AMERICAN MOSAIC - Foreign-born American Olympians / Question

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - Foreign-born American Olympians / Question from Japan: Where Do Americans Go on Summer Vacation? / Music fr...
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Broadcast: Friday, July 30, 2004

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DOUG JOHNSON: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

This is Doug Johnson. On our show this week:

Music from a new album² by Patty Scialfa. A listener³ in Japan wants to know what Americans do on summer vacation. And, we begin with three Americans who know exactly what they will be doing next month in Athens⁴.

Naturalized American Olympians

The Summer Olympic Games will be held in Athens from August thirteenth to the twenty-ninth. Ten thousand athletes from more than two hundred countries are expected to take part. Some of the athletes on the American team have competed before in the Olympics as citizens of other countries. Steve Ember tells us about three of them.

STEVE EMBER: The United⁵ States team is considered to have a good chance this year to win a medal in table tennis. One reason is thirty-five-year-old Gao Jun.

 
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She won a silver medal in doubles competition when she represented⁷ China at the nineteen-ninety-two Olympics. After that, she moved to the United States. She became an American citizen. She has been a member of the United States National Team since nineteen-ninety-seven. She competed in the two-thousand Olympics in Sydney.

Last year, Gao Jun reached the quarterfinals of the singles competition at the world championships in table tennis. She became the first American to do so since nineteen-fifty-nine. Now she has been training in China to get ready for the Olympics in Greece.

Another foreign-born American athlete is swimmer Lenny Krayzelburg. He came to the United States with his family from the Ukrainian city of Odessa. Lenny Krayzelburg became an American citizen in nineteen-ninety-five. He won three gold medals in the Sydney Games in two-thousand.

Recently, he has suffered shoulder injuries. He can no longer compete in the two-hundred meter backstroke. But he will swim again for the United States Olympic team this year in the one-hundred meter race.

A third American athlete from another country is Colleen De Reuck. The forty-year-old runner was born in South Africa. Next month, she will become the oldest American woman to run an Olympic marathon⁸.

Colleen De Reuck won the Berlin Marathon in nineteen-ninety-six as a runner for South Africa. She also competed for her home country at the Olympics in Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney. Colleen De Reuck became an American citizen in two-thousand-two.

Summer Vacations

DOUG JOHNSON: Our VOA listener question this week comes from Chiba, Japan. Kimitoshi Hiraoka asks where Americans go on their summer vacations.

That is an interesting question. Reports tell us that Americans work more and vacation less than people in other major industrial countries. Still, millions of Americans do try to get away from home for a week or two in the summer months. Some might even have the time and money to spend longer on vacation.

 
Some people brought their recreational vehicles⁹ to the New Hampshire International Speedway in July to watch a car race.
For example, many retired¹⁰ Americans can be found driving around the United States in big recreational vehicles, known¹¹ as R.V.'s. These serve as a home away from home. In fact, it might even be their only home as they see the country.

Some American families get in their car and drive to historic¹² places like Colonial¹³ Williamsburg in Virginia. There, they can experience what life was like for early Americans. If that is not exciting enough, also in Williamsburg is a water park and an amusement park with rides.

Other Americans visit national parks like Yellowstone or Yosemite out in the West. They want to spend time with nature. Or they take their vacation by a lake or the ocean. They might swim or fish. But many just want to sit and enjoy the feeling of doing nothing, except maybe read a book.

Some families fly to other countries on vacation. Or they go on a cruise¹⁴ ship and stop in different ports. Cruise ships are like floating cities.

But not everyone goes someplace special on vacation. This might be the only time for people to work on things like home improvement¹⁵ projects. And while they do that, they might think of all the fun their friends are having.

Patti Scialfa

Patti Scialfa [SKAL-fuh] is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. She is also married to Bruce Springsteen. Since the nineteen-seventies, she has been a singer, songwriter and musician in her own right. Patti Scialfa has a new album of songs she wrote called "Twenty-Third Street Lullaby." Shep O'Nealhas more.

 
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SHEP O'NEAL: Patti Scialfa is from the state of New Jersey¹⁶. During the nineteen-seventies, she performed with several bands in New York City. Her new album, "Twenty-Third Street Lullaby," recalls¹⁷ the New York City area called Chelsea. This is where she got her start as a singer and songwriter. She says: "You come to the city and you have a chance to find out who you really are. You test yourself, find yourself and lose pieces of yourself."

She tells about this in the song "Young in the City."

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Patti Scialfa's new album includes songs about people from her past – such as a woman named Rose who served meals at an eating place.

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Patti Scialfa says her new album is about acceptance¹⁸ and how you learn to think about the past in order to express who you are today. She plans to perform by herself for the first time. She will perform twenty concerts starting in September.

We leave you now with the title song from Patti Scialfa's new album, "Twenty-Third Street Lullaby."

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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.

This program was written by Shelley Gollust and Nancy Steinbach. Paul Thompson 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 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？

3 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。

4 Athens   

n.(希腊城市名)雅典

参考例句：

• Athens is often called the queen of the Aegean.雅典时常被人称为爱琴海上的皇后。
• China did very well in the last Olympics in Athens.中国在上届雅典奥运会上取得了优异的成绩。

5 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

6 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。

7 represented   

v.表现( represent的过去式和过去分词 )；代表；体现；作为…的代表

参考例句：

• The number 107 is represented in hexadecimal as 6B. 107这个数用十六进制表示为6B。
• Women are under-represented at senior levels in business. 商界高层的女性代表不足。

8 marathon   

n.长距离赛跑；需要耐力的比赛；(M-)马拉松

参考例句：

• I'm hoping to be in the marathon next year.我希望明年能参加马拉松赛。
• The meeting was a bit of a marathon.这次会议有点马拉松赛的味道。

9 vehicles   

n.运载工具；传播媒介；（为展露演员才华而）特意编写的一出戏（或电影等）；[画]展色剂；交通工具( vehicle的名词复数 )；车辆；传播媒介；手段

参考例句：

• There is not much clearance for vehicles passing under this bridge. 车辆在这座桥下通过时没有多少余隙。
• to carry out random spot checks on vehicles 对车辆进行抽检

10 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。

11 known   

adj.大家知道的；知名的，已知的

参考例句：

• He is a known artist.他是一个知名的艺术家。
• He is known both as a painter and as a statesman.他是知名的画家及政治家。

12 historic   

adj.历史上著名的，具有历史意义的

参考例句：

• This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
• We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。

13 colonial   

adj.殖民地的，关于殖民的；n.殖民地，居民

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• The people of Africa have successfully fought against colonial rule.非洲人民成功地反抗了殖民统治。

14 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。

15 improvement   

n.改进，增进；改进之处，改善的地方

参考例句：

• The doctor noticed a gradual improvement in his patient.医生注意到病人在逐渐恢复健康。
• I can detect signs of improvement in your thinking.我可以察觉出你思考问题方面的进步。

16 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。

17 recalls   

回忆起( recall的第三人称单数 )； 使想起； 使想到； 勾起

参考例句：

• The sight recalls the days of childhood to me. 那情景使我想起了童年。
• Moreover, extensive use of voluntary recalls can undercut agency accountability. 此外，大量利用自愿撤回会削弱行政机关的责任心。

18 acceptance   

n.接受，接收，验收，接纳；承认，认可

参考例句：

• The new laws gained widespread acceptance.新法令受到广泛赞同。
• It took years for Einstein's theory to gain acceptance.爱因斯坦的理论经过多年才被人们接受。