VOA慢速英语2009年-AMERICAN MOSAIC - A New Look at Abraham Li

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson.

Today, we play new music from Mos Def ...

And answer a question about some American presidents ...

But first, we visit the newly re-opened museum in Washington that honors just one former president.

(MUSIC)

Ford's Theatre

HOST:
　
John Wilkes Booth shooting President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre

Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C, re-opened its museum last week. The museum not only honors the death of Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president. It also celebrates his life. Visitors to the museum can learn about President Lincoln's important role in American history. Barbara Klein has more.

BARBARA KLEIN:

The museum at Ford's Theatre was created to show Abraham Lincoln's life, and death, in Washington, D.C. The exhibits include historical objects that explain his presidency², his famous speeches and his life in the White House.
　
The coat that Lincoln was wearing

Abraham Lincoln is remembered as the president who ended slavery in the rebel southern states during the Civil War. Headstones in the museum describe his feelings toward slavery. One headstone says that Lincoln believed the system of slavery was founded on both injustice³ and bad policy.

Visitors also discover a funny side to Abraham Lincoln who was known for his sense of humor. One of the museum's displays tells the story about when the president had a mild case of the infectious disease small pox. At the time, Lincoln was troubled by so many people seeking jobs in the White House. Because of his disease, Lincoln joked to his doctor: "Good, now at last I have something I can give everyone."

Visitors learn that President Lincoln's favorite pastime was going to the theater. He especially loved the comedies of William Shakespeare.

Abraham Lincoln was shot and killed at Ford's Theatre while watching a play with his wife in eighteen sixty-five. The museum shows objects related to the people who plotted Lincoln's murder.
　
Booth's gun

You can see the gun that John Wilkes Booth used to kill the president. You can also see the clothes President Lincoln wore the night he was killed. He was wearing a special coat made by Brooks⁴ Brothers. Museum curator Gloria Swift explains what happened to that coat after President Lincoln's death.

GLORIA SWIFT: "The Brooks Brothers coat was given to the favorite doorman after Lincoln's death, at the White House, Alphonso Donn, who kept it in his family. But like many people of the day, it was a practice to snip⁵ out little mementos⁶ of events, and this particular coat suffered that same fate, in that Alfonso Don would clip pieces away from the coat and give it to people who came to visit and to see the coat. He gave it to them as a souvenir. So the coat you see today really doesn't resemble the coat as it originally was when Abraham Lincoln received it from Brooks Brothers."

Kym Elder is an official at Ford's Theatre Museum. She says people are greatly interested in Abraham Lincoln's death, the first assassination⁷ of an American president. She says many people wonder how the country's history would have been different if one gunshot on one evening had not happened.

(MUSIC)

The American Presidents

Our listener question this week comes from Ethiopia. Fekadu Banti is interested in the presidents of the United States. The twenty-second and twenty-fourth presidents have the same name. Is this one person or two presidents who share the same name? And why is the current president, Barack Obama, sometimes compared to the sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln?

Well, first of all, the twenty-second and twenty-fourth presidents of the United States were the same person. Grover Cleveland first served from eighteen eighty-five to eighteen eighty-nine. He lost his re-election campaign in eighteen eighty-eight to Benjamin Harrison.

Grover Cleveland ran again and won election in eighteen ninety-two. He took office in January the following year. This is why Barack Obama is the forty-fourth president but just the forty-third man to serve in the office.
　
John Quincy Adams

The earliest example of presidents sharing a name is the Adams family. John Adams was the second president of the United States, serving from seventeen ninety-seven to eighteen-oh-one. His son, John Quincy Adams, served from eighteen twenty-five to eighteen twenty-nine.

The Bushes are another father and son pair of presidents. George H. W. Bush served from nineteen eighty-nine to nineteen ninety-three. His son, George W. Bush, served from two thousand one until this year.

There have also been two presidents named Roosevelt. They were related but not as closely. Theodore Roosevelt lived in the White House from nineteen-oh-one to nineteen- oh-nine. His distant cousin, Franklin Roosevelt, began his presidency in nineteen thirty-three and served until his death in nineteen forty-five.

And, finally, we come to Barack Obama and Abraham Lincoln. Both are tall, thin men with big ears. Both settled in the state of Illinois as young men. Both became lawyers. They each served in the Illinois state legislature before serving one term in the United States Congress. Both are known for their excellent writing and speaking skills.

Barack Obama has called Lincoln his favorite president and his idol⁸ or hero. Mister Obama announced his candidacy for president of the United States on Abraham Lincoln's birthday in front of the Old State Capitol Building in Springfield, Illinois. This is where President Lincoln gave a famous speech in eighteen fifty-eight. President Obama took the oath of office in January on the Bible that Abraham Lincoln owned and used at his first inauguration⁹.

Finally, Abraham Lincoln freed the black slaves in the rebel southern states during the Civil War. Barack Obama is the country's first African-American president.

Mos Def

(MUSIC)

HOST:

Rapper Mos Def is considered one of the most talented performers of hip-hop music. In recent years, he has performed more as an actor than a hip-hop artist. Recently, he returned to the recording¹⁰ studio and released his first album since two thousand six. Mario Ritter tells more about Mos Def and plays songs from his new album.

MARIO RITTER:
　
Mos Def

Mos Def first became popular as a rapper during the nineteen nineties. He released the album "Black on Both Sides" in nineteen ninety-nine. Music critics consider it one of his best collections of songs.

In the past ten years, Mos Def has become a successful actor in plays and movies. He performed in the Broadway play "Top Dog, Underdog." He has won praise for his roles in movies, including "Something the Lord Made," "16 Blocks", "Monster's Ball" and "Cadillac Records."

Recently Mos Def returned to his first love—music. His new album, "The Ecstatic," was released in June. Again fans and music critics have praised his talent as a writer and rapper. Listen as he skillfully delivers the words in the song "Casa Bey."

(MUSIC)

Mos Def was born Dante Terrell Smith in Brooklyn, New York in nineteen seventy-three. He grew up in an area of the city called Bedford-Stuyvesant. He tells about his life in "Bed-Stuy" in the song "Life in Marvelous Times."

(MUSIC)

We leave you with another song by Mos Def from his new album "The Ecstatic." This is "Quiet Dog Bite Hard."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

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

It was written by Marisel Salazar, Lawan Davis and Caty Weaver¹¹ who was also the producer. 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 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

3 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

4 brooks   

n.小溪( brook的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brooks gave the business when Haas caught him with his watch. 哈斯抓到偷他的手表的布鲁克斯时，狠狠地揍了他一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ade and Brooks exchanged blows yesterday and they were severely punished today. 艾德和布鲁克斯昨天打起来了，今天他们受到严厉的惩罚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 snip   

n.便宜货，廉价货，剪，剪断

参考例句：

• He has now begun to snip away at the piece of paper.现在他已经开始剪这张纸。
• The beautifully made briefcase is a snip at £74.25.这个做工精美的公文包售价才74.25英镑，可谓物美价廉。

6 mementos   

纪念品，令人回忆的东西( memento的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The museum houses a collection of mementos, materials and documents. 博物馆保存着很多回忆录以及文献资料。
• This meant, however, that no one was able to retrieve irreplaceable family mementos. 然而，这也意味着谁也没能把无可替代的家庭纪念品从火中救出来。

7 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

8 idol   

n.偶像，红人，宠儿

参考例句：

• As an only child he was the idol of his parents.作为独子，他是父母的宠儿。
• Blind worship of this idol must be ended.对这个偶像的盲目崇拜应该结束了。

9 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

10 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

11 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。