VOA慢速英语2013 AMERICAN MOSAIC - Archery Shoots Up in Popularity Among Americans

 

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - Archery Shoots Up in Popularity Among Americans

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC.

I’m June Simms.

On the show today, we speak with guitarist Juan DeVevo from the group Casting Crowns, and hear music from their first acoustic³ album.

We also tell about YouTube’s latest efforts to grow with the times.

But first we hear about a centuries old sport that is once again gaining popularity.

The bow and arrow was the weapon of choice for hunters and fighters around the world for tens of thousands of years. Guns began to replace bows and arrows about four hundred years ago. However, archery never disappeared and recently the sport has become popular again. And, as Karen Leggett tells us serious archers⁴ say the new interest will continue to develop.

Twelve-year-old Bethanie Ford⁵ started Archery training seven weeks ago. She had read the wildly popular book “The Hunger Games.” The hero of the story is a teenage girl skilled with a bow and arrow.

“It’s not easy. It is hard. You have to keep trying and get it right, but it is fun.”

Bethanie’s mother, Amy Borst, believes archery is the right sport for her daughter.

“It’s a very independent sport. It’s not a team sport, so she can go on her own pace. She can concentrate and focus a little bit better because she has to learn to really focus instead of just shooting the arrow immediately. She has to really focus and take her time. I think that applies to school work as well.”

A young archer² in training 

That inner focus also appeals to 6th-grader Russell Sperks.

“If I make a goal and I achieve it, then that gives me just a sense of accomplishment⁶.”

Their archery teacher is Ruth Rowe. She was a member of the 1984 United States Olympic archery team. She notes that archery is almost opposite of other sports, which often require speed or agility⁷.

“Be calm, centered within yourself. It’s very, very quiet. It’s very, very still.”

Interest in the sport expanded when the U.S. men’s archery team won the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics. But, Ruth Rowe says Hollywood was even more important to the sport’s renewal⁸.

“Considering that the Hunger Games movies are not going away, ‘Brave’ is not going away. There are now TV shows that have people doing archery in the shows. I think there is so much video and ways to see it now that didn’t exist a little bit ago.”

Ms. Rowe says archery is also a great sport to begin later in life.

“It’s parallel to golf in that it’s a precision sport. It is a life-long sport. We have people starting in their 50s and 60s and they can enjoy it.”

Charles Rendleman is one of those older archers. He got involved in the sport when his teenage sons started archery training four years ago. Now, Mr. Rendleman is a coach.

“One of things I really like about archery is that it offers personal development. As an archer I can pay attention to what’s going on within my concentration and coordination¹⁰, and work on that.”

That, says Ruth Rowe, is just part of the sport’s guiding ideas.

“Every arrow is a discrete¹¹ entity¹². Every time you have a chance to start over new. If you make a mistake, the hard part is emotionally letting go of the mistake and get on to the next arrow to do it the way you need to do it.”

A life lesson that is right on target.

YouTube is no longer the website that only shows home videos of babies and animals. YouTube now has high-tech¹³ production studios in New York, London, Los Angeles and Tokyo. The aim is to improve the quality of what the website has to offer. Today we take you on a trip to the YouTube studio in Los Angeles.

It was an intense day of filming on the set of “Video Game High School.” The show is aimed at people around the world. But it is not shown on television. It can be seen only on the Internet. Jimmy Wong is one of the show’s actors.

“This is a feature length web series that has the production budget of something much larger scale and something on par⁹ quality-wise with what you would see on television.”

Jimmy Wong’s brother Freddie directs “Video Game High School.” The actor says the show’s fans donated more than 800,000 dollars through the Internet so his brother could produce the second season. Most fans made a donation of five to 15 dollars.

“He has over 3 million subscribers on YouTube so that’s definitely a huge fan base to pull from and a lot of those fans are age 13 to 17. On the younger side of things.”

Malik Ducard works for YouTube - Google. He says people 35 years and under are now going to the Internet to get entertainment programming.

“That core demographic uses YouTube often as their first window or a window that they’re watching while they’re watching television.”

Jimmy Wong says more and more people are getting their entertainment from smart phones and computers.

“The newer generation doesn’t want to wait around and it’s just something that’s programmed into us now that if you want to see something, if you want to figure out what it is, oogle it or YouTube it.”

YouTube is trying to give the Internet generation better looking content, or programming, with four production centers around the world. The forty-thousand square meter space in Los Angeles in

YouTube’s largest. It is filled with high-tech cameras and lighting¹⁴ equipment. Liam Collins heads YouTube Space LA.

“We want more viewers tuning¹⁵ in and we believe that higher quality, more ambitious content will serve that goal.”

YouTube chooses a few content creators and lets them use the production studio for free. “Video Game High School” is not the only show produced at YouTube Space LA. Olga Kay once made videos at her home. Those films were successful. Now, she makes comedies at YouTube’s studio.

“I think in the next five years we’re going to see a lot of merging¹⁶. A lot of Hollywood stars are transitioning to YouTube.”

Movie and television studios are also using the Internet and YouTube to advertise their shows and even web-based content. YouTube fans like Danelle Assanelli say unlike TV they can comment on web shows online and even give the creator advice.

“You can actually interact with these people. It’s more personal to us.

YouTube Google’s Malik Ducard says the Internet opens up worldwide audiences to both established Hollywood studios and filmmakers new to the business.

The Christian¹⁷ rock band Casting Crowns has launched a concert tour of eighteen American cities and towns. The band is playing in places where its members have never performed before. And they are performing for hundreds of people, not thousands.

Another difference: Casting Crowns is performing acoustically¹⁸, without electric guitars and a big sound system. The tour is part of a campaign to publicize the group’s new album, “The Acoustic Sessions: Volume One.” 

Christopher Cruise attended a sold-out Casting Crowns concert last Saturday in Williamsport, Maryland. He has more about the group.

Casting Crowns has performed throughout the United States and around the world. The band has won three Grammy awards and two American Music Awards. Last year, Casting Crowns won Billboard¹⁹ Magazine awards for Top Christian Artist and Top Christian Album.

The group has sold more than 5 million records.

The band’s big, powerful songs are well-known to anyone who listens to Christian radio stations in the United States. They include “East To West,” “Who Am I?,” “Voice of Truth,” “Lifesong,” and this song, one of their biggest hits, “Praise You In This Storm.”

Casting Crowns was formed in 1999 in Florida by Mark Hall, its lead singer and songwriter. Most of its members are now based in Georgia. And, as Mark Hall noted²⁰ during the show I attended, he and the other members still work Sunday through Wednesday as clergymen. The band considers its performances an extension of what they do during the week.

I spoke²¹ with Casting Crowns guitarist and singer Juan DeVevo about why the group decided²² to play an acoustic tour. He said they wanted to perform their hit songs, but with more emphasis on the words and less on the music. He said playing acoustic style in smaller places lets the members talk about the songs and why they were written.

What is the best part about an acoustic tour? His answer: the chairs. “We can sit down,” he says with a laugh.

We leave you now with the acoustic version of the song you heard earlier -- “Praise You in This Storm” from Casting Crowns’ “The Acoustic Sessions: Volume One.”

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 archer   

n.射手，弓箭手

参考例句：

• The archer strung his bow and aimed an arrow at the target.弓箭手拉紧弓弦将箭瞄准靶子。
• The archer's shot was a perfect bull's-eye.射手的那一箭正中靶心。

3 acoustic   

adj.听觉的，声音的；(乐器)原声的

参考例句：

• The hall has a fine acoustic.这个大厅的传音效果很好。
• Animals use a whole rang of acoustic, visual,and chemical signals in their systems of communication.动物利用各种各样的听觉、视觉和化学信号来进行交流。

4 archers   

n.弓箭手，射箭运动员( archer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The next evening old Mr. Sillerton Jackson came to dine with the Archers. 第二天晚上，西勒顿？杰克逊老先生来和阿切尔家人一起吃饭。 来自辞典例句
• Week of Archer: Double growth for Archers and Marksmen. 射手周：弓箭手与弩手（人类）产量加倍。 来自互联网

5 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

6 accomplishment   

n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能

参考例句：

• The series of paintings is quite an accomplishment.这一系列的绘画真是了不起的成就。
• Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives.要实现我们的目标，钱是至关重要的。

7 agility   

n.敏捷，活泼

参考例句：

• The boy came upstairs with agility.那男孩敏捷地走上楼来。
• His intellect and mental agility have never been in doubt.他的才智和机敏从未受到怀疑。

8 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

9 par   

n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的

参考例句：

• Sales of nylon have been below par in recent years.近年来尼龙织品的销售额一直不及以往。
• I don't think his ability is on a par with yours.我认为他的能力不能与你的能力相媲美。

10 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

11 discrete   

adj.个别的，分离的，不连续的

参考例句：

• The picture consists of a lot of discrete spots of colour.这幅画由许多不相连的色点组成。
• Most staple fibers are discrete,individual entities.大多数短纤维是不联系的单独实体。

12 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

13 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

14 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

15 tuning   

n.调谐，调整，调音v.调音( tune的现在分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• They are tuning up a plane on the flight line. 他们正在机场的飞机跑道上调试一架飞机。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The orchestra are tuning up. 管弦乐队在定弦。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 merging   

合并（分类）

参考例句：

• Many companies continued to grow by merging with or buying competing firms. 许多公司通过合并或收买竞争对手的公司而不断扩大。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• To sequence by repeated splitting and merging. 用反复分开和合并的方法进行的排序。

17 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

18 acoustically   

听觉上，声学上

参考例句：

• The hall is excellent acoustically. 这个大厅在传音方面极好。
• Moos Acoustically speaking, what happens before and after mating is most interesting. 默丝从象的叫声判断，交配前后发生的事情最有意思。

19 billboard   

n.布告板，揭示栏，广告牌

参考例句：

• He ploughed his energies into his father's billboard business.他把精力投入到父亲的广告牌业务中。
• Billboard spreads will be simpler and more eye-catching.广告牌广告会比较简单且更引人注目。

20 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。

21 spoke   

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

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

22 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。