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AMERICAN MOSAIC1 - Michelle Obama Calls Young Africans to Action
美国万花筒 - 奥巴马夫人呼吁非洲年青人行动起来
DOUG JOHNSON: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.
(MUSIC)
I'm Doug Johnson. This week on our show we remember saxophone player, Clarence Clemons, who died last Saturday…
And, we take you to a consumer protection fair in Maryland…
But first we tell about Michelle Obama’s visit this week to South Africa.
(MUSIC)
Michelle Obama in Africa
DOUG JOHNSON: President Obama’s wife Michelle is on a week-long trip to South Africa and Botswana. The first lady is traveling with her daughters and her mother. On Wednesday, Mrs. Obama spoke2 to young people at a church in Soweto. Shirley Griffith has more on her message that day and her visit.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: The first lady spoke after a lively musical performance and comments by South African women leaders. Mrs. Obama told the crowd that they were the future of Africa.
MICHELLE OBAMA: "You can be the generation that makes the discoveries and builds the industries that will transform our economies. You can be the generation that brings opportunity and prosperity to forgotten corners of the world and banishes3 hunger from this continent forever. You can be the generation that ends HIV/AIDS in our time, the generation that fights not just the disease, but the stigma4 of the disease."
Mrs. Obama spoke directly about women’s issues on the African continent. She said Africa’s young people must make sure that the rights of women are equal to the rights of men. She also said all young people must work to end violence against women in any form and any place.
The first lady gave this message in a building famed for its part in the movement that ended apartheid -- South Africa’s policy of racial separation. Regina Mundi is the largest Roman Catholic Church in the country. Thirty-five years ago, anti-apartheid activists6 sought refuge in the church to escape violence by police. Crowds also gathered there because South African blacks were barred from attending political meetings in most public places.
Michelle Obama noted7 that history. She said the anti-apartheid struggle and America’s civil rights movement had inspired each other years ago. She said the same could be said on a personal level between herself and the young Africa women of today. She said Africa had a lot to offer the rest of the world because of the continent’s high growth rates and growing democracies.
The speech came on the first day of a workshop and conference for women across Africa. The State Department and other American government agencies organized the events. More than seventy young women from twenty-five countries took part. They explored the ideas of leadership and community service. The women were between the ages of sixteen and thirty. They represented the fields of education, health, civil society, business and the media.
Among those taking part was twenty-one year old political activist5 Quiteria Guirengane.
QUITERIA GUIRENGANE: “This is our responsibility, not only for government but our responsibility of all of us to discuss, to have this sort of opportunity, to give more opportunities for other young African women leaders.”
On Tuesday, Michelle Obama and her daughters met with Nelson Mandela, a leader of the anti-apartheid movement. He was also South Africa’s first black president. Missus Obama told reporters the experience was “powerful.”
Consumers Affairs
DOUG JOHNSON: Consumer protection is a big issue in the United States. But there is disagreement about what the government should be doing, if anything, to protect Americans from dishonest businesses and their own bad decisions. Recently, hundreds of people attended a consumer education event in Montgomery County, Maryland. Christopher Cruise has the story.
CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Congressman8 Chris Van Hollen organized the consumer education fair. He is part of the Democratic Party leadership in the House of Representatives.
About thirty local, state and federal government agencies were represented at the fair. So were some private agencies that get public money. They were all providing free information. Many of the agencies showed their websites, full of free information designed to protect consumers. Much of the information was in English and Spanish.
Visitors to the consumer fair could learn how to buy a used car, how to select health and life insurance policies and how to save on prescription9 medicines. They could also learn how to prevent identity theft, how to understand their telephone bill, and even how to choose between competing cable television systems.
Some Americans want their government to provide a lot of consumer protection information. And some expect their government to be strong in protecting people from dishonest business practices and tricky10 con-artists. They want information they can trust, and many believe that information provided by governments is unbiased and trustworthy.
State and national officials spoke at the consumer fair. Douglas Gansler is the top government lawyer in Maryland. He says consumers need the government’s protection from dishonest businesses.
DOUGLAS GANSLER: “By the very nature of capitalism11, it’s free-flowing and unregulated. The problem is of course when you have a capitalist society you’re going to have people that take advantage of it, and take advantage of people. And there are some insidious12 people out there that will do these types of things and you have to capture them.”
John McCarthy is the elected State’s Attorney for Montgomery County. His job is fighting crime. He believes consumer fairs help people protect themselves.
JOHN MCCARTHY: “Public education is our greatest tool - arming people with knowledge about the ways in which common criminal enterprises have tried to take advantage of them.”
Mark Calabria was a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Department of Housing and Urban Development under President George W. Bush. He is now the Director of Financial Regulation Studies at the Cato Institute. He says government officials believe they should spend money educating consumers and providing classes in what is called “financial literacy.” But he says such training did little to keep people from losing money during the recession.
Mister Calabria says there is a danger in government providing so much free consumer information. He fears that consumers will come to believe that the government has made judgments13 about products or investments. As a result, some people feel little need to do any investigating of their own.
MARK CALABRIA: “You are undermining the incentives14 for the consumer to make decisions and do their own research…I think we’re lulling15 people into a sense of false safety and at the end of the day I think they’re becoming worse off because of it.”
You can find links to consumer protection publication and pictures of the Montgomery County consumer fair at voaspecialenglish.com.
Clarence Clemons
DOUG JOHNSON: The United States lost a favorite musician last week. Clarence “Big Man” Clemons died on Saturday, a week after he suffered a stroke.
Clarence Clemons played saxophone in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band for forty years. His performances in many Springsteen songs were memorable16. But Clemons also was a calm and constant spirit in the band.
(MUSIC)
That is “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” with Clarence Clemons on the saxophone. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band recorded the song in nineteen seventy-three for the album, “The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle17.” It was just two years after Springsteen and Clemons met.
How the two men first met is now famous. Clemons went to a club where the Springsteen Band was playing. Clemons said the night was rainy and windy. He opened the door, and the wind tore it off from the wall and blew it away. Clemons said the whole band was looking at him in the opening in the wall. He told the group “I want to play with your band.” Springsteen was maybe a little shaken by the “Big Man’s” exciting entrance. Clemons said the band leader said “Sure, you do anything you want.”
That moment was captured in the words to Springsteen’s song “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out.”
(MUSIC)
Clarence Clemons was born in the coastal18 area of Virginia in nineteen forty-two. His musical future began with the surprise Christmas gift of a saxophone when he was nine.
Clemons died at his home in Florida on June eighteenth. He was sixty-nine years old.
Bruce Springsteen said he had lost his great friend and partner. He called the loss “immeasurable.” We leave you with the Big Man, Bruce Springsteen and the rest of the E Street Band performing “Born to Run.”
I’m Doug Johnson. Our program was written by Chris Cruise and Caty Weaver19, who was also the producer. Join us again next week for music and more on AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.
词汇学习
1.lively a.活泼的,活跃的;栩栩如生的,真实的
2.transform vt.vi.改变
例句：The sofa can transform for use as a bed.
这个沙发可改作床用。
Marriage has completely transformed her.
结婚使她完全改变了。
3.prosperity n.兴旺, 繁荣
例句：The new agreement raised hopes for conditions of prosperity and harmony.
新的协议唤起了人们对繁荣与和谐前景的期望。
4.stigma n.耻辱的标记, 瑕疵
例句：It's a stigma to ask for money.
要钱是一种耻辱。
5.inspire vt.鼓舞, 激励
例句：His speech inspired the crowd.
他的演说鼓舞了群众。
6.undermine v.暗中破坏; 逐渐削弱
例句：Illness undermined his strength.
疾病逐渐削弱了他的力气。
Many severe colds undermined the old man's health.
多次严重的感冒损害了老人的健康。
短语学习
1.Visitors to the consumer fair could learn how to buy a used car, how to select health and life insurance policies and how to save on prescription medicines.
save on节省
例句：Living there will save on fuel.
住在那可节省燃料费。
2.By the very nature of capitalism, it's free-flowing and unregulated. The problem is of course when you have a capitalist society you're going to have people that take advantage of it, and take advantage of people.
take advantage of利用
例句：You should take advantage of it.
你应该好好利用这个机会。
收听单词发音 |
1
mosaic
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| n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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3
banishes
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的第三人称单数 ) | |
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stigma
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| n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头 | |
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activist
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| n.活动分子，积极分子 | |
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activists
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| n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 ) | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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Congressman
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| n.（美）国会议员 | |
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9
prescription
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| n.处方，开药；指示，规定 | |
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tricky
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| adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的 | |
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capitalism
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| n.资本主义 | |
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insidious
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| adj.阴险的，隐匿的，暗中为害的，（疾病）不知不觉之间加剧 | |
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judgments
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| 判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判 | |
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incentives
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| 激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机 | |
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lulling
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| vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的现在分词形式） | |
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memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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17
shuffle
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| n.拖著脚走，洗纸牌；v.拖曳，慢吞吞地走 | |
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coastal
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| adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的 | |
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weaver
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| n.织布工；编织者 | |
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