AMERICAN MOSAIC - Muslims in America / A Question from Niger

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - December 6, 2002: Muslims in America / A Question from Nigeria: What Does the
'D.C.' Stand for in Washington, D.C.? / Afro-Rumba-Flamenco-Worldbeat-Jazz-Pop Music by Jesse Cook

HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC --VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.
(THEME)
This is Doug Johnson. On our program today:
We play some music by Jesse Cook ..
.
Answer a listener’s question about Washington, D.C. ..
.
And report about Muslims in America.

Ramadan

HOST:

Muslims around the world are completing their observance of Ramadan this week. Studies say that about six-
million Muslims live in the United States. Shep O’Neal tells us how some of them observed the Muslim holy
month.

ANNCR:

Islam is one of the fastest-growing religions in the United States. Yet American
Muslims know they are a religious minority. This is especially true during
Ramadan. In some countries where Muslims are the majority, businesses reduce
their hours of operation during Ramadan. That does not happen in the United States.

A mosque² in Chicago.

For many American Muslims, Ramadan has been taking place during a difficult (VOA Photo - M. Leland)
period. The United States has threatened to use military force to disarm³ Iraq. One year ago, Ramadan took place
after the terrorist⁴ attacks against the United States.

Imam Elahi is a clergyman with the House of Wisdom, an Islamic center in Dearborn, Michigan. He says it has
been a difficult year for Muslims since the terrorist attacks.

He criticizes accusations⁵ made against Islam. He says most were made for political purposes or by people who do
not understand the religion.

Imam Elahi says he believes that Muslims need to find ways to communicate better with non-Muslims. He says
the communications will fail if one side or both overestimate⁶ their own importance. Some Muslims say they are
reaching out to other Americans and educating them about Islam. Others say they feel like they have to defend
their religion and prove they are real Americans.

This year, the American holiday of Thanksgiving was celebrated⁷ during Ramadan. Thanksgiving is a time when
Americans gather with family and friends and have a special meal. During Ramadan, however, healthy Muslim
adults are not permitted to eat or drink during the day.

American Muslims say there is no reason why Thanksgiving should have been any different this year. They say
Islam did not prevent anyone from cooking during the day. They note that having a meal at sundown always is an
important part of Ramadan. A Muslim writer once said it is not always easy to live a truly Muslim life in
America. However, she said it is worth the effort.


The Capitol building under
some pre-winter snow this
week.
Washington, D.C.

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week comes from Nigeria. Augustine Alumonah asks about the meaning of the
letters D and C in the name of the capital of the United States, Washington, D.C.

To answer the question, we must go back about two-hundred years, to the beginning of the United States. The
states approved a Constitution for the country in seventeen-eighty-eight. But they could not decide where to build
the permanent capital. Northern states did not want the capital in the south because of slavery. The Southern
states did not want it in the north. Several places were proposed, but Congress could not agree on one.

Then Thomas Jefferson of Virginia invited Alexander Hamilton of New York to
dinner to discuss the dispute. Two congressmen from Virginia were also there. The
four men talked politics.

Southern votes had defeated a bill in Congress that Mister Hamilton wanted very
much to be approved. It would have required the federal government to pay the
money owed by the states for fighting the war to gain independence from Britain.

The two Virginia congressmen agreed to change their votes against the bill. And
Mister Hamilton agreed to find northern votes to support a proposal to build the
capital along the Potomac River between the states of Virginia and Maryland. That

is how Congress agreed to build the capital in a federal area on land provided by the two states.

A year later, officials announced that the city would be called Washington, in honor of the country’s first
president, George Washington. The larger federal area would be named the District of Columbia. Columbia had
become another name for the United States, one that was used by poets and other writers. The name came from
Christopher Columbus, the explorer who sailed from Europe across the Atlantic Ocean to the Western
Hemisphere⁸.

Today, Washington, D.C. is known to those who live in the area as the District. But if you want to write to us, our
address is Washington, D.C.

Jesse Cook

HOST:

Jesse Cook is a songwriter who produces his own records. But first and always he is a guitar player. His music is
an unusual mix of Afro-rumba-flamenco-worldbeat-jazz-pop. Mary Tillotson tells us more.

ANNCR:

Jesse Cook was born in Paris, France to Canadian parents. He spent his early years in southern France and Spain.
He began learning to play guitar when he was only three.

He expanded his musical education in Canada and the United States before
returning to Europe. He studied with great Spanish guitar masters in Andalusia,
Cordoba, Granada and Madrid.

There is little he can not do with a guitar. Listen to his recording⁹ of “Breathing
Below Surface”
from his album, “Vertigo¹⁰.
”

(MUSIC)

Critics call Jesse Cook’s music “World Music.
”
That is because he uses the
sounds of many different places and music from many different lands.

Listen to this mix of sounds in a recording called “Rattle¹¹ and Burn.
”


(MUSIC)

Jesse Cook recorded this next song at the Canadian Governor General’s Awards Ceremony in Ottawa. We leave
you now with Jesse Cook playing a very fast Samba. The song is called “Mario Takes a Walk!
”
(MUSIC)
HOST:
This is Doug Johonson. 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, Nancy Steinbach and Paul Thompson. Our
studio engineer was Glen Matlock. 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 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

3 disarm   

v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和

参考例句：

• The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. 全世界等待伊拉克解除武装已有12年之久。
• He has rejected every peaceful opportunity offered to him to disarm.他已经拒绝了所有能和平缴械的机会。

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 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

6 overestimate   

v.估计过高，过高评价

参考例句：

• Don't overestimate seriousness of the problem.别把问题看重了。
• We overestimate our influence and our nuisance value.我们过高地估计了自己的影响力和破坏作用。

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 hemisphere   

n.半球，半球地图

参考例句：

• This animal is to be found only in the Southern Hemisphere.这种动物只有在南半球才能找到。
• In most people,the left hemisphere is bigger than the right.多数人的左脑比右脑大。

9 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。

10 vertigo   

n.眩晕

参考例句：

• He had a dreadful attack of vertigo.他忽然头晕得厉害。
• If you have vertigo it seems as if the whole room is spinning round you.如果你头晕，就会觉得整个房间都旋转起来

11 rattle   

v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓

参考例句：

• The baby only shook the rattle and laughed and crowed.孩子只是摇着拨浪鼓，笑着叫着。
• She could hear the rattle of the teacups.她听见茶具叮当响。