VOA慢速英语2010年-THIS IS AMERICA - Oprah Winfrey

DOUG JOHNSON: Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I’m Doug Johnson.

STEVE EMBER: And I'm Steve Ember. Each year in Washington, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts honors performers for a lifetime of work. This year the Kennedy Center Honors go to Merle Haggard, Jerry Herman, Bill Jones, Paul McCartney and Oprah Winfrey.

(MUSIC: “Workin’ Man Blues”/Merle Haggard)

DOUG JOHNSON: Merle Haggard is considered one of the most influential¹ singer-songwriters in the history of country music. He became a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame in nineteen ninety-four. But his work also extends into other kinds of music.

He was raised in Bakersfield, California, during the Great Depression. He was a rebellious² young man. He spent two and a half years in prison for robbery. While serving his time, he played country music in a prison band.

Over the years, he wrote songs that were often different from the traditional country music coming out of Nashville, Tennessee.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, left, talks with Kennedy Center honorees, Jerry Herman, Merle Haggard, Bill T. Jones and Paul McCartney while waiting for Oprah Winfrey to arrive

Merle Haggard made hit songs like "Mama Tried," "Carolyn" and "Sing Me Back Home." One of his most popular and most controversial songs was "Okie From Muskogee." It was his reaction to people who protested the Vietnam War and made fun of small-town values.

(MUSIC: “Okie from Muskogee:/Merle Haggard)

STEVE EMBER: Composer and lyricist Jerry Herman wrote the music and words to some of the best known show tunes³ in American theater. His Broadway musicals include "Hello, Dolly!" "Mame" and "La Cage aux Folles."

(MUSIC: “Hello, Dolly!”)

He was born to musical parents and started piano at an early age. By the time he was a teenager he was composing music. His first Broadway show was "Milk and Honey" in nineteen sixty-one.

Merle Haggard

Jerry Herman won two Tony awards and was nominated for three others. And last year he received the Tony Award for outstanding lifetime achievement.

(MUSIC: “Teacher”/Fela!)

DOUG JOHNSON: Dancer and choreographer⁴ Bill Jones began dancing in college. Over the years he gained recognition for his inventive ways with modern dance.

In nineteen eighty-two he formed a dance company with his partner, Arnie Zane. Their dances often broke with tradition by having men perform with men. But six years later Arnie Zane died of AIDS.

As a dancer, Bill Jones often included video, text and material from his own life in his dances. His dance company has created more than one hundred works that have been performed throughout the world.

Jerry Herman

Last year, Bill Jones won a Tony Award for best choreography for his Broadway production of "Fela!" His work has also appeared in recent years in another Broadway musical, "Spring Awakening⁵."

(MUSIC: “Yesterday”/The Beatles)

STEVE EMBER: Paul McCartney is one of the most successful musical performers of all time. The singer, songwriter and musician was raised in Liverpool, England. He first rose to fame as a member of the Beatles.

He and John Lennon began playing music together at the age of fifteen. They played in a band called the Quarrymen.

Then, in nineteen sixty, Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison began performing under the name the Beatles. Drummer Ringo Starr joined the group in nineteen sixty-two.

(MUSIC: “Yellow submarine”/The Beatles)

Bill T. Jones

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, has inducted Paul McCartney twice -- once as a member of the Beatles and again as a solo artist. More than thirty of his songs have been number-one hits in the United States.

(SOUND: The Oprah Winfrey Show)

DOUG JOHNSON: Oprah Winfrey was born in the South, in a rural part of the state of Mississippi. Her parents were a soldier and an unwed teenage mother. The grandmother who raised her taught her to read at an early age.

Oprah Winfrey made herself into a billionaire as a talk-show host, actress, producer, author and magazine publisher. Her daytime talk show changed American television and made her one of the world's richest women.

Oprah has announced that she will retire her talk show in the fall of two thousand eleven. She is expected to launch her own cable channel.

Paul McCartney

The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts normally honors performing artists. It says Oprah Winfrey is being recognized for her "soul-stirring performances on screen."

She has appeared in several movies. She was nominated for a best-actress Oscar for her first movie, the nineteen eighty-five film "The Color Purple."

And she is not the first television host to receive a Kennedy Center honor. Late-night TV host Johnny Carson was among the honorees in nineteen ninety-three.

(MUSIC)

STEVE EMBER: This is the thirty-third year that the Kennedy Center Honors have been awarded. The ceremony is recorded for television and raises a lot of money for the Kennedy Center. Presidents attend the event and tickets can cost as much as five thousand dollars.

Most years, there are five Kennedy Center honorees. But there have been up to seven people chosen in some years.

Oprah Winfrey

Honorees are not always American. They can include foreign artists who have had a major effect on American culture.

The process for choosing the honorees begins with nominations⁶ made by about one hundred artists. From those nominations, Kennedy Center executives produce a list of about fifteen names.

Then seven members of the center's executive committee make the final choices. The process does not include an official vote.

(MUSIC)

DOUG JOHNSON: Our program was written and produced by Brianna Blake. I'm Doug Johnson.

STEVE EMBER: And I'm Steve Ember. You can find transcripts⁷ and MP3s of our programs at voaspecialenglish.com. You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter at VOA Learning English. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

1 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

2 rebellious   

adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的

参考例句：

• They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
• Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。

3 tunes   

n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• a potpourri of tunes 乐曲集锦
• When things get a bit too much, she simply tunes out temporarily. 碰到事情太棘手时，她干脆暂时撒手不管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 choreographer   

n.编舞者

参考例句：

• She is a leading professional belly dancer, choreographer, and teacher. 她既是杰出的专业肚皮舞演员，也是舞蹈设计者和老师。 来自辞典例句
• It'stands aside, my choreographer of grace, and blesses each finger and toe. 它站在一旁，我优雅的舞蹈指导，并祝福每个指尖与脚尖。 来自互联网

5 awakening   

n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的

参考例句：

• the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
• People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。

6 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

7 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