VOA慢速英语20060630b

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - A Life in Words and Poetry: Poet Laureate Poet Donald HallBy Lawan Davis, Erin Schiavone and Jerilyn Watson

Broadcast: Thu, 29 Jun 2006 16:00:00 UTC

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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 Da Vinci Code...

Play some music from Anthony Hamilton...

And report about America's new poet laureate.

New Poet Laureate

HOST:

Donald Hall has been named the new poet laureate of the United States. Faith Lapidus tells us about him.

FAITH LAPIDUS:


Poet Laureate Donald Hall

The poet laureate is responsible for increasing interest among Americans in reading and writing poetry. The poet laureate serves for at least one year. Donald Hall is the fourteenth poet laureate of the United States. He is seventy-seven years old. Mister Hall lives in the northeastern state of New Hampshire. He lives in a two hundred year old farmhouse³ that his grandparents owned for many years.

Donald Hall has written fifteen books of poetry. He has also written other books, short stories, plays and children's books. He has been honored with many awards. A documentary film was made about Mister Hall and his wife, the poet Jane Kenyon. The film was called A Life Together. Here is Shep O'Neal reading part of Mister Hall's poem An Old Life.

SHEP O'NEAL:

Snow fell in the night.

At five-fifteen I woke to a bluish

mounded softness where

the Honda was. Cat fed and coffee made,

I broomed snow off the car

and drove to the Kearsarge Mini-Mart

before Amy opened

to yank my Globe out of the bundle.

Back, I set my cup of coffee

beside Jane, still half-asleep,

murmuring stuporous⁴

thanks in the aquamarine morning.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Mister Hall has written many poems about nature and about his wife. Jane Kenyon died of leukemia, a cancer of the blood, in nineteen ninety-five. She was forty-seven.

Mister Hall has written many different kinds of poems. Here is part of his poem Baseball:

SHEP O'NEAL:

Well, there are nine players on a baseball team, so to speak, and

there are nine innings, with trivial

exceptions like extra-inning games

and games shortened by rain or darkness,

by riot, hurricane, earthquake...

FAITH LAPIDUS:

As the new poet laureate, Donald Hall has many goals. He hopes to have more radio broadcasts of poetry on public radio stations. He would also like to see more television programs about poetry. The last poet laureate, Ted² Kooser, writes a weekly column about poetry that is printed in newspapers around the country. Mister Hall says he would also like to write a newspaper column about poetry. And he says he wants to work to protect Americans' freedom of speech.

The Da Vinci Code

HOST:

Our listener question today comes from Vietnam. Mai Lien⁵ wants to know if the story in the movie The Da Vinci Code is true.


Da Vinci Code director Ron Howard (right), and actors Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou.

Ron Howard directed the film, The Da Vinci Code. It is based on a book of the same name by Dan Brown. Both men say the story is fiction, a work of imagination. But some of the history, places and events in the story are real. So it is not hard to see why people are arguing about the truth, or lack of it, in The Da Vinci Code.

People have bought more than sixty million copies of the book in three years. The movie is also very popular. In its first weekend alone, the movie earned more than two hundred twenty million dollars around the world.

The story tells about a dangerous search for the Holy Grail. The Grail usually has been thought of as a cup, a container used during the last meal of Jesus and his followers⁶. The Grail also is said to have held the blood of Jesus as he died on the cross.

But The Da Vinci Code is based on the idea that one of Jesus' followers, Mary Magdalene, was also his wife. The story says she and Jesus had a baby daughter. The film says Mary Magdalene herself is the Holy Grail. The story says Mary and her daughter fled to France after Jesus was killed. It says their descendants are alive today.

Critics say this idea attacks the central beliefs of the Christian⁷ religion. They say it unfairly charges that the Roman Catholic Church has been suppressing the truth. Some Catholic officials have called on Catholics to boycott⁸ the movie.

Most experts on the Bible, the Christian holy book, say there is no evidence that Jesus was ever married. Others say no evidence exists that he was not married.

In the film, actors struggle to discover the secret of the Grail. Tautou's character's grandfather knew the secret. But he is found dead in the Louvre museum in Paris, France. This is the home of the famous Mona Lisa painting by Leonardo Da Vinci. The story says that Da Vinci's artworks contain clues about where the body of Mary Magdalene is buried. But a number of real-life art experts dispute the idea.

Anthony Hamilton

HOST:

Singer Anthony Hamilton is one of today's most popular performers of rhythm and blues⁹ music. But there was a time when it seemed he would not become a widely known singer. Mario Ritter tells us about him.

MARIO RITTER:


Anthony Hamilton

In two thousand three, Anthony Hamilton gained praise from music critics with his album Comin' From Where I'm From. The album sold more than one million copies. Before the success of that album, Hamilton had recorded songs with two other record companies. But in both cases the companies failed before his albums were released.

Anthony Hamilton recently released another album. It is called Ain't Nobody Worryin'. Here he sings the title song from the album.

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Anthony Hamilton has been compared to some of the best soul singers including Al Green and Bill Withers¹⁰. Hamilton's voice is natural and easy. His writes and sings songs that are filled with emotion. That combination works well in the love song Can't Let Go.

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Hamilton says he writes songs about real life issues including his personal experiences. We leave you with the song Pass Me Over from Anthony Hamilton's album Ain't Nobody Worryin'.

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HOST:

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

This show was written by Lawan Davis, Erin Schiavone and Jerilyn Watson. Caty Weaver¹¹ was our 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 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

3 farmhouse   

n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房）

参考例句：

• We fell for the farmhouse as soon as we saw it.我们对那所农舍一见倾心。
• We put up for the night at a farmhouse.我们在一间农舍投宿了一夜。

4 stuporous   

adj.昏迷的，不省人事的，麻木的

参考例句：

• The patient gradually became stuporous. 病人渐渐昏迷了。 来自辞典例句

5 lien   

n.扣押权，留置权

参考例句：

• A lien is a type of security over property.留置是一种财产担保。
• The court granted me a lien on my debtor's property.法庭授予我对我债务人财产的留置权。

6 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

7 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

8 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

9 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。

10 withers   

马肩隆

参考例句：

• The girl's pitiful history would wring one's withers. 这女孩子的经历令人心碎。
• "I will be there to show you," and so Mr. Withers withdrew. “我会等在那里，领你去看房间的，"威瑟斯先生这样说着，退了出去。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

11 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。