AMERICAN MOSAIC - Who Is Uncle Sam / Digital Movies / Countr

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ -June 7, 2002: Who Is Uncle Sam / Digital Movies / Country Music Awards

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 that won awards from the Academy of Country Music ..
.
Answer a question about Uncle Sam ..
.
And report about a new way to make movies.

Digital Movies

HOST:

Most people who enjoy movies do not really care how they are made. They want to enjoy a good story. Movie
producer and director George Lucas wants people to see the best made movie possible. So, his latest Star Wars
movie was made without using film. Shep O'Neal explains.

ANNCR:

“Star Wars: Attack of the Clones”
was made using digital cameras. A digital camera does not use traditional
film. It captures an image on videotape. The images recorded on videotape are then placed in a computer.

George Lucas says that using digital cameras permits him to have much more
control over the final product. For example, the image can be changed after it is
placed in a computer. An expert can change color, add or take out objects, add
people or beings who are not real.

Much of what is seen in the new Stars Wars movie is not real. Huge buildings,
spacecraft and alien beings from other worlds were produced in a computer. The
effects then were added to each part of the movie.

Movie experts say digital technology is the real future of the motion picture
industry. A theater will no longer have to wait days or weeks to show a new movie. Theaters will be able receive
copies of new movies by linking computers. Or they will use small computer disks to get a copy of the movie.

When the new Star Wars movie was released last month, only ninety-four theaters around the world had the

digital equipment needed to show it. So Mister Lucas’
company produced about six-thousand copies of the new
digital movie on traditional film for release in most theaters. However, most people who have seen the movie say
these film copies are a much better quality than other filmed movies.

Critics say the new digital technology is very costly². Many theater owners will not buy the new technology.yet.

Many of the people who worked on the new Star Wars movie say they would not like to work with film again.
They said using digital equipment was faster, and videotape is much less costly than film. One cameraman said
the director of a movie can immediately see what was just recorded, something impossible to do with film.

Those who have worked with the new digital method of making movies say the new Star Wars movie is only the
beginning. They say movies may quickly become all digital.


Uncle Sam

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week comes from Indonesia. Franky Tan asks why the imaginary man called
Uncle Sam is linked with the United States.

Uncle Sam is a fun name for the United States government. The drawing of a man called
Uncle Sam is used to represent the federal government on large signs called posters. His
name, Uncle Sam, uses the same first letters as the words United States—a “U”
and an
“S”.

History experts are not really sure how Uncle Sam was created or how he was named.
However, some say the name was first used on supply containers during the War of
Eighteen-Twelve.

People in the northeastern city of Troy, New York think they know the true story. They
say that Uncle Sam was a person named Samuel Wilson. Many people in Troy believe that Mister Wilson is
linked to the first use of the term “Uncle Sam”
to represent the United States.

This is their story:

Samuel Wilson worked as a meat packer in Troy during the War of Eighteen-Twelve. He often was called Uncle
Sam because he was so friendly and fair. Mister Wilson supplied large amounts of meat to the Army. The meat
was sent to the troops in rounded wooden containers. The barrels were marked with the letters “U S”
to show
they were meant for the government. Someone suggested that the letters represented “Uncle Sam”
Wilson. The
idea that the meat came from “Uncle Sam”
led to the idea that Uncle Sam represented the federal government.

Samuel Wilson did not look like the drawing of Uncle Sam. The most famous drawings show him dressed in
clothes showing stars and stripes. They appeared in political cartoons. Famous newspaper cartoonist Thomas
Nast produced many of the earliest drawings of Uncle Sam in the eighteen thirties.

In the twentieth century, Uncle Sam was shown with a short white beard, high hat and long -tailed coat. The
single most famous picture of him is a large sign painted by James Montgomery Flagg in about nineteen seventeen.
Its aim was to influence young American young men to go into the army during World War One. It
shows Uncle Sam pointing his finger. Above him are written the words “I Want You.
”

Congress approved Uncle Sam as an official representation³ of the United States in nineteen-sixty-one.

Country Music Awards

HOST:

The Academy of Country Music presented its awards last week. It is the thirty-seventh year the Academy has
honored people who create country music. Mary Tillotson tells us about some of the winners.

ANNCR:

The awards presented at the ceremony included Entertainer of the Year, Top New Male
Singer, Top New Female Singer and Top Country Video.

One singer-songwriter won three awards --top male singer, song of the year and single
record of the year. The artist is Alan Jackson. He was honored with the three awards for
a special song he wrote following the terrorist⁴ attacks on the United States in September.
It is called “Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning?
”

((CUT 1: WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THE WORLD STOPPED TURNING?))
The Academy of Country Music named a movie soundtrack as the Album of the Year.


It is “O Brother Where Art Thou?
”
from the movie of the same name. One song
from that album won the Top Vocal⁵ Event of the Year award. We leave you now with
that song, “I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow.
”
The Soggy Bottom Boys sing it.

((CUT 2: I AM A MAN OF CONSTANT SORROW))

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.

Remember to write us with your questions about American life. We will try to answer them on future programs.
Listeners whose questions are chosen will receive a Random⁶ House Webster’s College Dictionary.

Send your questions to American Mosaic, Special English, Voice of America, Washington, D.C. two-zero-twothree-
seven, USA. Or use a computer to e-mail your question to [email protected]. Please include your
name and postal⁷ address. This AMERICAN MOSAIC program was written by Nancy Steinbach and Paul
Thompson. And our producer was Caty Weaver⁸.

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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 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

3 representation   

n.表现某人（或某事物）的东西，图画，雕塑

参考例句：

• The painting is a representation of a storm at sea.这幅画描绘的是海上的暴风雨。
• All parties won representation in the national assembly.所有政党在国民大会中都赢得了代表资格。

4 terrorist   

n.恐怖主义者，恐怖分子

参考例句：

• Without the gun,I'm a sitting duck for any terrorist.没有这支枪，我就成了恐怖分子下手的目标了。
• The district was put on red alert during a terrorist's bomb scare.这个地区在得到恐怖分子炸弹恐吓后作了应急准备。

5 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

6 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

7 postal   

adj.邮政的，邮局的

参考例句：

• A postal network now covers the whole country.邮路遍及全国。
• Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。

8 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。