VOA慢速英语2012 AMERICAN MOSAIC - Pop Singer Lionel Richie Heads South for Home with 'Tuskegee'

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - Pop Singer Lionel Richie Heads South for Home with 'Tuskegee'

 

JUNE SIMMS: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

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I’m June Simms. This week on our program, we hear new music from Lionel Richie...

And, talk to a man who organizes a law enforcement foot race through the Mojave Desert in the American southwest…

But, first, we go to a school in Maryland for a lesson in giving…

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Food on the 15th

JUNE SIMMS: School-centered education is important, but children also can learn a lot from real-life experiences. Just ask some young people who collect food for needy² adults every month. Barbara Klein has more about a non-profit program called Food on the 15th.

BARBARA KLEIN: On the fifteenth of each month, volunteers are busy working inside a classroom at Pointers Run Elementary School in Maryland.

Darius Rucker, left, and Lionel Richie perform "Stuck on You" at a concert last week in Las Vegas, Nevada 

Students collect food that has been donated by students, parents and teachers. First, the children look at dates marked on the donated food to make sure it is safe. Next, they organize it into groups. Then, the food is placed in bags for transport to older, needy adults in the community.

Julie Rosenthal started Food on the 15th six years ago.

JULIE ROSENTHAL: “I wanted to teach my daughter about philanthropy, about helping⁴ others who were less fortunate in our community. And I wanted to teach other kids in the community, too.”

Six years ago, Julie Rosenthal’s daughter, Jenny Mandle, was in fifth grade. Now, she is fifteen and still involved. She says she thought differently back then.

JENNY MANDLE: “I honestly thought that food just came right out of the pantry, money grew on trees. I had no idea that there were people in Howard County, like where I live, that didn't have food every month, that had trouble making ends meet.”

The children and parent volunteers take the food to the needy around the fifteenth of the month. That is when money from monthly Social Security payments begins to run out. Older people often have to make difficult decisions between buying food and using the money for other needs.

Linda Testerman is among those receiving the donated food.

LINDA TESTERMAN: “I'm on a fixed⁵ income and the food, with the prices at the grocery store, it has helped me out tremendously.”

Ms. Testerman says she enjoys seeing the children. And the students get the sense of satisfaction that comes with giving. Student Campbell Snoddy says she enjoys her Food on the 15th experience.

CAMPBELL SNODDY: “It was really fun, it was great to make the senior citizens happy. It was really cool.”

Julie Rosenthal says that is why she has children do more than fill bags with food.

JULIE ROSENTHAL: “We want the children to have firsthand experience delivering the food to the people so that they can get that feeling of really making a difference in somebody’s life, a positive difference.”

The program started with one school providing thirty bags of food. It has grown each year, and now involves ten schools and several churches. To date, Food on the 15th has collected and delivered more than twelve thousand bags.

Julie Rosenthal explains the success of the program.

JULIE ROSENTHAL: “It is the power of one. People don’t realize the power of one is huge; one more bag of food, one more container of macaroni and cheese, one more person helping. One person does make a difference."

Challenge Cup/Baker to Vegas Relay⁶

JUNE SIMMS: Foot races are popular in America. Some are held to decide the fastest athletes. Others raise money for social causes, like cancer research. But one race in California is held in the name of good relations among members of a profession that depends on cooperation: law enforcement.

Los Angeles California police officers, Chuck Foote and Larry Moore, created the Challenge Cup/Baker to Vegas Relay in nineteen eighty-five. The twenty-eighth annual running of the two-day event will start April twenty-first. Hundreds of law enforcement teams take part. Most are from California and the American southwest, including New Mexico and Texas. But, Chuck Foote says, some of the runners come from much farther away. 

CHUCK FOOTE: “We have several federal teams who probably do draw personnel⁷ from throughout the United States. We have four teams from Canada, we have a South Wales team from the UK and we have Hamburg, Germany. So we do have some international teams.”

The two hundred-nine kilometer race path goes along small roads through the Mojave Desert. Chuck Foote says it gets very hot. He says most of the time the temperature will be over thirty-two degrees Celsius⁸ and as high as thirty-nine. However, runners only have to cover about ten kilometers each. There are twenty runners on each team and twenty exchange stations along the path. A new runner starts at each station.

Chuck Foote says thousands of volunteers help organize and carry out the race. Each team has about twenty members who assist the racers. Then, there are thousands of other volunteers who help with operations. They set up the exchange stations, making sure there are bathrooms, water, lighting⁹ and other supplies. Medical workers also set up at each station. And there are ambulances and helicopters on standby to help deal with injuries and sickness.

Chuck Foote now serves as director of the California Police Athletic¹⁰ Association. He is also the coordinator¹¹ of the Challenge Cup/Baker to Vegas Relay. He says the race takes almost a full year to organize. But, he does not stop there. He also runs in the race himself every year.

Chuck Foote says he thinks the Challenge Cup has been successful in its goal of unity³.

CHUCK FOOTE: “It’s a great opportunity for that kind of thing to happen. It gives law enforcement a chance to talk to other law enforcement from throughout the western US, and even outside the US, as to how things go. You know, police work being pretty much the same no matter where you go. They get a chance to meet others.”

This year’s race ends on April twenty-second inside the conference room at the Las Vegas Hotel and Casino.

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Lionel Richie “Tuskegee”

JUNE SIMMS: The singer and songwriter Lionel Richie has a new and unusual album. He worked with American country music stars to reproduce¹² some of the hit songs from his past. Bob Doughty¹³ has music from the new album, “Tuskegee.”

ANNCR: Lionel Richie became famous in the nineteen seventies as lead singer of The Commodores. The group had huge success with dance songs like “Brick House” and love songs like “Easy.”

Lionel Richie left The Commodores in nineteen eighty-two and continued to be very successful on his own. In fact, he sold millions of record albums. And other performers recorded his songs. Over the years, he won many awards for his work, including four Grammys and an Academy Award.

“Tuskegee” includes some of that winning music. But what makes the album different is that the singer performs his songs with country music artists, like Shania Twain and Jason Aldean.

Lionel Richie also performs with country singers that have reached career heights equal to his own. For example, he performs with Willie Nelson on the nineteen seventy-seven Commodores song, “Easy.”

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“Tuskegee” is a city in the state of Alabama. It is also home to the famed Tuskegee Institute, now Tuskegee University. Lionel Richie grew up in the city and studied economics¹⁴ at the Institute. The singer songwriter said country music was an early influence in his life. He said making “Tuskegee” seemed natural.

Here, he sings with Jennifer Nettles¹⁵ of Sugarland on “Hello.”

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We leave you with Darius Rucker and Lionel Richie performing, “Stuck on You,” from the album “Tuskegee.”

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JUNE SIMMS: I’m June Simms. Our program was written and produced by Caty Weaver¹⁶.

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 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

3 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

6 relay   

n.接力赛，中继转播（设备）；vt.转述，转播

参考例句：

• They will relay your message.他们会转达你的口信。
• This metal tower is used to relay television signals to distant villages.这个金属塔是用于向遥远的村子转播电视讯号的。

7 personnel   

n.[总称]人员，员工，人事部门

参考例句：

• The personnel are not happy to change these rules.全体工作人员对改变这些规定很不高兴。
• Personnel has lost my tax forms.人事部门把我的税收表格给弄丢了。

8 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

9 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

10 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

11 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

12 reproduce   

v.生育，繁殖，复制，重做

参考例句：

• The machine can reproduce a key in two minutes.这机器能在两分钟内复制一把钥匙。
• The picture will reproduce well.这照片会印得很清楚。

13 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

14 economics   

n.经济学，经济情况

参考例句：

• He is studying economics,which subject is very important.他正在学习经济学，该学科是很重要的。
• One can't separate politics from economics.不能把政治与经济割裂开来。

15 nettles   

n.荨麻( nettle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I tingle where I sat in the nettles. 我坐过在荨麻上的那个部位觉得刺痛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This bleak place overgrown with nettles was the churchyard. 那蔓草丛生的凄凉地方是教堂公墓。 来自辞典例句

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。