VOA慢速英语-AMERICAN MOSAIC - A 'Volunteer Vacation' at a Habita

A question from Vietnam about Flag Day. And the electronic soul sound of the group Gnarls Barkley. Transcript¹ of radio broadcast:
12 June 2008

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC² in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I’m Doug Johnson.

Today we play music by Gnarls Barkley …

Answer a question about Flag Day …

And report on a “volunteer vacation” at a Habitat for Humanity³ home building project.

(MUSIC)

Habitat for Humanity

HOST:

Volunteers from across the United States and other countries went to the Gulf⁴ Coast last month to rebuild communities destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in two thousand five. One VOA employee was among them. Barbara Klein has more.

BARBARA KLEIN:

Habitat for Humanity is an international nonprofit group that invites people to build houses together with families in need. It has built more than two hundred fifty thousand houses around the world since it began in nineteen seventy-six.
　

Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter with Kim Edwards, center

This year, Habitat for Humanity organized a special five-day project. It observed twenty-five years of leadership in the organization by former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalyn Carter. Two thousand five hundred volunteers took part in building projects in six cities in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. The Carters helped build a new house and visited the project work sites.

One of the volunteers was Erin Brummett, the moderator and executive⁵ producer of VOA's T2A Web chat. She decided⁶ to spend a week of her vacation time in Pascagoula, Mississippi. She helped build a house for Kim Edwards and her teenage daughter, Miah.
　

Erin Brummett with Kim Edwards who will receive the home built by Habitat for Humanity

Miz Brummett says she has been concerned about the problems in rebuilding communities destroyed by the hurricane. "It still troubles me that a rich country like ours struggles to help its own people more than two and a half years after a disaster," she says.

During the Christmas holiday last year, she decided that helping⁷ to build a house would be her present to the people of the Gulf Coast. But, she said, it turned out that "they were the gift." She says, "The experience provided people like me with the chance to do something important."

The building teams included between eight and twenty volunteers. Miz Brummett, who is forty-five, did not realize how hard building a house would be. Like many of us at VOA, she sits at a computer most of the day and does not get a lot of exercise. During her Habitat experience, she says, "I found muscles in my body that I never knew existed."

In the middle of the week she started taking pain relief medicine. She says her hand swelled⁸ and grew larger than normal from using a hammer and paint brush for many hours. And her feet hurt from standing⁹ all the time. But, she says, "That was a very small price to pay."

Erin Brummett says she was happy to be on a team of experienced volunteers who have built houses for several years. She says the team leaders were in the construction business and were the best teachers anyone could have. And, she says, "I can do anything now."

Erin Brummett says the best part of the experience was the satisfaction of using her own hands to help give a family a new home.

Flag Day

HOST:

Our VOA question this week comes from Vietnam. Duc Nguyen asks about the Flag Day holiday.

Perfect timing¹⁰! Flag Day is tomorrow, June fourteenth. Every year, shortly before June fourteenth, the president of the United States signs a document declaring “Flag Day and National Flag Week.”
　

A Boy Scout11 on Flag Day last year

Some Americans will fly an American flag outside their house on Saturday. Still, many Americans will not even know it is Flag Day. They do not get a day off work. They do not buy or receive anything. And, as far as we know there are no big stores holding “Flag Day” sales.

Flag Day observes the anniversary of the day America's first lawmakers approved the design of a new flag for a new nation.

The United States of America began as thirteen British colonies. Each colony had its own flag. But the colonists¹³ fought under a common flag during the Revolutionary War against Britain. It looked a lot like the American flag today. That flag had thirteen red and white stripes for the thirteen colonies. It also had a square blue area in the upper left corner. Inside that area were the red cross and white lines of the British flag.

On July fourth, seventeen seventy-six, the American colonists declared their independence. The United States of America was born. The Continental¹⁴ Congress of the new nation approved a new flag on June fourteenth of the following year. The thirteen red and white stripes remained. Thirteen white stars replaced the British flag inside the blue area. The thirteen stars represented, in the words of Congress, "a new constellation¹⁵."

In eighteen eighteen, Congress approved a law that said a new star would be added to the flag for each new state that joined the union. Today, there are fifty states, and fifty white stars in the blue area of the flag.

There is a famous story that a woman named Betsy Ross made the first American flag. Betsy Ross was a sewing expert in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was the official flag maker¹² for the Pennsylvania navy. But, historians¹⁶ have not been able to confirm that she made the first American flag.

Gnarls Barkley

HOST:

Gnarls Barkley is the name of a group of two performers, Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo Green. In two thousand six, their song “Crazy” became one of the most popular songs of the year. Their new album, “The Odd Couple,” is filled with energetic songs that tell about pain and conflict. Faith Lapidus has more.

(MUSIC: "Going On")

FAITH LAPIDUS:
　

Gnarls Barkley

That was the song “Going On." It is a good example of Gnarls Barkley’s music, which combines soul and electronic sounds. Cee-Lo Green is a soul and hip-hop singer whose voice you hear on these songs. Danger Mouse, whose real name is Brian Burton, creates and produces the music. Both had musical careers before they joined together to form Gnarls Barkley.

Danger Mouse is best known for creating an unofficial album called “The Gray Album.” It combined music from the Beatles and the rapper Jay-Z. The album was illegal because Danger Mouse did not have permission to use some of the songs. But, it still became a huge success.

Gnarls Barkley’s latest album, “The Odd Couple,” was released in late March. Here is “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul.”

(MUSIC)

Gnarls Barkley's live performances are interesting to watch. They perform with many different musicians. And, they often wear unusual clothing. For example, they performed in two thousand six at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California. Gnarls Barkley and other musicians dressed like characters from the movie “The Wizard of Oz.”

We leave you with the song “Run.”

(MUSIC)

HOST:

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

It was written by Shelley Gollust, Caty Weaver¹⁷ and Dana Demange, who also was the 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 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 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。

3 humanity   

n.人类，[总称]人(性)，人道[pl.]人文学科

参考例句：

• Such an act is a disgrace to humanity.这种行为是人类的耻辱。
• We should treat animals with humanity.我们应该以仁慈之心对待动物。

4 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

5 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。

6 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。

7 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。

8 swelled   

增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The infection swelled his hand. 由于感染，他的手肿了起来。
• After the heavy rain the river swelled. 大雨过后，河水猛涨。

9 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

10 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

11 scout   

n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索

参考例句：

• He was mistaken for an enemy scout and badly wounded.他被误认为是敌人的侦察兵，受了重伤。
• The scout made a stealthy approach to the enemy position.侦察兵偷偷地靠近敌军阵地。

12 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

13 colonists   

n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Colonists from Europe populated many parts of the Americas. 欧洲的殖民者移居到了美洲的许多地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some of the early colonists were cruel to the native population. 有些早期移居殖民地的人对当地居民很残忍。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

15 constellation   

n.星座n.灿烂的一群

参考例句：

• A constellation is a pattern of stars as seen from the earth. 一个星座只是从地球上看到的某些恒星的一种样子。
• The Big Dipper is not by itself a constellation. 北斗七星本身不是一个星座。

16 historians   

n.历史学家，史学工作者( historian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Historians seem to have confused the chronology of these events. 历史学家好像把这些事件发生的年代顺序搞混了。
• Historians have concurred with each other in this view. 历史学家在这个观点上已取得一致意见。

17 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。