VOA慢速英语2010-AMERICAN MOSAIC - Pop Singer Spreads 'Bie

DOUG JOHNSON: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I’m Doug Johnson. This week on our program, we have music from Justin Bieber's latest album, "My World 2.0." And we answer a question about National Teacher Day in America.

Justin Bieber singing at the White House earlier this month

But first, we tell you about a program that takes millions of kids out of school for a day and into the working world.

(MUSIC)

Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work

DOUG JOHNSON: On April twenty-second, some American children stayed out of school but they were not punished. They were with their parents. As Faith Lapidus tells us, it was Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.

FAITH LAPIDUS: The Ms. Foundation for Women started the program seventeen years ago, in nineteen ninety-three. At first it was just called Take Our Daughters to Work.

Gloria Steinem and other foundation leaders pointed² to studies showing that self-image suffers as girls become teenagers. They can lose trust in their abilities and intelligence, especially in areas like science, math and technology.

So the Ms. Foundation planned a day for parents in New York City to show girls all the possibilities for them in the professional world. But there was so much interest, the organizers decided³ to make it national.

At first, girls mostly followed their mom or dad around at work to learn about their jobs. Later, employers and schools began to offer structured activities.

But from the beginning there were protests from parents and others about the exclusion⁴ of boys. So in two thousand three the day was renamed Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work.

Two thousand seven was the last year that the Ms. Foundation for Women headed the program. Now, the event is administered by a twelve-person group called the Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Foundation.

Alicia Agugliaro arrives at work in Princeton, New Jersey⁵, with her daughter Eliana

The event is in partnership⁶ with Mattel, the company that makes Barbie dolls.

Carolyn McKecuen is president of the foundation. She says a total of about thirty-three million children and adults are involved in the program.

About one-third of the adults work at large companies or nonprofit organizations. Another third are in small businesses. The rest work in education.

Carolyn McKecuen says the numbers from this year’s event are not final yet. But early reports suggest that participation⁷ was up at least ten percent from last year.

And she says the foundation is hoping to find support to expand the program internationally. She says there are lots of requests from other countries for information about how to set up similar programs.

DOUG JOHNSON: Coming up, we hand our microphone over to some of the children who came to work with their parents at VOA.

(MUSIC)

National Teacher Day

Our question this week comes from China. Li Meng wants to know about Teacher Day in America.

National Teacher Day is this Tuesday. The National Education Association, the country's largest teachers union, gives a history of the celebration on its Web site.

It says the earliest beginnings are not clear. But around nineteen forty-four, a teacher in Arkansas sent letters to political and education leaders. Mattye Whyte Woodbridge called for a national day to honor teachers.

One of the people she wrote to was Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of President Franklin Roosevelt. In nineteen fifty-three, the first lady persuaded Congress to declare a National Teacher Day. But it was only for that year.

There was similar action in nineteen eighty when Congress declared March seventh of that year National Teacher Day.

The National Education Association continued to observe the day in March. Then in nineteen eighty-five they moved it to the Tuesday of the first full week of May.

The event was also expanded, as we learned on the United States Census⁸ Bureau Web site. The N.E.A. and the National Parent-Teacher Association established Teacher Appreciation⁹ Week.

Next week many parents, students and administrators¹⁰ will express their appreciation through gifts, cards, flowers or other special treats. Some schools hold contests in which students write about their favorite teachers. The essays are read at special ceremonies.

A few years ago, the National Education Association asked teachers what they would most like to receive in appreciation of their efforts. Most said all they wanted was a simple "thank you."

So last year, students, parents, school officials, stars, politicians, athletes and other people were urged to write thank-you notes for the special teachers in their lives. The union collected the notes on a board twenty-three meters wide by almost two and a half meters tall.

Last week was Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day in the United States. It was a good chance for our next generation of reporters here at VOA to ask other kids about their favorite teachers.

REPORTER: “Who’s your favorite teacher?

STUDENT: “My favorite teacher is Richard Stebbins. He was a nineteen sixty-four Olympic winner. He lets us wear his Olympic medal if our class does good on the tests.”

REPORTER: “That’s kind of fun!”

REPORTER: “What’s your name?”

STUDENT: “Broklin, B-R-O-K-L-I-N.

REPORTER: “What school do you go to?”

STUDENT: “Wade Elementary.”

REPORTER: “What grade are you in?”

STUDENT: “Kindergarten. Pre-K.”

REPORTER: “Who’s your favorite teacher?”

STUDENT: “Miss Duke.”

REPORTER: “What makes her a great teacher?”

STUDENT: “She makes me learn letters and she’s nice to me.”

REPORTER: “Who is your favorite teacher?”

STUDENT: “My favorite teacher is probably Miss Collin who is my main fifth grade teacher.”

REPORTER: “What do you like about her?”

STUDENT: “She’s really nice and she let’s everybody go at their own pace.”

(MUSIC)

Justin Bieber

DOUG JOHNSON: "Bieber fever" is a reaction to Justin Bieber, the sixteen-year-old pop singer from Canada. This week, in New Zealand, crowds of girls even pushed his mother down to get near him. She was OK. But earlier, in Australia, eight people were hurt and a performance was cancelled. As Mario Ritter tells us, Justin Bieber is traveling around the world to promote his new album.

MARIO RITTER: "My World 2.0" was released on March twenty-third. Sales have been number one on Billboard¹¹ magazine’s top two hundred albums chart.

Here is Justin Bieber teaming with Ludacris for the song "Baby."

(MUSIC)

Justin Bieber got his big start on YouTube. Usher¹² discovered him. As the rhythm and blues¹³ star tells it, when they first met, Justin sang him an Usher song -- and sang it better.

"My World 2.0" includes a lot of slow, romantic songs, but here is one you can dance to, "Somebody to Love."

(MUSIC)

Justin Bieber will be performing around the United States starting next month. From "My World 2.0" we leave you with "That Should Be Me."

(MUSIC)

DOUG JOHNSON: I'm Doug Johnson. Our program was written by June Simms and Caty Weaver¹⁴, who also was our producer. And we had additional reporting by Special English junior reporters Darick Simms and Daisy and Andrew Bracken.

You can find transcripts¹⁵, MP3s and podcasts of our programs at voaspecialenglish.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and iTunes at VOA Learning English. You can post comments online and send us questions about American life.

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 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

3 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。

4 exclusion   

n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行

参考例句：

• Don't revise a few topics to the exclusion of all others.不要修改少数论题以致排除所有其他的。
• He plays golf to the exclusion of all other sports.他专打高尔夫球，其他运动一概不参加。

5 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

6 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

7 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

8 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。

9 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

10 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

11 billboard   

n.布告板，揭示栏，广告牌

参考例句：

• He ploughed his energies into his father's billboard business.他把精力投入到父亲的广告牌业务中。
• Billboard spreads will be simpler and more eye-catching.广告牌广告会比较简单且更引人注目。

12 usher   

n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员

参考例句：

• The usher seated us in the front row.引座员让我们在前排就座。
• They were quickly ushered away.他们被迅速领开。

13 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。

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。

15 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