VOA慢速英语20060623b

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - Getting Their Kicks: Thanks in Part to 'Soccer Moms,' Game Grows in the U.S.By Erin Shiavone and Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Thu, 22 Jun 2006 16:00:00 UTC

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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:

We answer a question about Americans and the game of soccer ...

Play some music from a Tony award winning musical play ...

And report about a new cellular² telephone ring tone³ that some people cannot hear.

Ring Tone

HOST:

Cellular phones are extremely popular in the United States and around the world, especially among young people. Now, teenagers are using a cell phone ring tone that many adults cannot hear. Mario Ritter has more.

MARIO RITTER:


A teen text messaging

The sound that the cell phone releases⁴ is a very high frequency⁵ or pitch. Many older people are not able to hear the ring tone. Teenagers are using it to communicate during school classes. Students are supposed to have their cell phones turned off during classes. But some students use the ring tone so they can send text messages to each other during class without their teachers knowing.

For example, the frequency of normal talking is as high as eight kilohertz. The frequency of the ring tone is said to be about seventeen kilohertz. Over time, most adults over the age of forty or fifty lose their ability to hear high frequency sounds. So most young people can hear the ring tone but many older people cannot.

A British security⁶ company first created the sound and called it the Mosquito. The Mosquito device⁷ is a small black box that sends out sounds at a very high frequency. The device was used to solve a problem for British storeowners. Many teenagers gathered in stores without buying anything. Storeowners used the Mosquito sound to make the teenagers leave the store.

The Mosquito sound was reinvented as a ring tone for cell phones. Teenagers in the United States found the ring tone on the Internet. Some students downloaded the ring tone onto their cell phones and sent it to their friends. The ring tone quickly spread among teenagers in the United States and in other countries.

Many people from around the world have written about the ring tone on Web sites. Some people over forty years old said they could hear the ring tone, too. And some young people found the ring tone to be painful to hear. They said it hurt their ears and gave them headaches. Here is the ring tone. Can you hear it? Here it is again!

Soccer

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week comes from South Korea. Byoung-Lip Ha asks why the game of soccer is not as popular in the United States as in other parts of the world.

That is a good question to answer right now as the World Cup is being played in Germany. Most of the world is very interested in this series of football games. In fact, it is the world's most popular sport. Reports say as many as one thousand million people around the world are expected to watch the championship game on July ninth. Still, most people in the United States have little interest in the World Cup, even though the United States team is taking part.

Many sports experts say the American public has never shown much interest in the game called soccer in the United States. However, they say this is only true of older Americans. These adults did not play soccer when they were children. They did not grow up with the sport as people in other countries have. Sports like American football, baseball and basketball have always been more popular in the United States than soccer.

The Sporting Goods Manufacturers⁸ Association⁹ says more than seventeen million people have played soccer at least once this year. That makes soccer one of the most popular team sports in the country.

Experts say children are making soccer more popular in the United States
A soccer mom -- and coach

because almost anyone can play the game. There are teams for girls, boys, older children and young adults. Some Americans have become interested in soccer because their children play. This has produced a new American expression, soccer mom. This is a mother who spends a lot of time driving her children to soccer games and watching them compete.

The experts say soccer is increasing in popularity¹⁰ among Americans. The United States national team has qualified¹¹ for four World Cup competitions. The new Major League Soccer organization has been making progress since it began about ten years ago.

The increased use of the Internet is permitting American soccer fans to communicate with those in other parts of the world. And more television stations are broadcasting soccer games. Still, most Americans say they would rather play soccer than watch it on television.

Tony Awards

HOST:

Last week, the American Theater Wing presented its sixtieth yearly¹² Tony Awards. The Tony awards honor¹³ work on the Broadway stage in New York City. Barbara Klein plays music from one of the winning musical plays.

BARBARA KLEIN:

Tony Awards are given to people who work in all areas of Broadway stage productions. These include actors, writers, directors and designers. One of the top awards is presented to the best musical play of the year.


The un-real Four Seasons



The winner this year is the show Jersey¹⁴ Boys. It is the story of the Four Seasons rock and roll group that was popular in the nineteen sixties. It tells how the four young men from New Jersey got together, became successful and then broke up.

The Four Seasons wrote their own songs and created their own special sound. They sold one hundred seventy-five million records around the world. Maybe you remember the group. Here are the real Four Seasons singing their big hit, Big Girls Don't Cry.

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Theater critics praised the actors in Jersey Boys for their versions¹⁵ of the Four Seasons music. Listen now to the actors in the musical sing that same song.

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Jersey Boys won several Tony awards last week. Christian¹⁶ Hoff won the Tony for featured actor in a musical for his work as Four Seasons member Tommy DeVito. And John Lloyd Young won the Tony for best actor in a musical. He plays Four Seasons lead singer Frankie Valli. We leave you now with John Lloyd Young singing Can't Take My Eyes Off You.

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HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today. Our show was written by Erin Schiavone and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver¹⁷ was 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., 20237, 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 cellular   

adj.移动的；细胞的，由细胞组成的

参考例句：

• She has a cellular telephone in her car.她的汽车里有一部无线通讯电话机。
• Many people use cellular materials as sensitive elements in hygrometers.很多人用蜂窝状的材料作为测量温度的传感元件。

3 tone   

n.语气，音调，气度，色调；vt.（up）增强

参考例句：

• There was a tone of mockery in his voice.他说话的语气含有嘲笑的意味。
• Holmes used an informal,chatty tone in his essays.霍姆斯在文章中语气轻松随便。

4 releases   

v.释放( release的第三人称单数 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• Nuclear fission releases tremendous amounts of energy. 核裂变释放出巨大的能量。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Zemel says that when calcium levels are low, the body releases a hormone that helps squeeze the most out of every available milligram of the mineral. 泽莫尔博士说，当人体中的钙含量偏低时，身体里就会产生一种荷尔蒙，它能帮助肌体最大限度地吸收所摄入的钙。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 frequency   

n.次数，频率；经常发生，频繁

参考例句：

• If we can know their frequency we will monitor their talking.如果我们知道他们的频率,我们就能监听他们的谈话。
• The tanks broke down with increasing frequency.坦克越来越频繁地熄火。

6 security   

n.安全，安全感；防护措施；保证(金)，抵押(品)；债券，证券

参考例句：

• A security guard brought him down with a flying tackle.一名保安人员飞身把他抱倒。
• There was tight security at the airport when the President's plane landed.总统的专机降落时，机场的保安措施很严密。

7 device   

n.器械，装置；计划，策略，诡计

参考例句：

• The device will be in production by the end of the year.该装置将于年底投入生产。
• The device will save much time and effort for us.这种装置会使我们节省大量时间和气力。

8 manufacturers   

制造商，制造厂( manufacturer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The manufacturers in some countries dumped their surplus commodities abroad. 一些国家的制造商向国外倾销过剩产品。
• Colour TV has been more aggressively promoted as more manufacturers have joined the competition. 由于更多的厂商参与竞争，推销彩色电视机的宣传更为激烈了。

9 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。

10 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。

11 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

12 yearly   

adj.每年的，一年一度的；adv.一年一次地

参考例句：

• The flower show is a yearly event in our town.我们镇上的花展一年举行一次。
• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。

13 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。

14 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

15 versions   

n.译本( version的名词复数 )；版本；（个人对事件的）描述；（原物的）变体

参考例句：

• There are two versions of the game, a long one and a short one. 这游戏有两个版本，一长一短。
• When both versions of the story were collated,major discrepancies were found. 在将这个故事的两个版本对照后，找出了主要的不符之处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 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。

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。