AMERICAN MOSAIC - Shirley Horn Remembered | Baseball: Story

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - Shirley Horn Remembered | Baseball: Story of White Sox Victory
By Katherine Gypson and Jill Moss²

Broadcast: Friday, November 04, 2005

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HOST: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English. I'm Doug Johnson.

On our show this week:

We hear some music by Shirley Horn ...

Answer two questions about American political parties.

And report about the professional baseball team that recently won the World Series.

Chicago White Sox

The Chicago White Sox major league baseball team won their first World Series since nineteen seventeen last week. Faith Lapidus tells us the story of the White Sox' long road to victory.

 
Chicago White Sox celebrate after sweeping³ Houston Astros to win World Series, Wednesday
FAITH LAPIDUS: The White Sox play baseball in one of the largest cities in America -- Chicago, Illinois. The team is an important part of the city's proud history. A team called the White Sox has played baseball in Chicago since the year nineteen hundred.

The team is called the White Sox because the players wear long white stockings as part of their playing clothes. The team is part of major league baseball's American League. The city has another professional baseball team -- the Chicago Cubs⁴ of the National League. Every summer, baseball fans in Chicago look forward to the games when the Cubs play against the White Sox.

Every autumn, the best baseball teams of the American League and National League play championship games called the World Series. The teams compete for the North American baseball championship. The White Sox had not won a World Series championship since nineteen seventeen. Only very old people can remember a time when the White Sox were the best team in baseball.

The White Sox had a chance to win the World Series again in nineteen nineteen. Some men who bet money on baseball games gave money to eight White Sox players. They wanted the players to lose the game on purpose so that the gamblers could win money on their bets. The White Sox lost the World Series that year. The plot was discovered and the eight players who took part were never permitted to play baseball again. That year, the team became known as the Black Sox. Several American movies have been made about this event.

The White Sox played in the World Series again, in nineteen fifty-nine. They lost. Some White Sox fans believed their team would always lose because of the cheating Black Sox players. But last week, the bad luck ended. The dreams of the fans who have loved their team for so many years came true. The Chicago White Sox won the World Series. They became the best team in baseball again.

Political Differences

HOST: Our listener questions this week come from Turkey and China. Raci asks about the differences between the Democratic and Republican⁵ political parties. Ma Wei asks about other American political parties. This is a good time to answer these questions because Americans are preparing to vote in state and local elections on Tuesday.

The Republicans⁶ and Democrats⁷ are the two major political parties. Republicans generally are conservative⁸. Democrats usually hold more liberal or progressive beliefs.

Thomas Jefferson started the Democratic Party in seventeen ninety-two. In eighteen hundred, he was the first member of the party to be elected president. It was first called the Democratic-Republican Party, but became the Democratic party in eighteen forty-four.

The Republican Party began in the early eighteen fifties as a result of efforts by anti-slavery activists⁹ and others. Abraham Lincoln became the first Republican Party president in eighteen sixty.

Today, Republicans generally support free trade and open markets, low taxes, a strong military, smaller government and few restrictions¹⁰ on business. They believe people should create their own success and not depend on public aid. Most Republicans support the rights of Americans to own guns. They oppose operations that end pregnancies¹¹.

The Democratic Party generally supports the idea that government should provide programs to help people in need. Party members believe men and women should be paid equally for the same work. Democrats support controls on gun ownership. Most Democrats believe a woman should have the right to end her pregnancy¹².

There are more than thirty other political parties in the United States. They are known as third parties. Some of them support candidates in local, state or presidential elections. Each has its own political policy. For example, the Green Party is linked to the environmental Green movement around the world. It supports environmental protection. And the Libertarian Party wants more freedom, lower taxes and less government.

Shirley Horn

Jazz performer Shirley Horn died last month at the age of seventy- one. Pat Bodnar tells us about the woman and her music.

 
promo shirley-horn
PAT BODNAR: Shirley Horn lived all her life in and around Washington, D.C. She was considered one of the great jazz singers of the nineteen fifties and sixties. She was often compared to the famous singers Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan.

Shirley Horn began learning how to play the piano at age four. She studied classical music as a teenager. She began to sing jazz in clubs and started her own jazz group in nineteen fifty-four. Here she sings the famous Cole Porter song "Love for Sale."

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Shirley Horn recorded her first album in nineteen sixty. The famous jazz musician Miles Davis heard the album. He liked it so much that he invited Miz Horn to play music with him in New York City.

Shirley Horn went on to record several successful albums. She won a Grammy Award in nineteen ninety-eight for the album "I Remember Miles." Here she sings and Miles Davis plays the trumpet¹³ on the song "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin'."

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Experts say Shirley Horn was one of the slowest singers in jazz. She liked to put stress on some words and let others slip away. Critics say that she will be remembered as one of the best singers in a great period of American jazz.

We leave you now with Shirley Horn playing the piano and singing "I Just Found Out About Love."

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HOST:

HOST: I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program.

This show was written by Katherine Gypson and Jill Moss. Caty Weaver¹⁴ was the producer. 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 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

3 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

4 cubs   

n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lioness guarding her cubs 守护幼崽的母狮
• Lion cubs depend on their mother to feed them. 狮子的幼仔依靠母狮喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 republican   

n.拥护共和政体的人； adj.共和政体的，（Republican）共和党人，（Republican）共和党的

参考例句：

• Some families have been republican for generations.有些家庭世代都支持共和党。
• A third candidate has entered the contest for the Republican nomination.第三个候选人已经加入角逐共和党提名的行列。

6 republicans   

拥护共和政体者，共和主义者( republican的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Republicans got shellacked in the elections. 共和党在选举中一败涂地。
• The latest poll gives the Republicans a 5％ lead. 最近的民意调查结果表明共和党领先了五个百分点。

7 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》

8 conservative   

adj.保守的，守旧的；n.保守的人，保守派

参考例句：

• He is a conservative member of the church.他是一个守旧教会教友。
• The young man is very conservative.这个年轻人很守旧。

9 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》

10 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

11 pregnancies   

怀孕，妊娠( pregnancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Since the wartime population needed replenishment, pregnancies were a good sign. 最后一桩倒不失为好现象，战时人口正该补充。
• She's had three pregnancies in four years. 她在四年中怀孕叁次。

12 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

13 trumpet   

n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘

参考例句：

• He plays the violin, but I play the trumpet.他拉提琴，我吹喇叭。
• The trumpet sounded for battle.战斗的号角吹响了。

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。