VOA慢速英语20060612b

THIS IS AMERICA - Planning a Wedding Becomes a Marriage of a Million DetailsBy Jerilyn Watson

Broadcast: 2006骞?鏈?2鏃?

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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Barbara Klein. This week -- weddings in America.

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VOICE ONE:


Australian model Narelle Payne in wedding dress by fashion designer Caroline Herrera

Each year, more than two million weddings take place in the United States. The Association¹ for Wedding Professionals International says more than eighty thousand million dollars is spent on those weddings. And that does not include honeymoon² travel for the newlyweds.

Some people have big weddings and invite everyone they know. Some have small, simple weddings and invite only their closest friends and family members. And some elope. They get married first and tell people later.

Still another choice is a destination wedding. These are popular now. The bride and groom³ invite a small group of guests to travel to someplace special for the ceremony. Think of it as a wedding and honeymoon all in one.

VOICE TWO:

June is the beginning of summer. It is also considered the traditional start of the wedding season.

Hollywood has had a lot of fun with weddings. In the summer of two thousand five there was the movie Wedding Crashers. Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn play two friends who trick their way into weddings. Why? Simple: to meet women.

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VOICE ONE:


Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey in The Wedding Planner

Many couples organize their weddings themselves. But some hire a wedding planner to organize everything for them. The planner helps the bride find a wedding dress as well as dresses for her bridesmaids.

The planner helps find a place for the reception after the ceremony. And the planner organizes all the details for the celebration, from the flowers to the food to the entertainment.

In the movie The Wedding Planner, Jennifer Lopez stars as a highly⁴ organized planner with a suddenly disorganized personal life. She falls in love with a doctor, played by Matthew McConaughey. Only he turns out to be the man who is supposed to marry her most important client⁵.

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VOICE TWO:


Steve Martin in Father of the Bride

Hollywood has also had fun with wedding planners. In the Steve Martin and Diane Keaton movie Father of the Bride, Martin Short plays their daughter's wedding coordinator⁶.

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VOICE ONE:

Traditionally the bride's parents pay for the wedding. But Americans now get married at an older age than they once did. So working couples might pay for some or all of the wedding themselves. What a wonderful idea, once joked a real-life father of the bride.

VOICE TWO:

Couples can have a religious ceremony. Or they can have a civil wedding before a judge or other public official. Or they can have both. The couple might also read special vows⁷ they have written for each other.

Many ceremonies share common customs. For example, the bride may wear a long white dress and have a white veil⁸ over her face. The veil is pulled back when the newlyweds kiss at the end of the ceremony.

The groom traditionally wears a tuxedo⁹. If the suit is black and the shirt is white, picture in your mind a penguin¹⁰. A nervous penguin.

An old tradition says brides should wear something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. These four things are supposed to bring good luck.

Different cultures have their own traditions. At African-American weddings, for example, there is jumping the broom. This is an old tradition where couples jump over a broomstick laid on the ground.

VOICE ONE:

America is known as a nation of immigrants¹¹. Each group brings its own wedding customs and traditions to the mix. But one tradition at most weddings is music. Many people hire D.J.s, disc¹² jockeys, to play recorded dance music. A wedding might also have live music.

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VOICE TWO:

Many couples hire small chamber¹³ groups to play classical music before and at the end of their wedding ceremony. One musical tradition is Trumpet¹⁴ Voluntary.

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VOICE ONE:

Another classical favorite at weddings is Sheep May Safely Graze¹⁵ by Johann Sebastian Bach:

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VOICE TWO:




Some couples want to get married in a famous place like Disneyland or Las Vegas. The eightieth floor of the Empire State Building in New York City is a popular place for weddings. Couples can enter a competition for a chance to get married there on Valentine's Day.

Couples sometimes hold their wedding in a romantic place where they met. Or they choose a place that will not be too far for all the guests to travel. Or they hear about a beautiful place where many other people have gotten married.

Many couples get married on the beach in Hawaii and the mainland¹⁶, or travel to Mexico or an island in the Caribbean.

With a destination wedding, the celebration often lasts three days. All the guests are invited to a dinner on the night before the wedding. Then there is the ceremony and the meal that follows. And often there is an early morning breakfast the following day.

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VOICE ONE:

Thanks to the Internet, couples can make a lot of their wedding preparations online. Technology has also made it easier for other people to decide what to give them for a wedding gift.

The future newlyweds can go to stores and choose the gifts they would like to receive. The information is entered into a list on a wedding registry at each store. Then their friends and relatives can choose what to buy.

This means the bride and groom get things they want. It also means they avoid many of the things they do not want 鈥?like three toasters for their morning bread.

Some couples planning a wedding create their own Web sites so they can provide information to the people they invite.

VOICE TWO:

With all the planning that goes into some weddings, it is easy to forget what the event is all about. A Protestant minister in Maryland advises couples to remember one thing. Their wedding is over quickly, but their feelings for each other have to last a lifetime.

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VOICE ONE:

Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Caty Weaver¹⁷. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Barbara Klein. Read and listen to our programs at www.unsv.com. And we invite you to listen against next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

1 association   

n.联盟，协会，社团；交往，联合；联想

参考例句：

• Our long association with your company has brought great benefits.我方和贵公司的长期合作带来了巨大的利益。
• I broke away from the association ten years ago.我10年前就脱离了那个团体。

2 honeymoon   

n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月

参考例句：

• While on honeymoon in Bali,she learned to scuba dive.她在巴厘岛度蜜月时学会了带水肺潜水。
• The happy pair are leaving for their honeymoon.这幸福的一对就要去度蜜月了。

3 groom   

vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁

参考例句：

• His father was a groom.他父亲曾是个马夫。
• George was already being groomed for the top job.为承担这份高级工作，乔治已在接受专门的培训。

4 highly   

adv.高度地，极，非常；非常赞许地

参考例句：

• It is highly important to provide for the future.预先做好准备非常重要。
• The teacher speaks very highly of the boy's behaviour.老师称赞这个男孩的表现。

5 client   

n.委托人，当事人，顾客

参考例句：

• She can't come to the telephone;she's serving a client.她不能来接电话，她正在接待一位顾客。
• The lawyer produced a clever defence of his client.律师机智地为委托人辩护。

6 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

7 vows   

誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿

参考例句：

• Matrimonial vows are to show the faithfulness of the new couple. 婚誓体现了新婚夫妇对婚姻的忠诚。
• The nun took strait vows. 那位修女立下严格的誓愿。

8 veil   

n.面纱，掩饰物，修女；vt.给...戴面纱或面罩；vi.带面纱或面罩

参考例句：

• Please veil your face.请用面纱遮住脸。
• There was a veil of mist over the mountains.山上覆盖着一层薄雾。

9 tuxedo   

n.礼服，无尾礼服

参考例句：

• Well,you have your own tuxedo.噢，你有自己的燕尾服。
• Have I told you how amazing you look in this tuxedo?我告诉过你穿这件燕尾服看起来很棒吗？

10 penguin   

n.企鹅

参考例句：

• The penguin is a flightless bird.企鹅是一种不会飞的鸟。
• He walked with an awkward gait like a penguin.他走路的步子难看得就像企鹅。

11 immigrants   

n.移民( immigrant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Illegal immigrants were given the opportunity to regularize their position. 非法移民得到了使其身份合法化的机会。
• Immigrants from all over the world populate this city. 这个城市里生活着来自世界各地的移民。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 disc   

n.圆盘；唱片，磁盘；adj.圆盘形

参考例句：

• He hands a metal disc to me.他把一个金属圆盘给我。
• The disc went spinning away into the sky.圆盘旋转着飞入空中。

13 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

14 trumpet   

n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘

参考例句：

• He plays the violin, but I play the trumpet.他拉提琴，我吹喇叭。
• The trumpet sounded for battle.战斗的号角吹响了。

15 graze   

v.(牲畜)吃草；放牧；擦过(牲畜)；n.擦伤

参考例句：

• There is good grassland here for your cattle and horses to graze on.这里有很好的草地供你们放牧牛马。
• Nothing serious.Just a graze.没关系，就破了一点皮。

16 mainland   

n.大陆，本土

参考例句：

• The new bridge will link the island to the mainland.新的桥梁将把该岛与大陆连接在一起。
• Hong Kong's prosperity relies heavily on mainland.香港的繁荣在很大程度上依赖于大陆。

17 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。