VOA慢速英语2010年-AMERICAN MOSAIC - Some of World's Most

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

(MUSIC)

I’m Doug Johnson.

Today, we answer a listener question about the British music invasion in the nineteen sixties.

But first, we visit a special architecture exhibit in Washington, D.C.

(MUSIC)

Legos

DOUG JOHNSON: Architecture lovers in Washington do not have to travel far to see some of the world’s most famous buildings. Architect Adam Reed Tucker has recreated fifteen of them using Lego bricks. The exhibit is called “LEGO Architecture: Towering Ambition.” It is at the National Building Museum in Washington until early September. Faith Lapidus has more.

FAITH LAPIDUS: Lego bricks are small, colorful plastic blocks. They can be snapped together to make any number of objects. They are popular with children of all ages around the world.

Adam Reed Tucker calls himself an “architectural artist.”

Adam Reed Tucker combined his childhood love of building with his career as an architect to develop the Lego Architecture series. The White House is part of his show at the National Building Museum in Washington.

He was a professional architect for ten years. After the terrorist attacks against the United States in two thousand one he decided² to do something different. He wanted to express his feelings for the form of the skyscraper³ while deepening his understanding of architecture, engineering and construction. He chose to use something that most people used as children and could relate to.

The buildings in the exhibit include the World Trade Center in New York that was destroyed in the terrorist attacks; the Gateway⁴ Arch in Saint Louis, Missouri; the famous house called Fallingwater in Pennsylvania, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright; and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the tallest building in the world. Tucker used more than four hundred fifty thousand Legos to make his version which is more than five meters tall.

Tucker does all his work by hand, using only pictures of the buildings. He does not use any computers or drawings to plan his buildings. While the exhibit is going on, Tucker will be working on his latest work, the White House where the American president lives. Visitors can watch him create the famous building brick by brick.

Anne Bennett visited the Building Museum with her two grandchildren, Dylan and Daisy. She used the Lego exhibit to teach her grandchildren about famous buildings.

DAISY: “My favorite is probably that tall building because it’s made out of Legos. It’s really cool because it looks like there’s individual little rooms.”

That was Anne’s granddaughter, Daisy. She was talking about the Willis Tower, formerly⁵ known as the Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois. The real building is over four hundred forty meters tall. Tucker’s model stands six meters tall.

After walking through Tucker’s models, visitors can create their own works at the building station. They can make houses, office buildings, stores or factories. They can then place their models on a large map of a city. As more visitors come, the Lego city will grow.

Lowry Baker⁶ came from McLean, Virginia, to see the exhibit.

LOWRY BAKER: “When we saw the models it was just amazing. The models seem like a perfect rendition of the actual buildings. And then of course as soon as my son got a look at all of the stations here he just made a beeline because he wanted to start building. It’s really a great set-up. It really encourages creativity on the kids’ parts.”

Paul lives in Washington and brought his baby daughter along to see the Lego exhibit.

PAUL: “You know, I love architecture, so … and growing up I loved Legos. So you know throw those two together and I’ll come running to check this out regardless of whether she cares or not.”

To many people, Legos might seem like toys for kids. But Adam Reed Tucker proves that the only limit to what the toy can do is a person’s imagination. To watch another Lego artist at work, go to voaspecialenglish.com and click on Captioned⁷ Videos.

British Invasion

DOUG JOHNSON: This week’s listener question comes from a Russian student living and studying in France. Georgia Mulyukina wants to know about the musical “British Invasion” of the nineteen sixties.

The Beatles perform on CBS television's "Ed Sullivan Show" in New York on February 9, 1964. From left, front, are Paul McCartney, George Harrison and John Lennon. Ringo Starr plays the drums.

In the winter of nineteen sixty-four, the Beatles packed up their electric guitars, drum kits⁸, and rebellious⁹ ways and set off for America.

They landed at Kennedy airport in New York on February seventh. Huge crowds gathered to greet the long-haired musicians from Liverpool, England. Girls screamed as they tried to get a look at John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

Two days later, more than seventy million people watched the group perform four of their hit songs on the Ed Sullivan Show. This was sixty percent of the American television audience. Here the Beatles sing one of those songs, “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”

(MUSIC)

The Beatles soon had the top five hit songs on the Billboard¹⁰ singles chart. Millions of fans became infected with Beatlemania. They rushed to stores to buy Beatles albums, wigs¹¹, clothes, dolls and lunch boxes.

The Beatles recorded more than twenty number one hits in America. A Beatles song was almost always at the top of the charts until the group’s next hit replaced it. They played to more than fifty thousand fans at large sports stadiums. And they filmed several movies that made millions of dollars.

The Beatles were influenced by American singers including Chuck Berry, Buddy¹² Holly¹³ and Little Richard. Yet the group’s music sounded completely new and different. The Beatles wrote more than two hundred songs that revolutionized American popular music.

In addition, young people saw the Beatles as spokesmen for their generation. They copied the band members’ long hair and free-spirited ways. The band became so popular that in nineteen sixty-six John Lennon said they were more popular than Jesus Christ.

Here the Beatles sing one of their number one hits, “Get Back.”

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Soon other musicians began writing their own music the way John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote the Beatles songs.

Many other British groups followed the Beatles to America. This was known as the “British Invasion.” They included the Dave Clark Five, the Kinks and the Rolling Stones.

The Rolling Stones called themselves the “World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band.” The Stones first performed across America in nineteen sixty-four. This song was the group’s first Top 40 hit in the United States.

(MUSIC: “Tell Me [You’re Coming Back]”)

In the spring of nineteen seventy, the Beatles released “Let it Be.” But their fans were not celebrating. This was the last studio album the Beatles recorded as a group. It tells the story of the band’s break up. We leave you with the title track from that album, “Let it Be.”

(MUSIC)

DOUG JOHNSON: I'm Doug Johnson. Our program was written by Mike DeFabo, who was also the producer.

You can find transcripts¹⁴, MP3s and podcasts of our shows at voaspecialenglish.com.

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 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。

3 skyscraper   

n.摩天大楼

参考例句：

• The skyscraper towers into the clouds.那幢摩天大楼高耸入云。
• The skyscraper was wrapped in fog.摩天楼为雾所笼罩。

4 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。

5 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

6 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

7 captioned   

a.标题项下的； 标题所说的

参考例句：

• This paper reviews the production, development and nationalization of the captioned materials. 本文就铜系合金引线框架材料的生产、发展和国产化进程作一论述。
• Please advise other considerable hotels for this captioned group. 请推荐其它一些高级的旅馆给这一群打标语的人。

8 kits   

衣物和装备( kit的名词复数 )； 成套用品； 配套元件

参考例句：

• Keep your kits closed and locked when not in use. 不用的话把你的装备都锁好放好。
• Gifts Articles, Toy and Games, Wooden Toys, Puzzles, Craft Kits. 采购产品礼品，玩具和游戏，木制的玩具，智力玩具，手艺装备。

9 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。

10 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。

11 wigs   

n.假发，法官帽( wig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They say that wigs will be coming in again this year. 据说今年又要流行戴假发了。 来自辞典例句
• Frank, we needed more wigs than we thought, and we have to do some advertising. 弗兰克，因为我们需要更多的假发，而且我们还要做点广告。 来自电影对白

12 buddy   

n.（美口）密友，伙伴

参考例句：

• Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气，老兄。有什么麻烦吗？
• Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了，你这家伙！

13 holly   

n.[植]冬青属灌木

参考例句：

• I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
• People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。

14 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