VOA慢速英语2010年-AMERICAN MOSAIC - Online Tools Let Pla

DOUG JOHNSON: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ in VOA Special English.
(MUSIC)I'm Doug Johnson.
This week we play new music from Taylor Swift² …And, answer a question about Veterans⁴ Day …But first, a report on a group that has built hundreds of playgrounds in America and how it is now reaching beyond those borders.
(MUSIC)KaBOOM!
DOUG JOHNSON: Back in nineteen ninety-five, Darrell Hammond read a tragic⁵ story in the newspaper about two children in a poor area of Washington, D.C. They had been playing in an old car because they had nowhere else to play. They got stuck inside and died from a lack of air.
Mr. Hammond was struck by the tragedy. Soon after, he and his friend Dawn Hutchinson established a non-profit group to build community playgrounds across America. The first went up that same year in Washington. In the fifteen years since, KaBOOM! has built almost two thousand community playgrounds. But KaBOOM!’s playground plans are not just for America. Faith Lapidus has more.
Children at a KaBOOM playground in Washington FAITH LAPIDUS: Mark White built his first non-American playground in Poland. He is known in that country as “Pan Plac Zabaw” or Mr. Playground. The project took place at an orphanage⁶, a large housing⁷ center for children without parents. Mark White says the playground brought the wider community together. Families came to play. Orphaned⁸ children made friends with children they had never had the chance to play with before.
Mark White’s earlier work with KaBOOM! in the American Gulf⁹ Coast after Hurricane Katrina helped inspire and guide the playground in Poland.
MARK WHITE: “I thought couldn’t this playground model work elsewhere¹⁰ in the world? With Skype, and the Internet and cell phones? Couldn’t we do the same type of thing? So I looked at the eight steps of the roadmap that KaBOOM! uses to teach people how to build a playground, using community involvement. And went one by one and planned the playground there in Poland.”
Currently¹¹, Mark White is working on a playground in Nepal. That is the kind of story sure to make Laurence Hooper happy. He is Senior Director of Online Initiatives¹² at KaBOOM! He takes everything KaBOOM! knows about building playgrounds and puts that information online in a simple, easy-to-use design.
He says there are fifteen years of playground-building knowledge available on KaBOOM!’s website. He says you can find checklists, design plans, even information about soil testing. Mr. Hooper also says visitors can post questions that KaBOOM! experts will answer. Or visitors can exchange information with other playground builders, no matter where they are.
LAURENCE HOOPER: “It’s astonishing. You hear stories about people using our tools in Nepal or in Africa. The power of the web is that it really does reach into every single corner and makes this knowledge available to someone who just goes onto a search engine and types a couple of words looking for this information. You know, they will find us.”
You can find a link to the KaBOOM! website on our website voaspecialenglish.com.
Veterans Day(MUSIC: “Over There”)Soldiers mark Veterans Day with a wreath-laying ceremony in Afghanistan DOUG JOHNSON: Our listener question this week is from China. Albert Lee wants to know about Veterans Day. November eleventh is a day Americans honor¹³ men and women who have served in the United States armed forces.
World War One ended at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Germany surrendered¹⁴ at eleven o'clock in the morning on November eleventh, nineteen eighteen. The next year, President Woodrow Wilson signed a document declaring November eleventh as Armistice¹⁵ Day in the United States. It would be a day to honor the men and women who had served in the American armed forces during the war.
The United States now has more than twenty-three million veterans. The term "veteran³" is not just for soldiers who have served in wars.
It describes anyone who has ever been in the military. On November eleventh, communities across the United States hold ceremonies to observe Veterans Day. Military bands play. Veterans march in parades. The president and other public officials give speeches.
Congress¹⁶ wanted the nation to hear the stories of its older veterans. Many veterans have reached old age. Each day, more than one thousand veterans die. So, in two thousand, Congress created a program to keep these memories alive for future Americans. It is called the Veterans History Project.
The project collects the remembrances of American war veterans and civilian¹⁷ workers who supported them. These collections are kept in the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress in Washington.
The project collects remembrances of veterans who served in World War I, World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam War. It also includes veterans of the Persian Gulf War and conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Civilians¹⁸ who actively¹⁹ supported war efforts are also invited to share their valuable stories. Volunteers throughout the nation collect veterans’ stories for the Library of Congress.
You can hear more about Veterans Day Monday on the Special English program This is America.
Taylor Swift(MUSIC: “Mine”)DOUG JOHNSON: Taylor Swift is a singer, songwriter and musician who hardly needs an introduction these days. Her two thousand eight album, “Fearless,” won more awards than any other album in the history of country music. Taylor Swift is also the top-selling digital artist in music history. Not bad for a performer who is only twenty years old. Last week, Taylor Swift released²⁰ her third studio album, “Speak Now.” Some critics say it may be her best yet. Katherine Cole has more.
(MUSIC)KATHERINE COLE: That was “Dear John” from Taylor Swift’s latest album, “Speak Now.” Like most of her songs, this one tells about a deeply personal experience. Media reports say the song is about Swift’s failed relationship earlier this year with musician John Mayer. However, she has not publicly confirmed that the song is about him.
Taylor Swift does say in the album notes of “Speak Now” that she wrote each song with a person in mind. She says the songs contain the words she meant to say but didn’t. The next song, “Innocent,” was written with rapper Kanye West in mind. It is her answer to his behavior when he interrupted her award acceptance²² speech at last year’s MTV Video Music Awards.
(MUSIC)Taylor Swift’s earlier albums were heavily influenced by country music. One reason for her huge success is that her music is popular with country music fans as well as with wider audiences. However, her new album shows that she is also at ease²¹ with other music styles. We leave you with “Back to December.”
(MUSIC)DOUG JOHNSON: I’m Doug Johnson. Our program was written by Dana Demange, Jeri Watson and Caty Weaver²³, who also was our 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 swift   

n.雨燕，大滚筒；adj.迅速的，快的，敏捷的，立刻的；adv.迅速地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He is swift to hear,but slow to speak.他听力敏锐，但不善言辞。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery.他康复得相当快。

3 veteran   

n.老兵；经验丰富的人，老手

参考例句：

• My grandfather is a veteran of the Second World War.我祖父是二战时的老兵。
• We often asked the veteran workers for advice.我们常常向老工人求教。

4 veterans   

经验丰富的人，老兵( veteran的名词复数 )； 退伍军人

参考例句：

• Some veterans of the two world wars gathered to celebrate their victory. 一些经历了两次世界大战的退伍军人欢聚庆祝胜利。
• Seasoned veterans were picked to storm the difficult enemy position. 有经验的老兵被挑选出来去突袭难攻的敌军阵地。

5 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

6 orphanage   

n.孤儿院

参考例句：

• They dispensed new clothes to the children in the orphanage.他们把新衣服发给孤儿院的小孩们。
• They gave the proceeds of the sale to the orphanage.他们把销售的收入给了这家孤儿院。

7 housing   

n.房屋，住宅；住房建筑；外壳，外罩

参考例句：

• Do you think our housing sales will turn around during this year?你认为今年我们的住宅销路会好转吗？
• The housing sales have been turning down since the summer.入夏以来，房屋的销售量日趋减少。

8 orphaned   

[计][修]孤立

参考例句：

• Orphaned children were consigned to institutions. 孤儿都打发到了福利院。
• He was orphaned at an early age. 他幼年时便成了孤儿。

9 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。

10 elsewhere   

adv.在别处，到别处

参考例句：

• Our favourite restaurant was full so we had to go elsewhere.我们最喜欢去的那家饭店客满了，因此不得不改去别处。
• I have half a mind to move elsewhere.我有点想搬到别处去。

11 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

12 initiatives   

n.主动性( initiative的名词复数 )；主动的行动；初步；主动权

参考例句：

• Economic policy is liberalized to encourage initiatives in production. 放宽经济政策以鼓励生产的积极性。
• They are tireless in thinking up initiatives. 他们不厌其烦地想出种种采取主动行为的倡议。

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 surrendered   

n.电子放单；Telex releasedv.投降( surrender的过去式和过去分词 )；放弃，抛弃

参考例句：

• The bandit chief surrendered himself to despair and took his own life. 匪首在绝望中自杀了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She gradually surrendered her dream of becoming an actress. 她渐渐放弃了当演员的梦想。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 armistice   

n.休战，停战协定

参考例句：

• The two nations signed an armistice.两国签署了停火协议。
• The Italian armistice is nothing but a clumsy trap.意大利的停战不过是一个笨拙的陷阱。

16 Congress   

n.(代表)大会；(C-:美国等国的)国会，议会

参考例句：

• There were some days to wait before the Congress.大会的召开还有几天时间。
• After 18 years in Congress,he intented to return to private life.在国会供职18年后，他打算告老还乡。

17 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

18 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

19 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

20 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

21 ease   

n. 安乐,安逸,悠闲; v. 使...安乐,使...安心,减轻,放松

参考例句：

• His mind was at ease and he felt confident in the future. 他心情舒畅,对前途很有信心。
• You should ease up on the child and stop scolding her. 你应该对那个孩子宽松些,不要再骂她了。

22 acceptance   

n.接受，接收，验收，接纳；承认，认可

参考例句：

• The new laws gained widespread acceptance.新法令受到广泛赞同。
• It took years for Einstein's theory to gain acceptance.爱因斯坦的理论经过多年才被人们接受。

23 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。