VOA慢速英语20060203b

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - Steelers, History on Their Side, Face First-Timer Seahawks in Super BowlBy Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Friday, February 03, 2006

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HOST: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English. I'm Doug Johnson. On our show this week:

We hear some music by Wilson Pickett 鈥?nswer a question about a hero of the American Revolution 鈥?nd report about the American professional football championship game.

The Super Bowl

Sunday, February fifth, is not a holiday in the United States, but it may seem like one to millions of Americans. They will be attending parties to watch the championship game of American professional football on television. Thousands of others will attend the Super Bowl game in Detroit, Michigan. Faith Lapidus has more.

FAITH LAPIDUS: The Super Bowl is played every year between the champion teams of the two conferences of the National Football League. On Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers will play the Seattle Seahawks.


Steelers face off against Seahawks in championship game

The Seahawks are playing in the Super Bowl for the first time in the team's thirty-year history. American sports experts say the game should be a good one. Still, they expect Pittsburgh to win by a little more than three points. The Steelers have a historic² link to the Super Bowl. They have won it four times. But that was in the nineteen seventies.

The Steelers say they had another important reason for getting to the Super Bowl this year. One of the oldest Steelers players is Jerome Bettis, whose hometown is Detroit, Michigan. All year long, Bettis has been telling his teammates to help get him home to Detroit for the Super Bowl. Bettis is expected to retire from professional football after this year. So it was even more important to him to play in the Super Bowl in his hometown.

Detroit has been preparing for the expected one hundred thousand people who will arrive for the game. The city has spent a great deal of money improving the central business area. Visitors will also attend some of the one hundred twenty other events in the city linked to the championship football game.

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick told the New York Times newspaper that having the Super Bowl in his city will help the local economy greatly. He says the Super Bowl could bring as much as three hundred million dollars to the city. This includes spending on hotel rooms, food, transportation and other activities in the city.

Haym Salomon

HOST: Our VOA listener question this week comes from Nigeria. John Achugonye asks about someone in American history named Haym [HA-yim] Salomon. Haym Salomon was a Jewish immigrant to the United States. He played an important part in raising money for the American war of Independence against Britain.


Haym Salomon

Haym Salomon was born in Poland in seventeen forty. He settled in New York City in seventeen seventy-two. He became successful as a financial dealer³ in securities. He also became active in the cause for American independence as a member of a group called The Sons of Liberty. When the Revolutionary War began in seventeen seventy-six, he was arrested and jailed by the British as a spy.

British officials discovered that he could speak several languages so they used him to speak to their German troops. Instead, he urged the Germans to leave the British military service. He was arrested again two years later, but escaped to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Haym Salomon again established himself as a dealer in financial securities. He was also active in Jewish life in Philadelphia. He was a founding member of the city's first Jewish religious center. He also helped lead efforts to change laws that barred non-Christians from holding public office in Pennsylvania.

Haym Salomon continued to work for American independence from Britain. The French Minister appointed him paymaster for the French forces fighting with the Americans. The Dutch and Spanish governments also used him to sell securities that supported their loans to the American Continental⁴ Congress.

Later, he worked to help pay American government expenses during the war. He also personally loaned money to members of the Continental Congress and other federal officials.

Haym Salomon died in seventeen eighty-five. He had no money, possibly because he provided so much support to the early American government. Later, Congress refused to recognize claims made by his family that it re-pay money it owed him.

In nineteen thirty-six, Congress voted to build a memorial to him in the District of Columbia, but never released the money to do so. In the nineteen seventies, the United States Postal⁵ Service issued a stamp in his honor. The stamp called Haym Salomon a Financial Hero of the American Revolution.

Wilson Pickett

American soul singer Wilson Pickett died last month of a heart attack. He was sixty-four years old. Steve Ember looks back at his life and his music.


Wilson Pickett in 2001

STEVE EMBER: Wilson Pickett learned to sing in church as a boy in the southern state of Alabama. He moved to Detroit, Michigan with his family when he was fourteen. He soon joined local singing groups.

Pickett started recording⁶ on his own in the early nineteen sixties. His first hit song was one he wrote with guitar player Steve Cropper. It was In The Midnight Hour.

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Wilson Pickett recorded nine albums in the next five years. His hit songs included Funky⁷ Broadway and 634-5789.

Years later, in nineteen ninety-one, several of his songs became popular again. They were performed by an Irish soul band in the movie The Commitments. Here is Wilson Pickett singing one of those hits, Mustang Sally.

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Wilson Pickett was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in nineteen ninety-one. He continued performing until poor health forced him to stop two years ago. We leave you now with his song, Land of a Thousand Dances.

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HOST:

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

Our show was written by Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver⁸ was our producer.

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 historic   

adj.历史上著名的，具有历史意义的

参考例句：

• This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
• We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。

3 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

4 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

5 postal   

adj.邮政的，邮局的

参考例句：

• A postal network now covers the whole country.邮路遍及全国。
• Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。

6 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。

7 funky   

adj.畏缩的，怯懦的，霉臭的；adj.新式的，时髦的

参考例句：

• The kitchen smelled really funky.这个厨房有一股霉味。
• It is a funky restaurant with very interesting art on the walls.那是一家墙上挂着很有意思的绘画的新潮餐馆。

8 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。