AMERICAN MOSAIC - New Memorial to Dr. Seuss / Question About

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ -June 14, 2002: New Memorial to Dr. Seuss / Question About Father's Day / Music by
Bonnie Raitt

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 from Bonnie Raitt ..
.
Answer a question about Father’s Day ..
.
And report about a new memorial to a famous writer of children’s books.

Doctor Seuss Memorial

HOST:

The writer Theodor Seuss Geisel has been honored³ with a new memorial in Springfield, Massachusetts. Geisel
was better known as Doctor Seuss. He became famous because of the books he wrote for children. Mary
Tillotson has more.

ANNCR:

Theodor Geisel was born in Springfield in nineteen-oh-four. He spent his early years there, before attending
college. Geisel hoped to become a writer of serious literature. However, in the nineteen-thirties the American
economy entered a period known as the Great Depression. This forced him to delay his dreams of becoming a
serious writer. Instead, he found work as a creator of advertising⁴ campaigns designed to sell products. He also
drew pictures for popular magazines.

Geisel began to write books for children in nineteen-thirty-seven. He called himself
Doctor Seuss. His first book is called “And To Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street.
”
A
number of publishers rejected it. They said it was too different. A friend finally published
it.

Geisel wrote more than forty books for children. Doctor Seuss books are fun to read. Yet
they deal with serious subjects including equality, responsibility and protecting the
environment. The books contain pictures of funny creatures and plants. Geisel was not
trained in art. Yet he drew the pictures for most of his books.

Doctor Seuss books are popular with young readers and their parents. Children enjoy the invented words. They
also like to look at the pictures of unusual creatures such as the Cat in the Hat and Sam-I-Am.

The new Doctor Seuss National Memorial opened earlier this month, eleven years after
Theodor Geisel died. The opening celebrations included public readings of his books and a
parade down Springfield’s own Mulberry Street.

The memorial park has several metal statues of Doctor Seuss creations⁵. There is even one of
the writer himself. It shows him busy at work, with the Cat in the Hat at his side.

Children can climb on the statues. For example, visitors can explore a statue of Horton the
Elephant that is almost five meters tall. Horton and other creatures appear to be spilling out
of an open book. There also is a large chair and a book that is more than three meters tall.


The book has all the words of Doctor Seuss’s last book, “Oh, The Places You’ll Go.
”

Father’s Day

HOST:
Our VOA listener question this week comes from China. Fei Zhang asks about Father’s Day in America.

 

The idea for Father’s Day started in nineteen-oh-nine. A woman named Sonora
Dodd was living in the northwestern state of Washington. She thought about starting
a Father’s Day holiday while listening to a Mother’s Day speech at church.

Misses Dodd wanted a special day to honor² her father, William Smart. He had
fought in the American Civil War. Later, his wife died while giving birth to their
sixth child. Mister⁶ Smart raised the baby and his other five children on a farm in
Washington state.

When Sonora Dodd became an adult, she recognized how kind and loving her father
had been while raising his six children alone. She believed her father had worked very hard to make sure his
children grew up healthy and strong. Sonora ’s father was born in June. So she chose to hold the first Father’s
Day celebration in Spokane, Washington on June nineteenth, nineteen-ten.

In nineteen-twenty-four, President Calvin Coolidge gave his support to the idea of a national Father’s Day.
Then, in nineteen-sixty-six, President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential statement declaring the third Sunday
in June as Father’s Day.

In early times, wearing flowers was a traditional way to celebrate Father’s Day. People wore red roses to honor
fathers who were still living. White flowers were worn to honor fathers who had died.

Today, Americans celebrate Father’s Day in many different ways. Some families take their fathers out to a
restaurant for a meal. Others give their fathers gifts or cards with special messages of thanks. Children living far
away call their fathers on the telephone to wish them a happy Father’s Day.

However the holiday is celebrated⁷, the idea is for children to let their father know that he is valued and loved. As
one historian⁸ in America has said, “Lucky is the man who hears many small voices call him father.
”

Bonnie Raitt

HOST:

Bonnie Raitt has released⁹ a new album called “Silver Lining¹⁰.
”
It is her sixteenth record album since nineteen-
seventy-one.

Mizz Raitt says making the album was a good experience. She says she worked on the quality of her music,
instead of being worried about earning money or becoming more famous. Now, the fifty-two-year-old musician
feels she has reached the best part of her life. Shep O’Neal tells us more.

ANNCR:

Bonnie Raitt says she loves to make records so that she can travel and perform in public. Her age has not slowed
her down. Mizz Raitt believes she is more creative and has more energy today than when she was younger.
Bonnie Raitt says one song on her new album best describes where she is in her life. That song is “Time of Our
Lives.
”

((CUT 1: TIME OF OUR LIVES))

Bonnie Raitt is known for mixing country and blues¹¹ music with rock and roll and
folk music. However, this album also has an international sound. Her trips to Africa
and Cuba helped influence some of the music.


Habib Koite (ha-BEEB ko-EE-tay) from Mali helped write the song “Back
Around.
”
Traditional blues music from America mixes with African beats to create
a new sound for Bonnie Raitt.

((CUT 2: BACK AROUND))

“Silver Lining”
also includes music written by new and mostly unknown
songwriters. For example, British musician David Gray wrote the title song on the
album. Bonnie Raitt says she spent the last few years searching the world for
excellent new songwriters. We leave you with the title song from her latest album,
“Silver Lining.
”

((CUT 3: SILVER LINING))

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 and Jill Moss¹². Our studio engineer was Tom
O’Brien. 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 honor   

n.光荣；敬意；荣幸；vt.给…以荣誉；尊敬

参考例句：

• I take your visit as a great honor.您的来访是我莫大的光荣。
• It is a great honor to receive that prize.能拿到那个奖是无上的光荣。

3 honored   

adj.光荣的：荣幸的v.尊敬，给以荣誉( honor的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I hope to be honored with further orders. 如蒙惠顾，不胜荣幸。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This is a time-honored custom. 这是一个古老的习俗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

5 creations   

创造( creation的名词复数 )； 创造物； （尤指所述由上帝）创造天地； 宇宙

参考例句：

• This artist's creations are worth collecting. 这个艺术家的作品值得收藏。
• The intellectual creations of individual nations become common property. 各民族的精神产品成了公共的财产。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

6 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

7 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。

8 historian   

n.历史学家，编史家

参考例句：

• As a historian,he was most typical of the times in which he lived.作为历史学家，他是他所处时代最有代表性的人物。
• He calls himself a historian,but his books are a mere journalism.他自称为历史学家，但是他的书都是些肤浅的通俗作品。

9 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

10 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

11 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

12 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。