VOA慢速英语 2007 0112b

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC¹, in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

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

We answer a question about sales ...

Play some music from a new movie ...

And report about a famous American whose life is celebrated² about this time every year.

Remembering Martin Luther King Jr.

Monday, January fifteenth, is Martin Luther King Junior Day in the United States. It celebrates the life and work of the great American civil rights leader. Faith Lapidus has more.

FAITH LAPIDUS:


Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Junior was born on January fifteenth, nineteen twenty-nine in the southern city of Atlanta, Georgia. His father was a minister of a Christian³ Baptist Church.

At that time, laws in the American south kept black people separate from white people. The laws forced African-Americans to attend separate schools and live in separate areas of cities. They did not have the same civil rights as white people.

Martin Luther King Junior attended Morehouse College in Atlanta. There he studied the ideas of India's spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi. He also studied American philosopher Henry David Thoreau. Both Gandhi and Thoreau wrote about ways to fight injustice⁴. They urged people to disobey unjust laws, but not to use violence.

Martin Luther King Junior wanted to spread these ideas about peaceful protest. He became a Baptist minister like his father.

He and his wife Coretta moved to Montgomery, Alabama. One day in nineteen fifty-five, a black woman got on a city bus in Montgomery. Rosa Parks sat in a seat saved for white people. She refused to move and was arrested.

Reverend King organized a peaceful protest against the city bus system. The protest succeeded. The United States Supreme⁵ Court later ruled that racial separation on the bus system was illegal. Martin Luther King Junior became well known. Groups formed to protest racial separation. He became the leader of the struggle.

Reverend King led many peaceful demonstrations⁶. These included the nineteen sixty-three March on Washington, D.C. He gave his famous I Have a Dream speech to two hundred thousand people. Reverend King received the Nobel Peace Prize in nineteen-sixty four. He was shot and killed four years later while visiting Memphis, Tennessee.

Each year, Americans celebrate Martin Luther King Junior's life and work on the Monday closest to his birthday. Schools and government offices are closed. Cities and towns hold special ceremonies to honor him.

Sales, Sales and More Sales

HOST:

Our listener question this week comes from China. George wants to know about an event called a sale in the United States.


A sale on ties

When a store sells goods or services at a cost lower than usual, it is called a sale. Sales last for a limited time. Then the cost is returned to its usual amount.

There are many kinds of sales. For example, a back-to-school sale is held near the beginning of the school year. Parents can save money on clothes and school supplies for their children.

A midnight madness event starts very late at night. An early bird special sale starts very early in the morning, usually before the sun rises. This kind of sale is popular the day after Thanksgiving in November.

A favorite sale among many people is the buy one, get one free sale. You buy one thing and get a second one without cost. When people see the word free in an advertisement they know they are getting a good deal.

Another kind of sale is a going out of business sale. This is when a storeowner tries to sell all the goods in the store before closing the business permanently⁷.

Let us say the store sells floor coverings. The owner lowers the prices and puts up a sign that says: Going out of business sale. All items MUST be sold by tomorrow.

People who buy the floor coverings think they are getting a special deal because everything must be sold in a short period of time. Then, days later they see the store did not close permanently. And they see the same sign that claims the store is going out of business. Some business owners really do not end the business. They just want to earn more money.

People also hold their own sales. They hold garage sales and yard sales outside their home. They sell things they no longer want. Groups such as religious centers or schools hold bake sales. They sell, cakes, cookies and other baked goods to raise money.

In America, you can always find a good sale, no matter the day or time of year. There is the Independence Day sale, Veteran's Day sale, clearance⁸ sale, sidewalk sale, red tag sale, white sale, blue light special, liquidation⁹ sale, half-off sale, warehouse¹⁰ sale, tent sale ...

''Dreamgirls''

A new movie musical called Dreamgirls was released late last month. Barbara Klein tells us about it and plays music from the movie.

BARBARA KLEIN:


''Dreamgirls'' stars, from left, Beyonce Knowles, Anika Noni Rose, Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Hudson

The movie Dreamgirls is a version of a hit Broadway musical play that opened in nineteen eighty-one. It tells the story of a group of three black female singers, called the Dreams, who became famous in the nineteen sixties. The story is based on the real group called the Supremes.

The movie stars the famous singer Beyonce Knowles as Deena. It also stars Jennifer Hudson as Effie. Hudson was a finalist on the television hit show American Idol¹¹ a few years ago but did not win that singing contest. Critics have praised Hudson's acting¹² and singing in the movie.

Dreamgirls takes place in Detroit, Michigan, in the early nineteen sixties. Deena, Effie and the third member of their group, Lorrell, perform in a local singing contest. They do not win the competition. But a car salesman named Curtis Taylor thinks they can become famous. Taylor becomes their manager and producer. He also starts a relationship with Effie who loves him.

The group gets its first big chance as backup singers for James Thunder Early, a soul singer played by Eddie Murphy. Here, he sings Fake¹³ Your Way to the Top.

(MUSIC)

Curtis Taylor wants to make the Dreams popular with white people as well as African-Americans. He replaces Effie with the more beautiful Deena as the lead singer. Effie is later forced out of the group. But she does not go quietly.

Here Jennifer Hudson performs the most famous song in the movie, And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going.

(MUSIC)

The Dreams become famous. Deena becomes the most famous of all. She decides to break away from Taylor's influence over her. At the end of the movie, Beyonce Knowles, as Deena, sings about her new freedom in this song, called Listen.

(MUSIC)

HOST:

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

It was written by Lawan Davis, Shelley Gollust and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver¹⁴ was theproducer. 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 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

3 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。

4 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

5 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

6 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

7 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

8 clearance   

n.净空；许可(证)；清算；清除，清理

参考例句：

• There was a clearance of only ten centimetres between the two walls.两堵墙之间只有十厘米的空隙。
• The ship sailed as soon as it got clearance. 那艘船一办好离港手续立刻启航了。

9 liquidation   

n.清算，停止营业

参考例句：

• The bankrupt company went into liquidation.这家破产公司停业清盘。
• He lost all he possessed when his company was put into liquidation.当公司被清算结业时他失去了拥有的一切。

10 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

11 idol   

n.偶像，红人，宠儿

参考例句：

• As an only child he was the idol of his parents.作为独子，他是父母的宠儿。
• Blind worship of this idol must be ended.对这个偶像的盲目崇拜应该结束了。

12 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

13 fake   

vt.伪造，造假，假装；n.假货，赝品

参考例句：

• He can tell a fake from the original.他能分辨出赝品和真品。
• You can easily fake up an excuse to avoid going out with him.你可以很容易地编造一个借口而不与他一同外出。

14 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。