AMERICAN MOSAIC

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹
By

Broadcast: Friday, February 27, 2004

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC -- a program in VOA Special English about music and American life. And we answer your questions.

(THEME)

This is Doug Johnson.

On our show today, we have music from the Grammy-winning group Evanescence. And we answer a question about the rights of Americans to vote in foreign elections.

But first, we tell about an event that happens every four years, and has nothing to do with voting.

Leap Year

HOST:

 
Taste in film? This Feb. 29 will include the Academy Awards in Los Angeles. Guests will eat these Oscars made of chocolate at a party after the ceremony.
Sunday is February twenty-ninth -- Leap Day. Shep O'Neal takes time now to explain why this is one of those years with an extra day in it.

ANNCR:

Everyone knows the Earth takes three-hundred-sixty-five days to travel around the sun. Well, that is not exactly correct. The Earth really takes three-hundred-sixty-five days, five hours, forty-eight minutes and forty-six seconds to complete its orbit around the sun.

The problem for people developing calendars is what to do with the extra five-hours, forty-eight minutes and forty-six seconds.

People needed calendars to help them know when to plant crops and when to celebrate religious holidays. The ancient Greeks and Chinese had a solution. They produced calendars that included extra months every nineteen years.

The ancient Romans had a different solution. In the year forty-six, Julius Caesar made a new calendar. The ruler of Rome had help from the astronomer² Sosigenes. The Julian calendar included an extra day every four years.

But there was a problem. The Julian year was just over eleven minutes longer than the cycle of the seasons. So, over the next few hundred years, the seasons moved slowly backward on the calendar.

In fifteen-eighty-two, Pope Gregory the Thirteenth established a new calendar to keep a better record of the days. Pope Gregory was the religious leader of most of Europe. He decided³ that years that can be divided by four would add a day. However, years that end in two zeros that cannot be divided by four-hundred would not have a leap year. Hmm ... a little confusing.

For example, seventeen-hundred, eighteen-hundred, nineteen-hundred and twenty-one hundred are not leap years. But sixteen-hundred, two-thousand and two-thousand-four-hundred are leap years.

The Gregorian calendar is widely followed today. The calendar is good. But ... every three-thousand years or so it loses a day. Well, we don't know anyone who really cares!

Electing a Pope

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week is from Dalby, Sweden. Thomas Corcoran wants to know how Roman Catholic clergy⁴ in America are able to take part in the election of a pope.

 
Mass for cardinals⁵ at the Vatican.
Our listener states that American citizens are not permitted to take part in foreign elections. He says they risk losing their passports and even their citizenship⁶. The pope is leader of an independent city-state. So, Mister Corcoran asks, what happens to American cardinals if they vote for a pope?

In our research, we found that United States law does not bar American citizens from voting in foreign elections. However, it is not wrong to say that they could lose their passports and citizenship. But that is unlikely.

The main legal decision involving this issue is from nineteen-sixty-seven. The Supreme⁷ Court considered the case of a Polish-born American named Beys Afroyim. In nineteen-fifty, he voted in elections in Israel.

The following year, the State Department refused to renew his passport. It said he was no longer an American citizen under the Nationality Act of nineteen-forty. That act said citizens of the United States shall lose their citizenship upon voting in a foreign political election.

Mister Afroyim argued that this violated his rights under the Constitution. The Supreme Court agreed with him by a vote of five to four. The court decided that the government cannot withdraw citizenship; a citizen must be willing to surrender it. In nineteen-seventy-eight, Congress amended⁸ the Nationality Act to remove the part about elections.

In any case, when Roman Catholic cardinals choose a pope, the election is not considered political. We talked to a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Washington. He told us that the College of Cardinals elects the Supreme Pontiff as head of the church. The Constitution of the Holy See names the pope as head of the Vatican City State.

Our listener also asks what would happen if an American were elected pope, and thus head of a foreign country. We will answer that next week.

Evanescence

HOST:

"Evanescence" is a word that describes the slow disappearance⁹ of something like smoke or fog. But many people hope the music of the group Evanescence is here to stay. More from Phoebe Zimmermann.

 
Graphic¹⁰ Image
ANNCR:

Evanescence won a Grammy Award this month as best new artists. They also won a Grammy for best hard rock performance for their first hit, "Bring Me to Life."

(MUSIC)

Group founders¹¹ Ben Moody¹² and Amy Lee met as children in their hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas. They wrote most of the songs on the album "Fallen." They said the music was meant to let people know they are not alone in feeling pain and hurt. Here is "Tourniquet¹³."

(MUSIC)

Ben Moody appeared at the Grammys. But, a few months ago, he suddenly left the group during performances in Europe. Guitar player Terry Balsamo has replaced him. Will the sound of Evanescence change? No one knows. But the other members are planning to record another album later this year.

We leave you with another song from "Fallen." Amy Lee describes it as the one that best shows what Evanescence tries to sound like. It is called "Haunted."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

This is Doug Johnson.

Send us your questions about American life! We'll send you a gift if we use your question. So be sure to include your name and postal¹⁴ address.

Our e-mail address is [email protected]. Or write to American Mosaic, VOA Special English, Washington, D.C., two-zero-two-three-seven, USA.

This program was written by Nancy Steinbach, Caty Weaver¹⁵ and Paul Thompson, who was also our producer. And our engineer was Andreas Regis.

I hope you enjoyed AMERICAN MOSAIC. Join us again next week for 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 astronomer   

n.天文学家

参考例句：

• A new star attracted the notice of the astronomer.新发现的一颗星引起了那位天文学家的注意。
• He is reputed to have been a good astronomer.他以一个优秀的天文学者闻名于世。

3 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。

4 clergy   

n.[总称]牧师，神职人员

参考例句：

• I could heartily wish that more of our country clergy would follow this example.我衷心希望，我国有更多的牧师效法这个榜样。
• All the local clergy attended the ceremony.当地所有的牧师出席了仪式。

5 cardinals   

红衣主教( cardinal的名词复数 )； 红衣凤头鸟（见于北美，雄鸟为鲜红色）； 基数

参考例句：

• cardinals in scarlet robes 身披红袍的枢机主教
• A conclave of cardinals was held to elect the new Pope. 红衣主教团举行了秘密会议来选举新教皇。

6 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

7 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

8 Amended   

adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He asked to see the amended version. 他要求看修订本。
• He amended his speech by making some additions and deletions. 他对讲稿作了些增删修改。

9 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

10 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

11 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

12 moody   

adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的

参考例句：

• He relapsed into a moody silence.他又重新陷于忧郁的沉默中。
• I'd never marry that girl.She's so moody.我决不会和那女孩结婚的。她太易怒了。

13 tourniquet   

n.止血器，绞压器，驱血带

参考例句：

• Twist the tourniquet tighter.把止血带扎紧点。
• The tourniquet should occlude venous and lymphatic return.止血带应阻断静脉及淋巴回流。

14 postal   

adj.邮政的，邮局的

参考例句：

• A postal network now covers the whole country.邮路遍及全国。
• Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。

15 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。