AMERICAN MOSAIC - Hidden Treasures: Russian and French Art,

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - Hidden Treasures: Russian and French Art, at Home in Washington
By Dana Demange, Lawan Davis and Caty Weaver²

Broadcast: Friday, August 26, 2005

(MUSIC)

HOST: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty³. On our show this week:

We hear music from a young singer named Teairra Mari ...

Answer a question from a listener about how Americans get their jobs …

And report about a museum in Washington D.C. that contains a private collection of fine art.

Hillwood Museum

 
 
Hidden from the traffic and noise of Washington, D.C., the Hillwood Museum is a special treasure. This beautiful home contains one of the finest private collections of Russian and French art in the world. Barbara Klein tells us more.

BARBARA KLEIN: Hillwood Museum was once the home of Marjorie Merriweather Post. She lived from eighteen eighty-seven until nineteen seventy-three. Missus Post was a wealthy businesswoman. She owned one of the largest food companies in the United States. She also was very interested in collecting beautiful French art and furniture.

She lived in Russia in the nineteen thirties when her third husband, Joseph Davies, was the American ambassador⁴ in Moscow. Marjorie Merriweather Post developed a love for Russian art as well. She bought the home in Washington in nineteen fifty-five with the plan of making it into a museum after her death. Many art experts helped Missus Post create its fine collection.

Hillwood has many rooms filled with her treasures. Visitors can see finely made music boxes from the eighteenth century and colorful paintings of European princesses. Experts say the ancient wood and gold furniture from France is some of the finest ever made. Visitors can even look at Missus Post's jewels and clothes. In her bedroom area they can see photographs of her with her family and friends. Marjorie Merriweather Post knew many important people including world leaders and great thinkers. She invited them to her home for parties.

The museum property also includes several beautiful gardens. One is designed like the gardens in Japan. It has a bridge and carefully arranged rocks. Visitors can watch flowers floating in the garden's water pond. They can also enjoy the carefully designed garden full of beautiful flowers called roses. Flowers are also grown all year in a special glass building or greenhouse⁵. These flowers are placed in the house throughout the year. The colors and smells of these gardens provide a true celebration for the senses.

After a walk around this large property, visitors can rest at a nearby eating place. They can also buy objects to remember this special museum at its gift store.

How Americans Get Jobs

HOST: Our listener question this week comes from Vietnam. Pham Thanh Si wants to know how Americans find jobs.

The Internet is a good source for gathering⁶ information about a lot of subjects. Finding⁷ a job is one of them.

Richard Bolles wrote a book about finding a job called "What Color is Your Parachute?" He says there are three things you should do first to find a job. You should write a resume⁸. A resume tells about your education, skills and work experience. Next, Mister⁹ Bolles says you should publish your resume on an Internet Web site called a job bank. The Web site also should have job announcements from employers¹¹. Usually, job listings will be sent to you by e-mail. If the list includes a job you like, the third step is to call or e-mail the company. The employer¹⁰ may ask you to meet to talk about the job.

Major national Web sites such as monster.com or hotjobs.com are very popular. Experts say you should also use Web sites for the cities where you would like to work. You can search for jobs by industry, location or job title. Also, you can apply for positions online.

Some experts suggest using several different ways to search for a job. These may include attending job fairs, searching newspapers and magazines for job listings and networking.

Job fairs are organized events for employers and people who are looking for jobs. In different areas of a large room, representatives provide information about their companies. You can go to each area to ask questions about the companies. And you can leave a copy of your resume with each one.

You can also go to your local community library. You can find information about companies and job listings by using computers, newspapers and magazines.

Experts say networking is one of the best ways to find a job. Networking is talking to people about your job search. You can talk to people you work with now or worked with in the past. You can also talk to friends and family members.

Experts say networking should be a part of your daily job search. Someone you know may have information about a job that would be perfect for you. There is an American expression that says, "Sometimes it is not just what you know, but who you know."

Teairra Mari

 
 
Last week we played new music from Willie Nelson, one of the most established stars in the music industry. Today, we tell about a new voice in the business. Here is Faith Lapidus with music from singer Teairra Mari.

FAITH LAPIDUS: Teairra Maria Thomas was born seventeen years ago in Detroit, Michigan. Music was a part of her family history. Her grandmother was a back-up singer for Aretha Franklin. Mari clearly has that Motown sound. Her first single quickly went to the top ten of the popular music ratings¹² by Billboard¹³ Magazine. Here is "Make Her Feel Good."

(MUSIC)

Mari's album "Roc-a-Fella Presents Teairra Mari" was released¹⁴ August second. The singer helped write some of the songs. One of them is about growing up without a father. Here is "No Daddy."

(MUSIC)

A year ago, Teairra Mari signed with Roc-a-Fella Records. Successful hip-hop artist and producer Jay-Z is the company's president and chief executive¹⁵ officer. He apparently¹⁶ has high hopes for the young singer. He has named her "Princess of the Roc." We leave you now with Teairra Mari singing "Act Right."

(MUSIC)

HOST: I'm Bob Doughty. I hope you enjoyed our program.

Our show was written by Lawan Davis, Dana Demange and Caty Weaver, who was also our producer.

Send your questions about American life to [email protected]. Please include your full name and mailing address. Or write to American Mosaic, VOA Special English, Washington, D.C., two-zero-two-three-seven, U.S.A.

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 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。

3 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

4 ambassador   

n.大使，特使，（派驻国际组织的）代表

参考例句：

• He took up office as an ambassador for ten years continuously.他连任十年大使。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

5 greenhouse   

n.花房，温室，玻璃暖房

参考例句：

• Behind the green house was a greenhouse.在那所绿房子后面是一个花房。
• The tomatoes were grown in the greenhouse.这些西红柿是在温室栽培的。

6 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

7 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

8 resume   

v.（中断后）继续，恢复；n.摘要，简历

参考例句：

• We'll stop now and resume at two o 'clock.我们现在停下来，到两点再干。
• My resume shows that I have the right qualifications for the job.我的简历表明我正符合这项工作的条件。

9 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

10 employer   

n.雇用方，雇主

参考例句：

• My employer deducted ten pounds from my wages this week.我的雇主从我本周的工钱中扣除了十英镑。
• His monthly salary is paid into the bank by his employer.他的月薪由雇主替他存入银行。

11 employers   

雇主( employer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Employers must consider all candidates impartially and without bias. 雇主必须公平而毫无成见地考虑所有求职者。
• The onus is on employers to follow health and safety laws. 雇主有义务遵行健康安全法。

12 ratings   

n.等级( rating的名词复数 )；收视率；表示电影分级的数字（或字母）；（海军）水兵

参考例句：

• He won high ratings [marks] in all his examinations. 他所有的考试都获得高分。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The boat was operated by two naval ratings in dress whites. 船由两个穿着白色礼服的水兵驾驶。 来自辞典例句

13 billboard   

n.布告板，揭示栏，广告牌

参考例句：

• He ploughed his energies into his father's billboard business.他把精力投入到父亲的广告牌业务中。
• Billboard spreads will be simpler and more eye-catching.广告牌广告会比较简单且更引人注目。

14 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

15 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

16 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。