AMERICAN MOSAIC

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹
By

Broadcast: Friday, January 14, 2005

(MUSIC)

DOUG JOHNSON: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English. I'm Doug Johnson. On our show this week:

Music from Green Day ...

A question about the upcoming presidential inauguration² ...

And an update on the adventures of a high-flying New Yorker.

Pale Male

 
Image from the 2002 documentary ''Pale Male.''
In August of two thousand three we had a story about Pale Male, a famous bird living in New York City. Recently, he and his mate Lola were in the news again. Maybe you heard about it. Faith Lapidus tells us more.

FAITH LAPIDUS: Pale Male and Lola are red-tailed hawks³, large hunting birds that eat small animals and other birds. Pale Male built a nest on the side of a tall building. This is a building where people live in apartments that cost millions and millions of dollars. It is across the street from Central Park, a nature area in the middle of the city.

Pale Male arrived in nineteen ninety-three. Since then, he and his mates have raised more than twenty young hawks. Thousands of people have watched the activity. The hawks became movie stars.

But recently, the people who own the building decided⁴ they no longer wanted the nest on the side of their property. They said they were tired of finding dropped remains⁵ of pigeons and other creatures near the front of the building. They ordered workers to take down the nest. They also ordered the workers to fix the building so the nest could not be rebuilt.

Other New Yorkers immediately began to protest. Hundreds of people demonstrated outside the building along Fifth Avenue. The story of Pale Male made news far beyond New York. People around the world wrote letters of protest.

We are happy to report that the building owners quickly changed their minds. They ordered workers to undo⁶ the changes to the building, so the hawks can rebuild their nest.

Bird watchers say Pale Male and Lola continue to fly around the area. They have been seen several times where their nest used to be. However, the bird watchers say the two hawks have not yet begun to rebuild their home.

So stay tuned⁷. If we receive confirmed reports that Pale Male and Lola have begun to rebuild their nest, we will tell you.

Hmmm … maybe someone will make another movie, about the continuing adventures of Lola and Pale Male.

Presidential Inaugurations⁸

 
President Bush giving his first inaugural⁹ address.
DOUG JOHNSON: Our listener question this week comes from Iran. Monireh Farhangnia asks what the American president does on Inauguration Day. That day is next Thursday.

In the morning, President Bush and his wife Laura will attend a church service across from the White House. Then, they will go to the Capitol building for the swearing-in ceremony. Every four years, workers build a special stand outside for that purpose.

The chief justice of the United States traditionally swears in the vice¹⁰ president and then the president. However, Vice President Dick Cheney is to take the oath of office from Dennis Hastert, the speaker of the House of Representatives. Chief Justice William Rehnquist has thyroid cancer. But he is still planning to swear in President Bush.

Newly inaugurated presidents give a speech, officially called an inaugural address.

After the ceremony, the president and vice president and guests go inside the Capitol to have lunch. Later, they watch a parade along Pennsylvania Avenue with floats and marching bands from around the country. Pennsylvania Avenue is a wide street with the Capitol at one end and the White House at the other.

Finally, in the evening, the leaders and groups of guests attend parties called inaugural balls. The first of these in Washington took place for President James Madison and his wife Dolly in eighteen oh nine.

Eight inaugural balls organized by states will take place around the city next Thursday night. In addition, there will be a free celebration called the Commander-in-Chief Ball. This party is for troops back recently from Iraq and Afghanistan, or soon to be sent.

Events related to the inauguration will take place for several days before and after the swearing-in. These activities cost a lot to organize. Some of the money is paid by taxpayers¹¹, and some by businesses, groups and individuals. By last Friday, the presidential inaugural committee had collected eighteen million dollars, around half the goal.

People who give a lot of money reportedly get better seats at the inauguration and parade. They may even get to attend a meal with the president and vice president.

 
A difference of opinion at the 2001 inauguration.
The last inaugural took place in January of two thousand one. That was eight months before the terrorist attacks of September eleventh. This time, security measures will be the heaviest ever for a presidential inauguration.

The twentieth amendment¹² to the Constitution sets Inauguration Day on January twentieth. This has been the date since nineteen thirty-three. The presidential swearing-in ceremony formerly¹³ took place on March fourth. That was generally the last day of the congressional term.

But why wait until four months after elections? Well, for one thing, it took a long time to count all the votes. Then it took more time for the newly elected leaders to travel to Washington.

The final weeks of the congressional term were not very productive, though. And, by the nineteen thirties, modern transportation permitted a quicker trip to the capital. So Congress and the states decided to move Inauguration Day to January.

Green Day

 
Graphic¹⁴ Image
The American music industry will present its Grammy Awards on February thirteenth in Los Angeles. One of the top nominees¹⁵ this year is Green Day for the album "American Idiot." Shep O'Neal has our story.

SHEP O'NEAL: The three members of Green Day are singer and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bass¹⁶ player Mike Dirnt and drummer Tre Cool. Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt started performing together as kids in California.

Green Day released its first major album, "Dookie," in nineteen ninety four. "Dookie" has sold more than ten million copies in the United States alone. It won a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance.

(MUSIC)

In nineteen ninety-seven, Green Day came out with one of their best-known songs, on the album "Nimrod." Here is "Good Riddance," better known as "Time of Your Life."

(MUSIC)

Green Day's newest work is nominated for seven Grammys. These include Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Best Rock Album and Best Rock Song, for the title piece. We leave you now with Green Day and the title song from "American Idiot."

(MUSIC)

DOUG JOHNSON: This is Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today.

This show was written by Nancy Steinbach and Paul Thompson, who is also the producer. Our engineer was Efeem Drucker. Please 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 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

3 hawks   

鹰( hawk的名词复数 )； 鹰派人物，主战派人物

参考例句：

• Two hawks were hover ing overhead. 两只鹰在头顶盘旋。
• Both hawks and doves have expanded their conditions for ending the war. 鹰派和鸽派都充分阐明了各自的停战条件。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

7 tuned   

adj.调谐的，已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• The resort is tuned in to the tastes of young and old alike. 这个度假胜地适合各种口味，老少皆宜。
• The instruments should be tuned up before each performance. 每次演出开始前都应将乐器调好音。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 inaugurations   

n.就职( inauguration的名词复数 )；就职典礼；开始；开创

参考例句：

9 inaugural   

adj.就职的；n.就职典礼

参考例句：

• We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
• Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。

10 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。

11 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

12 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

13 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

14 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。

15 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

16 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。