AMERICAN MOSAIC - Dolly Parton's New Album / A Question Abou

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - August 30, 2002: Dolly Parton's New Album / A Question About Presidential Pens /

eBay
HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC - VOA's radio magazine in Special English.
(THEME)
This is Steve Ember. On our program today:
We play music by Dolly Parton ..
.
Answer a question from a listener about the pens that presidents use to sign important documents ..
.
And tell about the world's biggest electronic auction².

eBay

HOST:

Every day, about five -hundred-thousand things are sold on the Internet computer Web site called eBay. It has
been called the most successful business in Internet history. Mary Tillotson tells us more.
ANNCR:

 

eBay is an international electronic auction. Computer users around the world compete
to buy things for sale on the eBay Web site. The person who offers the most money
buys the object. You can buy and sell almost anything on eBay. This includes art,
books, electronic equipment, clothing, cameras, sports equipment, jewelry³, movies and
music. You can even buy and sell cars, property and places to spend your holiday.

There are about eleven-million things for sale on eBay at one time. Many people buy
and sell special things that they collect, like toy trains or dolls. Some of these things
become very valuable over the years.

For example, a woman in Palm Bay, Florida has collected the toys called Barbie dolls
since she was a little girl. She knows which ones are valuable because they are rare. Recently she bought one doll
for a few dollars at someone's yard sale. She later sold it for several hundred dollars on eBay.

Some things on eBay sell for only a few dollars. Others sell for many thousands of dollars, such as old cars or
rare money collections. Some Americans have started their own businesses selling things on eBay. More than one
hundred thousand businesses now operate only on eBay.

The headquarters of eBay are in San Jose, California. A young man named Pierre Omidyar started eBay. He
worked as a computer programmer in California. Mister Omidyar's idea was to create a perfect, international
marketplace where everyone was equal. His idea began as a Web site called AuctionWeb in nineteen-ninety-five.
Three years later it became a public company. It was then valued at more than two-thousand-million dollars.

eBay does not sell anything itself. Instead, it connects buyers and sellers. It collects money from the sellers for
every object sold. eBay has links to Web sites in twenty other countries. Almost fifty-million people around the
world buy and sell things on eBay.

Presidential Pens

HOST:


Our VOA listener question this week comes from Vietnam. Vu Hoai Thu wants to
know why President Bush uses a lot of pens when he signs an official document. Also,
what happens to all these pens after the President signs his name on a document?

For the answers, we turn to Bill Bushong (BUSH-ong). He is a historian⁴ with the
White House Historical Association. Mister Bushong says it is a tradition for
presidents to use many writing instruments at official signing ceremonies. He says
a
president often uses twelve or more pens during a single ceremony.

Each pen serves as a memento⁵, or something that helps someone remember an event.
Most of the pens are given to people considered important to the approval of a bill or
treaty, such as members of Congress. A few private citizens attending the ceremony also may receive a pen.

Mister Bushong says the White House sends one pen used by the president and a copy of the signed document to
the National Archives. The National Archives is the federal agency that collects and saves official records.

The president also may decide to keep one of the pens. It may be included with other important objects in
a
presidential library after he leaves office.

Members of the president's family may keep a few of the pens used at official ceremonies. The pens rarely are
offered to the general public. However, you might be able to buy one from someone who attended a signing
ceremony. Such pens are sometimes sold in special stores. Computer users also can search for them on Internet
auction Web sites, like eBay.

Another way to get a pen from the White House is through the official White House store. The White House gift
shop sells a number of writing instruments. Some pens come in beautiful wooden boxes and cost twenty-five or
thirty dollars. Other pens cost from four dollars to ten dollars. You can also buy twelve White House pencils for
about four dollars.

Now, some final thoughts about presidential pens. For more than fifty years, pens made by the Parker company
were used at White House signing ceremonies. However, the current president uses pens made by another
company, Shaeffer.

Dolly Parton

HOST:

One of the most popular country music artists has released a new album. Shep O'Neal tells about Dolly Parton's
record, "Halos and Horns."

ANNCR:

(Photo -White House)
Dolly Parton grew up poor in the Great Smoky Mountain area of Tennessee. She
listened to traditional mountain music called bluegrass. Mizz Parton's recent albums,
including "Halos and Horns," have honored that kind of music.

The banjo, fiddle⁶ and mandolin are some of the most common instruments used in
bluegrass music. Listen for these instruments in "Sugar Hill," a song about
memories of mountain life.

(MUSIC)

Dolly Parton is as famous for writing songs as she is for singing them. She has
published more than three -thousand songs. Many of her songs have become hit recordings⁷ for other artists. Last
year, the National Academy of Popular Music chose Mizz Parton to be included in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Dolly Parton wrote two songs for "Halos and Horns" in reaction to the terrorist⁸ attacks on the United States last
September. In "Raven⁹ Dove¹⁰" she sings about a time when there is no war or hate.

(MUSIC)


Dolly Parton also re-recorded a famous rock and roll song for "Halos and Horns." Critics were surprised by her
choice of "Stairway to Heaven" by the band Led Zeppelin. But most critics praised her version. We leave you
now with Dolly Parton singing "Stairway to Heaven."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

This is Steve Ember. 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 Caty Weaver¹¹, George Grow and Shelley Gollust. Our
studio engineer was Dwayne Collins. 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 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

3 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

4 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。

5 memento   

n.纪念品，令人回忆的东西

参考例句：

• The photos will be a permanent memento of your wedding.这些照片会成为你婚礼的永久纪念。
• My friend gave me his picture as a memento before going away.我的朋友在离别前给我一张照片留作纪念品。

6 fiddle   

n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动

参考例句：

• She plays the fiddle well.她小提琴拉得好。
• Don't fiddle with the typewriter.不要摆弄那架打字机了。

7 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

8 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。

9 raven   

n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的

参考例句：

• We know the raven will never leave the man's room.我们知道了乌鸦再也不会离开那个男人的房间。
• Her charming face was framed with raven hair.她迷人的脸上垂落着乌亮的黑发。

10 dove   

n.鸽，温和派人物，“鸽派”人物

参考例句：

• A dove is often used as a symbol of peace.鸽常作为和平的象征。
• Paul seemed more impressed by the dove.保尔似乎对鸽子更感兴趣。

11 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。