VOA慢速英语 2008 1003b

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson. This week…

We listen to guitarist Buddy² Guy singing the blues³ …

Answer a question about great American tennis players …

And, tell about twenty-five creative people who won large amounts of money from the MacArthur Foundation.(MUSIC)

MacArthur Fellowships

HOST:

Imagine receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars as recognition⁵ for showing creative ability in your job. Last week, twenty-five artists, scientists, writers and other experts received a very special telephone call from the MacArthur Foundation. They learned they had won a MacArthur fellowship⁴ worth five hundred thousand dollars. Bob Doughty⁶ tells us more.

BOB DOUGHTY:

Since nineteen eighty-one, the MacArthur Foundation, based in Chicago, Illinois, has been awarding experts for excellence⁷ in their work. The foundation looks at creative ability, a record of past success and a clear promise for continued work in the future. Winners must live in, or be from, the United States.
　

Wafaa El-Sadr, one of this year's MacArthur fellows

This year's MacArthur fellows include several medical doctors. Wafaa El-Sadr is an infectious⁸ disease specialist at Columbia University in New York City. She has done important work to prevent the spread of H.I.V./AIDS and tuberculosis⁹ by examining the social and economic realities of patients.

Regina Benjamin is a doctor who treats patients in rural areas of the southern state of Alabama. She started a health center to help people living in this poor area.

Other award-winning scientists study the earth and skies. Adam Riess is an astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. He has made important discoveries about the physics of the universe. David Montgomery is a geomorphologist in Seattle, Washington. He studies the ways in which the surface of the Earth is changing over time. His work combines science, history, and environmental studies.

Many other MacArthur fellows work in the arts. Miguel Zenon plays the saxophone. He inventively combines the sounds of jazz with Latin influences from his native Puerto Rico. Mary Jackson is a fiber¹⁰ artist in South Carolina. She makes fine containers out of sweetgrass and other natural materials. She has also created an organization to protect this ancient artistic¹¹ tradition. Chimamanda Adichie writes expressive¹² stories about her native Nigeria.

With this reward money, these creative thinkers will have the financial freedom to follow their goals and explore new interests.

American Tennis Players

HOST:

Our listener question this week comes from Russia. Kate Tikhonova wants to know more about some great American players in the sport of tennis.

John McEnroe was one of the most successful American tennis players. He now broadcasts major tennis competitions. McEnroe was born in Germany while his father was serving in the United States Air Force. At eighteen years old, John was the youngest man to play in the important Wimbledon competition in England. But he lost to another great American tennis player, Jimmy Connors.

Both McEnroe and Connors played tennis in the nineteen seventies and eighties. Both became famous for their intense and aggressive playing and the strong emotions they showed on the tennis court. Jimmy Connors has recently been coaching another great American tennis player named Andy Roddick.
　

Pete Sampras

We often hear the name of Pete Sampras in tennis today. That is because Roger Federer of Switzerland is trying to break Sampras' record of fourteen major, Grand Slam tournament victories. Pete Sampras was the top tennis player in the world for six years in a row between nineteen ninety-three and nineteen ninety-eight.

One year later, Andre Agassi became the best tennis player in the world. In two thousand one, he married the great German tennis player Steffi Graf. His Agassi Charitable Foundation has raised more than sixty million dollars for poor children in the state of Nevada where he lives.

Lindsay Davenport is one of the great female tennis players. She won the Olympic Gold medal in tennis in nineteen ninety-six. When she became pregnant¹³ in two thousand six, she said she would not play tennis anymore. But she is now playing professional tennis again and her young son often travels with her.

The Williams sisters may be the most famous American women tennis players. Venus and her younger sister Serena grew up playing tennis in California. Their father was their coach. They are powerful, athletic¹⁴ players. Serena Williams recently won the United States Open after beating her sister in a semi-final match. The African American sisters also became famous for their tennis clothes. Both women studied clothing design. Serena Williams has her own designer clothing called Aneres.

Buddy Guy

HOST:
　

Buddy Guy

Blues guitarist and singer Buddy Guy has been making music for over fifty years. The seventy-two-year-old performer has been a major influence on rock musicians including Jimmy Hendrix, Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones. Buddy Guy's latest album is called "Skin Deep." Critics say it is a good example of his fierce and electrifying¹⁵ guitar skills. Barbara Klein has more.

(MUSIC)

BARBARA KLEIN:

That was the song "Out in the Woods" which Buddy Guy performs with the guitarist Robert Randolph. The story it tells could be Buddy Guy's own.

He grew up on a farm in the southern state of Louisiana. When Buddy was seven years old he made a guitar from two strings¹⁶, wood and his mother's hairpins¹⁷. In nineteen fifty-seven, Buddy Guy boarded a train going to Chicago, Illinois. There, he began to work with some of the most important blues artists in the country. He soon found work playing the guitar with the great blues musician Muddy Waters. Later, he began making his own music.

Here is "Every Time I Sing the Blues," performed by Buddy Guy and Eric Clapton.

(MUSIC)

Buddy Guy performs with several younger musicians on his album, "Skin Deep." He says he tries to get the best players to be on his records so that he can see what they can do and learn from them. He says that "my eyes and ears are wide open" because "you never know what's gonna happen."

Buddy Guy has won many awards during his long career. These include five Grammy awards and the National Medal of Arts. He is also a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We leave you with "I Found Happiness." This song is sure to bring happiness to listeners as well.

(MUSIC)

HOST:

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

It was written by Karen Leggett and Dana Demange, who also was the producer. To read and listen to our programs online, go to voaspecialenglish.com.

Send your questions about American life to [email protected]. Please include your full name and where you are from. 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 buddy   

n.（美口）密友，伙伴

参考例句：

• Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气，老兄。有什么麻烦吗？
• Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了，你这家伙！

3 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。

4 fellowship   

n.伙伴关系，团体，奖学金，研究员职位

参考例句：

• You'll lose your fellowship if you do that.你如果做那件事就会丧失研究员职位。
• It looks that they'll be admitted to the fellowship.看来他们要被吸收入会了。

5 recognition   

n.承认，认可，认出，认识

参考例句：

• The place has changed beyond recognition.这地方变得认不出来了。
• A sudden smile of recognition flashed across his face.他脸上掠过一丝笑意，表示认识对方。

6 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

7 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。

8 infectious   

adj.传染的，有传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。
• What an infectious laugh she has!她的笑声多么具有感染力啊！

9 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。

10 fiber   

n.纤维，纤维质

参考例句：

• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。
• The material must be free of fiber clumps.这种材料必须无纤维块。

11 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

12 expressive   

adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的

参考例句：

• Black English can be more expressive than standard English.黑人所使用的英语可能比正式英语更有表现力。
• He had a mobile,expressive,animated face.他有一张多变的，富于表情的，生动活泼的脸。

13 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。

14 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

15 electrifying   

v.使电气化( electrify的现在分词 )；使兴奋

参考例句：

• The dancers gave an electrifying performance. 舞蹈演员们的表演激动人心。
• The national orchestra gave an electrifying performance of classic music. 国家交响乐团举行了一次古典音乐的震撼性演出。 来自辞典例句

16 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

17 hairpins   

n.发夹( hairpin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The price of these hairpins are about the same. 这些发夹的价格大致相同。 来自互联网
• So the king gives a hundred hairpins to each of them. 所以国王送给她们每人一百个漂亮的发夹。 来自互联网