National Folk Festival

By Jerilyn Watson

Broadcast: September 15, 2003

(THEME)
VOICE ONE:
Thousands of people gathered recently for an event that celebrates the traditions of many of the groups that have come to America. I'm Bob Doughty¹.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Phoebe Zimmermann. We take you to the National Folk Festival on the VOA Special English program, THIS IS AMERICA.
(NATURAL SOUND)
VOICE ONE:
Music filled the air at the sixty-fifth National Folk Festival, held in Bangor, Maine. Maine is a small state on the northeastern Atlantic coast, on the border with Canada.
The festival offers music from many lands. Crowds heard Yang Wei and Betty Xiang [shee-ONG] play ancient Chinese instruments. Los Camperos de Nati Cano performed Spanish 1)mariachi music.
Another group, Wylie and The Wild West, performed music of the American West. And there was lots more.
(NATURAL SOUND)
VOICE TWO:
The crowds had five stages to choose from the entertainment. All this took place in Bangor's Riverfront area. Many people sat on the grass under the hot sun. But 2)breezes from off the Penobscot River cooled them.
Visitors looked at handmade crafts for sale. Penobscot Indians, for example, sold objects carved from ash trees. Women from Maine showed 3)knitted and woven clothing. They also sold sweets made from the syrup³ of the state's maple⁴ trees.
Festival goers could also choose foods from Greece, Ireland, China and many other cultures. The smell of food made people hungry.
Seafood⁵ is one of the things that Maine is famous for, especially shellfish. People stood in long lines to buy rolls containing 4)lobster⁶. They also ate what seemed like tons of 5)blueberries grown in Maine.
(NATURAL SOUND)
VOICE ONE:
The National Folk Festival is a chance to show off many of the traditions that have become part of American culture. These include the traditions of the Indians who lived here first.
The festival first took place in nineteen-thirty-four. It has taken place almost every year since then. At first, the National Folk Festival was held in the same city each year. As time passed, it became a traveling event. It now moves every fourth year.
The National Council for Traditional Arts is the main organizer. The festival is free of charge. Financial support comes from businesses, individuals and collections at the event.
VOICE TWO:
Julia Olin is an official of the National Council for Traditional Arts. She praises the support that citizens in Maine have given the National Folk Festival. She points out that only about thirty-eight-thousand people live in the city of Bangor. But, last year, about eighty-thousand people attended the festival.
Julia Olin says eight-hundred local citizens offered to work at this year's festival. Some of these volunteers answered questions from visitors. Others served as "artist buddies⁷" to assist the performers.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Now let us meet and listen to some of the artists who performed at the sixty-fifth National Folk Festival.
Yang Wei and Betty Xiang, his wife, grew up in Shanghai. Yang Wei is an expert on the ancient Chinese instrument called a pipa (PEA-pah). This is a string instrument similar to a 6)lute⁸. Betty Xiang plays the erhu (er-WHO), a kind of violin.
They have performed in the United States with 7)cello⁹ player Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble¹⁰. They also have played at the Ravinia International Music Festival near Chicago.
VOICE TWO:
Yang Wei tells us about the two-thousand-year history of the pipa. He also talks about how his family arrived in the United States in nineteen-ninety-six. He says he and his wife and son knew little English at the time. He expresses pleasure that they can speak the language now.
But now is the time for music. Here Yang Wei and Betty Xiang play “Rainbow Dance.”
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Next, we meet the members of Los Camperos de Nati Cano. Their homes are in Los Angeles.
Mariachi music came from Spain in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Around eighteen-hundred, farmers and day laborers¹¹ in Mexico began to develop mariachi music into its present form. Special guitars along with trumpets¹² and violins produce the sweet and lively sound.
VOICE TWO:
"Los Camperos" means "The Countrymen." Nati Cano is a musician who came from a family of day laborers near Guadalajara, in western Mexico. He was born in nineteen-thirty-three. His father and grandfather also were musicians. He tells us that music helped them earn enough money to live.
Nati Cano came to the United States in nineteen-sixty. His group, and others, have helped continue and develop mariachi music in California.
Listen now as Los Camperos de Nati Cano perform "Se Me Hizo Facil."
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Next we meet Wylie and The Wild West. Their spirited cowboy music tells about life in the American West. Cows and horses are big subjects.
Singer Wylie Gustafson should know. He owns a cattle farm. Every morning, he wakes up at five-thirty to feed his animals. His 8)ranch¹³ is near the town of Dusty, in the northwestern state of Washington. Dusty has a population of eleven people.
Wylie Gustafson has performed many times at the Grand Old Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. He also has appeared at the Original Cowboy Poetry Gathering¹⁴ in Elko, Nevada, and other events.
VOICE TWO:
Wylie Gustafson is known for his 9)yodeling. This form of singing jumps from normal sounds to extremely high notes. He says the tradition of the yodeling cowboy started in Hollywood movies of the nineteen-thirties. Today, he says, yodeling is very important to cowboy music.
Listen as Wylie and The Wild West perform “Lonely Yukon Stars.”
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
There are many different kinds of music to listen to during the three days of the National Folk Festival. Robert Turner and the Silver Hearts Gospel Singers are from Indianapolis, Indiana. They perform Christian¹⁵ music in the African American tradition.
Another group is called Sounds of Korea. Its members play drums and dance.
But it's time we go. We leave you with some dance music. It's based on the Jewish folk music of eastern Europe, called klezmer. It's by the group the Klezmatics.
(MUSIC: “New York Psycho Freylekhs”/The Klezmatics)
VOICE TWO:
Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Caty Weaver¹⁶. I'm Phoebe Zimmermann.
VOICE ONE:
And I'm Bob Doughty. The next National Folk Festival is August twenty-seventh to the twenty-ninth, two-thousand-four, in Bangor, Maine. Next week, listen for another report about life in the United States, on the VOA Special English program, THIS IS AMERICA.

注释：
1) mariachi [5mB:ri5B:tFi] n.墨西哥流浪乐队
2) breeze [bri:z] n.微风
3) knit² [nit] v.编织
4) lobster [5lCbstE] n.龙虾
5) blueberry [5blu:bEri] n.越橘的一种
6) lute [lju:t] n.琵琶
7) cello [5tFelEu] n.大提琴
8) ranch [rAntF, rB:ntF] n.大农场
9) yodeling [5jEudliN] n.岳得尔歌（一种流行与瑞士和奥地利山民间的民歌）

1 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。

2 knit   

vt.编织，密接，结合，皱眉；vi.编织，变得紧凑，愈合；n.编织

参考例句：

• She could knit up a baby's coat in an afternoon.她能在一个下午织好一件婴儿的衣服。
• Our letters enabled us to knit up our old friendship.通信使我们恢复了旧日的友谊。

3 syrup   

n.糖浆，糖水

参考例句：

• I skimmed the foam from the boiling syrup.我撇去了煮沸糖浆上的泡沫。
• Tinned fruit usually has a lot of syrup with it.罐头水果通常都有许多糖浆。

4 maple   

n.槭树，枫树，槭木

参考例句：

• Maple sugar is made from the sap of maple trees.枫糖是由枫树的树液制成的。
• The maple leaves are tinge with autumn red.枫叶染上了秋天的红色。

5 seafood   

n.海产食品，海味，海鲜

参考例句：

• There's an excellent seafood restaurant near here.离这儿不远有家非常不错的海鲜馆。
• Shrimps are a popular type of seafood.小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。

6 lobster   

n.龙虾，龙虾肉

参考例句：

• The lobster is a shellfish.龙虾是水生贝壳动物。
• I like lobster but it does not like me.我喜欢吃龙虾，但它不适宜于我的健康。

7 buddies   

n.密友( buddy的名词复数 )；同伴；弟兄；（用于称呼男子，常带怒气）家伙v.（如密友、战友、伙伴、弟兄般）交往( buddy的第三人称单数 )；做朋友；亲近（…）；伴护艾滋病人

参考例句：

• We became great buddies. 我们成了非常好的朋友。 来自辞典例句
• The two of them have become great buddies. 他们俩成了要好的朋友。 来自辞典例句

8 lute   

n.琵琶，鲁特琴

参考例句：

• He idly plucked the strings of the lute.他漫不经心地拨弄着鲁特琴的琴弦。
• He knows how to play the Chinese lute.他会弹琵琶。

9 cello   

n.大提琴

参考例句：

• The cello is a member of the violin family.大提琴是提琴家族的一员。
• She plays a melodious cello.她拉着一手悦耳的大提琴。

10 ensemble   

n.合奏(唱)组；全套服装；整体，总效果

参考例句：

• We should consider the buildings as an ensemble.我们应把那些建筑物视作一个整体。
• It is ensemble music for up to about ten players,with one player to a part.它是最多十人演奏的合奏音乐，每人担任一部分。

11 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

12 trumpets   

喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 )； 小号； 喇叭形物； （尤指）绽开的水仙花

参考例句：

• A wreath was laid on the monument to a fanfare of trumpets. 在响亮的号角声中花圈被献在纪念碑前。
• A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King. 嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。

13 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

14 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。

15 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

16 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。