VOA慢速英语2012 AMERICAN MOSAIC - Dr. Seuss Returns to the Movies With 'The Lorax'

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - Dr. Seuss Returns to the Movies With 'The Lorax'

JUNE SIMMS: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.
(MUSIC)
I’m June Simms. On our show today we play new music from Estelle …
And we tell about an effort by college students to help people save water …
But first, we go to the movies for a look at “The Lorax.”
(MUSIC)
"The Lorax"
JUNE SIMMS: On March second, Hollywood releases a full length movie based on a well-loved children’s book, “The Lorax,” by Dr. Seuss. Movies based on popular children’s books often face a difficult audience. Many people are offended by changes to the stories that touched them in their youth. However, change is unavoidable when a short book is turned into a ninety-minute film.
But “The Lorax” as movie is especially complex. Dr. Seuss’ book is a clear appeal for enacting² environmental measures on business. But the business of movies may affect the message of “The Lorax.” Faith Lapidus has more.
(SOUND: “The Lorax”)
FAITH LAPIDUS: A young boy lives in a polluted, treeless world. He wants to know why the environment is this way. A character called The Once-ler tells the boy the story of a once green and beautiful world and the Lorax, a creature who tried to save it. The Once-ler destroyed the world when he cut down all the trees to make a product that nobody really needed. Other victims of the destruction include all the happy creatures that depended on the trees.
Dr. Seuss wrote about the destruction of habitat in “The Lorax.” It is a book about the importance of balancing the needs of nature with the needs of industry.
The movie, “The Lorax,” adds a lot to the book version. The boy now has a name, Ted³. The name honors Dr. Seuss, whose real name was Theodor Geisel. Ted has a love interest not found in the book. The girl is his neighbor, Audrey, named after Geisel’s wife. And Ted has an enemy in the film version. This creates the reason for many of the action scenes not found in the book.
Young star Zac Efron provides the voice for Ted. Country singer Taylor Swift plays Audrey. The Lorax is the voice of Danny DeVito. And Ed Helm is The Once-ler.
So far reviews of the movie have been mixed. Many say the film is beautiful to look at and the actors were well chosen. Some also say the political message behind the book has been weakened too much.
But, what all have noted⁴ is the seeming conflict between the book’s message and the movie’s ties to products. These include the home goods store, Pottery⁵ Barn Kids and the computer maker⁶, HP. But the most surprising joint⁷ effort is between “The Lorax” movie and a Mazda sport utility vehicle.
(MUSIC)
Water Conservation by College Students
JUNE SIMMS: College students in Wisconsin are helping⁸ homeowners and businesses reduce the amount of water they use. As Christopher Cruise tells us, their actions might help ease water shortages in countries around the world.
CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: McGee Young is a political science professor at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Last year, Professor Young taught a class on water policy. His students learned about water shortages and began to think about how to deal with them.
McGEE YOUNG: “Obviously our resources were limited so we couldn’t solve the problems of India, for example, but we could look in our own backyard.”
Professor McGee says the students considered Waukesha, Wisconsin. The city is about thirty kilometers from Milwaukee and running out of water. He says Waukesha cannot get water from nearby Lake Michigan, so the city faces a severe crisis.
Professor Young says part of the problem has to do with water bills. These are the documents sent out by the water company to tell individuals how much they owe for water use. Professor Young says the bills do not have enough useful information.
McGEE YOUNG: “The water company tells us how many hundreds of cubic feet we’ve used. To me, a hundred cubic feet has no context. So if I used twenty in a quarter, was that good? Was that bad?”
So Professor Young and his students created a website called H2OScore.com. The website gives people information about how they can reduce the amount of water they use. And it takes complex information from water bills and puts it into simple terms. This information includes the number of gallons, or liters, of water used in a day. He says that permits people to compare their water use to others.
Water-use experts joined with H2OScore.com members to visit homeowners and businesses to help them learn how to use less water.
Peter Sandroni owns a restaurant in Milwaukee. He says the experts looked at every possible use of water in his business.
PETER SANDRONI: “Hand sinks in our bathroom to the dish machine in our kitchen, with everything in between, the water heater, at the bar, the ice machine, all this stuff, we looked at.”
The students gave Mr. Sandroni some ideas about how to save water after they learned how it is used in his restaurant.
PETER SANDRONI: “This is where you can immediately have an impact on lowering water consumption in your restaurant: low-flow water (faucets) at hand sinks in the bathrooms. Number two was in our dish area, we have a three-compartment sink and we have a dish machine. And we reduced the water flow coming out of those as well. Number three was asking customers if they wanted water, instead of automatically bringing water out to customers.”
Professor McGee Young says residents and business owners are happy with the website and its suggestions for efficient water use. He says it is more successful than he had expected. The teacher says they are creating new programs in small communities in Wisconsin. They are also redesigning the website to make it more user-friendly.
And he says he is receiving questions from people all over the country. He says water system directors and individuals want to know how they can participate, because they want to save water, save money and make a difference in their communities.
(MUSIC)
Estelle: "All of Me"
JUNE SIMMS: The British artist Estelle just released her third studio album. “All of Me” is Estelle’s first record in four years. Most critics seem to like it. One described “All of Me,” as well worth the wait. Shirley Griffith has more on Estelle and her new album.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Many Americans think of Estelle as a singer. And she is a very good singer. But she started out as a rap artist. Estelle told allhiphop.com that “All of Me” was like a trip back in time to when she first got in the game of music. She said she loved to perform in rap shows in her home town of London. Estelle said the energy and competition of rap excited her. On “All of Me” she raps and sings in several songs including “The Life.”
(MUSIC)
Estelle has worked with lots of American rappers. She won a Grammy Award in two thousand nine for the single “American Boy,” which featured Kanye West. On “All of Me” she shares the recording⁹ studio with rapper Rick Ross in “Break My Heart.”
(MUSIC)
On “All of Me,” Estelle also performs with American musician Janelle Monae. “Do My Thing,” is about respecting the individual in everyone.
(MUSIC)
This week Estelle appeared on the American television show "Late Show with David Letterman." We leave you “Thank You,” the song she performed on the program.
(MUSIC)
JUNE SIMMS: This program was written by Christopher Cruise and Caty Weaver¹⁰, who was also our producer. Faiza el Masry provided additional reporting.
Keep sending us your problems to our new relationship blog.  Make sure to add the word “relationship” on the subject line. And please include your age, sex and country.
Join us again next week for music and more on AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA 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 enacting   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Generally these statutes apply only to wastes from reactors outside the enacting state. 总之，这些法令只适宜用在对付那些来自外州的核废料。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• In addition, the complexion of enacting standards for live working is described. 另外，介绍了带电作业标准的制订情况。

3 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 pottery   

n.陶器，陶器场

参考例句：

• My sister likes to learn art pottery in her spare time.我妹妹喜欢在空余时间学习陶艺。
• The pottery was left to bake in the hot sun.陶器放在外面让炎热的太阳烘晒焙干。

6 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

7 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 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。

10 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。