VOA慢速英语2009-AMERICAN MOSAIC - SpeakeasyDC Celebrates the Art

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson. This week:

We play music by the comedian², actor and singer Wayne Brady ...

And answer a listener question about the most literate³ cities in the United States ...

But first we want to tell you a story about a group of storytellers.

(MUSIC)

SpeakeasyDC

HOST:

Once upon a time, there was a person with a teacher, a crowd and a microphone. So, the person began to tell a story.

This is the general idea behind an organization in Washington, D.C. called SpeakeasyDC. The group started about twelve years ago out of the Washington Storytellers Theater. SpeakeasyDC helps train and gather people who are interested in perfecting the art of storytelling. Its aim is to entertain, create meaning and build community. The group does this through the performance of personal stories based on real life experiences. Faith Lapidus tells us more.

SARAH HOLT: "I knew I was going to meet Lady Luck, I could smell her. She was around the corner. I would see her peek⁴ out then she would dodge⁵ back in …"

FAITH LAPIDUS:
　
Vijai Nathan tells a story at a SpeakeasyDC gathering⁶ in December

That was one of eight trained storytellers who performed earlier this month. The subject for the evening was "Black Cats and Four Leaf Clovers: Stories about Good and Bad Luck".

Once a month, people come together at a restaurant in Washington to listen to several storytellers perform. All the storytellers must receive training from a SpeakeasyDC teacher to make sure their stories are well developed with interesting details. And, the storytellers must follow several rules. Their story must be under seven minutes long and it must be true. Some of the stories are very funny.

VIJAI NATHAN: "It is one of those eat-your-heart-out kinds of dresses. The kind of dress that you dream of wearing when you're on the arm of a gorgeous man. And he's in a tuxedo⁷ and you're rushing to get to the theater and you bump into your ex."

Other stories give an interesting description of another person's experiences.

LATIF DOMAN: "About eight years ago, a good friend of mine called me up. She says, 'there is a new law firm, a personal injury firm starting in Washington, D.C. You should apply.'"

SpeakeasyDC gatherings⁸ are very popular. People enjoy attending because the stories are fun to listen to. And there is a more personal connection to the entertainment than going to a movie or the theater.

Amy Saidman is the executive director of SpeakeasyDC. She says the event is so popular because storytelling is very human.

AMY SAIDMAN: "It's not reality TV, it's real reality. It's people really telling their true story and they get a window into other people's lives. The whole goal is to be yourself as much as possible so we can hear your voice and get to know you."

Sarah Holt performed the first story you heard. She says that she enjoys the excitement of telling stories to a crowd because she is an actress. But she also works in public relations and says that being able to tell a good story is very important in any job.

(MUSIC)

America's Most Literate Cities

HOST:

Our listener question this week comes from China. Chun-Quan Meng wants to know about America's most literate cities.

A literate person is able to read and write. But this question is not about whether people can read, but whether or not they do read. For several years, the president of Central Connecticut State University, John Miller⁹, has been helping¹⁰ to answer this question. So which cities have the most readers?
　
Tytti Yli-Viikari, of Helsinki, Finland, looks through books at the Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle

Last year's results show Minneapolis, Minnesota and Seattle, Washington tied in the top position for most literate city. They are followed by Washington D.C.; Saint Paul, Minnesota; San Francisco, California; Atlanta, Georgia and Denver, Colorado.

The rest of the top cities are Boston, Massachusetts and Saint Louis, Missouri. Cincinnati, Ohio and Portland, Oregon are tied for tenth place.

Mister Miller studied cities with a population of over two hundred fifty thousand. He looked at six things. He considered a city's newspaper sales, the number of bookstores and library resources. He also studied magazine publishing resources, educational levels and Internet resources. Internet resources included online book orders and the number of visits to a city's online newspaper.

His sources for information included the United States Census¹¹ Bureau, the American Booksellers Association and the Audit¹² Bureau of Circulations.

Mister Miller found that a literate society generally tends to practice many forms of reading. For example, he found that high Internet use is linked to high levels of reading printed materials. And he found that cities with well-used libraries also have greater numbers of people who buy books online.

Mister Miller says that what matters most is not whether the rank of cities changes over the years. He says what is most important is that cities support the kinds of literacy methods that the study examines.

Seattle and Minneapolis have been at the top of this list since two thousand four. The same ten cities stay at the top of the list from year to year, although their order may change slightly.

John Miller says that literacy is an important sign of the nation's well-being¹³. He says the extent and quality of long-term literacy is important to individual economic success and quality of life in a community and a nation.

He is also working on a similar literacy study for cities around the world.

(MUSIC)

Wayne Brady

HOST:

Wayne Brady has been entertaining people as television show host, comedian, actor, dancer and singer. He recently released his first album, "A Long Time Coming." Barbara Klein tells more about Wayne Brady and plays songs from his new album.

BARBARA KLEIN:
　
Wayne Brady

Wayne Brady is probably best known for his appearances on the television show "Who's Line is it Anyway?" a few years ago. The show featured a form of comedy known as improvisation¹⁴. This means there were no written scripts and many surprises. The actors made up most of the material as they performed. Brady made up funny songs about many different subjects. Many people thought Wayne Brady's voice was very good.

Brady says he has always like singing. He sang songs on the albums of other major artists. This led him to write and record songs for his own album, "A Long Time Coming." The love song "Ordinary" celebrates the beauty of simple things in everyday life.

(MUSIC)

Music critics praise Wayne Brady's new album. They say his voice is warm and soulful. The song "F.W.B." takes you back to classic soul music made famous by rhythm and blues¹⁵ singer Marvin Gaye.

(MUSIC)

We leave you with another song from Wayne Brady's album "A Long Time Coming." He sings his version of Sam Cooke's song "A Change is Gonna Come."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

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

It was written by Lawan Davis and Dana Demange 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 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

3 literate   

n.学者；adj.精通文学的，受过教育的

参考例句：

• Only a few of the nation's peasants are literate.这个国家的农民中只有少数人能识字。
• A literate person can get knowledge through reading many books.一个受过教育的人可以通过读书而获得知识。

4 peek   

vi.偷看，窥视；n.偷偷的一看，一瞥

参考例句：

• Larry takes a peek out of the window.赖瑞往窗外偷看了一下。
• Cover your eyes and don't peek.捂上眼睛，别偷看。

5 dodge   

v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计

参考例句：

• A dodge behind a tree kept her from being run over.她向树后一闪，才没被车从身上辗过。
• The dodge was coopered by the police.诡计被警察粉碎了。

6 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

7 tuxedo   

n.礼服，无尾礼服

参考例句：

• Well,you have your own tuxedo.噢，你有自己的燕尾服。
• Have I told you how amazing you look in this tuxedo?我告诉过你穿这件燕尾服看起来很棒吗？

8 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

9 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

10 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。

11 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

12 audit   

v.审计；查帐；核对；旁听

参考例句：

• Each year they audit our accounts and certify them as being true and fair.他们每年对我们进行账务审核，以确保其真实无误。
• As usual,the yearly audit will take place in December.跟往常一样，年度审计将在十二月份进行。

13 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

14 improvisation   

n.即席演奏(或演唱)；即兴创作

参考例句：

• a free-form jazz improvisation 自由创作的爵士乐即兴演出
• Most of their music was spontaneous improvisation. 他们的大部分音乐作品都是即兴创作的。

15 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。