AMERICAN MOSAIC - Music by James Taylor / Question About the

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - November 1, 2002: Music by James Taylor / Question About the Visa Lottery² /
Election Day

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 James Taylor ...

Answer a listener’s question about the visa lottery ...

And report about American election day next Tuesday.

Election Day

HOST:

Tuesday, November fifth, is election day in the United States. Americans will go to voting places to choose all
four-hundred-thirty-five members of the House of Representatives and thirty-four Senators³. They will also elect
thirty-six state governors and other state and local officials. And voters in forty states will vote to support or
reject financial proposals. Such elections are always held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
Shep O’Neal tells us why.

ANNCR:

The decision to hold elections on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in
November was made by lawmakers many years ago. It involved the general and
permanent laws of the United States. They are listed and kept in a group of books
known as the United States Code. The Code is prepared and published by a legal
office of the House of Representatives.

In eighteen-forty-five, the code established that presidential electors would be
appointed on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November every fourth year. In
eighteen-seventy-five, it established the date for electing members to the House of
Representatives in every even-numbered year.

In nineteen-fourteen, it established the date and the time for electing members to the Senate.

The lawmakers chose early November because most Americans at that time lived on farms. They thought
November was the best time for farmers and other workers to be able to travel to voting places. Their harvest was
finished and the weather was still good enough in most of the country to permit such travel.

The lawmakers chose Tuesdays because most of the people had to travel long distances to voting places. Monday
was not considered a good day for an election. It would have forced people to begin their trips on Sunday, the day
many people attended church services.

The Federal Election Commission⁴ says lawmakers chose the Tuesday after the first Monday because they wanted
to prevent Election Day from falling on the first of November. There were two reasons for this. November first is
All Saints⁵ Day, a holy day for Roman Catholics. Also, most business owners worked on their financial records on
the first day of each month.

The Federal Election Commission says Congress was worried that the economic success or failure of the earlier

Among the candidates on
the ballot⁶ Tuesday: Jeb
Bush, the president's
brother, seeking re-election
as governor of Florida.

month could influence those votes.

Visa Lottery

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week comes from Nigeria. Patrick Anyanwu asks about America’s visa lottery
program.

Its official name is the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program. Each year, it offers people around the world the legal
right to work and live permanently⁷ in the United States.

The State Department’s National Visa Center supervises⁸ the program. This year, fifty-thousand people have a
chance to win a permit known as an immigrant visa. It also is called a green card.

To be considered, you must have completed high school. Or you must have two years of recent work experience
in a job that requires at least two years of training or experience.

Also, you or your husband or wife must be from a country permitted to take part in the visa lottery. The program
is open only to people born in countries that have low rates of immigration to the United States.

The visa lottery is not offered to people born in countries that have sent more than fifty-thousand immigrants to
the United States during the past five years.

These include Britain and its territories except Northern Ireland, Canada, mainland China, Colombia, the
Dominican Republic and Haiti. Other countries whose people may not take part are India, Jamaica, Mexico,
Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea and Vietnam. Again, people born in these countries may not take part in
the visa lottery program this year.

The winners of the visa lottery are chosen by a computer program. They are informed by mail. Every one chosen
is given a chance to request the right to work and live permanently in the United States. The winners also are
permitted to bring their husband or wife and any unmarried children under the age of twenty-one.

It does not cost any money to enter the diversity visa lottery program. However, the winners must pay for the visa
and other expenses.The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is open for a one-month period during October. Last
year, the National Visa Center accepted visa requests from more than six-million-two-hundred-thousand people.

This year, the visa requests must be received in the United States by November sixth.

For more information, use a computer search engine and type the words visa lottery -- vi-s-a l-o-t-t-e-r-y. You
can also talk with someone at the United States embassy⁹ or diplomatic¹⁰ office in your country.

October Road

HOST:

American singer and songwriter James Taylor has been recording¹¹ and performing music for more than thirty
years. He has sold more than thirty-million records and won many Grammy Awards. Two years ago, he was
named to both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame. He recently released his first
album in five years. Mary Tillotson tells us about it.

ANNCR:

The album is called “October Road”. James Taylor wrote most of the songs. He
says that all his songs are personal because they come from his life. Here is one of
these songs, “On the Fourth of July”.

(MUSIC)


Many of the songs on “October Road” are about the competing desires to stay in
one place and to move around. One of these songs is called “My Traveling Star”.

(MUSIC)

James Taylor will be traveling for several months to perform songs from his new
album. Critics say one of the best of these is a swinging jazz song called “Mean
Old Man.” We leave you now with James Taylor singing that song from his new
album, “October Road.
”

(MUSIC)

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 Nancy Steinbach. Our studio engineer
was Curtis Bynum. 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 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

3 senators   

n.参议员( senator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• When the senators vote, the ayes will have it. 参议员投票时，投赞成票的人将占多数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The committee concluded that the senators had engaged in improper conduct. 委员会断定议员们从事了不正当活动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 commission   

n.委托，授权，委员会，拥金，回扣，委任状

参考例句：

• The salesman can get commission on everything he sells.这个售货员能得到所售每件货物的佣金。
• The commission is made up of five people,including two women.委员会由五人组成，其中包括两名妇女。

5 saints   

圣人般的人（指特别善良、仁爱或有耐性的人）( saint的名词复数 )； 圣…（冠于人名、地名之前）； （因其生死言行而被基督教会追封的）圣人； 圣徒

参考例句：

• The children were all named after saints. 这些孩子都取了圣徒的名字。
• In 1461, the bishop of Saints, Louis de Rochechouart, saw only a plain wall. 1461年Saints主教，LouisdeRochechouart主教看到只剩一堵朴质的墙。

6 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

7 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

8 supervises   

v.监督，管理( supervise的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The group leader supervises a dozen workers. 组长管十二个工人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He makes the wines and supervises the vineyards. 他酿酒并管理葡萄园。 来自辞典例句

9 embassy   

n.大使馆，大使及其随员

参考例句：

• Large crowd demonstrated outside the British Embassy.很多群众在英国大使馆外面示威。
• He's a U.S. diplomat assigned to the embassy in London.他是美国驻伦敦大使馆的一名外交官。

10 diplomatic   

adj.外交的，从事外交的，策略的，有手腕的

参考例句：

• There are certain forms that must be followed in diplomatic circles.在外交界有一些礼节是必须遵守的。
• You must be more diplomatic in handling the situation.你在处理这一情况时，必须圆滑。

11 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。