AMERICAN MOSAIC

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹
By

Broadcast: Friday, May 21, 2004

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

(THEME)

This is Doug Johnson.

On our show this week: music from Prince, and a question about the actress Katharine Hepburn. But first, a report about formal dances called proms.

Proms

HOST:

Many American high school students attend proms each spring. Prom is short for promenade², a word meaning formal dance. It is traditional for a young man and woman to attend the dance together. But some American teenagers do not go to the prom on a formal date. They go with a group of friends instead. But however they go, the prom usually costs a lot of money for special clothes, flowers and dinner before the dance. Shep O'Neal tells about a way to reduce the cost of the prom.

ANNCR:

 
Graphic³ Image
Last year, Rebecca Kirtman was a sixteen- year-old high school student in the southern state of Florida. She was killed in a car accident. Before she died, she had collected more than two-hundred prom gowns⁴ and gave them to poor girls across the state. Such dresses can cost hundreds of dollars.

After her death, Rebecca's friends and family continued this work. They even opened a special store called Becca's Closet⁵. More than twenty other similar stores are opening in nine states. Another is starting in Singapore.

Rebecca's family members say they are surprised that the idea has spread so quickly. They say Rebecca got the idea after reading a report about wealthy girls who gave their prom dresses to needy⁶ girls. She wrote to dress companies and asked them to send her some prom gowns. They did.

Today, Becca's Closet is an organization that provides formal dresses to young women who do not have enough money to buy one for proms or other formal dances. Where do the dresses come from? Reports say they are sent from all over the country, including some from actors in television shows.

Girls who need a dress contact the organization through its Web⁷ site and make an appointment to see the dresses. Then they go to the store and choose the one they want to wear to the dance.

 
Graphic Image
The Becca's Closet web site says the organization is expanding its goals. It says that Becca's Closet will in the future include formal clothes for young men as well as women.

And the organization has established a fund⁸ to provide college financial aid to students who need it. Becca's Closet says it honors⁹ Rebecca Kirtman by continuing to help young people as she would have.

Katharine Hepburn

HOST:

Our listener¹⁰ question this week comes from a computer science student named Tsuly, at Huazhong Agricultural¹¹ University in China. Tsuly is a fan of old movies with Katharine Hepburn and wants to know more about this former star.

 
Katharine Hepburn in 
Katharine Hepburn once said: "Life is hard. After all, it kills you." She was famous for saying things that were funny but true. She had a sharp mind and, sometimes, a sharp tongue.

Katharine Hepburn died in July of two-thousand-three. She was in the movie business for more than sixty years. She held the record for the most Academy¹² Awards. She won four Oscars and was nominated¹³ for eight others.

Katharine Hepburn made more than fifty movies. She was sometimes called the First Lady of Cinema. But she was a stage actress first. She performed in plays on Broadway in New York. She was nominated for two Tony awards.

In Hollywood¹⁴, Katharine Hepburn said she liked movie work immediately. Her first film, "A Bill of Divorcement," was a hit. She won her first Oscar for her third movie, "Morning Glory¹⁵." Her other popular movies include "The Philadelphia Story" and "The African Queen."

The actress was born in Connecticut in nineteen-oh-seven. Her father was a doctor. Her mother was an activist¹⁶ for the right for women to vote. Katharine Hepburn said her parents taught her freedom from fear.

She starred in nine movies with Spencer Tracy. They also had a relationship together. It lasted almost thirty years, until his death. Throughout¹⁷ this time, Spencer Tracy was married to another woman.

Katharine Hepburn was ninety-six years old when she died last year. Another famous Hollywood actress, Elizabeth Taylor, had these words to remember her. She said every actress in the world hoped to be like Katharine Hepburn.

Prince

(MUSIC: "Purple Rain")

HOST:

 
Graphic Image
That song made American rock singer Prince famous back in nineten-eighty-four. He never stopped recording¹⁸ and performing, but has never been as successful as he was then. Now, critics¹⁹ are praising his new album²⁰, Musicology. Gwen Outen has more.

ANNCR:

Prince Rogers Nelson is forty-five years old now. Critics say his new album shows that he has grown up and has a message for his listeners²¹. One example is this song that discusses some of the problems in the world.

(MUSIC)

But Prince has not forgotten to include a jazzy sound in his music. Here he performs the song "What Do You Want Me To Do?"

(MUSIC)

Prince says the songs on his new album represent²² his return to a kind of early rock music. And some critics say it sounds like the early records that made him famous. We leave you now with the title song from Prince's new album, "Musicology."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

This is Doug Johnson.

I hope you enjoyed AMERICAN MOSAIC. Join us again next week for VOA's radio magazine in Special English.

This program was written by Nancy Steinbach and Caty Weaver²³. Paul Thompson was the producer. And our engineer was Tom Verba.

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 promenade   

n./v.散步

参考例句：

• People came out in smarter clothes to promenade along the front.人们穿上更加时髦漂亮的衣服，沿着海滨散步。
• We took a promenade along the canal after Sunday dinner.星期天晚饭后我们沿着运河散步。

3 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。

4 gowns   

n.（法官、英国律师、大学学生在特别仪式上穿的）长袍( gown的名词复数 )；女长服；（尤指在医院穿的）罩衣；宽松长外衣

参考例句：

• The guests turned up dressed in sumptuous evening gowns. 客人们身着华丽的夜礼服出现了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• "Did you see those two men in black gowns? “看见么？那两个穿黑大衫的。 来自子夜部分

5 closet   

n.壁橱；储藏室

参考例句：

• I'll clear out that closet for you.我要替你把那个小衣橱清理出来。
• Hang your overcoat in the closet.把你的大衣挂在衣橱里。

6 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

7 web   

n.网，蛛丝，蹼，织物，圈套，卷筒纸；vi.生蹼，形成网；vt.织蜘蛛网于，使落入圈套

参考例句：

• The spider weaves a web.蜘蛛织网。
• You mean the World Wide Web?你是说国际互联网？

8 fund   

n.基金，资金，存款，财源，贮藏；vt.提供资金，积累

参考例句：

• They decided to set up a fund for this purpose.他们决定为此专立一项基金。
• This fund may not be drawn on without permission.这笔钱非经批准不得动用。

9 honors   

n.礼仪；荣典；礼节； 大学荣誉学位；大学优等成绩；尊敬( honor的名词复数 )；敬意；荣誉；光荣

参考例句：

• He aims at honors. 他力求名誉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We did the last honors to his remains. 我们向他的遗体告别。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 listener   

n.听众；收听者

参考例句：

• I'm a regular listener to her show.我经常收听她的节目。
• She became an attentive listener.她变成了一个专心致志的聆听者。

11 agricultural   

adj.农业的；农艺的

参考例句：

• He was trained for gardening at the Agricultural College.他在农业大学学园艺。
• France once was an agricultural country.法国曾是个农业国。

12 academy   

n.(高等)专科院校；学术社团，协会，研究院

参考例句：

• This is an academy of music.这是一所音乐专科学院。
• I visited Chinese Academy of Sciences yesterday.我昨天去访问了中国科学院。

13 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。

14 Hollywood   

n.好莱坞；美国电影业

参考例句：

• She dreamed of becoming a Hollywood screen goddess.她梦想成为好莱坞的银幕女神。
• The film has a Hollywood happy ending.那部电影有一个好莱坞式的美满结局。

15 glory   

n.光荣，荣誉；壮丽，辉煌；v.自豪，得意，狂喜

参考例句：

• I was fascinated by the glory of the sunset.落日的壮观把我吸引住了。
• Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom.智者不可夸耀自己智慧。

16 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

17 throughout   

adv.到处，自始至终；prep.遍及，贯穿

参考例句：

• These magazines are sold at bookstores throughout the country.这些杂志在全国各地书店均有发售。
• Guilin is known throughout the world for its scenery.桂林以山水著称于世。

18 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。

19 critics   

n.批评家( critic的名词复数 )；评论员；批评者；挑剔的人

参考例句：

• He felt no animosity towards his critics. 他对批评他的人并不心怀怨恨。
• The move was widely seen as an attempt to appease critics of the regime. 普遍认为，这一举措是试图安抚批评政权的人。

20 album   

n.集子，粘贴集，影集，邮集，歌曲集

参考例句：

• The photos belong in an album.这些照片应该放在相册里。
• Will you look over his album?你要不要去看看他的歌集唱片？

21 listeners   

n.倾听者，收听者( listener的名词复数 )；听众

参考例句：

• the demographics of radio listeners 电台听众统计数据
• The singer's high notes jarred on the ears of her listeners. 那位歌手的高音让听众们觉得刺耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 represent   

vt.表现，表示；描绘，讲述；代表，象征；回忆；再赠送，再上演；vi.提出异议

参考例句：

• I'll represent to him the risk he is running.我要向他指出他所面临的险境。
• We selected her to represent us.我们选她作为我们的代表。

23 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。