VOA慢速英语2011--The Green Movement at US Universities

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - The Green Movement at US Universities

DOUG JOHNSON: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.
(MUSIC)
I'm Doug Johnson. This week on our show, we have a new album from guitarist Pat Metheny ...
And we tell you what some universities are doing to become more environmentally friendly ...
But, first, we hear the story of a soldier who served in Afghanistan and Iraq.
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A Soldier's Story
DOUG JOHNSON: Fireworks filled the sky Monday night as Americans celebrated² Independence Day. On July fourth, seventeen seventy-six, colonists³ meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, approved the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. Eight years of war -- the American Revolution -- lasted until seventeen eighty-three.
This week the celebrations included events to honor members of the military. Military service is voluntary, and less than one percent of Americans serve. Special English writer Kim Varzi recently met a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and asked him to tell his story.
Michael Johnston served in the Navy and, later, on active duty as a sergeant⁴ with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. He worked with helicopters.
MICHAEL JOHNSTON: "My main role was aviation maintenance, so we made sure the aircraft were maintained daily. And then when needed we would also fly. We would rotate through and fill in the gaps, make sure people weren't getting burned out and were able to have time off. That pretty much was our main objective while we were deployed⁵.”
What was an average day like for him in Afghanistan?
MICHAEL JOHNSTON: "Our day was actually at night, because we could only fly at night, so we did all of our missions and everything during the hours of darkness. So it just became a routine of, you wake up, you go out to the aircraft, you prepared for the mission. You get your brief, as to what you are going to be doing, where you are going. You execute it, come back, you do maintenance and you go to sleep.”
Michael Johnston is twenty-seven. He was first deployed to Iraq in two thousand three at the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He returned to Iraq in two thousand nine and found that much had changed.
MICHAEL JOHNSTON: “Just like law and order in general. What would have been comparable to the Wild West, being in the Wild West, where there literally⁶ was just chaos⁷, no law and order, as to now where there actually was law and order. You could actually see it. You would be able to see the Iraqi army, the Iraqi police out there, as opposed to obviously the absolute collapse⁸ in two thousand three, and then the progression coming up into two thousand nine is unreal.”
He has good memories of meeting Iraqi and Afghan civilians⁹ who worked on American bases.
MICHAEL JOHNSTON: "Its just really amazing to see their tenacity¹⁰ and just their strength. I feel as though here in the States we all tend to take things for granted, just the simplest little things, like clean water. You know, just the weather, then too. I mean, these people, day in and day out, they have nothing. They just make do with what they have and they try to make the best of it. And that is just unbelievable to see, just the human spirit."
Michael Johnston says his military experience has taught him to appreciate life and to try to enjoy every day. He has just completed university studies and is working in Washington for a defense¹¹ company. But he still has two years with the National Guard. This means he could be deployed again. Would he want to go?
MICHAEL JOHNSTON: "Absolutely, in a heartbeat."
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Green Universities
DOUG JOHNSON: College students may find a greener campus when they return to classes this fall. Some schools are repairing older buildings and building new ones that are better for the environment. Other steps include adding wind and solar energy systems and planting vegetable gardens. Katherine Cole tells us about a university here in the nation's capital.
KATHERINE COLE: George Washington University is a private school with twenty thousand students. Eloise Smith just graduated from GW, but she still helps care for a community garden on campus.
ELOISE SMITH: “These are little squash blossoms. You pick the make ones because those aren’t the ones that will turn into the vegetable.”
The university has two gardens where students volunteer their time.
Meghan Chapple-Brown directs the Office of Sustainability. She says that over the last ten years GW has developed projects in three main areas.
MEGHAN CHAPPLE-BROWN: "Climate, water and eco-systems. We have begun to create projects on the ground that addresses climate change. We are planning on becoming carbon-neutral and, in fact, reducing our footprint by forty percent by twenty twenty-five. So everything from creating solar hot-water systems on our rooftops to making our buildings much more energy efficient."
Ms. Chapple-Brown says the school also offers one hundred forty different classes in sustainability and the environment.
The university is investing about two million dollars in green efforts. Officials say they are already seeing lower costs for water and energy use.
Sophie Waskow from the Sustainably Office points to a rainwater collection system on a building where students live.
SOPHIE WASKOW: "This is a rain barrel and it is connected to a down spout¹² from the roof of this residence hall."
The rainwater is used to help water campus grounds. Collecting it also reduces runoff of storm water to the nearby Potomac River.
The Sustainable Endowments Institute is a research and education group. It says most high school students consider a college’s environmental performance when choosing schools. Executive Director Mark Orlowski says colleges have moved quickly to write green building policies.
MARK ORLOWSKI: "We see numbers like less than twenty percent of schools having a green building policy five years ago, and now upwards¹³ of eighty percent of schools having a policy, that states that their new buildings will be built in a green fashion."
George Washington University is located in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington. Some neighbors say that while GW is trying to be friendlier to the environment, it could also be a better friend to the neighborhood. The school has expanded repeatedly and there have been tensions between students and local residents.
This is what longtime resident Susan Trinter, editor of the Foggy Bottom News, said in a Washington Post story earlier this year: "There seem to be many more students living off-campus now. That, and the fact that it seems that GW is always pushing beyond its boundaries, has been a perennial¹⁴ issue for residents here."
(MUSIC)
Pat Metheny
Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny has been writing and performing music for more than thirty years. His work as a solo artist and leader of the Pat Metheny Group has earned him eighteen Grammy Awards. Pat Metheny returns to his roots in acoustic¹⁵ guitar on his latest album. Faith Lapidus tells us more.
FAITH LAPIDUS: The album is called "What's It All About." Pat Metheny describes it as "an exploration into unknown territory." "What's It All About" is his first album where all the music was written by other composers.
He chose ten songs including hits like "The Sound of Silence," originally performed by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. Here is Pat Metheny's version.
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And here is the Simon and Garfunkel hit from nineteen sixty-five.
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In the early nineteen seventies, the Stylistics had a hit with "Betcha By Golly, Wow."
(MUSIC)
The new version from Pat Metheny has a similar sweetness, even without words.
(MUSIC)
We leave you with another cut from "What’s It All About." Here is Pat Metheny's version of the Beatles song "And I Love Her."
(MUSIC)
DOUG JOHNSON: I’m Doug Johnson. Our program was written by Kim Varzi and Caty Weaver¹⁶, who was also our producer. Do you have a question about American life? Write to [email protected].
Join us again next week for music and more on AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA 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 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

3 colonists   

n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Colonists from Europe populated many parts of the Americas. 欧洲的殖民者移居到了美洲的许多地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some of the early colonists were cruel to the native population. 有些早期移居殖民地的人对当地居民很残忍。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

5 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

6 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

7 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

8 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

9 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

10 tenacity   

n.坚韧

参考例句：

• Tenacity is the bridge to success.坚韧是通向成功的桥。
• The athletes displayed great tenacity throughout the contest.运动员在比赛中表现出坚韧的斗志。

11 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

12 spout   

v.喷出，涌出；滔滔不绝地讲；n.喷管；水柱

参考例句：

• Implication in folk wealth creativity and undertaking vigor spout.蕴藏于民间的财富创造力和创业活力喷涌而出。
• This acts as a spout to drain off water during a rainstorm.在暴风雨季，这东西被用作喷管来排水。

13 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

14 perennial   

adj.终年的；长久的

参考例句：

• I wonder at her perennial youthfulness.我对她青春常驻感到惊讶。
• There's a perennial shortage of teachers with science qualifications.有理科教学资格的老师一直都很短缺。

15 acoustic   

adj.听觉的，声音的；(乐器)原声的

参考例句：

• The hall has a fine acoustic.这个大厅的传音效果很好。
• Animals use a whole rang of acoustic, visual,and chemical signals in their systems of communication.动物利用各种各样的听觉、视觉和化学信号来进行交流。

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。