AMERICAN MOSAIC - Balloonist Steve Fossett / Songs by Rosema

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ -July 12, 2002: Balloonist Steve Fossett / Songs by Rosemary Clooney / Question
About Actor Bruce Lee

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC
—
VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.

(THEME)

This is Doug Johnson. On our program today:

We play songs by Rosemary Clooney ...

Answer a listener’s question about actor Bruce Lee ...

And report about the man who recently broke a world flying record.

Steve Fossett’s Balloon Flight

HOST:

Last week, American businessman Steve Fossett became the first person to fly around the world alone in a
balloon. He landed his balloon in Australia on July fourth, American Independence Day. Mary Tillotson tells us
about his record-breaking trip.

ANNCR:

This was fifty-eight-year-old Steve Fossett’s sixth attempt to fly around the world in a balloon. He called the
balloon the “Spirit of Freedom.
”
It was forty -two meters tall and powered by helium and hot air. He rode in a
small area a little more than two meters long underneath³ the large balloon. This capsule was not pressurized,
forcing Mister⁴ Fossett to use oxygen much of the time. He was able to sleep only about four hours each day,
usually forty-five minutes at a time.

Mister Fossett chose to fly over the southern part of the world to avoid the need to
get permission to fly over many countries. He experienced⁵ very few problems
during his flight. Some days, winds pushed the balloon at speeds of up to three-
hundred-twenty kilometers an hour.

Mister Fossett had more problems attempting to land. High winds forced him to
continue flying after he set the record. Then he had to put out an equipment fire on
the balloon in the middle of the night of July third.

Steve Fossett began the trip on June eighteenth in Northam,
Australia. He landed the Spirit of Freedom in that country on July
fourth. He broke the record for distance flown by a balloon,
traveling more than thirty-one-thousand kilometers. He set his record on July second, thirteen
days and twelve hours after he first lifted off.

But he had spent almost fifteen days in the air by the time he landed the balloon about one-
thousand-four-hundred kilometers northeast of Sydney.

Steve Fossett now holds world records in flying balloons, flying airplanes and sailing ships. Over the years he has
done many difficult activities. For example, he climbed many of the world’s highest mountains and swam
across the English Channel. He also completed the Iditarod dog sled race in Alaska and drove in the Twenty-Four
Hours of Le Mans car race. Steve Fossett is already planning his next adventure. He plans to fly a glider⁶ plane
into the stratosphere --eighteen-thousand meters above the ground in southern New Zealand.

Steve Fossett at a news
conference after his
landing⁷.

Bruce Lee

HOST:
Our VOA listener question this week comes from Israel. Rafi Halabbi asks about actor Bruce Lee.

 

His name was Lee Jun Fan Yuen Kam when he was born in San Francisco, California in
nineteen-forty. A nurse at the hospital said he should have an American name too. She suggested
the name “Bruce.
”
Bruce ’s father was a movie actor. Young Bruce appeared in his first
movie with his father when he was only two months old. Bruce and his parents returned to their
home in Hong Kong in ninety-forty-one. Bruce began to act in Chinese movies at the age of six.

In Hong Kong, Bruce Lee began his life-long interest in the Chinese system of self-defense
called Kung Fu. He studied with Yip Man, a master of the famous Wing Chun Kung Fu. Bruce
was also involved in many street fights. His parents decided⁸ this must stop. They sent him back
to the United States. He became a student at the University of Washington in Seattle. Later he
opened a school to teach Kung Fu in Oakland, California.

Bruce Lee was not a big man. However, people who saw him fight could not understand how he could be so
powerful. He seemed to have the strength of several men.

In nineteen -sixty-six, Bruce Lee acted in an American television series called “The Green Hornet.
”
The
program was not a success. But many Hollywood movie actors began studying Kung Fu with him. He appeared
in several other television programs.

Bruce Lee returned to Hong Kong in nineteen-seventy-one to act in a Chinese movie known in the United States
as “Fists of Fury⁹.
”
The movie was extremely popular in Asia. He followed this with another film, “The
Chinese Connection.
”
It too was extremely popular.

In nineteen -seventy-three, Bruce Lee made his most famous movie, “Enter the Dragon.
”
It was the first movie
made in cooperation between American and Chinese movie companies.

But Bruce Lee died a few weeks before the movie was released¹⁰. He was thirty -two years old. Doctors said his
death was caused by swelling¹¹ of the brain.

More than twenty-thousand people attended his funeral in Hong Kong before his body was taken to Seattle,
Washington for burial. “Enter the Dragon”
became a major hit. It made Bruce Lee an internationally famous
movie star. Movie critics say his early death ended what would have been a very successful movie career.

Rosemary Clooney

HOST:

Rosemary Clooney died last month of lung cancer. She was seventy -four years old. Millions of people around the
world have enjoyed listening to her sing for the past fifty years. Shep O’Neal tells us about her.

ANNCR:

Rosemary Clooney was born in the small town of Maysville, Kentucky and began singing as a child. She moved
to New York City at the age of twenty-one. She began recording¹² for Columbia Records. Mizz Clooney was
ordered to record a song she did not like. It became a huge hit record. It is called “Come On-a My House.
”

((COME ON-A MY HOUSE))

Rosemary Clooney sang on radio programs. She later had her own television show.
She also performed in the movies. Her best known film is “White Christmas.
”
Listen as she sings a song from that movie, “Count Your Blessings¹³.
”

((COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS))


Rosemary Clooney married the actor Jose Ferrer. They had five children in five
years. But they were not happy and they ended their marriage. Later, Mizz Clooney
suffered from the mental disease¹⁴ depression and dependence² on alcohol¹⁵. But she
always returned to her singing.

In nineteen-ninety-five, Rosemary Clooney celebrated¹⁶ fifty years in the music
business by recording the album “Demi-Centennial.
”
We leave you now with one
of her biggest hit songs --the only hit she included on that album. Here is Rosemary
Clooney singing ”Mambo Italiano.
”

((MAMBO ITALIANO)
)
HOST:
This is Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today. And I hope you will join us again next week for

AMERICAN MOSAIC
—
VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.
This AMERICAN MOSAIC program was written by Nancy Steinbach and Paul Thompson. Our studio engineer
was Curtis Bynum. And our producer was Paul Thompson.

 

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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 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

3 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

4 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”。

5 experienced   

adj.有经验的；经验丰富的，熟练的

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather.有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• Perhaps you and I had better change over;you are more experienced.也许我们的工作还是对换一下好，你比我更有经验。

6 glider   

n.滑翔机；滑翔导弹

参考例句：

• The glider was soaring above the valley.那架滑翔机在山谷上空滑翔。
• The pilot managed to land the glider on a safe place.那个驾驶员设法让滑翔机着陆到一个安全的地方。

7 landing   

n.登陆；着陆；楼梯平台

参考例句：

• Owing to engine trouble,the plane had to make a forced landing.由于发动机出了毛病，飞机不得不进行迫降。
• When are we landing?我们什么时候着陆？

8 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。

9 fury   

n.狂怒，激烈，狂怒的人，（希神）复仇女神

参考例句：

• She felt a wave of wild fury overcame her.她顿时觉得怒不可遏。
• He flew into fury when I said I couldn't help him.当我说不能帮助他时，他立刻暴跳如雷。

10 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。

11 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。

12 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

13 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

15 alcohol   

n.酒精，乙醇；含酒精的饮料

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors.法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。
• The alcohol is industrial.这些酒精是供工业用的。

16 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。