AMERICAN MOSAIC - Tom Cruise in

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ -August 23, 2002: Tom Cruise in ''Minority Report'' / South of the Border / A Question

About the Rock Group R.E.M.
HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC — VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.
(THEME)
This is Steve Ember. On our program today:
We answer a listener’s question about the rock group R.E.M. ..
.
Visit a popular stop for travelers called South of the Border ..
.
And tell about one of America’s most popular movie actors.

Tom Cruise

HOST:

One of America’s top actors has another one-hundred-million dollar movie. Mary Tillotson tells the latest news
about Tom Cruise.
ANNCR:

 

Tom Cruise was on the cover of five major American magazines when his latest
movie was released earlier this summer. It is called “Minority Report.”It is a
science-fiction, mystery and action movie. It takes place in the year two -thousandfifty-
four. This is a time when special beings can see crimes like murder before they
happen. Cruise plays a policeman who heads a group called Precrime. These police
arrest would-be murderers before they can carry out their crime. Cruise is accused
of a future murder and must hide from the other police and solve the mystery of the
crime.

“Minority Report”has become Tom Cruise’s tenth movie out of twenty-four to
make one-hundred-million dollars or more. Like other top actors Harrison Ford² and Tom Hanks, Cruise is
considered a very safe investment in Hollywood.

But, he is an investment. Tom Cruise demands about twenty-million dollars to star in a film. He also often gets a
percentage of the movie’s profits. Two years ago, Cruise made about seventy-five-million dollars from his movie
“Mission: Impossible Two.”

Tom Cruise has received praise along with big earnings³. The National Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences nominated him two times for Best Actor and once for Best Supporting Actor. He has won two Golden
Globe awards. People Magazine has included Cruise on its yearly list of the most beautiful people three times.
The magazine also named him the sexiest man alive. And, last year, Forbes magazine named Tom Cruise number
one on its list of the most powerful people in entertainment.

Tom Cruise is forty years old. He was born in Syracuse, New York, but moved around a lot growing up. Cruise
was a member of the Roman Catholic Church for most of his life. He had planned on becoming a clergyman. But,
at age eighteen, he moved from New Jersey⁴ to New York to try acting⁵ instead. Cruise now belongs to the Church
of Scientology.

Tom Cruise’s next two movies are “The Last Samurai”and “Mission: Impossible Three. ”


South of the Border

HOST:

This summer, many Americans are traveling on the huge road system that connects the states. They can drive
hundreds of kilometers across state borders without having to stop.

What happens when drivers and their families become hungry? Or when their car needs more fuel? Where can
they stop for food or gasoline or just to stretch their legs after sitting in a car for many hours? One of the most
famous rest areas for travelers in the United States is called “South of the Border”in Dillon, South Carolina.
Shep O’Neal tells us about it.

ANNCR:

South of the Border is a popular rest area for people driving on the main road
through the eastern United States from Maine to Florida. It is just south of the
border between North Carolina and South Carolina. During summer weekends, as
many as forty-thousand American holiday travelers stop there.

Every traveler knows where it is. That is because there are huge signs, or billboards⁷,

for South of the Border, starting many kilometers away from the area. There are Pedroland Park
more than one-hundred South of the Border billboards along major roads in the
southeastern United States. All the billboards are colorful. They make fun of the place and a character named
Pedro. At the entrance to South of the Border is the biggest sign of all. It is a sign of Pedro that is thirty meters
tall.

South of the Border is an unusual mix of the traditional American South and Old Mexico. At first, you wonder
why there are so many seemingly Mexican things in South Carolina. South of the Border is nowhere near
Mexico. That is part of the joke.

South of the Border has six eating places, fifteen stores and a large hotel for tired travelers. There are plenty of
things to do at South of the Border. Visitors can play golf or ride a machine that looks like a cow. They can ride
up a tall structure shaped liked a Mexican hat. Or they can buy a Mexican hat, fireworks and many other things.

A man named Alan Schafer started South of the Border more than fifty years ago. At first, there was only one
store that sold beer. Through the many billboards and marketing⁸ efforts, South of the Border grew and became a
huge success. When Mister Shafer died last year, the business reportedly was worth about fifty-million dollars.

R.E.M.
HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week comes from Hong Kong. Eric Pun asks about the rock music group R.E.M.

The band was formed in nineteen-eighty. The members were Bill Berry, Mike Mills,
Peter Buck⁹, and lead singer, Michael Stipe. The band formed while all four men
were attending classes at the University of Georgia, in Athens. They first played
together in an empty church where two of the members lived. This song is from
R.E.M.'s first album, called “Chronic¹⁰ Town.”It is called “Carnival¹¹ of Sorts.”

((MUSIC: "Carnival of Sorts"))

The name of the band stands for “rapid eye movement.”This is the movement of the

eyes during the period of sleep when a person is dreaming. The band did not choose
the name R.E.M. until after its first performance twenty-two years ago. During that show, the four members of
the band wrote ideas for names on the floor. In the morning, they settled on R.E.M. This popular song, “Radio
Free Europe,”is from the band’s second album.

((MUSIC: "Radio Free Europe"))


Since nineteen-eighty-eight, several of the group’s albums have reached number one on the Billboard⁶ list based
on total sales. The band has also won several Grammy and M-T-V music awards. In nineteen-ninety-seven, drum
player Bill Berry left the band after suffering health problems. The remaining members of R.E.M. have continued
to release albums. The most recent, called “Reveal,”came out last year. We leave you with a song from the
album. It is called “The Lifting.”

((MUSIC: "The Lifting"))

HOST:

This is Steve Ember. 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 Caty Weaver¹², George Grow and Jill Moss¹³. Our studio
engineer was Eva Nenicka. And our producer was Caty Weaver.

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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 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

3 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

4 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。

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 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。

7 billboards   

n.广告牌( billboard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Large billboards have disfigured the scenery. 大型告示板已破坏了景色。 来自辞典例句
• Then, put the logo in magazines and on billboards without telling anyone what it means. 接着我们把这个商标刊在杂志和广告看板上，却不跟任何人透漏它的涵意。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年4月号

8 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

9 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

10 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

11 carnival   

n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演

参考例句：

• I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
• Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。

12 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。

13 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。