AMERICAN MOSAIC - New Rock and Roll Hall of Famers / New Yor

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ -March 29, 2002: New Rock and Roll Hall of Famers / New York's Tribute in Light /

Women's History Month
HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC
—
VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.
(THEME)
This is Doug Johnson. On our program today we:
Play music by some new members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ..
.
Answer a question about a memorial light in New York City ..
.
And celebrate National Women’s History Month.

Women’s History Month

HOST:

March is National Women’s History Month. It honors women who have improved life in
the United States. The National Women’s History Project is one organization that honors
women this month. It was established in Nineteen-Eighty to record and recognize
women’s influence on society. It is honoring six women this year. Shep O’Neal tells us
about them.

ANNCR:

The six women being honored are all more than seventy years old. They have worked to
keep history and cultural traditions alive and to improve people’s lives.

Historian Gerda Lerner was born to a Jewish family in Vienna, Austria in Nineteen -Twenty. She came to the
United States in Nineteen-Thirty-Eight after resisting Nazi² oppression. Miz Lerner helped establish women’s
history as an important subject for study. In Nineteen-Eighty -One, she became the first woman in fifty years to
head the Organization of American Historians.

Native American storyteller Mary Louise Defender³ Wilson is being honored for helping⁴ keep alive the spirit of
the Dakotah-Hidatsa tribes. She has traveled around the United States to tell stories about heroes, birds, plants
and animals.

Human rights activist⁵ Dorothy Height is also being honored this month. She was born in Nineteen-Twelve. Mizz
Height helped lead the American civil rights movement during the Nineteen-Sixties. She led the National Council
of Negro Women for more than forty years.

Labor⁶ leader Dolores Huerta has worked to improve conditions for farm workers who must travel to different
areas of the country to pick crops. With activist Cesar Chavez, she established and led the United Farm Workers
Union.

Congresswoman Patsy Mink⁷ is also being honored. Her grandparents moved to the American state of Hawaii
from Japan. She became the first Asian-American woman elected to Congress. She has worked for equal
educational chances for women. Mizz Mink has represented Hawaii in the House of Representatives for twelve
terms.

Sportswoman Alice Coachman was the first African-American woman to win an Olympic gold medal. She broke


the record for the high-jump event in the Nineteen-Forty-Eight Olympic Games in London.

Each of these women is being recognized by lawmakers in her home state with a special party in her honor. And
all their stories are being told in schools and other education centers around the country.

Tribute in Light

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week comes from Vietnam. Chu Mong Hung asks about
the Tribute in Light in New York City.

Tribute in Light is the name for two tall beams of light extending into the night sky over
New York City. The lights re-create the image of the two World Trade Center
buildings. The lights appear as the two huge buildings did before they were destroyed in
the September eleventh terrorist attacks. The lights are also a temporary memorial to the
more than two-thousand-eight -hundred people who were killed in the attacks.

Experts say the lights extend up to three kilometers high. People can see the lights from
as many as thirty-two kilometers away.

The project was the idea of two building designers and two artists. The two teams joined together when they
learned of each others’
work.

The towers of light are produced by eighty-eight individual high-power lamps on the ground near the ruins of the
Trade Center buildings. New York ’s electric company is providing the light without charge.

The Tribute in Light was first lit at a ceremony on March eleventh, six months after the terrorist attack. Twelve year-
old Valerie Webb lit the Tribute in Light. Her father was a police officer who was killed in the attack. Her
mother died two years ago.

The towers of light will shine every night until April thirteenth. Later, a permanent memorial will be built.

The newspaper USA Today published some peoples’
reactions to the Tribute in Light. Some people said the
lights cannot replace the buildings. Others said it was a good way to remember them.

One woman said looking at the towers of light fills an emptiness she feels each day when she sees that the World
Trade Center buildings are not there.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

HOST:

Several famous recording⁸ artists were named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last week during a ceremony in
New York City. The Hall of Fame has been honoring rock and roll singers and songwriters for seventeen years.
Musicians can become members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twenty-five years after their first recordings⁹.
Mary Tillotson tells us about the new members.

ANNCR:

A group called the Ramones became a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
last week. They performed what is called “punk rock.
”
Perhaps you remember
their song, “I Wanna Be Sedated¹⁰.
”

((CUT 1: "I WANNA BE SEDATED"))

Two other groups were chosen for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They are The
Talking Heads and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Singer Gene¹¹ Pitney, musician
Chet Atkins and record producer Jim Stewart also were made members of the Hall


of Fame.

The only woman to become a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year is
Brenda Lee. She sings mostly country music today, but started out singing popular music
as a child. Brenda Lee recorded one of her best known songs before she was sixteen
years old. It is “I’m Sorry.
”

((CUT 2: "I’M SORRY"))

Another new member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is
African American performer Isaac Hayes. He is probably
best known for the theme song from the hit movie
“Shaft¹².
”
He performed that song at the Hall of Fame
ceremonies in New York. We leave you now with Isaac Hayes’
recording of the
“Theme from Shaft.
”

((CUT 3: THEME FROM "SHAFT"))

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 and Jerilyn Watson. Our studio engineer
was Tom Verba. And our producer was Paul Thompson.

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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 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

3 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

6 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。

7 mink   

n.貂，貂皮

参考例句：

• She was wearing a blue dress and a mink coat.她穿着一身蓝色的套装和一件貂皮大衣。
• He started a mink ranch and made a fortune in five years. 他开了个水貂养殖场，五年之内就赚了不少钱。

8 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

9 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

10 sedated   

v.使昏昏入睡，使镇静( sedate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She's sedated,but she's probably scared out of her mind. 她很安静，但是她可能已经吓疯了。 来自电影对白
• Are you telling me the porn actually sedated you? 你是要告诉我，那毛片的确让你镇静下来吗？ 来自电影对白

11 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

12 shaft   

n.(工具的)柄，杆状物

参考例句：

• He was wounded by a shaft.他被箭击中受伤。
• This is the shaft of a steam engine.这是一个蒸汽机主轴。