VOA慢速英语 2008 1010b

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ in VOA Special English.

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I'm Doug Johnson. This week:

We tell about the growing importance of young voters in the presidential election next month ...

Listen to new music from Conor Oberst ...

And answer a question about the actor, race car driver and humanitarian² Paul Newman who died two weeks ago.

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Youth Vote

HOST:
　

A Rock the Vote worker helping3 to register a young voter

Political experts are predicting a record number of voters in the American presidential election next month between Senators⁵ Barack Obama and John McCain. Many believe this increase is partly because of the number of young people who will be voting. Both candidates have made big efforts to reach out to the more than forty million Americans between the ages of eighteen and thirty. Barbara Klein has more.

BARBARA KLEIN:

In the past, many young Americans did not think it was important to vote in elections. Experts say candidates and their political parties ignored young voters. But young people are becoming more politically active.

For example, in the election of two thousand four, twenty million young people voted. This was an increase of two million voters from the election of two thousand.

Political expert Larry Sabato predicts high numbers of young voters next month.

LARRY SABATO:"They are going to equal their percentage of the population and I think that is remarkable⁶. They had been well below their percentage of the population at least since that early period when young people got the vote in the early nineteen seventies."

Across the United States, students at colleges and universities are helping their classmates complete the documents necessary to vote. Jessica White is a twenty-one year old student at the University of Virginia who is helping students register to vote.

JESSICA WHITE: "I have seen a lot of enthusiasm in a lot of the first-years coming in for orientation⁷ sessions here at school, and they seem really excited."

Stephanie Young works for the organization Rock the Vote. She says this year's election is based on issues that are very important to young people. Miz Young says these include the economy, the war in Iraq and health care. She says young people are unhappy with the direction the country has been going. And she says many young people agree with Senator⁴ Barack Obama's call for change on these issues.

A recent study by the Harvard University Institute of Politics shows that fifty-five percent of young voters support Senator Obama. Thirty-two percent support Senator McCain. Mister Obama's campaign has been built around paying attention to these young voters.

Organizations like Rock the Vote and Declare Yourself are using technology to get young people interested in the political process and to help them register to vote. They use Web sites like Facebook and MySpace to connect with large numbers of young people. People from these organizations also travel to schools and colleges to meet with young people. The candidates also are using these Web sites to stay connected to the young voters who may decide the election on November fourth.

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Paul Newman

HOST:
　

Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor in 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'

This week's listener question comes from Iran. Mohamed Firouzi wants to know about the actor Paul Newman, who died last month.

Paul Newman was one of the most famous, well respected and good- looking actors in American movies. He often played rebellious⁸ characters who were very likeable and real. During his more than fifty-year career he made over sixty-five movies. Some of his most famous roles were in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", "Cool Hand Luke" and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." "The Hustler" came out in nineteen sixty-one. Paul Newman plays the role of Fast Eddie Felson who plays the game of pool against other players to gain money.

Eddie: "How should I play that one, Bert? Play it safe? That's the way you always told me to play it, safe, play the percentage. Well, here we go, fast and loose. One ball, corner pocket. Yeah, percentage players die broke too, don't they, Bert?"

Paul Leonard Newman was born in Cleveland, Ohio in nineteen twenty-five. During high school and college, he enjoyed acting⁹ in plays. After serving in World War Two, Newman continued acting in small professional theater companies. He also studied theater at Yale University in New Haven¹⁰, Connecticut. Paul Newman acted in television plays and on Broadway in New York City before finding work in the movies. His first movie, "The Silver Chalice¹¹" was not successful. But Paul Newman made up for a bad start with a series of great movies that have become favorites around the world.
　

Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward on their wedding day

Paul Newman met his second wife, Joanne Woodward, while he was acting in New York City. They married in nineteen fifty-eight and appeared in several movies together. Newman also directed several movies starring his wife, including "Rachel, Rachel" and "The Glass Menagerie."

During his career he received ten Academy Award nominations¹². He won for his performance in the nineteen eighty-six movie "The Color of Money." This movie continues the story of Fast Eddie Felson from "The Hustler."

Paul Newman was not only a great actor. He was also a skilled racecar driver. And he was a political activist¹³ who fought for liberal causes. But what Paul Newman would probably most like to be remembered for was his social activism. The "Newman's Own" food company has donated more than two hundred fifty thousand dollars in profits to humanitarian causes. He helped create the Hole in the Wall Gang Camps in the United States and several other countries. This organization provides free summer camp experiences for children with serious sicknesses like cancer.

Paul Newman died on September twenty-sixth of cancer. He was eighty-three. He was a star both in the movies and in real life.

You can learn more about Paul Newman on the Special English program People in America on Sunday.

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Conor Oberst

HOST:
　

Conor Oberst

Conor Oberst has been making music since he was thirteen years old. The twenty-eight year old musician from Omaha, Nebraska is best known for his band, Bright Eyes. Conor Oberst released his latest album under his own name. His aim was to create simplified songs with only a few musicians. These songs tell about love, death and traveling. Bob Doughty¹⁴ has more.

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BOB DOUGHTY:

That was the song "Moab" from the album "Conor Oberst." It expresses the ways in which travel can be healing. Oberst and his Mystic Valley band would know. They recorded this album in Mexico. Oberst said he did not feel like being in a studio while making this new album. He wanted to be somewhere warm, beautiful and far away.

Here is the song " I Don't Want to Die (in the Hospital)." It may sound like a sad song. But Oberst says it is a "jailbreak song." Oberst's seventy-five year old friend told him that he was not afraid of dying, but did not want to die in the restricted space of a hospital. The friend wanted to be outside under the stars instead. He told Oberst to help him escape if he ever became stuck in a hospital.

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Critics have praised Conor Oberst as a musician and songwriter. He is often compared to the great musician Bob Dylan. And, Rolling Stone magazine named Oberst one of the best songwriters of this year. This fall Oberst and his band will travel in Australia and the United States performing their music. We leave you with the poetic¹⁶ song "Cape¹⁵ Canaveral."

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HOST:

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

It was written and produced by Dana Demange. To read and listen to our programs online, go to voaspecialenglish.com.

Send your questions about American life to [email protected]. 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 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 senator   

n.参议员，评议员

参考例句：

• The senator urged against the adoption of the measure.那参议员极力反对采取这项措施。
• The senator's speech hit at government spending.参议员的讲话批评了政府的开支。

5 senators   

n.参议员( senator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• When the senators vote, the ayes will have it. 参议员投票时，投赞成票的人将占多数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The committee concluded that the senators had engaged in improper conduct. 委员会断定议员们从事了不正当活动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

7 orientation   

n.方向，目标；熟悉，适应，情况介绍

参考例句：

• Children need some orientation when they go to school.小孩子上学时需要适应。
• The traveller found his orientation with the aid of a good map.旅行者借助一幅好地图得知自己的方向。

8 rebellious   

adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的

参考例句：

• They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
• Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。

9 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。

10 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

11 chalice   

n.圣餐杯；金杯毒酒

参考例句：

• He inherited a poisoned chalice when he took over the job as union leader.他接手工会领导职务，看似风光，实则会给他带来很多麻烦。
• She was essentially feminine,in other words,a parasite and a chalice.她在本质上是个女人，换句话说，是一个食客和一只酒杯。

12 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

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 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。

15 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

16 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。