AMERICAN MOSAIC

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹
By

Broadcast: Friday, May 07, 2004

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

(THEME)

This is Doug Johnson.

On our show this week ... music for Mother's Day -- it's this Sunday. And a question about the actress Kirsten Dunst. But first, we remember a woman whose products are used by millions of people hoping to look their best.

Estee Lauder

HOST:

America has lost one of its most successful businesswomen. Estee Lauder died on April twenty-fourth in New York. She was ninety-seven years old. Bob Doughty² looks back at her life and work.

ANNCR:

"Beauty is an attitude," Estee Lauder once said. But for her it was also a big business. Estee Lauder spent more than seventy years in the beauty products industry. Today, the business she founded, Estee Lauder Companies, is worth about ten-thousand-million dollars. Its products are in stores around the world. And, it employs more than twenty-thousand people.

Estee Lauder once said, "I never dreamed about success. I worked for it." That business drive came early. She was born Josephine Esther Mentzer in Queens, New York. Her parents came from Hungary. They owned a hardware store. They did not have much money. But they did have a beautiful daughter.

Her uncle was a chemist. She worked with him to develop skin care creams. This was in the nineteen-twenties. She was a teen-ager. But she sold the products in New York City. Often, she stopped women on the streets. She let them try the creams for free. She called her products "jars of hope."

Soon, she was selling to large stores visited mostly by wealthy women. She would say things like "I have the secrets" and "start the New Year with a new face."

She also employed many smart sales tricks. For example, she invented the "gift with purchase" marketing³ idea. If you have ever bought a product and received another for free, thank Estee Lauder.

She linked her makeup⁴ and perfumes with images of wealth and culture. She sent her products to influential⁵ women to try. This was the way she got Princess Grace of Monaco to use them. Estee Lauder also put her products in pretty containers. And, she employed some of the world's most beautiful women as models.

Her business partner was her husband, Joseph Lauder. They got married in nineteen-thirty. They divorced at one point, but three years later got married again. Mister Lauder died in nineteen-eighty-three. Missus Lauder retired⁶ in nineteen-ninety-five.Their two sons are both leaders in the company. When Estee Lauder died, her sons said she was as great a mother as she was a businesswoman.

Kirsten Dunst

HOST:

 
Graphic⁷ Image
Our VOA listener question this week is about Kirsten (KEER-stin) Dunst. Millions of movie-watchers know this young actress best from "Spider-Man." Mai Lien⁸ in Vietnam asks how old she is, where she is from and what is her latest film project.

Kirsten Dunst was born in nineteen-eighty-two in Point Pleasant, New Jersey⁹. In fact, she just had a birthday, on April thirtieth. She is twenty-two years old.

Kirsten began to work in television at the age of three. She appeared first in commercials for different products. She got her first movie part in nineteen-eighty-nine. It was in a film by Woody Allen called "New York Stories."

In nineteen-ninety-three, her family moved from the East Coast to California, to live in Los Angeles. Kirsten was now in the capital of the American movie industry: Hollywood. The following year, she got a part in the movie "Interview with a Vampire¹⁰: The Vampire Chronicles." Kirsten worked with actors Tom Cruise¹¹ and Brad Pitt.

Movie critics praised her performance in "Interview with a Vampire." The Hollywood Foreign Press Association nominated¹² her for a Golden Globe award. Not bad for an eleven-year-old! Next, Kirsten was in the movie "Little Women."

In nineteen-ninety-six, she began to appear on "E.R." That is a popular television series about a hospital emergency room. She played a kid who lived on the streets. Again, she received praise for her acting¹³.

Since then, Kirsten Dunst has worked in more than twenty movies. Right now she appears in the film "Eternal¹⁴ Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." And she recently finished work on "Wimbledon."

But her most popular movie so far has earned more than eight-hundred-twenty-million dollars worldwide. Kirsten Dunst plays Mary Jane Watson, the love interest to Peter Parker. He is better known as Spider-Man. Actor Toby Maguire plays the crime-fighting superhero. He and Kirsten Dunst return in "Spider-Man Two." It opens at the end of June.

Mother's Day

HOST:

Sunday, May ninth, is Mother's Day in the United States. Shep O'Neal has that story.

ANNCR:

Mother's Day began with a woman named Anna Jarvis. She started a campaign in the early nineteen-hundreds. She and others wrote thousands of letters to important people. In nineteen-fourteen, President Woodrow Wilson and Congress finally agreed. They declared a national observance to honor mothers.

Since then, the second Sunday in May has been a day for public expressions of love for Mom.

Here is a song that expresses that love. The recording¹⁵ is by Lou Reid. The song is called "Mom's Picture Book."

(MUSIC)

On Mother's Day, children of all ages give special gifts. Popular ones are flowers, or books, or candy. Some young children learn a Mother's Day song in school. This song also helps them learn how to spell.

(MUSIC)

Even children old enough to have their own children will not forget their mothers this Sunday. Mother's Day is one of the busiest days of the year for telephone companies.

Fathers have their day, in June.

HOST:

This is Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed AMERICAN MOSAIC.

Send your questions about American life to [email protected]. Or write to American Mosaic, VOA Special English, Washington, D.C., two-zero-two-three-seven, USA.

Please include your name and postal¹⁶ address. We'll send you a gift if we use your question.

This program was written by Nancy Steinbach and Caty Weaver¹⁷. Paul Thompson was our producer. And our engineer was Wagner Roberts. 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 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

3 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

4 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

5 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

6 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

7 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。

8 lien   

n.扣押权，留置权

参考例句：

• A lien is a type of security over property.留置是一种财产担保。
• The court granted me a lien on my debtor's property.法庭授予我对我债务人财产的留置权。

9 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

10 vampire   

n.吸血鬼

参考例句：

• It wasn't a wife waiting there for him but a blood sucking vampire!家里的不是个老婆，而是个吸人血的妖精！
• Children were afraid to go to sleep at night because of the many legends of vampire.由于听过许多有关吸血鬼的传说，孩子们晚上不敢去睡觉。

11 cruise   

v.巡航，航游，缓慢巡行；n.海上航游

参考例句：

• They went on a cruise to Tenerife.他们乘船去特纳利夫岛。
• She wants to cruise the canals of France in a barge.她想乘驳船游览法国的运河。

12 nominated   

adj.被提名的，被任命的 动词nominate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She has been nominated for the presidency. 她已经获得了董事长职位的提名。
• The movie was nominated for an Oscar. 这部电影获奥斯卡金像奖提名。

13 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。

14 eternal   

adj.永久的，无休止的，永恒的，永不改变的

参考例句：

• Stop this eternal chatter!不要唠叨个不停！
• Rome has been called the Eternal City.罗马一向被称为不朽之城。

15 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。

16 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。

17 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。