VOA慢速英语20061208b

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - Millions of Americans Turn Fantasy Sports Leagues Into a Real IndustryBy Brianna Blake, Lawan Davis and Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Friday, December 08, 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 a place not found on the map ...

Play some music from John Legend ...

And report about playing sports on a computer.

Fantasy Leagues

Fantasy sports leagues are becoming very popular in the United States. This activity gives people the power to own a professional sports team. Barbara Klein has more.

BARBARA KLEIN:


Cameron Ferroni operates fantasy football software for Microsoft.

A fantasy sport is a game in which each member of a group called a league acts as the owner of a team. Each owner creates a team of real-life professional players to compete against other teams in the league. The fantasy teams compete against each other using points earned by the real players of the professional sport.

For example, each member of a fantasy baseball league chooses professional players from several different real-life teams. Fifteen teams compete against each other.

As the baseball season progresses, each fantasy team is awarded points, based on the performance of its players in the real league. At the end of the season, the fantasy team whose players gained the most points would win the fantasy competition.

Fantasy sports are also known as rotisserie or roto leagues. They started to gain more popularity² in the mid-nineteen nineties, with widespread use of the Internet.

Computers have made managing fantasy leagues easier with programs designed to keep score for teams.

More than fifteen million American adults play fantasy sports. The industry earns more than one thousand million dollars each year on publications, memberships³ and other costs.

However, research groups have estimated that fantasy sports also cost employers money in lost productivity⁴ when employees manage their fantasy teams at work.

American football and baseball are the most popular fantasy sports. Basketball and NASCAR auto⁵ racing⁶ are also gaining popularity.

Fantasy sports provide a more interactive⁷ way for people to enjoy sports beyond simply watching games. Fantasy players get a chance to make the same decisions professional owners and managers do.

A common practice in fantasy leagues is to collect money from each player at the beginning of the season. The money will be given to the owners of the top teams at the end of the season. People play fantasy sports for money, but more importantly they play for fun, competition -- and as a way to spend time with their friends.

Silicon⁸ Valley

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week comes from Munich, Germany. Vadym Ponomarenko asks about Silicon Valley.


San Jose is in the heart of Silicon Valley

You will not find the name Silicon Valley on maps of the United States, although it is in the state of California. Silicon Valley is not an official place name. It describes an area south of the city of San Francisco, in Santa Clara County. It is one of the fastest growing areas of the state and includes the cities of Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Santa Clara and San Jose.

The name comes from the silicon material used to produce tiny computer parts. Silicon Valley today is home to thousands of high technology companies.

The story of how this area came to be known as Silicon Valley begins with Stanford University, in Palo Alto. The university was having financial problems following World War Two in the late nineteen forties. It also owned several thousand hectares of land that was not being used.

Stanford professor Frederick Terman learned that the university could not legally sell the land. The Stanford family had made it legally impossible to sell any of the land they gave to the university. But Mister Terman discovered that nothing could prevent the university from permitting companies to use the land in exchange for payment. This idea led to the development of an area called Stanford Industrial Park in nineteen fifty-one.

Several leading companies moved their offices there, including the new Hewlett-Packard electronics⁹ company. The success of businesses like Hewlett-Packard influenced other companies to move into and near the Stanford Industrial Park.

In nineteen seventy-one, a reporter, Don Hoefler, first called the area Silicon Valley in a series of stories for the publication Electronic News. He used the term to describe the many electronics companies being built in Santa Clara County.

Young computer engineers with little money started companies in the area. Many of these grew into large and famous international businesses. These include Apple Computer, Microsoft, Intel and Google.

Today, Santa Clara County is working with the United States Department of the Interior¹⁰ to attract visitors. Santa Clara County uses the name Silicon Valley to describe its importance in the history and economy of the United States.

John Legend

Singer and songwriter John Legend is one of the most successful new artists in the United States. People around the world enjoy his music. Katherine Cole tells us more and plays some songs.

KATHERINE COLE:


John Legend's album "Get Lifted"

John Legend became a popular name in the music industry in two thousand four. The twenty-seven-year-old singer and songwriter released his first album that year. Get Lifted won many honors including three Grammy Awards. His hit song Ordinary People is from that album. The song shows Legend's musical skills as a piano player and singer.

(MUSIC)

John Legend recently released his second album. It is called Once Again. He says he listened to different kinds of music while working on the album. The songs are influenced by pop, rhythm and blues¹¹ and jazz. The love song Save Room shows some of those influences.

(MUSIC)

John Legend says he hopes to perform his music in Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa in the coming year. He says one of the things he likes best about music is that it brings people closer together. He says music makes the world a better place. We leave you with another song by John Legend. It is called Heaven.

(MUSIC)

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

This show was written by Brianna Blake, Lawan Davis and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver¹² was the producer. To read the text of this program and download audio, go to our Web site, www.unsv.com.

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 popularity   

n.普及，流行，名望，受欢迎

参考例句：

• The story had an extensive popularity among American readers.这本小说在美国读者中赢得广泛的声望。
• Our product enjoys popularity throughout the world.我们的产品饮誉全球。

3 memberships   

n.全体会员( membership的名词复数 )；会员身份，会员资格

参考例句：

• The memberships of this committee are stacked to give the majority party substantial control. 有人在这个委员会的组成上搞了鬼，以使多数党取得相当多的控制权。 来自辞典例句
• You can specify security group memberships for this user. 您可以为此用户指定安全组成员身份。 来自互联网

4 productivity   

n.生产力，生产率，多产

参考例句：

• Farmers are introducing in novations which increase the productivity.农民们正引进提高生产力的新方法。
• The workers try to put up productivity.工人设法提高生产率。

5 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

6 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

7 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。

8 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

9 electronics   

n.电子器件，电子学，电子技术

参考例句：

• About 45000 people worked in electronics in Scotland.苏格兰约有4.5万人在电子行业工作。
• He wants to brush up his knowledge of electronics.他想温习他的电子学知识。

10 interior   

adj.在内的，内部的，内地的，国内的；n.内部

参考例句：

• There is water in the interior of the cave.在山洞的内部有水。
• They went into the interior room.他们进了内室。

11 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

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。