VOA慢速英语 2007 0406b

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC¹, in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Bob Doughty². On our show this week:

We answer a question about singer and actress Hilary Duff ‿/P>

Tell about a young woman who does an exciting water sport ...

And report about the world's smallest living horse. 

Thumbelina

HOST:

An extremely rare animal named Thumbelina is traveling around the United States this year.  The goal of the trip is to try to raise one million dollars for organizations that aid children.  Last summer, Guinness World Records named Thumbelina the world's smallest living horse.  Faith Lapidus tells us more.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Thumbelina next to an average size horse

Thumbelina is forty-four and one-half centimeters tall.   She weighs less than twenty-six kilograms.  Because she is such an unusual creature, Thumbelina could easily be the center of attention in a circus or zoo.

Instead, her owners are taking her to visit forty-eight states.  She is appearing at children's hospitals, stores, schools, horse shows, camps and fairs.  Thumbelina already has raised more than ten thousand dollars for children's aid groups.  She is popular with both children and adults.

Thumbelina is a kind of small horse called a miniature³ horse.  But she has an abnormal⁴ gene⁵ that made about her half the size of a normal miniature horse.

Thumbelina is named for a woman in a story by the Danish writer Hans Christian⁶ Andersen. The woman was the size of a person's thumb, the short, thick finger on a person's hand.

Kay and Paul Goessling own Thumbelina.  They keep the little horse at their Goose Creek⁷ Farms in Saint⁸ Louis, Missouri.  They raise miniature horses to sell and show at competitions. Their son, Michael Goessling, cares for Thumbelina. 

The little horse is five years old. At birth, she weighed less than four kilograms.  The family thought she might not survive.  Today, she sometimes wears leg supports to keep her legs straight.  Michael Goessling says they expect Thumbelina to live about seventeen years.

When Thumbelina is home, Michael Goessling says she does not spend much time with the other horses.  Instead, she plays with the family's dogs.  She also sleeps in a doghouse. Two times a day, Thumbelina eats a cup of grain and a handful of hay. 

Her owners say Thumbelina will not have any babies.  They want to protect the health of their famous little horse. They say there will never be another Thumbelina.

Wakeboarding

HOST:

Dallas Friday was only thirteen years old when her mother took her to an expert teacher to learn to ride a wakeboard.  Today, seven years later, Miz Friday has won many awards for this action-filled water sport. Shirley Griffith tells us more.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH:

Wakeboarding is similar to surfing and water skiing.  Surfers stand on a board and try to ride it over the ocean waves.  But wakeboarders hold onto a rope as they ride a board behind a specially⁹ equipped boat. The motion and speed of the boat create a "wake" in the water.  The rider jumps, turns and twists over the wake.

Dallas Friday wakeboarding

Dallas Friday learned those skills on land, doing gymnastics at school.  So she thought she might be good at wakeboarding.  But at first, the expert did not want to teach her.  He thought she was just a beginner.  But then he watched Dallas perform in the water.  The expert told her family that she could make a million dollars.   

During the years since then, Dallas Friday has earned top honors in competitions.  Last year, for example, she won the Wakeboard World Cup in China.   She has bought several houses with her winnings.  She has also paid a price in injuries.  She returned to the water recently after breaking her leg in seven places.

Like Dallas Friday, some young adult wakeboarders compete for money.  But children also wakeboard, and so do people older than sixty.  Most take part in the sport just for fun.

Wakeboarding developed over a number of years, as people skilled at water sports experimented with their equipment.  It took a big step forward in the nineteen eighties.  At that time, two well-known sportsmen designed straps¹⁰ to hold a rider's feet onto the board.

About fifteen years ago, a sports company in the state of Florida started launching competitions for professional wakeboarders.  Television sports channels showed some of the action. 

Today, an estimated three million people ride wakeboards in the United States.  They study which boats and boards work best. They read magazines like "Alliance¹¹ Wakeboard."  But mostly, like Dallas Friday, they love to fly over the water on their wakeboards. 

Hilary Duff

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week comes from China. Guo Xiaoyi wants to know about singer and actress Hilary Duff.

(MUSIC)

Hilary Duff is only nineteen years old.  Yet she has had her own television show, appeared in movies and recorded albums.  She also designs her own clothing line and has a perfume named after her.

Hilary Duff started appearing in local productions in her hometown of Houston, Texas. She moved to California with her mother and sister and appeared in several television commercials. 

Her first major movie part was in "Casper Meets Wendy" in nineteen ninety-eight.  Then she got the lead in a television show about a teenager named Lizzie McGuire. She appeared in the show from two thousand one until two thousand four.  By that time, she had already recorded two albums of music.

In two thousand three, she appeared in three hit movies -- "Agent Cody Banks", "The Lizzie McGuire Movie" and "Cheaper By the Dozen."  Here is a hit song from her album Metamorphosis -- “So Yesterday‿

(MUSIC)

Hilary Duff also works with an animal rights group and is involved with several aid organizations.  She has given two hundred fifty thousand dollars to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina on the American Gulf¹² coast.  And she is still not even twenty years old!

We leave you now with another hit song from Hilary Duff.  This one is from her new album "Dignity" that was just released this week. It is called “With Love.‿/P>

(MUSIC)

HOST:

I'm Bob Doughty.  Last week, we told you about the college men's basketball championship series called "March Madness." The final game was played Monday.  The team from the University of Florida defeated the team from The Ohio State University to become the college basketball champion for the second year. 

Last January, the Florida football team defeated Ohio State to win the college football championship.  That makes the University of Florida the first school to win championships in both football and basketball in the same school year.

Our program today was written by Nancy Steinbach and Jerilyn Watson. Caty Weaver¹³ was our producer. To read the text of this program and download audio, go to our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. 

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 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 miniature   

adj.小型的，微小的；n.微小的模型，微型画

参考例句：

• He's giving a party in miniature on his birthday.他生日那天将举行一个小型晚会。
• Games are real life in miniature.游戏是现实生活的缩影。

4 abnormal   

adj.反常的，不正常的，不规则的

参考例句：

• This warm weather is abnormal for February.二月里这种温暖的天气不太正常。
• That is simply abnormal.那简直是反常的。

5 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

6 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。

7 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

8 saint   

n.圣徒；基督教徒；vt.成为圣徒，把...视为圣徒

参考例句：

• He was made a saint.他被封为圣人。
• The saint had a lowly heart.圣人有谦诚之心。

9 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

10 straps   

n.带子( strap的名词复数 )；挎带；肩带；背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 )；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• the shoulder straps of her dress 她连衣裙上的肩带
• The straps can be adjusted to suit the wearer. 这些背带可进行调整以适合使用者。

11 alliance   

n.同盟，同盟国，结盟，联姻

参考例句：

• China will not enter into alliance with any big power.中国不同任何大国结盟。
• The new alliance was very much in evidence.新的联盟上星期很引人注目。

12 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

13 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。