VOA慢速英语2010年-EXPLORATIONS - 'Tibet in Song' Tells A

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: And I’m Shirley Griffith with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Our subjects this week are movies. First, we discuss a movie made by Tibetan filmmaker Ngawang Choephel called “Tibet in Song.” It tells about his efforts to help protect traditional Tibetan music and better understand his own culture and homeland. We also learn about an online short-film festival celebrating women and the Muslim world.
(MUSIC)STEVE EMBER: “Tibet in Song” is a celebration of traditional Tibetan folk music. It also explores resistance against cultural repression¹. The movie gives a clear picture of how China has worked to repress cultural freedom inside Tibet over the past fifty years.
Director Ngawang Choephel was two years old when he and his mother fled Chinese-ruled Tibet in nineteen sixty-eight. He grew up in a refugee² camp in India. In the camp he heard traditional Tibetan songs from older refugees³.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Like other folk music traditions, these Tibetan songs are about everyday life. They deal with subjects including family, social events, love and nature.
The filmmaker, Ngawang Choephel, right, and a friend, prepare a traditional song for 'Tibet in Song' NGAWANG CHOEPHEL: “Tibetan folk music originated⁴ directly from ordinary Tibetan people’s mind. It’s a very pure form of, you know, oral tradition, of our Tibetan people’s history, knowledge and beliefs.”
In nineteen ninety-three, Mr. Choephel graduated from the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts in Dharamsala, India. Then he received a Fulbright scholarship to study musicology and filmmaking at Middlebury College in the American state of Vermont.
He noticed that the school’s music library had traditional music from all over the world. But it only had one recording⁵ of Tibetan music.
He decided⁶ to collect Tibetan folk songs himself. In nineteen ninety-five he traveled to Tibet. He visited rural areas and filmed people singing folk songs. After two months, he was arrested by Chinese officials.
NGAWANG CHOEPHEL: “They thought that I was doing a kind of spy work, which I did not.”
STEVE EMBER: Ngawang Choephel was sentenced to eighteen years in prison. He learned folk songs from other prisoners. He wrote down the songs on paper from cigarette packages. He also wrote his own songs.
NGAWANG CHOEPHEL: "I composed the melody⁷ in prison and one of my prison mates, he's actually my hero, he wrote the lyrics⁸. It is about his determination. He says that 'No matter how bad enemies are to you, I'll never bow down my head. I'll never stop the fight.'"Ngawang Choephel’s mother started a campaign to urge support for his release. Musicians Paul McCartney and Annie Lennox became involved, along with several United States lawmakers. Their efforts led to his release in two thousand two. He had been detained⁹ for six and a half years.
(MUSIC)SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: When Ngawang Choephel returned to the United States, he decided to expand his project. He would collect Tibetan music and make a documentary¹⁰ movie about his efforts. Some of the recordings¹¹ used in the movie were filmed by Mr. Choephel before his arrest in nineteen ninety-five. He had sent several tapes to a friend in India, so the recordings survived.
NGAWANG CHOEPHEL: "There are about seventeen songs. The story of this film is about the beauty of Tibetan music, and the diversity of Tibetan music and the beauty of the Tibetan culture in general. The film also is about my story and what has happened to me.”
STEVE EMBER: “Tibet in Song” also brings attention to what has happened in Tibet over the last fifty years. Mr. Choephel says that there are not many traditional Tibetan songs left except in some rural areas. He says China saw Tibetan culture as a threat. He says China used to train Tibetan singers to sing Chinese propaganda¹² songs instead of their traditional music. And today, younger generations are more interested in current pop music recordings than music of the past.
“Tibet in Song” won the special Jury¹³ Prize for Documentary at last year’s Sundance Film Festival. Ngawang Choephel says his movie is a call to action to the world and to the Tibetan people to save this special music before it is gone forever.
(MUSIC)SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: An online competition is now ending for what is being called the first-ever international viewing of short films about Islam and women. Women’s Voices Now is an organization that formed in January. Its aim is to empower women by bringing attention to their struggle for civil, economic and political rights. The organization launched the film festival as part of its first year in action.
STEVE EMBER: “Women’s Voices from the Muslim World: A Short-Film Festival” is aimed at bringing together women from many religions and backgrounds so they can tell their stories. The short movies are about women who live in Muslim majority countries, as well as Muslim women living as minorities around the world.
An invitation to submit films for the online competition went out in early October. The project was open to everyone, no matter his or her film experience, nationality or religion. Organizers will judge the films and give prize money to the winning filmmakers. The top films will also be shown in March at a Women’s Voices Now Festival in Los Angeles, California.
Human rights lawyer Catinca Tabacaru helped create Women’s Voices Now. She says the film festival aims to give a fair and deep look at how Muslim women are defending their rights.
Human rights lawyer Catinca Tabacaru helped establish the non-profit group that supports 'Women's Voices from the Muslim World - a Short-Film Festival' CATINCA TABACARU: “There’s so much work being done in Muslim majority countries and by Muslim women outside of those countries for women’s rights. There is a social movement happening and that’s what we wanted to get behind.”
Catinca Tabacaru says the festival is the first to show a group of films about women who are in some way touched by Islam. She says it was especially important that some movies pay attention to the successes of Muslim women.
CATINCA TABACARU: “We’re very used to hearing about the Muslim woman as the victim, the oppressed¹⁴, the veiled¹⁶. What we are seeing through this film festival is that we’re getting stories which we would have never dreamed of getting. They are about women doing things that, before doing this project, I wouldn’t have imagined.”
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Organizers chose short films because they are less costly¹⁷ to produce and they can more easily be shared with viewers online. Showing the movies online was important so that people can easily watch them, make comments and rate the movies. Entries for the festival include a wide range of movies from around the world. Some tell imaginary stories, while others are documentaries¹⁸. Countries represented include Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Sudan, Niger and Turkey.
STEVE EMBER: Iranian-born Mostafa Heravi’s movie “Somaye” has no words. His movie shows striking¹⁹ images of a woman in a head-covering alone on a windy beach.
Pakistani Sanaa Iftikhar made a movie called “I Accept, I Accept, I Accept.” The film shows a young bride preparing her clothing and jewelry²⁰ for her marriage ceremony. She expresses her doubts and fears about her future with her husband as she gives up her independence.
Jehan Harney in the United States submitted a film called “The Color of Veil¹⁵.” It tells about the experiences of an American Muslim woman named Kimberly who wears a special cloth to cover her hair. She talks about how it was not easy for her to find a job because people did not like her head-covering.
Many of the films are from Afghanistan. One is called “We Are Postmodern” by Alka Sadat. It shows a girl and her mother begging for money in the street, day after day. A young boy stops to give them a coin every time he passes them.
Another Afghan film is called “A, B, C.” This movie by Mahbooba Ibrahimi tells about a fifteen-year-old Afghan girl named Tamanna. She is disabled and cannot attend school.
Her mother tries to find a teacher who will give her daughter private lessons so she can have an education.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Catinca Tabacaru says the response to the online film competition has been very good. More than seventy-five films have been entered. She says she hopes the films will get people to open their minds about the Muslim world.
CATINCA TABACARU :"And this is one thing this festival does; it provides information and it provides a new and more complex and nuanced view of these women, which I hope will challenge perceptions²¹ and will challenge the way we are so typically used to relating to the Muslim world. I think it's very important to the future."STEVE EMBER: This program was written and produced by Dana Demange, with reporting by Faiza Elmasry and Julie Taboh. I’m Steve Ember.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: And I’m Shirley Griffith. Our programs are online with transcripts²² and MP3 files at voaspecialenglish.com. And you can find us on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube at VOA Learning English. Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.

1 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

2 refugee   

n.难民，流亡者

参考例句：

• The refugee was condemned to a life of wandering.这个难民注定要过流浪的生活。
• The refugee is suffering for want of food and medical supplies.难民苦于缺少食物和医药用品。

3 refugees   

n.避难者，难民( refugee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The UN has begun making airdrops of food to refugees. 联合国已开始向难民空投食物。
• They claimed they were political refugees and not economic migrants. 他们宣称自己是政治难民，不是经济移民。

4 originated   

v.起源于，来自，产生( originate的过去式和过去分词 )；创造；创始；开创

参考例句：

• The disease is thought to have originated in the tropics. 这种疾病据说起源于热带地区。
• The art of portrait miniatures was originated in England. 微型画像艺术创始于英国。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。

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 melody   

n.旋律，曲调，悦耳的音乐

参考例句：

• She struck up a folk melody on the piano.她开始用钢琴演奏那首民歌。
• After she wrote the melody,she asked us for criticisms.她做好曲之后，请我们提意见。

8 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

9 detained   

留住( detain的过去式和过去分词 )； 耽搁； 拘留； 扣留

参考例句：

• One man has been detained for questioning. 一个男人被拘留审问。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group. 他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

10 documentary   

adj.文献的；n.纪录片

参考例句：

• This case lacked documentary proof.本案缺少书面证据。
• I watched a documentary on the Civil War.我看了一部关于内战的纪录片。

11 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

12 propaganda   

n.宣传，宣传机构

参考例句：

• A lot of propaganda has painted him as bad.大量宣传把他说得很坏。
• Art may be used as a vehicle for propaganda.艺术可以用作为宣传的媒介。

13 jury   

n.陪审团，评委会；adj.临时用的；vt.挑选

参考例句：

• These twelve men are believed to compose the jury.据信，陪审团是由这12人组成的。
• The members of the jury were discharged from their duties.陪审员们被解除了职务。

14 oppressed   

adj. 被压迫的，郁闷的 动词oppress的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• It'seemed that the realisation of his life's dream oppressed him with overjoy. 夙愿得偿似乎使他欣喜若狂。
• The bad eggs wielded power, while the good people were oppressed. 坏人当道，好人受气

15 veil   

n.面纱，掩饰物，修女；vt.给...戴面纱或面罩；vi.带面纱或面罩

参考例句：

• Please veil your face.请用面纱遮住脸。
• There was a veil of mist over the mountains.山上覆盖着一层薄雾。

16 veiled   

adj. 戴着面纱的, 隐藏的 动词veil的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• a thinly veiled threat 几乎不加掩饰的威胁
• There was a barely veiled hostility in her tone. 她语气中带着几乎未加掩饰的敌意。

17 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

18 documentaries   

n.纪录片( documentary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• As for 'documentaries', these too are not altogether new. 至于“资料性文学”那也并不完全是新鲜事。 来自辞典例句
• These are not just animations live-action films, comedies, dramas and documentaries. 这些不仅仅是动画片，还包括表演摄制影片，喜剧，戏剧以及纪录片。 来自互联网

19 striking   

adj.显著的，惹人注目的，容貌出众的

参考例句：

• There is a striking difference between Jane and Mary.简和玛丽之间有显著的差异。
• What is immediately striking is how resourceful the children are.最令人注目的是孩子们的机智聪明。

20 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

21 perceptions   

感知（能力）( perception的名词复数 )； 觉察（力）； 认识； 观念

参考例句：

• Her perceptions and intuitions about human nature were fascinating. 她对人性的理解和感知引人入胜。
• There was no inside to Whitman's perceptions. 惠特曼的直觉里没有内涵。

22 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句