VOA慢速英语2012 AMERICAN MOSAIC - Mystery In Sky Over North Carolina; Holiday for the Dead; Chart Climbing Music

 

 

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - Mystery In Sky Over North Carolina; Holiday for the Dead; Chart Climbing Music

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

I’m June Simms.

On our show this week, we play some music that is climbing the popularity charts…

And tell about a holiday that honors the dead.

But first, we look in the mystery of strange lights that sometimes glow above a mountain in North Carolina.

Brown Mountain Lights

For almost one hundred years, people have looked up at the sky over a certain part of North Carolina and wondered : what is that? They see sometimes see balls of light high above them. So far there is no clear explanation of where these lights come from or what they are made of. Jim Tedder² has our story. 

The mystery began in September of nineteen-thirteen. A man was fishing at night in the Blue Ridge³ Mountains of North Carolina. There was no sound, but suddenly unusual lights began to appear over Brown Mountain. The fisherman said they were red and round, like a ball. They were unlike anything he had seen before. They came back night after night. 

He told some friends about what he had seen. The Charlotte Daily Observer newspaper wrote about the story. A worker for the United States Geological Survey visited the area to investigate. He decided⁴ that what the fisherman and others had seen was nothing more than lights from a train. End of story. 

But the lights continued to appear. Some people said September, October, and November were the best months to see them. Nine years later, a Geological Survey team came back to the area to conduct a larger investigation⁵. As before, they decided there was no mystery. They said witnesses were seeing train lights, camp fires, or automobile⁶ lights. In nineteen sixteen a large flood swept through the area. Electrical power was lost. Trains could not run. Roads and bridges were washed away. But the Brown Mountain lights continued to appear. 

If there are unusual lights around Brown Mountain, what could they be? Throughout the southern United States, people have spoken of seeing a “Jack o Lantern” or “Will of the Wisp”, floating in the night sky. Scientists say these sightings are often balls of swamp gas. As plants die in low, wet, swampy⁷ areas, they release gas that glows.

Another theory says the lights are caused by electrically charged plasma⁸, a type of lightning that floats like a ball. Others say quartz⁹ rocks in the ground create a “piezoelectric” effect when the earth moves. Still others suggest that the lights are reflections from far away cars and homes.

But people who love a good mystery say the Brown Mountain lights are the spirits of the Cherokee and Catawba Indians who lived in the area many years ago. Some think Unidentified Flying Objects and space aliens are involved. But when the fishing rods are cleaned and stored for the night, and the guitars, violins, and banjos are tuned¹⁰, the mountain people of western North Carolina sit around the fire and sing about a ghost and those strange lights up on the mountain.

Day of the Dead

On October thirty-first, many Americans will celebrate Halloween. People dress to look like scary creatures such as monsters, witches or ghosts. Children go door to door in their neighborhoods to “trick or treat” and collect sweets. But people from Mexico and Central America do things a little differently. For them, October thirty-first marks the beginning of celebrations for “Dia de Los Muertos”, or “Day of the Dead.”

Day of the Dead takes place on November first. It is connected to the Roman Catholic “All Souls’ Day,” on November second.

Dia de Los Muertos honors the memory of loved ones who have died. But it also celebrates the continuation of life. The ancient tradition started among the native cultures of Mexico. It has its roots in an Aztec tradition of honoring and remembering the dead.

When the Spanish came to Mexico in the sixteenth century, they celebrated¹¹ the Christian¹² holiday of All Souls’ Day in which dead loved ones are also honored. Day of the Dead developed into a combination of both traditions.

People celebrate Day of the Dead on November first and second. Families visit the burial places of their loved ones and make their graves beautiful. They place orange marigold flowers and lighted candles. They bring special food and drinks and spend the night celebrating and telling stories with other members of their community.

Traditional food includes tamales and “pan de muerto,” a sweetened bread formed in the shape of a person. Friends and family exchange presents such as “calaveras," sugar candies in the form of a skeleton head. Families have special places in their homes called altars. Here they place flowers, candles and photographs of the loved one being remembered.

Many immigrants from Mexico and Central America keep Day of the Dead alive in the United States. In Los Angeles, California, there are more than ten events taking place across the city. One of them will bring people to the famous Hollywood Forever Cemetery¹³. It will hold a parade with traditional Aztec blessings¹⁴ and costumed dance performances. There will also be arts and crafts on display, including more than one hundred altars built by members of the nearby community. And, of course, there will be a lot of traditional foods to eat.

Similar events will take place in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, New York and many other states around the country.

Chart Climbers

Some very recognizable names are in the top ten of Billboard¹⁵ charts right now. But there are also several musicians we have never covered. This week, Mario Ritter tells us about some of these artists and plays their current hits.

Heard of K-pop? It stands for Korean pop. Right now one man is at the heart of K-pop in America. Hip-hop artist Psy was born Park Jae-sang in South Korea and grew up there. But, he travelled to America for higher education. He studied at Boston University and the Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts.

Psy is enjoying critical praise right now for his song, “Gangnam Style.” But the video has caught fire. It was recently named the “most-liked” video in the history of Internet videos. It reportedly has been viewed more than five hundred million times. And hundreds of people have created their own music video versions of the song on YouTube.

“Gangnam Style” is about the culture of the Gangnam neighborhood in Seoul. The area is full of some very stylish¹⁶ people. They wear costly¹⁷ clothes, and live like the rich and famous. Psy says his song makes fun of the whole idea of such people.

British singer Ellie Goulding released “Halcyon,” her second studio album, three weeks ago. It is currently number nine on Billboard’s Top Two Hundred albums chart.

The single “Anything Could Happen” tells a dark love story but the music is upbeat. Goulding sings: I’ll give you everything you need / I’ll give you everything you need / But, I don’t think I need you.

Ben Haggarty is a rapper from Seattle, Washington. He performs under the name Macklemore.

He and producer Ryan Lewis recently released their first album. “The Heist” entered the Billboard Top Two Hundred Albums chart at number two. Not bad for a first effort. Even more noteworthy is that Macklemore and Lewis are independent. They made the album without the support of a major record producer.

Macklemore raps about weightier issues than can be found in most pop music. The single “Wings” tells about the joy a young boy can feel from a great play in basketball. It also questions the morality of materialism¹⁸.

We leave you with “Wings” on the new album “The Heist” from Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.

 

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 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

3 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

4 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。

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

6 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

7 swampy   

adj.沼泽的，湿地的

参考例句：

• Malaria is still rampant in some swampy regions.疟疾在一些沼泽地区仍很猖獗。
• An ox as grazing in a swampy meadow.一头牛在一块泥泞的草地上吃草。

8 plasma   

n.血浆，细胞质，乳清

参考例句：

• Keep some blood plasma back for the serious cases.留一些血浆给重病号。
• The plasma is the liquid portion of blood that is free of cells .血浆是血液的液体部分，不包含各种细胞。

9 quartz   

n.石英

参考例句：

• There is a great deal quartz in those mountains.那些山里蕴藏着大量石英。
• The quartz watch keeps good time.石英表走时准。

10 tuned   

adj.调谐的，已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• The resort is tuned in to the tastes of young and old alike. 这个度假胜地适合各种口味，老少皆宜。
• The instruments should be tuned up before each performance. 每次演出开始前都应将乐器调好音。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 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。

12 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

13 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

14 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 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。

16 stylish   

adj.流行的，时髦的；漂亮的，气派的

参考例句：

• He's a stylish dresser.他是个穿着很有格调的人。
• What stylish women are wearing in Paris will be worn by women all over the world.巴黎女性时装往往会引导世界时装潮流。

17 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

18 materialism   

n.［哲］唯物主义，唯物论；物质至上

参考例句：

• Idealism is opposite to materialism.唯心论和唯物论是对立的。
• Crass materialism causes people to forget spiritual values.极端唯物主义使人忘掉精神价值。