VOA慢速英语 2007 1214b

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

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

We listen to some music from Melissa Etheridge ‿/P>

Answer a question about the White House ‿/P>

And tell about the results of a recent high school science competition.

Siemens Competition

HOST:

Last week, the Siemens Foundation announced the winners of the Mathematics, Science and Technology Competition for high school students. The foundation created the competition nine years ago to improve student performance in math and science in the United States.  It is open to any student who is a citizen or legal resident. Barbara Klein has more.

BARBARA KLEIN: 
Isha Jain

This year was a first in the history of the Siemens Competition.  It was the first time females won the top prizes in both the individual and team competitions.

The individual winner was Isha Jain of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. She received one hundred thousand dollars toward her college education for her research into bone growth.  The Siemens judges said she is the first to discover that bone growth takes place in many different short periods of time. They said her work was equal to that of a graduate student in college.

 
Janelle Schlossberger and Amanda Marinoff

The top team winners were Janelle Schlossberger and Amanda Marinoff of Plainview, New York. They are sharing one hundred thousand dollars for their college educations.  They did research on the disease tuberculosis². They created a molecule³ that helps block drug-resistant tuberculosis bacteria from reproducing⁴.  The contest judges said the students created new compounds to kill tuberculosis by targeting a protein that could lead to a new treatment for drug-resistant TB.

The Siemens Foundation joined with the College Board and six universities to start the competition.  The Siemens Foundation president says the number of girls entering the contest has increased each year.  This year, more than one thousand six hundred students took part. Forty-eight percent were female. 

Experts from the universities judge competitions in six areas of the country.  The individual and team winners from those contests then compete nationally.  They demonstrate their projects to a group of university professors and scientists.  This year, the judges were led by Joseph Taylor, a winner of the Nobel Prize in physics. 

As part of their prize, the winning students will ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange in February.

The White House

HOST: 
The White House

Our listener question this week comes from Burma. Tharr Naing wants to know about the White House, the home of the President of the United States and his family. This famous building is at sixteen hundred Pennsylvania Avenue, in the center of Washington, D.C.

The first American President, George Washington, worked with the city planner Pierre L’Enfant to choose the land for the new presidential home. A competition was held to find a building designer. Nine plans were considered, and the architect James Hoban won.

Construction began in seventeen ninety-two. The first president to live there was John Adams. He and his wife Abigail moved into the White House in eighteen hundred.

During the war of eighteen twelve, British troops burned most of the inside of the White House. James Hoban helped rebuild it. Over the years, each president has made changes or additions to the building. For example, the north portico⁵ area of the building was added under President Andrew Jackson. Presidents also changed the furniture inside to show current styles.

The White House walls are made of stone that is painted white. But the famous building has had other names over time, including the President’s House and the Executive⁶ Mansion⁷.  In the early nineteen hundreds, President Theodore Roosevelt made the White House the official name.

In the nineteen thirties, President Franklin Roosevelt decided⁸ to rebuild and expand part of the building that became known as the West Wing. Some of the public rooms in the White House are named after a color. There is the Blue Room, the Green Room and the Red Room.

In December, the White House becomes filled with holiday decorations, based on a theme.  The subject of the Christmas tree decorations this year is National Parks. First lady Laura Bush thought of the idea because she hikes in the parks throughout the year. She says that the White House sent a Christmas tree decoration to each of America’s more than three hundred national parks. Different artists painted each ornament⁹ in a way to celebrate that national park.  To see pictures of these holiday decorations, you can visit www dot white house dot gov.

Melissa Etheridge

HOST:

 
Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Etheridge has been making rock music for twenty years. This award-winning performer recently released her ninth album called “The Awakening¹⁰.‿nbsp; It is Etheridge's first record since she discovered she had cancer in two thousand four. The songs express the story of her life and her spiritual sense of awakening after overcoming her sickness. Katherine Cole has more.

(MUSIC)

KATHERINE COLE:

That was “California,‿one of the first songs on the album. It tells how Melissa Etheridge left her home and family in the state of Kansas to follow her dreams of fame in California. Etheridge has said that she hopes listeners will take time out of their busy days to listen to her album from beginning to end. She says the songs tell a universal story about her political and spiritual beliefs and discoveries. The main influence for the album was her cancer. Melissa Etheridge believes the cancer gave her a new power and fearlessness.

Here is the song “I’ve Loved You Before.‿Etheridge imagines how she and the person she loves have searched for and found each other in past lives.

(MUSIC)

Melissa Etheridge is also known for her interest in social activism. She strongly supports the environmental “green‿movement. She wrote the song “I Want to Wake Up‿for former Vice¹¹ President Al Gore’s movie on climate change called “An Inconvenient¹² Truth.‿nbsp; She also supports rights for people in same-sex relationships.

And, in several songs on “The Awakening‿ Etheridge expresses her political beliefs. We leave you with “Imagine That.‿nbsp; In it, Melissa Etheridge criticizes the United States government’s policy over the war in Iraq. She praises the activist¹³ Cindy Sheehan whose son was killed in the war.

(MUSIC)

HOST:

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

It was written by Dana Demange and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver¹⁴ was our producer. To read the text of this program and download audio, go to our Web site, voaspecialenglish.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 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

3 molecule   

n.分子，克分子

参考例句：

• A molecule of water is made up of two atoms of hygrogen and one atom of oxygen.一个水分子是由P妈̬f婘̬ 妈̬成的。
• This gives us the structural formula of the molecule.这种方式给出了分子的结构式。

4 reproducing   

复制( reproduce的现在分词 )； 重现； 再版； 生殖

参考例句：

• Mind has become self-reproducing through man's capacity to transmit experience and its products cumulatively. 通过传递生活经验和积累创造的产品，人类的智慧在不断地进行着自我丰富。
• Spores form a lipid membrane during the process of reproducing. 孢于在生殖过程中形成类脂膜。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 预防生物武器

5 portico   

n.柱廊，门廊

参考例句：

• A large portico provides a suitably impressive entrance to the chapel.小教堂入口处宽敞的柱廊相当壮观。
• The gateway and its portico had openings all around.门洞两旁与廊子的周围都有窗棂。

6 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

7 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。

8 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。

9 ornament   

v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物

参考例句：

• The flowers were put on the table for ornament.花放在桌子上做装饰用。
• She wears a crystal ornament on her chest.她的前胸戴了一个水晶饰品。

10 awakening   

n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的

参考例句：

• the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
• People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。

11 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

12 inconvenient   

adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的

参考例句：

• You have come at a very inconvenient time.你来得最不适时。
• Will it be inconvenient for him to attend that meeting?他参加那次会议会不方便吗？

13 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

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。