广受欢迎的电视剧《索普拉诺一家》

43 广受欢迎的电视剧《索普拉诺一家》

DATE=6-1-2001
TITLE=AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ #820 - The Sopranos
BYLINE=Paul Thompson

HOST:
(Start at 0'58") Do you know the answers to these questions?  Why would eating places and movie theaters like to see a television program stop broadcasting?  How could the head of an (1) imaginary (2) criminal family make a six-thousand-year-old book popular?   Shep O'Neal has the answers and more.
ANNCR:
"The Sopranos" is one of the most popular shows on American television.  It won several television industry awards last year.  It has a good chance of winning several more this year.
More than eight-million people watch the program every Sunday night on the (3) cable channel called Home Box Office.  People must pay money each month to receive Home Box Office and some other cable television channels.  So many people watch "The Sopranos" that the owners of eating places and movie theaters say their business is very slow on Sunday nights.  People do not go out that night.  They stay home and watch  "The Sopranos."
"The Sopranos" is about a family: a father, mother, son and daughter.  They live in a very costly² home in (4) New Jersey³.  They have many of the same problems that all families have.  The father is worried about his work.   His son is having problems in school.  His daughter is just starting college.  His wife worries about each member of the family.  
But there is another part to the story.  The father, Tony Soprano, is the chief of a large criminal organization.  State and (5) federal police agencies are (6) investigating the group.  Tony and other members of this crime family often kill people.
Tony has another problem, too. He (7) suffers attacks of (8) extreme fear. A doctor is treating him for (9) mental health problems. The doctor knows Tony is (10) violent and dangerous. She is trying to help him deal with the many problems and fears that sometimes make him (11) physically⁴ sick.  
(12) Critics have praised "The Sopranos."  They say it is very well written. They say the acting⁵ is extremely good.  The program is often very funny.  It is also sad and very violent.  Some critics say the violence is too extreme.  They also say the violent head of a criminal group should not be the hero of a television program.
It does not seem to (13) matter what critics say.  People love to watch "The Sopranos."  The program has even helped sell thousands of copies of a book written by a Chinese (14) military (15) expert more than six-thousand years ago.  In one program, Tony talked about the book "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu.  Now, one newspaper (16) lists it as the sixth best-selling book in the United States.

 

 

美国作家约翰·格利什姆

DATE=6-1-2001
TITLE=AMERICAN MOSAIC #820 - John Grisham
BYLINE=Nancy Steinbach
 
HOST:
(Start at 5'07") Our VOA listener question this week comes from (1) Burma.  Khin Htwe Su asks about the American writer John Grisham.
John Grisham has sold more than sixty-million books in twenty-nine languages.  "Publisher's Weekly" magazine named him the best-selling novel writer of the Nineteen-Nineties.  Six of his books have been made into movies.
Most of his books are exciting stories about lawyers and their work.  That is because John Grisham is a lawyer.
He was born in the southern state of (2) Arkansas in Nineteen-Fifty-Five.  He worked as a lawyer for nearly ten years in the small town of Southaven, (3) Mississippi.  He also served in the Mississippi House of (4) Representatives.
One day, Mister Grisham heard a twelve-year-old girl tell a court how she had been (5) sexually⁶ (6) attacked.  This led him to write a book exploring what would have happened if the girl's father had killed her attackers.  He called the book "A Time to Kill."  Many publishers rejected it before it was bought by a small company and published in Nineteen-Eighty-Eight.
John Grisham immediately began writing another book.  This one was about a young lawyer who worked for a company that was not what it appeared to be.  The book was called "The Firm."  It became the best-selling novel of Nineteen-Ninety-One.  
Since then, John Grisham has written one book a year.  All of them have been best sellers. He no longer works as a lawyer.  He did, however, go back to the (7) courtroom in Nineteen-Ninety-Six to keep a promise to a family.  He had promised to represent them before he retired⁷ as a lawyer.  He won the case. The family was (8) awarded more than six-hundred-thousand dollars in damages.
Today John Grisham lives with his wife and two children in Mississippi.  He (9) supervises⁸ the local Little League baseball teams for children. He built six baseball fields on his (10) property.  Twenty-six Little League baseball teams have played there.  He also continues to write.  His twelfth and latest book was published in February.  It is called "A Painted House."

 

摇滚歌手埃文与杰仁

TITLE=AMERICAN MOSAIC #820 - Evan and Jaron
BYLINE=Nancy Steinbach
DATE=6-1-2001
               
HOST:
(Start at 8'32") Two American rock and roll singers look exactly alike.  They are the members of the group Evan and Jaron.  They are identical twin brothers. Shirley Griffith tells us more.
ANNCR:
Evan and Jaron Lowenstein are twenty-seven years old.  They were born in the southern city of (1) Atlanta, (2) Georgia.  They are (3) Orthodox⁹ (4) Jews.  They do not work on the (5) Jewish Sabbath, from Friday night through Saturday.  The brothers were baseball players for years until they decided¹⁰ their future was in music.
 Their latest (6) album is a big hit.  It is called "Evan and Jaron."  The first single is this song, "Crazy For This Girl."
((CUT 1: CRAZY FOR THIS GIRL))
Evan and Jaron each write songs.  Then they edit¹¹ each other's work.  They (7)reportedly use real life experiences and their imaginations when they write.  This song is about (8)Los Angeles, (9)California, the city where they now live.  It is called "(10)Outer space."
((CUT 2: OUTERSPACE))
Evan and Jaron are very good-looking.  "People" magazine recently included them in the "Fifty Most Beautiful People in the World."  They are now traveling throughout the United States performing their songs.  We leave you now with this one, "From My Head to My Heart."

(1) imaginary [ i `mAdVinEri ] adj.假想的, 想象的, 虚构的
(2) criminal [ `kriminl] n.罪犯, 犯罪者 adj.犯罪的, 犯法的, 罪恶的
(3) cable [ 5keibl] n.电缆, 海底电报, 缆, 索 v.打(海底)电报
(4) New Jersey [nju: `dV[:zi] n.新泽西州(美国太平洋沿岸)
(5) federal [ `fedEral] adj.联邦的, 联合的, 联邦制的, 同盟的 n.(
(6) investigate [ in `vestigeit ] v.调查, 研究
(7) suffer [`sQfE] vt.遭受, 经历, 忍受 vi.受痛苦, 受损害
(8) extreme [iks`tri:m] adj.尽头的, 极端的, 极度的, 偏激的, 最后的
(9) mental [ `mentl] adj.精神的, 智力的
(10) violent [ `vaiElEnt] adj.猛烈的, 激烈的, 暴力引起的, 强暴的
(11) physically [ `fizikli] adv.身体上地
(12) critic [ `kritik] n.批评家, 评论家, 吹毛求疵者
(13) matter [ `mAtE] n. vi.有关系, 要紧
(14) military [ `militEri ] adj.军事的, 军用的
(15) expert [ `ekspE:t] n.专家, 行家
      (16) list [list] vt.列出, 列于表上, 记入名单内vi.列于表上

(1) Burma [ `b[:mE] n.缅甸(东南亚国家)
(2) Arkansas [ `B:k[nsC: ] n.阿肯色州
(3) Mississippi [ 9misi `sipi ] n.密西西比河
(4) representative [ 9repri `zent[tiv] n.代表 adj.典型的, 有代表性的
(5) sexually [ `seksjU[li ]adv.性别地, 两性之间地
(6) attack [ [`Atk ] n.进攻, 攻击,侵袭 vt.攻击, 抨击, 动手处理(某事)
(7) courtroom [ `kR:tru:m] n.法庭, 审判室
(8) award [[ `wC:d]  vt.授予, 判给
(9) supervise[ `sjU:p[vaiz] v.监督, 管理, 指导
(10) property [ `prCp[ti] n.财产, 所有物

 

(1) Atlanta [[t `lAnt[] 亚特兰大[美国佐治亚州首府]
(2) Georgia [ `dVC:dVjE ] n.乔治亚州(在美国南部,首府在Atlanta)
(3) Orthodox [ `C:W[dCks] adj.正统的, 传统的, 习惯的, 保守的,
(4) Jew [dVU:] n.犹太人, 犹太教徒
(5) Jewish Sabbath [ `dVU:iF, `sAbEW] 犹太安息日
(6) album [ `AlbEm] n.音乐专辑　
(7) reportedly [rI5pC:tIdlI]adv.据传说, 据传闻
(8) Los Angeles [lRs5AndVElEs]n.洛杉矶(美国城市)
(9) California [ kAli5fC:njE ]n.加利福尼亚, 加州
(10) Outer space n.太空,外层空间

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 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

3 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。

4 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

5 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

6 sexually   

adv.性别上地；按性别地；性欲地；两性之间地

参考例句：

• to be sexually promiscuous 性生活淫乱
• I was depressed,withdrawn and sexually frigid. 我郁郁寡欢，离群索居，没有什么性要求。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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。

8 supervises   

v.监督，管理( supervise的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The group leader supervises a dozen workers. 组长管十二个工人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He makes the wines and supervises the vineyards. 他酿酒并管理葡萄园。 来自辞典例句

9 orthodox   

adj.正统的，传统的，惯常的

参考例句：

• They are orthodox Jews.他们是正统的犹太教徒。
• His ideas are very orthodox.他的思想非常合乎规范。

10 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。

11 edit   

vt.编辑，校订，主编，编辑，剪辑（影片等）

参考例句：

• You'll have to edit that tape,it's too long.那盘录音带太长，你得把它剪辑一下。
• It is not yet decided who will edit it.由谁校订未决。