VOA慢速英语2009-AMERICAN MOSAIC - Coach Pat Summitt Reaches the

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ in VOA Special English.

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I’m Doug Johnson. This week:

We play music by Somali-born hip²-hop³ artist K’naan,

And answer a listener question about the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. ...

But first, we report about a record-breaking college basketball coach.

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Pat Summitt

HOST:

The National Collegiate Athletic⁴ Association men’s and women’s basketball tournaments began Thursday.These games decide the national winners of college basketball. The University of Tennessee women’s basketball team will attempt to win its ninth national championship. Last month, the team and its head coach, Pat Summitt, celebrated⁵ a historic victory. Barbara Klein explains.

BARBARA KLEIN:
　
Tennessee coach Pat Summitt huddles⁶ with her team

On February fifth, the University of Tennessee women’s basketball team defeated the University of Georgia.It was a victory unlike any other. It was the one thousandth victory for Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt.

She is the first National Collegiate Athletic Association Division One coach in men’s or women’s basketball to win one thousand games.

More than sixteen thousand people gathered to watch the historic game. With forty seconds left in the game the crowd stood and began shouting “One thousand!One thousand!”

Many people believe Pat Summitt’s winning record will not be reached by another college basketball coach for a long time. Only two Division One basketball coaches have had at least nine hundred wins. One is Bob Knight⁷, the former coach at Indiana University and Texas Tech University. The other is former University of Texas women’s coach Jody Conradt. Both are retired⁸, but Knight is considering a return to coaching.

Pat Summitt became head coach of the women’s basketball team at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in nineteen seventy-four. She was just twenty-two years old. She has coached there for thirty-five years.

Since that time she has built many successful teams and received many top coaching awards and honors. She has led the Tennessee Lady Vols to first place in eight N.C.A.A. national championships. Many of her players have gone on to play professionally.

Pat Summitt has also had international victories. In nineteen eighty she was an assistant coach on the United States Women’s Olympic basketball team. Four years later, as head coach of the women’s Olympic team, she led the players to a gold medal win.

For the first time in Pat Summitt’s career, the current Lady Vols team lacks experience. That is because seven team members are first-year students. At the beginning of the season she joked about whether the team could win the seventeen victories she needed to reach one thousand wins. But after the historic victory, she did what she is known for doing. She thanked the team and many others for their part in her success.

PAT SUMMITT: "I’ve had great coaches and just tremendous support along the way. Tennessee said yes to women’s basketball long before it was a popular thing to do. So I owe a lot to the university and the people that made it happen."

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Washington, D.C.

HOST:

Our listener question this week comes from Brazil. Reginaldo Anunciacao wants to know about Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States.
　
Washington's congressional representative, Eleanor Holmes Norton and Mayor Adrian Fenty

Washington is not a large city. It is only about one hundred fifty-five square kilometers. New York City is close to eight hundred square kilometers. And, the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro is more than one thousand.

Population estimates from two thousand seven show more than five hundred eighty-eight thousand people living within D.C. borders.The city’s population grew between two thousand and two thousand seven, but not as fast as the country as a whole. The number of Washingtonians grew about three percent during that period while the United States population increased more than seven percent.

The racial population in D.C. is about fifty-five percent black and thirty-nine percent white. Just over seventeen percent of Washingtonians live below what is considered the poverty level in the United States. For a family of two, the poverty line begins at yearly earnings⁹ of fourteen thousand dollars or less.

On Monday, Washington, D.C., health officials reported shocking information about H.I.V. infection in the city. They said that at least three percent of residents are living with AIDS or the virus that causes the disease. That percentage puts the H.I.V. situation in Washington at an epidemic¹⁰ level. In fact, D.C. health officials say infection rates in the nation’s capital are higher than in West Africa.

Washington, D.C., is like no other place in the United States. It is not a state or part of a state. The D.C. stands for District of Columbia, a federal district.

Residents must pay federal taxes like other citizens.But they have no say in how that money is spent. This is because people who live in Washington, D.C., have no voting representation in the United States Congress. The city has a delegate to the House of Representatives who is not permitted to vote. If you have ever visited, you might have noticed the popular license¹¹ plates on many D.C. cars. They say “Taxation Without Representation.”

In fact, it was not until nineteen sixty-four that D.C. residents were even permitted to vote in presidential elections.

Many Washingtonians and the city government are fighting for D.C. statehood. Some are working toward voting rights in Congress. Still others say the answer is to end federal taxes for Washingtonians.

Late last month, the United States Senate passed a bill to give D.C. a voting member in the House of Representatives. A House committee is now working on the legislation. It is not known when it might come to a vote in the full House.

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K’naan

HOST:

The Somali-born hip-hop artist K’naan recently performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.K’naan is traveling around the world to get support for his second album, “Troubadour.” Faith Lapidus has more.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

The album was produced in Jamaica at the recording¹² studio of the famous reggae musician, Bob Marley. His son, Damian Marley, sings with K’naan on the album. This song, “America,” is a mixture of hip hop, reggae and African music.

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K'naan

K’naan lived in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, until nineteen ninety-one. He fled with his mother on the last public flight out of the country before the overthrow¹³ of the government. Mother and son settled in New York City before moving to Toronto, Canada. Many of K’naan’s songs are influenced by his childhood in Mogadishu.

In "People Like Me" he sings about how he and his cousin accidentally exploded a small bomb they found at school.

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K’naan also writes songs about life in the United States and Canada. He once told a reporter he does not know where home is. He said exile has its own flag.We leave you now with K’naan singing "Wavin’ Flag." This song expresses how he feels living in exile.

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HOST:

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

It was written by Lawan Davis, Kim Varzi and Caty Weaver¹⁴ who was also the producer.

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 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

3 hop   

n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过

参考例句：

• The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。
• How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？

4 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。

5 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。

6 huddles   

（尤指杂乱地）挤在一起的人（或物品、建筑）( huddle的名词复数 )； （美式足球）队员靠拢（磋商战术）

参考例句：

• The little girl huddles herself up. 小女孩把身子缩成一团。
• The child huddles down in the bed, listening to the sound of the storm. 孩子听到雷雨声，就在床上缩成了一团。

7 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

8 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

9 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

10 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

11 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

12 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

13 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

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。