VOA慢速英语 2007 1228b

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC¹, in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Bob Doughty². On our show this week:

 
Sharon Leal (l), Beyoncé Knowles, and Anika Noni Rose
We look back at two thousand seven --  some stories we have reported, listener questions we have answered and music we have played.

(MUSIC)

That was a song from the Disney television movie, "High School Musical Two."  Last summer, we reported that it was the most popular show ever broadcast on an American cable television network. The music from the show is the second best selling album of the year.  Billboard³ Magazine says it has sold two million seven hundred thousand copies.

We also reported about other musical shows during two thousand seven.  We played songs from the Broadway musical "Spring Awakening⁴" and the movie "Dreamgirls."  Here, Jennifer Hudson sings "I Am Changing " from that movie.

(MUSIC)

In May, we reported about a new album from singer Josh Groban.  Now he has another best selling album -- of Christmas music.  Billboard Magazine says Josh Groban's "Noel" is the top selling album of two thousand seven.  It has sold almost three million copies.  Here Josh Groban sings "The Christmas Song."

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Several music critics say the song "Rehab" by British singer Amy Winehouse is the best single of the year.  "Rehab" is on the album "Back To Black."  We played another song from that album when we reported about Winehouse in June.  Listen as Amy Winehouse sings "Rehab."

(MUSIC)

This year, "American Mosaic" answered questions from listeners in twenty-four countries around the world.  We heard from people in Burma, Russia, Egypt, Norway, Argentina, Hungary, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe, China, Japan and others.

They asked many different kinds of questions about American life.  For example, places in the United States like the Alamo, the White House, the Everglades, the Great Lakes and an area of New York City called Hell's Kitchen.  Some questions were about American history, such as the Jim Crow Laws, the Marshall Plan, the Whiskey Rebellion⁵ and the Space race.  Some listeners wanted to know more about American business. So we discussed buying a car, told about the store Wal-Mart, and explained the advertising⁶ expression "Diamonds Are Forever."  We also answered questions about elections, urban legends, traffic, pop culture, u.f.o.'s and global warming.

 
Sandra Bullock
Listeners also wanted to know about the movie rating⁷ system and the television show "Twenty-Four."  And they asked about actors Julianne Moore, Sandra Bullock and Linda Blair.

We answered questions about musicians, and played some of their music.  They included singer Hillary Duff, the punk rock group Green Day and the heavy metal band Linkin Park. Here is a song from that group's album, "Minutes to Midnight," that was released in May. It is called "What I've Done."

(MUSIC)

Another question we answered this year was about the Billboard Hot One Hundred List.  This is the list of the one hundred most popular singles in the United States. Billboard also releases a Hot One Hundred List for the end of the year. We leave you now with the song named by Billboard Magazine as the top single of two thousand seven -- "Irreplaceable" by Beyonce.

 
Beyonce 
(MUSIC)

I'm Bob Doughty.  I hope you enjoyed our program today.  It was written by Nancy Steinbach.  Mario Ritter was our producer. To read the text of this program and download audio, go to our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.  You can also find the scripts of all the stories we talked about in our report today.

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

And thank you to everyone who sent us holiday greetings. We received beautiful postcards from listeners in Algeria, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia and Costa Rica. Also from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Libya, Malta, the Netherlands, Thailand and Tunisia.

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.  And Happy New Year to everyone!

 

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 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。

3 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。

4 awakening   

n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的

参考例句：

• the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
• People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。

5 rebellion   

n.造反，叛乱，反抗

参考例句：

• The next year they rose up in rebellion.第二年他们就揭竿起义了。
• The new government quickly suppressed the rebellion.新政府迅速把叛乱镇压下去。

6 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

7 rating   

n.级别，等级，额定值，责骂，收视率

参考例句：

• It is a ship with a rating of 500,000 tons.这是一艘五十万吨级的船。
• The opinion polls gave the president a high rating.民意测验显示人民对总统的支持率很高。