AMERICAN MOSAIC

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹
By

Broadcast: Friday, July 23, 2004

(THEME)

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

This is Doug Johnson.

On our show this week: some music from the band called Phish.

And a listener wants to know about American political parties.

But first, we report about some young and successful American women golfers.

Women In Golf

 
Michele Wie hits a shot at the Evian Masters women's golf tournament in Evian, France, on July 23.
A fourteen-year-old girl from Hawaii is making big news in women's golf. Some people think Michelle Wie [pronounced wee] is not only good enough to compete with professional women golfers. They think she is good enough to compete with the men, too. Shep O'Neal has more.

SHEP O'NEAL: This year, Michele Wie finished thirteenth in the United States Women's Open golf competition. She had the same score as another young non-professional player, seventeen-year-old Paula Creamer.

Michele Wie is one of the young players who is changing women's golf. The only difference is that she is the youngest. A year ago, she became the youngest player to win a United States Golf Association championship. She won the United States Women's Amateur Public Links Championship. That competition decides the best non-professional player who is not a member of a private golf club. At the time, she was only thirteen years old.

At the Public Links Championship this year, Michele Wie lost in the final to Taiwanese player Ya-Ni Tseng. But Michele has a lot to look forward to. She was the youngest player to be permitted to play in the United States Women's Open. And she will be back next year because of her finish in the top twenty.

Michele wants to compete with professional male golfers. Her father says she wants to compete in the two-thousand-five Men's United States Open. Michele has already played in a men's professional event, the Sony Open in Hawaii. She came within one shot of entering in the second level of the competition. This means she played better than many professional male players.

Some sports writers say the number of skilled young players in women's golf has increased. They say younger players started affecting the game a few years ago. South Korean player Se Ri Pak won the United States Women's Open and the Ladies Professional Golf Association Championship in nineteen-ninety-eight. She was only nineteen years old.

But older players are still doing well. At the recent Women's United States Open, Meg Mallon scored eleven shots better than the two young players, Michele Wie and Paula Creamer. But that should not be too much of a surprise. Meg Mallon started playing professional golf before either of those young ladies was born.

Major American Political Parties

 
 
DOUG JOHNSON: Our VOA listener question this week comes from Jordan. Mohamed Issa Amer All Dan asks about the establishment of the two major political parties in the United States.

This is a good time to answer that question. The Democratic Party will hold its presidential nominating convention next week in the northeastern city of Boston, Massachusetts. At the convention, the Democratic Party will officially nominate Massachusetts Senator John Kerry as its presidential candidate. The vice²-presidential candidate will be North Carolina Senator John Edwards.

 
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The Democratic Party is the older of the two major American political parties. Thomas Jefferson founded the party in seventeen-ninety-two. It was first called the Democratic-Republican Party. Thomas Jefferson was the first member of the party to be elected President, in eighteen-hundred. In eighteen-forty-four, the party changed its name to the Democratic Party.

Democrats⁴ today say their party became an important force in American politics in the nineteen-hundreds. They say the party represents the idea that government should be used to help solve social problems. They also say the party supports equal opportunity for all citizens – the chance for everyone to succeed.

The Republican Party began in the early eighteen-fifties as a result of efforts by anti-slavery activists⁵ and others. They wanted the government to give western lands to settlers free of charge. Delegates to the party's first official meeting in eighteen-fifty-four chose the name Republican for two reasons. It suggested the idea of equal rights for all. And it led people to think of Thomas Jefferson's Democratic-Republican Party.

The Republicans became a national party in eighteen-fifty-six when they nominated John Fremont as presidential candidate. He did not win. But four years later, Abraham Lincoln became the first Republican President.

Republicans today say their party was responsible for banning slavery, guaranteeing all Americans equal legal protections and giving African-Americans voting rights. They also say it played a leading part in giving women the right to vote. The Republican Party says its members believe that citizens, not government, can make the best decisions. The Republican Party nominating convention will begin in New York City at the end of August. The party's nominees⁶ will be President George Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney.

Phish Breaks Up

 
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DOUG JOHNSON: The popular band Phish is breaking up after twenty years together. Gwen Outen has more about the band, spelled P-H-I-S-H.

GWEN OUTEN: Critics say that people are either greatly affected⁷ by the group's decision to quit, or are not affected at all. That is because Phish was not really interested in recording⁸. The four members of the group were more interested in becoming great musicians. They loved to perform and just wanted to play music. Here is an example, the song "Maze⁹."

(MUSIC)

Most people who like Phish's music are about thirty years old or younger. Many follow the band from city to city. They enjoy the group's concerts and also trade recordings¹⁰ of the shows. Here is a more recent Phish song, "Forty-Six Days":

(MUSIC)

Phish is now performing in many American cities on its final tour. Reports say that all the tickets to the band's final two shows next month are already sold. About seventy-thousand people will attend the final concert August fifteenth in the band's home state of Vermont. We leave you now with the song that some Phish fans say truly shows what the group is all about. It is called "You Enjoy Myself."

(MUSIC)

DOUG JOHNSON: This is Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed AMERICAN MOSAIC. Join us again next week for VOA's radio magazine in Special English.

Our program was written by Mario Ritter and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver¹¹ was the producer. And our engineer was Jim Sleeman.

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 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

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 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 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。

9 maze   

n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑

参考例句：

• He found his way through the complex maze of corridors.他穿过了迷宮一样的走廊。
• She was lost in the maze for several hours.一连几小时，她的头脑处于一片糊涂状态。

10 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

11 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。