VOA慢速英语2011-Virginia Ages Into a Fine Winemaking Stat

I'm Doug Johnson.

This week we play new music by the band Cake …

And answer a question about New York City …

But first a visit to Virginia wine country.

(MUSIC)

Virginia’s Wineries

DOUG JOHNSON: The economic recession has caused many Americans to cut their spending. But one thing Americans keep buying is good wine. The sales numbers are not fully¹ recorded yet for two thousand ten. But the Beverage² Information Group estimates that American wine sales were up for the seventeenth year in a row. And the sales are not all coming from the famed California vineyards. Faith Lapidus has our report from some wineries in Virginia.

Karem Baki of the Hillsborough Winery in Purcellville, Virginia

FAITH LAPIDUS: Bora Baki owns the Hillsborough Winery in Purcellville, Virginia. The Turkish immigrant opened the company with his son ten years ago. The older man says he had planned on retiring at the time. But his son, Karem, had other ideas.

KAREM BAKI: “I was graduating my college, my undergraduate degree and so we were both looking for something to do.”

Karem Baki went on to get a higher degree in winemaking. Now he and his father make wine for the Hillsborough name but also for other local vineyards. Karem Baki says Virginia is excellent for growing wine grapes.

KAREM BAKI: “With the different regions in Virginia you almost have perfect conditions. We of course have our own issues and complications, but as far as the potential for a grape-growing region it’s quite great.”

Last year about twelve thousand people visited the Hillsborough Winery.

BORA BAKI: “Since we don’t filter our reds, because if you filter the reds you lose the flavors, you are going to have some residue⁴ on your glasses. So don’t think it’s dirt, it’s just grape.”

Bora Baki is pouring wine for a group of men and women who climbed a hill in the snow to taste his wine. The winery owner says the recession has not affected⁵ his business.

BORA BAKI: “We have a saying in Turkish, I don’t know if you translate this properly: ‘When you are in sorrow, you drink; when you are happy, you drink.’ So even if the economy was bad people find a way of enjoying themselves with a glass of wine.”

Hillsborough was the ninety-sixth winery in the state when it opened in two thousand three. Now, there are almost twice as many across Virginia. They can be found in the mountains, valleys, and all along the coastal⁶ area.

Ann Heidig and her husband opened the Lake Anna Winery near the state capital, Richmond, in nineteen ninety. Today she is president of the Virginia Wineries Association.

ANN HEIDIG: “I think the quality of Virginia wines has attracted some larger investors⁷ to come in and want to start growing grapes and making wine in Virginia. Even from California we have a couple of people that have come in to start wineries here. So, I think they see it as an opportunity because it is a young industry and it is growing and also it is a viable⁸ industry in the state for agriculture.”

Most Virginia wineries are small, producing no more than five thousand cases of wine a year. And sixty percent of that product is sold at the winery itself.

(SOUND)

SALESPERSON⁹: “Your total is $184.”

SHOPPER: “It’s worth every penny.”

Tourism supports the wine industry in Virginia. Pandit and Sudha Patil own Narmada Winery in Amissville. It opened in two thousand nine. The Indian-American couple says many of their customers visit local wineries instead of taking a vacation.

PANDIT PATIL: “People come from all over DC, Northern Virginia and Maryland, Charlottesville and they stop at the wineries, do tasting.”

SUNDHA PATIL: “They may not spend a whole lot of money, but it’s their way to just get out for the weekend.”

Pandit Patil hopes that idea keeps spreading.

PANDIT PATIL: “In five years, I want everybody to think this is a destination.”

Like many wineries in Virginia, Narmada is in a beautiful country setting. And they have live music on the weekend. Narmada visitor Ted³ Sevigny says the winery also offers something that others do not.

TED SEVIGNY: “You don’t find Indian Virginia wineries. Most of them are Italian or whatever, type of thing, but this one is very unique.”

Sudha Patil agrees.

SUDHA PATIL: “We have a unique thing being of Indian background. Some of our wines can be paired very nicely with the Indian foods we serve here as snacks.”

New York City Culture

DOUG JOHNSON: Our listener question this week comes from Andre Weigel in Brazil. He wants to know about the culture of the people in America’s largest city.

New York City, in the state of New York, is the largest city in the United States. More than eight million people live there. That is more than two times the number of people in Los Angeles, California, America’s second largest city.

New York City is the cultural capital of America. It is an important center for art, architecture, theater, music, dance and film.

New York is also known for its cultural diversity. About thirty-six percent of the people were born in a foreign country. If you asked those people where they are from, they would probably say: The Dominican Republic, China, Jamaica, Guyana, Mexico, Ecuador, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia or Russia. Most new immigrants come from those ten countries. However, about one hundred seventy languages are spoken in America’s largest city.

Many Europeans moved to New York about one hundred years ago. They came mostly from Italy, Ireland, Germany, Russia and Poland. Today, the New York City area has the largest number of Jews outside of Israel. It is also home to more African-Americans than any other American city. Except for Puerto Rico itself, more Puerto Ricans live in New York City than in any other place in the world.

Immigrants often live in communities with other people from their countries. These include communities of Italians, Russians, Chinese, Koreans, Dominicans and Puerto Ricans.

New York preschoolers take part this month in a Three Kings Day parade marking the most festive¹⁰ day of the Christmas season in Latin American culture

About forty-four percent of all New Yorkers are white. A little over one-fourth are African-American. About one-fourth are Hispanic or Latino. Nearly twelve percent have Asian ancestors.

One thing that all New Yorkers have in common is the density¹¹ of their city. Millions of people live in a small place. New York City has five boroughs¹². They are the Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Queens, and Manhattan.

The island of Manhattan has almost twenty-six thousand people per square kilometer of land. The streets of Manhattan are very crowded because so many people live and work in there. Most people travel in buses, taxi cabs, or underground in the subway instead of owning cars. Most live in tall apartment buildings. Manhattan is home to some of the wealthiest as well as the poorest people in the city.

Cake

DOUG JOHNSON: The California-based band Cake released “Showroom of Compassion¹³” last week. It is the band’s first album in seven years. Many fans were expecting greatness. Some are satisfied, others are not.

Mario Ritter has more on Cake and plays songs from the new album.

MARIO RITTER: Cake has been together since the early nineteen nineties. The band has released six studio albums including “Showroom of Compassion.” However, band leader John McCrea told Rolling Stone magazine that he thinks about breaking up with the band every day. He says he likes making music. But he says concerts and selling tee-shirts is the only way to make money in the business. McCrea says that means a lot of airplane travel and pollution. He says he would like a career that is less damaging to the environment.

Cake’s website contains environmental messages and news. The band also completed building a solar-powered recording¹⁴ studio in two thousand eight. The new album was made there.

Here is “Sick of You” from “Showroom of Compassion.”

(MUSIC)

Some critics note that “Showroom of Compassion” sounds a lot like past Cake albums. John McCrea does not have a problem with that. He says he likes Cake’s sound. But he says this album does include slow songs and more piano than usual.

“Got to Move” sounds like traditional Cake.

(MUSIC)

Cake is currently appearing around the United States and Canada. As usual, the band will be giving away one tree to one lucky concertgoer at most shows. Cake hopes this will help influence other fans to plant trees to help the planet.

We leave you with another song from “Showroom of Compassion.” This is “Bound Away.”

(MUSIC)

DOUG JOHNSON: I’m Doug Johnson. Our program was written by Jim Tedder¹⁵, Susan Logue and Caty Weaver¹⁶ who also was our producer.

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC¹⁷, VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.

1 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。

2 beverage   

n.(水，酒等之外的)饮料

参考例句：

• The beverage is often colored with caramel.这种饮料常用焦糖染色。
• Beer is a beverage of the remotest time.啤酒是一种最古老的饮料。

3 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

4 residue   

n.残余，剩余，残渣

参考例句：

• Mary scraped the residue of food from the plates before putting them under water.玛丽在把盘子放入水之前先刮去上面的食物残渣。
• Pesticide persistence beyond the critical period for control leads to residue problems.农药一旦超过控制的临界期，就会导致残留问题。

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

7 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

8 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

9 salesperson   

n.售货员，营业员，店员

参考例句：

• A salesperson works in a shop.售货员在商店工作。
• Vanessa is a salesperson in a woman's wear department.凡妮莎是女装部的售货员。

10 festive   

adj.欢宴的，节日的

参考例句：

• It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节，每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。
• We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。

11 density   

n.密集，密度，浓度

参考例句：

• The population density of that country is 685 per square mile.那个国家的人口密度为每平方英里685人。
• The region has a very high population density.该地区的人口密度很高。

12 boroughs   

（尤指大伦敦的）行政区( borough的名词复数 )； 议会中有代表的市镇

参考例句：

• London is made up of 32 boroughs. 伦敦由三十二个行政区组成。
• Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City. 布鲁克林区是纽约市的五个行政区之一。

13 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

14 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。

15 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网

16 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。

17 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。