VOA慢速英语20061229b

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC¹, in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Bob Doughty². Two thousand six is almost over. On this special show, Shirley Griffith and I look back at some trends from the past year.

VOICE ONE:

The dictionary says a trend is a kind of movement or direction. People around the world used their computers to buy goods, communicate with others, listen to music, see pictures and learn about different places and ideas.

In two thousand six, more people around the world used new ways to communicate and connect with each other through the Internet. We take a look at some kinds of technology that became more popular this year.

HOST:


A blogger in a Chicago coffee shop

The blog is one form of communication that increased in popularity⁴. Blog is a short way of saying Web log³. Through these personal Web sites, people can share their lives, ideas and opinions with anyone on the Internet. Millions of people throughout the world are creating and reading blogs. There are reportedly thirteen million blogs in the United States alone.

People of all ages have their own blogs. For young people, they are a way to show their writings and other forms of self-expression. Blogs also connect people with other people who have the same interests. For example, teachers use blogs to share ideas, experiences and concerns about their work with other teachers.

Many Web sites offer free services to create personal Web pages and fill them with writings and pictures. These sites include MySpace, used mainly by teenagers and young adults. MySpace is an online community that lets people share messages and pictures with an increasing number of friends. About one hundred twenty million people use MySpace. It is the most popular social networking site on the Web.

VOICE ONE:

YouTube is another Internet site that became more popular this year. This Web site lets anyone create, share and watch short videos. People can watch almost anything on YouTube: news, sports and entertainment events. Music videos. And videos made by people in their own homes. These include videos of people singing or dancing, or animals doing funny things.

YouTube says that people watch at least one hundred million videos on the site every day. Three young men created YouTube almost two years ago as a personal video sharing service. They recently sold it to Google for more than one and one half billion dollars.

HOST:

Games and entertainment also became a larger part of the Internet this year. One Internet social site is called Second Life. It is an online world in which computer users⁵ create a new self and live a different life. They get married, build homes, operate businesses, buy and sell goods, work, play and attend school. About two million people take part in Second Life.

People also take part in fantasy sports leagues with the help of the Internet. A fantasy sport is a game in which each member of a group acts as the owner of a team. Each owner creates a team of real-life professional players to compete against other teams in the league.


Cameron Ferroni operates fantasy football software for Microsoft

Fantasy players get a chance to make the same decisions professional owners and managers do. The fantasy teams compete against each other using points earned by the real players of the professional sport.

More than fifteen million American adults play fantasy sports. The industry earns more than one billion dollars each year on publications⁶, memberships⁷ and other costs.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

There were also some new trends in music this year. Many singers expressed a serious side with performances and songs that had a clear political message.

For example, during her international concert tour, Madonna showed her support for helping⁸ poor people in Africa. The country music group The Dixie Chicks wrote songs about standing⁹ strong for their political beliefs in their album Taking the Long Way. Some fans praised the album while others rejected it.

Another example is this song from Bruce Springsteen, How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live. He recorded it in honor¹⁰ of the people of New Orleans and their struggle after hurricane Katrina.

(MUSIC)

HOST:

Music groups that are part of the independent or indie rock style remained very popular this year. These groups are called indie because they often choose smaller record companies over major ones in order to protect their artistic¹¹ independence. Death Cab¹² for Cutie and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are two bands that received great praise this year. Another is My Morning Jacket. Here the band performs their song It Beats 4 U.

(MUSIC)

Many bands were created this year as a result of new musical projects. For example, Jack¹³ White sings with the rock band called The White Stripes¹⁴. He recently formed another band called The Raconteurs¹⁵, which has become very popular. Another new group called Gnarls Barkley was formed by the producer Danger Mouse and the singer Cee-Lo Green. Their song, Crazy, has become one of the biggest hits of the year.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Finally, some sad music news this year. James Brown, one of the most influential¹⁶ American singers during the past fifty years, died Monday at the age of seventy-three.


James Brown, the Godfather of Soul

James Brown was known as the Godfather of Soul and the hardest working man in show business. Experts say he turned rhythm¹⁷ and blues¹⁸ music into soul music. And he turned soul music into the music known as funk in the late nineteen sixties and early nineteen seventies. Brown also influenced the development of disco and rap¹⁹ music. He sold millions of records. And he was known for his electrifying²⁰ performances on stage.

James Brown was among the first group of musicians welcomed into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in nineteen eighty-six. In nineteen ninety-two, he received a Grammy Award for his lifetime work. One of his most popular songs is Say it Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud.) It was a statement of racial pride in nineteen sixty-eight. We leave you with the James Brown song I Got You (I Feel Good.)

(MUSIC)

HOST:

I'm Bob Doughty. I hope you enjoyed our program today. It was written by Brianna Blake, Dana Demange and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver²¹ was our producer. To read the text of this program and download audio²², go to our Web site, www.unsv.com.

Send your questions about American life to [email protected]. Please include your full name and mailing address. Or write to American Mosaic, VOA Special English, Washington, D.C., two-zero-two-three-seven, U.S.A.

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA's radio magazine in Special English. And Happy New Year from all of us in Special English!

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 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

3 log   

n.记录，圆木，日志；v.伐木，切，航行

参考例句：

• They log for a living.他们以伐木为生。
• And then what do you do with that log?然后你要拿那些记录做什么呢？

4 popularity   

n.普及，流行，名望，受欢迎

参考例句：

• The story had an extensive popularity among American readers.这本小说在美国读者中赢得广泛的声望。
• Our product enjoys popularity throughout the world.我们的产品饮誉全球。

5 users   

用户，使用者( user的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The new software will prove a boon to Internet users. 这种新软件将会对互联网用户大有益处。
• Ramps should be provided for wheelchair users. 应该给轮椅使用者提供坡道。

6 publications   

n.发表( publication的名词复数 )；公布；出版；出版物

参考例句：

• The related publications are far too numerous to list individually. 相关出版物太多，没法一一列举。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request. 我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 memberships   

n.全体会员( membership的名词复数 )；会员身份，会员资格

参考例句：

• The memberships of this committee are stacked to give the majority party substantial control. 有人在这个委员会的组成上搞了鬼，以使多数党取得相当多的控制权。 来自辞典例句
• You can specify security group memberships for this user. 您可以为此用户指定安全组成员身份。 来自互联网

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

10 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。

11 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

12 cab   

n.计程车，出租车，出租单马车；vi.乘出租马车

参考例句：

• The cab drove over his legs.马车从他腿上碾过。
• Shall we walk or take a cab?我们步行还是坐出租车？

13 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

14 stripes   

n.（与底色不同的）条纹( stripe的名词复数 )；（军装或警服上表示等级的）臂章；纹理

参考例句：

• The plant's stem is marked with thin green longitudinal stripes. 这种植物的茎上长有绿色细长条纹。
• a zebra's black and white stripes 斑马的黑白条纹

15 raconteurs   

n.善于讲轶事的人( raconteur的名词复数 )

参考例句：

16 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

17 rhythm   

n.韵律；节奏

参考例句：

• He has an ear for the rhythm of Irish speech.他对爱尔兰语的节奏很敏感。
• His poem has a pleasing rhythm.他的诗有和谐的韵律。

18 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。

19 rap   

n.轻敲，拍击，责骂，厉声说出，说唱音乐，谈话，最少量；vi.轻敲，敲门，表演说唱音乐，畅谈；vt.抓，抢，拍击

参考例句：

• I heard a rap on the door.我听到有轻轻的敲门声。
• Today we are going to rap about relationships.今天我们要聊聊关系的问题。

20 electrifying   

v.使电气化( electrify的现在分词 )；使兴奋

参考例句：

• The dancers gave an electrifying performance. 舞蹈演员们的表演激动人心。
• The national orchestra gave an electrifying performance of classic music. 国家交响乐团举行了一次古典音乐的震撼性演出。 来自辞典例句

21 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。

22 audio   

n./adj.音频(响)(的)；声音(的)，听觉(的)

参考例句：

• Often,the meeting is recorded on audio or video media for later reference.通常这种会议会以视频或者音频形式记录下来，供以后查阅。
• You don't even have to pay for audio programs.你大可不必为自己听这些节目付费。