VOA慢速英语2010年-American Mosaic - Now Showing: a Few F

MARIO RITTER: Welcome to American Mosaic¹ in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I’m Mario Ritter. This week on our program, we take a look at some scary movies, just in time for Halloween...

We also answer a question about the Kennedy Center, in Washington...

And we have music by singer, songwriter and producer Bruno Mars².

(MUSIC)

Scary Movies

MARIO RITTER: October thirty-first is Halloween. The holiday comes from an ancient Celtic tradition of celebrating the change from autumn to winter. The Celts believed the spirits of the dead mixed with the living on that day. They would put out sacrifices of food and light fires to keep the spirits from doing any harm to the living.

Now, adults give candy or other treats to children dressed as witches, ghosts and other creatures to keep them from playing tricks. Many adults celebrate the holiday in other ways. Some go to Halloween parties. Others like to watch a scary movie to get in the spirit. Hollywood releases several to choose from every October. Katherine Cole tells about a few in theaters now.

Detail from the official movie poster for "Monsters"

KATHERINE COLE: The movie “Let Me In” is an American version of a Swedish vampire³ movie called “Let the Right One In.” Owen is a lonely twelve-year-old boy who is mistreated by a big, mean boy at school. Owen’s mother is an alcoholic⁴. He finds friendship with Abby, a vampire girl his age. Well, sort of his age.

(MOVIE SOUND: “Let Me In”)

OWEN: “Are you a vampire?”

ABBY: “I need blood…to live.”

OWEN: “But, how old are you, really?”

ABBY: “Twelve, but…I’ve been twelve for a very long time.”

The movie also explores the dark side of human nature.

(MOVIE SOUND: “Monsters”)

SAMANTHA: “Do you feel safe staying here?”

GUIDE: “Si, in the high grounds, you know you’re safe. In the rivers you’re not safe. If you don’t bother them, they don’t bother you. When the American planes come, the creatures, very mad, you know, crazy, crazy animals. They very, very dangerous.”

KATHERINE COLE: That is from the science fiction horror movie “Monsters.” It is the first feature film for director Gareth Edwards.

“Monsters” tells the story of Andrew, a photojournalist, and his employer’s grown daughter, Samantha. It is the future and part of the world has been taken over by huge, alien monsters. Andrew and Samantha are trying to get back to safety in the United States but they have to travel through the so-called infected area in Mexico.

Along with vampires⁵ and monsters, Halloween moviegoers can see a ghost movie. “Paranormal Activity 2” was released a week ago. The first “Paranormal Activity” movie was a huge success when it came out last year. It was the story of a young couple who were haunted⁶ by a terrifying presence in their home. They capture the experience on video.

“Paranormal Activity 2” follows the same idea. However, this time a family is terrorized. And, the baby and dog in the house seem to sense the presence more fully⁷ than everyone else. Here is a little of the action.

(TRAILER: “Paranormal Activity 2”)

Kennedy Center

MARIO RITTER: Our listener question this week comes from China. Chun-Quan Meng wants to know more about the Kennedy Center in Washington.

The Kennedy Center presents music, dance, plays and other performances. The full name is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

The idea began with legislation⁸ signed by President Dwight Eisenhower in nineteen fifty-eight to create a National Cultural Center.

The Kennedy Center on the Potomac River in Washington

The building opened in nineteen seventy-one as a memorial to John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth president. He and his wife, Jacqueline, strongly supported the arts.

Architect Edward Durrell Stone designed a simple white building that overlooks⁹ the Potomac River.

The Kennedy Center has several performing areas. The Concert Hall is the largest. The National Symphony¹⁰ Orchestra¹¹ performs there. So do popular entertainers.

The Washington Opera, ballets and musical comedies are performed in the Opera House. Plays and some opera and dance productions take place in the Eisenhower Theater. Smaller theaters in the Kennedy Center present music groups and plays. The Family Theater presents performances for young people.Each year more than four hundred performances are offered free of charge by local, national and international artists.

Over the years, some of the world's top artists have performed at the Kennedy Center. Many special events also take place there. These have included a month-long celebration of the traditional and modern arts of China. They have also included an exploration of the culture of twenty-two Arab nations.

The Kennedy Center also serves as an educational headquarters. It supports and teaches people about the performing arts in America. It creates programs for teachers and students of all ages. It supports competitions and training programs for students. And it pays young performing artists to create new works.

The Kennedy Center also has traveling productions attended by millions of people each year.

The fiftieth anniversary of President Kennedy’s inauguration¹² will be January twentieth, two thousand eleven. The Kennedy Center will honor the former president with a special concert and three weeks of performances and events.

President Kennedy once said: "I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for our victories or defeats in battle or politics, but for our contribution to the human spirit."

Bruno Mars

(MUSIC: “Lazy Man”)

MARIO RITTER: Bruno Mars is a singer, songwriter and producer who has been performing since he was a small child. The twenty-five-year-old has performed with his family, with hip-hop stars and on his own. His new album, “Doo-Wops & Hooligans” has become a huge success. One critic described Bruno Mars’s album as having ten near-perfect pop songs. Shirley Griffith has more.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Bruno Mars was born Peter Hernandez in Honolulu, Hawaii. His parents, both musicians, are of Puerto Rican and Filipino ancestry¹³. He began singing in his family’s band when he was only a few years old.

Bruno Mars performing in August in Universal City, California

Bruno grew up listening to his father’s collection of nineteen fifties music. He says these songs had subjects that were easy to understand. He was also influenced by the rhythm and blues¹⁴ and hip-hop music he listened to on the radio. Both musical styles can be heard in Bruno Mars’s own songs. Here is hip-hop artist B.o.B’s popular song “Nothin’ on You.” Bruno Mars sings the song and helped write it.

(MUSIC)

Bruno Mars moved to Los Angeles, California after high school to follow his dream of making music. He and two friends created a songwriting and production group called the Smeezingtons that has been very successful. He says working as a team helped him develop as an artist and led the way to making his own record. Here is “Count on Me” from his first full album, “Doo-Wops & Hooligans.”

(MUSIC)

Bruno Mars says he writes music that he strongly believes in and that comes from inside him. We leave you with his hit song “Just the Way You Are.”

(MUSIC)

MARIO RITTER: Our program was written by Dana Demange and Caty Weaver¹⁵, who also was our 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 Mars   

n.火星，战争

参考例句：

• As of now we don't know much about Mars.目前我们对火星还知之甚少。
• He contended that there must be life on Mars.他坚信火星上面一定有生物。

3 vampire   

n.吸血鬼

参考例句：

• It wasn't a wife waiting there for him but a blood sucking vampire!家里的不是个老婆，而是个吸人血的妖精！
• Children were afraid to go to sleep at night because of the many legends of vampire.由于听过许多有关吸血鬼的传说，孩子们晚上不敢去睡觉。

4 alcoholic   

adj.（含）酒精的，由酒精引起的；n.酗酒者

参考例句：

• The alcoholic strength of brandy far exceeds that of wine.白兰地的酒精浓度远远超过葡萄酒。
• Alcoholic drinks act as a poison to a child.酒精饮料对小孩犹如毒药。

5 vampires   

n.吸血鬼( vampire的名词复数 )；吸血蝠；高利贷者；（舞台上的）活板门

参考例句：

• The most effective weapon against the vampires is avampire itself. 对付吸血鬼最有效的武器就是吸血鬼自己。 来自电影对白
• If vampires existed, don`t you think we would`ve found them by now? 如果真有吸血鬼，那我们怎么还没有找到他们呢？ 来自电影对白

6 haunted   

adj.闹鬼的；受到折磨的；令人烦恼的v.“haunt”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• There was a haunted look in his eyes. 他眼中透露出忧虑的神色。
• The country is haunted by the spectre of civil war. 内战仿佛一触即发，举国上下一片恐慌。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 legislation   

n.立法，法律的制定；法规，法律

参考例句：

• They began to draft legislation.他们开始起草法规。
• The liberals band together against the new legislation.自由党员联合一致反对新的立法。

9 overlooks   

v.忽视( overlook的第三人称单数 )；监督；俯视；（对不良现象等）不予理会

参考例句：

• The parlor overlooks the street. 这客厅可俯瞰街道。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• There are plenty of overlooks and trails. 有许多可供俯瞰之处和小径。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 symphony   

n.交响乐（曲），（色彩等的）和谐

参考例句：

• The Ninth Symphony of Beethoven is a famous one.贝多芬的第九交响乐非常有名。
• They play over the whole symphony.他们把整个交响乐重新演奏了一遍。

11 orchestra   

n.管弦乐队；vt.命令，定购

参考例句：

• He plays the violin in an orchestra.他在管弦乐队中演奏小提琴。
• I was tempted to stay and hear this superb orchestra rehearse.我真想留下来听这支高超的管弦乐队排练。

12 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

13 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

14 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。

15 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。