VOA慢速英语20060602b

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - A Traditional Life: The Amish of Pennsylvania Dutch CountryBy Jeri Watson, Nancy Steinbach and Caty Weaver²

Broadcast: Friday, June 02, 2006

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HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

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

We answer a question about the Amish people...

Play some new music by the group Pearl³ Jam...

And report about how modern medicine saved a horse's life.

Prosthetic Pony⁴

HOST:

Last month, an American horse called Barbaro broke his leg during a race in Baltimore, Maryland. Animal doctors operated to save his life. Recently, we heard about another horse whose life was saved by modern medicine. Faith Lapidus has the story of a fifteen-year-old pony named Molly.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Animal rescuers first saw the pony walking in a grassy⁵ field in Louisiana last year following the huge ocean storm called Hurricane Katrina. They called Kaye Harris, a woman who owns a pony farm near New Orleans. Molly's owners gave Miz Harris permission to take the pony to her farm where she cares for many homeless animals.

Molly did well there until a dog on the farm attacked her. The dog also had been rescued after the storm. It had never been aggressive. But Miz Harris saw the dog fiercely biting the pony.

Miz Harris separated the animals. Then she called a doctor who cares for animals. Allison Barca treated Molly for wounds to her jaw⁶, stomach and all four legs. Miz Harris gave Molly special care for months. But the pony's right front leg became infected. It seemed like the only answer was to destroy the pony.


Kaye Harris and animal surgeon Rustin Moore with Molly

Instead, Miz Harris and Doctor Barca took Molly to animal experts at Louisiana State University. They hoped she could receive a man-made leg called a prosthesis. Animal surgeon Rustin Moore finally decided⁷ that Molly might be able to wear one.

Dwayne Mara makes prostheses for a company called Bayou Orthotic and Prosthetic Center. He makes prostheses for people and had never made one for a horse. But he did not let that stop him.

After much planning, Doctor Moore and his expert team removed the affected⁸ leg at the knee. They gave Molly a temporary device to walk on. Five weeks later, she received the leg that Mister Mara had made for her. Soon she was standing⁹ and walking.

Now, Molly visits the prosthetic center often. Children who use the center's services welcome her. She has become an unofficial ambassador¹⁰ to children with disabilities. And, a fund has been established in Molly's name at Louisiana State University to help other animals like her.

The Amish People

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week is about the Amish people. It comes from Jing Ren, who was born in China but now lives in the United States.


Amish in Pennsylvania

Amish people came to the United States from Germany and Switzerland in the seventeen and eighteen hundreds. They were expelled¹¹ from their home countries or chose to leave because of religious oppression. Most settled in the eastern state of Pennsylvania. Other Amish people live in twenty-two American states and in Ontario, Canada.

Pennsylvania's Lancaster County is known as Pennsylvania Dutch Country. About sixteen to eighteen thousand Old Order Amish live there. Dutch is a name for people from the Netherlands, yet many of the Amish came from Germany. Old stories say they were called Dutch because English colonists¹² could not say the correct word, Deutsch. But language experts now say that people in England often used the term Dutch to mean German.

Amish families live as their ancestors did many years ago. They live in farmhouses¹³ heated with wood stoves. They get their water from wells. They do not drive cars. Instead, they travel in buggies pulled by horses. They do not have electricity or telephones. They do not want connections to the outside world.

Most Amish people are easy to recognize. The women wear long, dark-colored dresses. They cover their hair with white cloth hats. The men wear black clothing and dark hats. They grow long beards.

Most Amish families have seven or eight children who leave home only when they marry. Everyone in an Amish family works in the fields. The Amish are good farmers. They also keep farm animals. Each family takes care of its own farm of about twenty hectares. They plant and harvest crops without modern technology.

The Amish do not depend on people outside their own community. Every Amish man can build a house, make furniture and raise crops and animals. Every Amish woman can preserve food, make clothing and bed covers called quilts. Quilt-makers all over the world recognize the beauty of Amish quilts.

The Amish community works together to do big jobs like build houses for their people. They also gather for religious services. The Amish permit few differences among their own people. They continue to live separate from the people in the world around them.

Pearl Jam's New Album

HOST:

The band Pearl Jam has released its eighth album. The group's sound has remained true to its roots in grunge music out of Seattle, Washington. Barbara Klein plays some songs from the new album.

BARBARA KLEIN:

The album called Pearl Jam was at number two on American record sales lists in the
Eddie Vedder

second week after its release. It is the group's first recording¹⁴ in four years. The band's music remains¹⁵ alternative and political. Here lead singer Eddie Vedder and his bandmates protest war in the song Worldwide Suicide¹⁶.

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The album took a year and a half to complete. Guitarist Mike McCready says the band members were only concerned about making a great record in their own time. Vedder says he wrote as many as thirteen early versions of several songs on the album.

Critics have noted¹⁷ the influence of the Beatles in one of the songs. Here is Parachutes.

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Pearl Jam ended its fifteen-year relationship with Epic¹⁸ Records. The band has a long history of difficulty with the business side of making music. Pearl Jam recorded this album with J Records, as a one-album deal with the company. Its owner, music industry leader Clive Davis, is likely to want to continue making albums with Pearl Jam, considering the success of this one.

We leave you now with Pearl Jam performing the song Comatose¹⁹.

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HOST:

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

Our show was written by Nancy Steinbach, Jerilyn Watson and Caty Weaver who was also 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 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。

3 pearl   

n.珍珠，珍珠母

参考例句：

• He bought his girlfriend a pearl necklace.他给他女朋友买了一条珍珠项链。
• The crane and the mother-of-pearl fight to death.鹬蚌相争。

4 pony   

adj.小型的；n.小马

参考例句：

• His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
• They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。

5 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

6 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

7 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。

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

9 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

10 ambassador   

n.大使，特使，（派驻国际组织的）代表

参考例句：

• He took up office as an ambassador for ten years continuously.他连任十年大使。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

11 expelled   

驱逐( expel的过去式和过去分词 )； 赶走； 把…除名； 排出

参考例句：

• She was expelled from school at 15. 她15岁时被学校开除了。
• After the outbreak of fighting,all foreign journalists were expelled. 战斗开始后，所有的外国记者都被驱逐出境。

12 colonists   

n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Colonists from Europe populated many parts of the Americas. 欧洲的殖民者移居到了美洲的许多地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some of the early colonists were cruel to the native population. 有些早期移居殖民地的人对当地居民很残忍。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 farmhouses   

n.农舍，农场的主要住房( farmhouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Then perhaps she is staying at one of cottages or farmhouses? 那么也许她现在住在某个农舍或哪个农场的房子里吧？ 来自辞典例句
• The countryside was sprinkled with farmhouses. 乡间到处可见农家的房舍。 来自辞典例句

14 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。

15 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

16 suicide   

n.自杀，自毁，自杀性行为

参考例句：

• The number of suicide has increased.自杀案件的数量增加了。
• The death was adjudged a suicide by sleeping pills.该死亡事件被判定为服用安眠药自杀。

17 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

18 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

19 comatose   

adj.昏睡的，昏迷不醒的

参考例句：

• Those in extreme fear can be put into a comatose type state.那些极端恐惧的人可能会被安放进一种昏迷状态。
• The doctors revived the comatose man.这个医生使这个昏睡的苏醒了。