AMERICAN MOSAIC

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹
By

Broadcast: Friday, May 28, 2004

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

(THEME)

This is Doug Johnson.

On our show this week: music by jazz drummer Elvin Jones, and a question about the Memorial Day holiday. But first, we report about the arrival of some interesting insects!

(MUSIC)

HOST:

Thousands of millions of unusual insects have begun invading the eastern United States. Shep O'Neal has the story about the Brood³ Ten cicadas.

ANNCR:

 
A cicada leaves its skin.
Insect experts have identified many different kinds of cicadas. At least one group appears every summer, but the group known as Brood Ten is the largest. They appear every seventeen years.

For the past seventeen years, the insects have been living underground, getting food from tree roots. Then they come up out of the ground to mate before they die.

These cicadas can be found this summer across fifteen states, from New York to Missouri and as far south as Georgia. The largest numbers will appear in parts of Indiana and Ohio.

People there can expect between one-hundred-thousand and more than one-million cicadas per hectare in places. The experts say that the group known as Brood Ten is the largest insect appearance in the world. It will involve thousands of millions of insects.

Cicadas are about four centimeters long. They are harmless. They do not bite or sting². They have black bodies, red eyes and red legs. They fly using orange-colored wings. And they make a rather loud noise that sounds like this:

(SOUND OF CICADAS)

Male cicadas make this noise to attract females. After they mate, the female lays her eggs at the top of a tree. When the eggs hatch⁴, the tiny cicadas drop from the tree and dig into the ground where they will live for seventeen years. Experts say that many animals love to eat cicadas, including birds, snakes, squirrels⁵, cats and dogs. Some people eat cicadas, too. But they cook the insects first. The cicadas that are not eaten survive to lay eggs and produce young.

Experts say that is the secret to the survival⁶ of the Brood Ten cicadas. Animals may eat as many as they can. Yet enough cicadas survive to continue the species⁷ so the young will appear again in seventeen more years.

(MUSIC)

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week comes from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Hoai Phi asks about the Memorial Day holiday in the United States.

Americans will celebrate Memorial Day on Monday, May thirty-first. It is the holiday that honors the men and women who died fighting in wars for the United States.

The story of Memorial Day begins after the American Civil War in the eighteen-sixties. It was the idea of the daughter of a Union officer who had been killed in battle. She wrote a letter to an organization of soldiers who had served in the Union Army of the northern states that had won the Civil War. She described a German tradition of placing flowers on soldiers' burial places each spring. She said Americans should decorate soldiers' burial places the same way.

The commander of the soldiers' organization agreed. He ordered that May thirtieth, eighteen-sixty-eight be named "Decoration Day" to honor soldiers who had died in the Civil War.

"Decoration Day" became popular. It was also called "Memorial Day." A confederate Memorial Day was observed in some southern states.

New York was the first state to declare Memorial Day a legal state holiday. That was in eighteen-seventy-three. Congress made it a national holiday in eighteen-eighty-eight. After World War One, Memorial Day became a day to remember those who died in all the nation's wars.

Today, Americans celebrate Memorial Day in different ways. Towns and cities across the nation hold parades over Memorial Day weekend. Many people attend special ceremonies to hear speeches and band music. People enjoy the warm spring weather with their families. They may cook dinner outdoors, go swimming or have a party with friends.

Some people travel to Washington, D.C. to attend national Memorial Day ceremonies. This weekend, many people from around the country are in Washington for the opening of the new National World War Two Memorial. You can hear more about the new memorial on the Special English program This is America on Monday.

(MUSIC)

HOST:

American jazz drummer Elvin Jones died last week in New Jersey⁸. Faith Lapidus remembers the extremely influential⁹ artist.

ANNOUNCER:

 
Graphic¹⁰ Image
Elvin Jones said he loved the drums since he was two years old. He said he knew he was not going to be a doctor or a firefighter, but a drummer.

So, at thirteen, he began teaching himself how to play. Over time, he took drumming to a new level in jazz music. One expert said Elvin Jones created a circle of sound. Listen to his music composition, "George and Me."

(MUSIC)

In nineteen-sixty, jazz saxophonist John Coltrane formed his first band. He invited Elvin Jones to join. The drummer stayed in the John Coltrane Quartet for six years. Elvin Jones described his working relationship with Coltrane as almost perfect harmony.

Here Elvin Jones and the Quartet play "Resolution" from the album "A Love Supreme¹¹."

(MUSIC)

Elvin Jones formed his own group after he left the Quartet. He continued to perform until the very last weeks of his life. Elvin Jones was seventy-six when he died. We leave you now with "It's Easy to Remember," an Elvin Jones group recording¹² from nineteen-eighty-four.

(MUSIC)

HOST:

This is Doug Johnson.

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 postal¹³ address. We'll send you a gift if we use your question.

Our program was written by Nancy Steinbach and Caty Weaver¹⁴. Mario Ritter was our producer.

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 sting   

vt.激怒，刺痛，刺伤，蛰伤；n.刺痛，刺伤

参考例句：

• Most flies do not sting.大多数苍蝇不叮人。
• The scorpion has a sting that can be deadly.蝎子有可以致命的螫针。

3 brood   

n.同窝幼鸟一个家庭的孩子；v.孵蛋，闷想

参考例句：

• The hen brought off a brood of young.母鸡孵出了一窝小鸡。
• It is time for hens to brood.该是母鸡孵蛋的时候了。

4 hatch   

n.孵化，舱口；vt.孵，孵出，策划；vi. 孵化

参考例句：

• No one knows how the new plan will hatch out.谁也不知道这新方案将怎样制订出来。
• The bird mistook the pebble for egg and tried to hatch it.这只鸟错把卵石当蛋，想去孵它。

5 squirrels   

n.松鼠( squirrel的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Squirrels are arboreal creatures. 松鼠是栖于树上的动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Red squirrels are now very rare in Britain. 红色松鼠在英国已十分罕见了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 survival   

n.留住生命，生存，残存，幸存者

参考例句：

• The doctor told my wife I had a fifty-fifty chance of survival.医生告诉我的妻子，说我活下去的可能性只有50%。
• The old man was a survival of a past age.这位老人是上一代的遗老。

7 species   

n.物种，种群

参考例句：

• Are we the only thinking species in the whole of creation?我们是万物中惟一有思想的物种吗？
• This species of bird now exists only in Africa.这种鸟现在只存在于非洲。

8 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。

9 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。

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 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。

12 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。

13 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。

14 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。