VOA慢速英语20060316a

EDUCATION REPORT - When Jazz Lovers Get Together to Listen and LearnBy Cynthia Kirk

Broadcast: Thursday, March 16, 2006

I'm Bob Doughty¹ with the VOA Special English Education Report.

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Jazz began in America. It represents a mix of African and European music and cultures. One of the best places to hear jazz is New York City. Which is why the International Association of Jazz Education sometimes holds its yearly conference there. The group has more than eight thousand members in forty countries.


Bireli Lagrene performing with the WDR Big Band, Germany, during the 2006 IAJE conference

The conference is five days and nights of concerts, discussion groups, jam sessions -- just about anything related to jazz. Many discussions center on the methods of jazz greats like Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis.

The jazz lovers at the conference in January included teachers, famous musicians and music industry experts. Top school groups performed from a number of countries.

Crowds were energized² by the beats of big bands and groups like Sisters in Jazz. Brazil's Oscar Castro-Neves mixed jazz stylings with the sounds of his homeland.

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During the conference, the National Endowment for the Arts honored several jazz performers. Jazz remains³ an important art form, but its following has gotten smaller over the years.

The National Endowment for the Arts recently started a program called NEA Jazz in the Schools. The goal is to help connect young people to jazz as a way of understanding American history.

Now, we leave you with a group from Japan that performed at the conference. Here is the No Name Horses Jazz Orchestra playing Toil⁴, Moil.

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This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Cynthia Kirk. I'm Bob Doughty.

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1 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。

2 energized   

v.给予…精力，能量( energize的过去式和过去分词 )；使通电

参考例句：

• We are energized by love if we put our energy into loving. 如果我们付出能量去表现爱意，爱就会使我们充满活力。 来自辞典例句
• I am completely energized and feeling terrific. 我充满了活力，感觉非常好。 来自辞典例句

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 toil   

vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事

参考例句：

• The wealth comes from the toil of the masses.财富来自大众的辛勤劳动。
• Every single grain is the result of toil.每一粒粮食都来之不易。