该怎么办。
• I must apologize for the dreadful mistake I made.我为我所犯的严重错误深表歉意。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

9 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

10 catholic   

adj.天主教的；n.天主教徒

参考例句：

• The Pope is the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church.教皇是罗马天主教的最高领袖。
• She was a devoutly Catholic.她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。

11 colonists   

n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Colonists from Europe populated many parts of the Americas. 欧洲的殖民者移居到了美洲的许多地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some of the early colonists were cruel to the native population. 有些早期移居殖民地的人对当地居民很残忍。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 saint   

n.圣徒；基督教徒；vt.成为圣徒，把...视为圣徒

参考例句：

• He was made a saint.他被封为圣人。
• The saint had a lowly heart.圣人有谦诚之心。

13 summon   

vt.召唤，传唤，鼓起，振作，召集，召开

参考例句：

• He could not summon the courage to tell them about it.他鼓不起勇气告诉他们那件事。
• He pedaled off to summon a doctor.他骑脚踏车去叫医生。

14 symphony   

n.交响乐（曲），（色彩等的）和谐

参考例句：

• The Ninth Symphony of Beethoven is a famous one.贝多芬的第九交响乐非常有名。
• They play over the whole symphony.他们把整个交响乐重新演奏了一遍。

15 orchestra   

n.管弦乐队；vt.命令，定购

参考例句：

• He plays the violin in an orchestra.他在管弦乐队中演奏小提琴。
• I was tempted to stay and hear this superb orchestra rehearse.我真想留下来听这支高超的管弦乐队排练。

16 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

17 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。