VOA慢速英语20060414b

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - Population Growth of the United States Leads Industrial NationsBy Lawan Davis, Jill Moss² and Caty Weaver³

Broadcast: Friday, April 14, 2006

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HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

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I'm Doug Johnson. On our show this week鈥?e play religious songs by Kirk Franklin鈥?nswer a question about the Easter holiday鈥?nd report about population in the United States.

Diversity in America

HOST:

The number of people in the United States is expected to reach three hundred million by October. Studies by the Census⁴ Bureau show the population is growing one percent a year. This makes the United States the fastest growing industrial nation. Sixty percent of this population growth is natural. Forty percent is caused by people coming to live in the United States from other countries. Faith Lapidus tells about a new population study.


Expanding home development in Corona⁵, California

FAITH LAPIDUS:

The study by the Brookings Institution shows that more members of minority groups are moving to areas outside large cities. The study says many are moving to western and southern parts of the United States. Population expert William Frey studied population changes in the United States between the years two thousand and two thousand four.

Mister Frey says immigrants have traditionally settled in big cities where they had friends and family to provide support. These include Los Angeles, California; Miami, Florida; Chicago, Illinois and New York City. Now, however, more immigrants are likely to choose areas for economic reasons. Lower housing costs and more jobs are two reasons immigrants are moving to other parts of the country. Mister Frey says the fastest growing cities for immigrants now are Las Vegas, Nevada; Phoenix⁶, Arizona, and Orlando, Florida.

The Brookings study reports that the white population has dropped in more than one hundred cities, including New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, California. The report says that many retired⁷ white Americans are moving to smaller places in western states like Utah and Idaho.

The Brookings study also reports a return to the South for many African-Americans. Fewer are moving to states traditionally considered part of the Old South, like Mississippi and Alabama. Instead, many are settling in New South states, like Texas, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The top city for African-Americans in the South is Atlanta, Georgia.

Mister Frey says this move toward more diversity in American cities is likely to continue. He says there are more minority children than white children under the age of fifteen in almost one-third of the country's largest cities.

To learn about population growth around the world, listen to the Special English program Explorations on Wednesday.

Easter

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HOST:

Our listener question today comes from Ida, a student at a middle school in China. Ida asks how Americans celebrate the Christian⁸ holiday of Easter. Easter is the day that most Christians⁹ believe Jesus Christ rose from the dead more than two thousand years ago.

Easter is the major celebration of the Christian church. American Christians observe Easter on a Sunday in spring. This year, Western Christians will celebrate Easter this Sunday. Orthodox¹⁰ Christians will observe the holiday a week later. The meaning of Easter, however, is the same.

Thousands of American churches hold services in the open air at sunrise on Easter morning. Sunrise services usually include members of many Christian religious groups.

Perhaps the most famous outdoor service takes place most years in the Hollywood Bowl, a music center in Los Angeles, California. This is the eighty-fifth anniversary of this Easter sunrise service.

The Hollywood Bowl Easter celebration probably will have even larger attendance¹¹ than usual this year. For the past two years, repair work on the center made it impossible to hold the event.

Official and unofficial parades are also part of Easter celebrations. People in many cities walk through the streets on Easter morning after church. They wear their new Easter clothes.

Americans also observe Easter customs not directly linked to religious tradition. People celebrate Easter as a cultural holiday that welcomes the season of spring. In colder parts of the country, this means a return of colorful trees and flowers and warmer weather.

Some families color eggs and hide them for children to find. There is a popular story that a rabbit 鈥?the Easter bunny 鈥?leaves the Easter eggs.

Here in Washington, a celebration takes place each year on the day after Easter on the grounds around the White House. On Monday, President and Missus Bush will welcome children and their parents for the yearly Easter Egg Roll. White House officials say children of all ages are invited to take part.

Kirk Franklin

HOST:

Some music critics say gospel singer and songwriter Kirk Franklin has changed modern music more than any other artist in recent years. Steve Ember tells us more.

STEVE EMBER:

In nineteen ninety-three, the album Kirk Franklin and the Family was released. It quickly became very popular. It was the first time a new gospel album had ever sold more than one million copies. The success of Kirk Franklin's albums caused a major change in the music industry. Every major record company created a gospel music division.


Kirk Franklin

Kirk Franklin released a new album recently. It is called Hero. He and his singers perform the song Imagine Me.

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Kirk Franklin's songs are designed to provide messages of hope for young people. However, people of all ages enjoy his lively music. Franklin rarely sings. He says he is not a good singer. Instead, he speaks while the choir¹² sings, as in this song, Could've Been.

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Many people say Kirk Franklin gets better and better with each album. Some say Hero is his best work ever. We leave you with the hit song from that album, Looking For You.

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HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today.

Our show was written by Jill Moss, Jeri Watson and Lawan Davis who was also our producer.

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.

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 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

3 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。

4 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

5 corona   

n.日冕

参考例句：

• The corona gains and loses energy continuously.日冕总是不断地获得能量和损失能量。
• The corona is a brilliant,pearly white,filmy light,about as bright as the full moon.光环带是一种灿烂的珠白色朦胧光，几乎像满月一样明亮。

6 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

7 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

8 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

9 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

10 orthodox   

adj.正统的，传统的，惯常的

参考例句：

• They are orthodox Jews.他们是正统的犹太教徒。
• His ideas are very orthodox.他的思想非常合乎规范。

11 attendance   

n.出席，出席人数，护理，照料

参考例句：

• The attendance of this class never dropped off.这个班的出席人数从未下降。
• The young man danced attendance on his rich aunt.这个年轻人小心侍候他有钱的姑妈。

12 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。