VOA慢速英语20061013b

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - Books 'for Dummies²' Are Popular Learning³ AidsBy Dana Demange, Erin Schiavone and Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Friday, October 13, 2006

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson. On our show this week:

We answer a question about the beginning of Special English broadcasting...

Play some music from Josh Radin...

And report about a series of books for Dummies.

Dummies Books

HOST:


'A

Do you know about a series of books that say they are for dummies? These American self-help books have been translated into more than thirty-nine languages. They include Chinese, Arabic, Russian, French, German, Greek and Spanish. Barbara Klein has more.

BARBARA KLEIN:

Dummy⁴ is a slang⁵ word for a stupid person. The Dummies books are not really for stupid people. They are designed to show people how to do something they may never have tried before. Things like painting a house or learning a language. The books all say in a funny way that they are for dummies. They include World History for Dummies, Rabbits For Dummies, Chinese Cooking For Dummies, and Wedding Planning For Dummies.

The first such book was published in nineteen ninety-one. It was called DOS For Dummies. It helped people learn how to use the DOS operating system for computers. Since then, more than one hundred fifty million Dummies books have been sold.

The Dummies dot com Web site explains the idea behind the books. It says they demonstrate⁶ that people can be taught to do anything. It also describes how the books present their information. First they make fun of ideas that are difficult to understand. Then they show how the information can be interesting and easy. The publishers say the books do not provide more information than necessary. They give readers just enough information to do what they want. They say the Dummies books give the best and easiest way to do something. And the books use simple language that is easy to understand.

There are more than one thousand different Dummies books. A report in the New York Times newspaper says the top-selling Dummies books are those that explain technology and personal finance⁷. Other top-selling books deal with health, like Diabetes⁸ for Dummies. It was written by a doctor in San Francisco, California.

The publishers say the best-selling Dummies books are those that provide information many people need 鈥?like information about diseases⁹, education and cooking. People interested in opera, car repair and wine can also find Dummies books to help them. And there are even more Dummies books to come. The publishers say they release¹⁰ about two hundred new Dummies books every year.

Special English Anniversary¹¹

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week comes from Bangladesh. Munna asks when the Voice of America started broadcasting programs in Special English.


Special English Turtle

The first broadcast of VOA Special English was on October nineteenth, nineteen fifty-nine. VOA officials wanted a program to communicate with people learning English around the world. They wanted a way for people to get to know the language and, at the same time, learn about the United States and world events.

In nineteen fifty-nine, the director of the Voice of America was Henry Loomis. In his job, he traveled around the world. He found that people of all ages wanted to learn English. He wondered if VOA could help. He asked his program manager, Barry Zorthian, to create a broadcast tool that would provide information to listeners who had a limited knowledge of English. Mister¹² Zorthian gathered a small team of young people to develop a list of words to be used in the broadcasts.

Forty-seven years ago, on October nineteenth, listeners heard the first Special English broadcast. Paul Parks read a ten-minute news program slowly and carefully. He read at a speed that is about one-third slower than other VOA English broadcasts. He read so that each word could be clearly understood by listeners on their shortwave radios. The sentences were short. And the words used were limited to the most common English words. Special English was an experiment. There was no model for such a broadcast in slow-speed English using simple words. Would anyone listen to such a program? Would they like it?

Some American experts said the broadcasts would not be successful. But foreign listeners disagreed. They thought it was excellent. In later years, Special English added both short and long feature programs to its broadcasts. Special English soon became one of the most popular programs on VOA. It still is.

Joshua Radin

HOST:

Joshua Radin is a musician with beginner's luck. The first song he wrote was played on a major American television program. Less than two years after writing more songs, Columbia Records offered him a record deal. Mister Radin's gentle voice and powerful love songs are becoming very popular. Faith Lapidus has more.

(MUSIC)

FAITH LAPIDUS:


Joshua Radin's album We Were Here.

That was Winter. Joshua Radin wrote the song for a live performance in New York City about two years ago. He was working as an artist and movie writer at the time. But when his friends heard the song, they knew it was special. One of Radin's friends gave the song to a television producer. Soon, Winter was played on a television program and fans started asking for more of his music. So, Joshua Radin started making music full-time¹³.

Many of the songs on his album, We Were Here, are sad love songs. Radin sings about a relationship with a woman that ended. But there are also a few happy songs about falling in love. Here is Someone Else's Life. Radin wrote this song after meeting his current girlfriend.

(MUSIC)

Joshua Radin's songs all have a soft and quiet style. This gentle quality adds to their emotional¹⁴ effect. But Radin says there is another reason. When he first learned¹⁵ to play the guitar, he lived in a small apartment room. He had to play very quietly so that the music would not trouble the people living nearby.

Now, Joshua Radin can play his music as loudly as he wants. His music is in a new movie and in several television shows. And he is performing around the United States this month. We leave you with Sundrenched World. This song tells about a painful and troubling love.

(MUSIC)

HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today.

Our show was written by Dana Demange, Erin Schiavone and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver¹⁶ was our producer. To read the text of this program and download audio¹⁷, go to our Web site, www.unsv.com.

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

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA's radio magazine in Special English.

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 dummies   

n.仿制品( dummy的名词复数 )；橡皮奶头；笨蛋；假传球

参考例句：

• If he dummies up, just try a little persuasion. 如果他不说话，稍微劝劝他就是了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All the articles in the window are dummies. 橱窗里的全部物品都是仿制品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

4 dummy   

n.假的东西；(哄婴儿的)橡皮奶头

参考例句：

• The police suspect that the device is not a real bomb but a dummy.警方怀疑那个装置不是真炸弹，只是一个假货。
• The boys played soldier with dummy swords made of wood.男孩们用木头做的假木剑玩打仗游戏。

5 slang   

n.俚语，行话；vt.使用俚语，辱骂；vi.辱骂

参考例句：

• The phrase is labelled as slang in the dictionary.这个短语在这本字典里被注为俚语。
• Slang often goes in and out of fashion quickly.俚语往往很快风行起来又很快不再风行了。

6 demonstrate   

vt.论证，证明；示范；显示；vi.示威游行

参考例句：

• Let me demonstrate to you how this machine works.我给你演示一下这台机器的运转情况。
• How can I demonstrate to you that my story is true?我怎样才能向你证明我的话是真实的呢？

7 finance   

n.财务管理，财政，金融，财源，资金

参考例句：

• She is an expert in finance.她是一名财政专家。
• A finance house made a bid to buy up the entire company.一家信贷公司出价买下了整个公司。

8 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

9 diseases   

n.疾病( disease的名词复数 )；弊端；恶疾；痼疾

参考例句：

• Smoking is a causative factor in several major diseases. 抽烟是引起几种严重疾病的病因。
• The illness frequently coexists with other chronic diseases. 这种病往往与其他慢性病同时存在。

10 release   

vt.发布，发表，发行；释放，放开

参考例句：

• After my examination I had a feeling of release.考完试后我有如释重负之感。
• This medicine will give you release from pain.这药吃后会解除你的疼痛。

11 anniversary   

n.周年(纪念日)

参考例句：

• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。
• Today is my parents'30th wedding anniversary.今天是我父母结婚30周年纪念日。

12 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”。

13 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

14 emotional   

adj.令人动情的；易动感情的；感情(上)的

参考例句：

• Emotional people don't stop to calculate.感情容易冲动的人做事往往不加考虑。
• This is an emotional scene in the play.这是剧中动人的一幕。

15 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

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。

17 audio   

n./adj.音频(响)(的)；声音(的)，听觉(的)

参考例句：

• Often,the meeting is recorded on audio or video media for later reference.通常这种会议会以视频或者音频形式记录下来，供以后查阅。
• You don't even have to pay for audio programs.你大可不必为自己听这些节目付费。