VOA慢速英语2010年-AMERICAN MOSAIC - In America, the New

DOUG JOHNSON:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson. Today on our program, we report on the money makers² in a marriage ...

We answer a question about professional wrestling in America ...

And we play music from country artist Lyle Lovett.

(MUSIC)

Economics³ of Marriage

DOUG JOHNSON:

In the past, a majority of American college students were men. As a result, men held higher paying jobs than women. For most families, the husband was the top earner. But this is changing. Women now represent a majority of American college students. And they are earning more money than ever. Mario Ritter tells us about a recent study that looks at the new economics of marriage.

MARIO RITTER:

The study was released⁵ in January by the Pew Research Center. It found changes in the way that American wives and husbands share economic responsibility for their families.

The study found a big increase in the percentage of married women who earn more money than their husbands.

The researchers studied information about married couples from nineteen seventy through two thousand seven. The study centered on couples between the ages of thirty and forty-four who were born in the United States. In that group, twenty-two percent of the wives earned more than their husbands during the most recent year of the study. Thirty-seven years ago, just four percent of wives were top earners.

Emily Mendell cheered the news in a blog she co-writes called mothersofbrothers.com. Miz Mendell supervises⁶ communications for a financial industry association⁷ in Washington, D.C. She earns more than her husband, Dave, who is a school teacher. But she says their unequal incomes are no reason for tensions⁸.

Emily Mendell says she and her husband have separate bank accounts. This helps avoid arguments about spending money. Money is considered the number one reason for arguments between married couples.

Job satisfaction for the lower earning partner is also important.

Emily Mendell says her husband Dave really enjoys his job as a teacher. He knows he is doing something important in their community.

Miz Mendell also says it is important to look at family life as a whole. She says both partners have to give their time, effort and, in many cases, income for the good of the family.

EMILY MENDELL: "If your marriage is equal, holistically⁹, in what you contribute it makes very little difference as to who's earning more money."

Much of the discussion¹⁰ about income has focused on one person in the marriage earning more than the other. But Emily Mendell says that good marriages bring together the skills and ideas that make a family work.

EMILY MENDELL: "I think the best marriages do that on equal footing across the board even though in certain areas one person may be contributing more than others."

She likes to point out that cooking is not one of the skills that she brings to the family. Luckily, her husband Dave has that covered.

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Professional Wrestling

DOUG JOHNSON:

Our listener question this week comes from Vietnam. Dang wants to know about professional wrestling in America. He says he watches World Wrestling Entertainment programs on television. He can see that tens of thousands of people attend the W.W.E. matches in America.

The Undertaker

Professional wrestling is a sport with a lot of acting¹¹. It features exciting men and women often wearing unusual costumes. The Undertaker, Hornswoggle, and John Cena are some of the male wrestlers in World Wrestling Entertainment events. The female¹³ wrestlers are called Divas. They include Maryse, Savanna¹⁴ and the Bella Twins.

The wrestlers have long-standing conflicts with each other. The writers for W.W.E. programs create stories about what goes on among the competitors outside the ring.

During a fight, the wrestlers use moves that would never be permitted in a real wrestling match. For example, you might see a W.W.E. wrestler¹² jump off the ropes and land on top of his opponent¹⁵. Or the wrestlers might pull each other's hair. Sometimes wrestlers will jump into the ring to help one fighter against an opponent.

The crowd cheers and claps for all the wrestling tricks and misbehavior. This is exactly what the audience comes to see.

And the fans are many. The Nielsen Media Research company shows almost sixteen million people in the United States watch W.W.E. programs every week. Almost eighty percent of the viewers are over eighteen years old. And thirty-six percent are female.

W.W.E. programs are shown around the world on the Internet and television. The programs are broadcast in more than one hundred forty-five countries and thirty languages.

Last week, W.W.E. officials reported the company earned more than one hundred seventeen million dollars in the fourth financial period of last year.

The W.W.E. chairman and chief is Vince McMahon. Mister¹⁶ McMahon's grandfather, Jess, started the company under a different name in the early nineteen fifties. It was more wrestling than acting back then. Vince McMahon got into the business against his own father's wishes. But Vince McMahon is good at it. Under his leadership World Wrestling Entertainment has grown into the huge business it is today.

(MUSIC)

Lyle Lovett

DOUG JOHNSON:

This is the song "She's No Lady" from Lyle Lovett's nineteen eighty- eight album "Pontiac."

(MUSIC)

DOUG JOHNSON:

The Texas musician sings, write songs, plays guitar, produces records and even acts. He won his first Grammy Award in nineteen eighty-nine for best country male vocal¹⁷ performance. But Lyle Lovett does not fit the part of a cowboy. Nor does much of his music. It is a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll. Some of his music sounds like feel good folk and some sounds like down home blues¹⁸. There are also bits of jazz, pop, big band swing and even gospel. Barbara Klein has more.

(MUSIC)

BARBARA KLEIN:

That song, "Church," is from Lyle Lovett's nineteen ninety-twp album "Joshua Judges Ruth." It is considered one of his most successful albums to date. A year after its release⁴ Lyle Lovett enjoyed a different kind of fame. His marriage to actress Julia Roberts made him an instant celebrity¹⁹ for reasons completely unrelated to music. The couple met while filming the movie, "The Player."

While their marriage only lasted two years, Lyle Lovett's music lives on. He has released fourteen albums during his career. They include a greatest hits album, a live album and an album of songs he wrote for movies. Lyle Lovett's newest album is called "Natural Forces." We leave you with the title song.

(MUSIC)

HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson. Our program was written by Mario Ritter, June Simms and Caty Weaver²⁰, who was also our producer. For transcripts²¹, MP3s and podcasts of our programs, go to voaspecialenglish.com. You can also post comments.

Do you have a question about people, places or things in America? Send it to us through our Web site. Or write to [email protected]. We may answer your question on our show.

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 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 economics   

n.经济学，经济情况

参考例句：

• He is studying economics,which subject is very important.他正在学习经济学，该学科是很重要的。
• One can't separate politics from economics.不能把政治与经济割裂开来。

4 release   

vt.发布，发表，发行；释放，放开

参考例句：

• After my examination I had a feeling of release.考完试后我有如释重负之感。
• This medicine will give you release from pain.这药吃后会解除你的疼痛。

5 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。

6 supervises   

v.监督，管理( supervise的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The group leader supervises a dozen workers. 组长管十二个工人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He makes the wines and supervises the vineyards. 他酿酒并管理葡萄园。 来自辞典例句

7 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。

8 tensions   

（情绪上的）紧张( tension的名词复数 )； 张力； 紧张的状态； （作家或电影导演制造的）紧张气氛

参考例句：

• Social tensions were manifested in the recent political crisis. 最近的政治危机显示了社会关系的紧张。
• These disagreements are symptomatic of the tensions within the party. 出现意见分歧表明该党内部的关系紧张。

9 holistically   

adv.holistic（整体的，全盘的）的副词形式

参考例句：

• Menu items and dialogs, when they are translated, to be considered holistically. 在翻译菜单项和对话框时，需要全盘考虑，确保翻译的界面保持整体的一致性很重要。 来自互联网
• If we examine this entity holistically, we can discover how incredible it really is. 如果我们整体检查这实体，我们可以发现它真的是多么让人难以置信。 来自互联网

10 discussion   

n.讨论，谈论；论述

参考例句：

• It is certain he will come to the discussion.他肯定会来参加讨论。
• After months of discussion,a peace agreement is gradually taking shape.经过几个月的商讨，和平协议渐渐有了眉目。

11 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

12 wrestler   

n.摔角选手，扭

参考例句：

• The wrestler tripped up his opponent.那个摔跤运动员把对手绊倒在地。
• The stronger wrestler won the first throw.较壮的那个摔跤手第一跤就赢了。

13 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。

14 savanna   

n.大草原

参考例句：

• The savanna is also the home of meat-eaters--the lion,leopard,and hyena who feed on the grasseaters.大草原也是食肉动物的家乡--狮子、豹、鬣狗--它们都是以草食动物维持生命的。
• They sped upon velvet wheels across an exhilarant savanna.他们的马车轻捷地穿过一片令人赏心悦目的大草原。

15 opponent   

n.对手，敌手，反对者；adj.敌对的，反对的

参考例句：

• The boxer gave his opponent a punch on the nose.这个拳击手朝他对手的鼻子上猛击一拳。
• After a fierce struggle,he got a beat on his opponent.经过殊死的较量，他占了对手的上风。

16 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

17 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

18 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

19 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

20 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。

21 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句