VOA慢速英语2012--AMERICAN MOSAIC - Remembering Two Bright Stars of Music; 'To the Arctic'

 

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - Remembering Two Bright Stars of Music; 'To the Arctic²'

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

(MUSIC)

I’m June Simms. This week on our program, we remember two music greats, Chuck Brown and Donna Summe …

But, first, we visit the northern most part of the Earth and the creatures who live there in the movie, “To the Arctic.”

(MUSIC)

"To The Arctic"

JUNE SIMMS: Few people can visit the Arctic. But soon people all over the world will be able to feel like they have made the trip. A new movie, “To the Arctic,” explores the life and environment in the wilderness³ area, especially the condition of its polar bears. Barbara Klein has our story.

BARBARA KLEIN: “To the Arctic” is forty-five minutes long. But the film was shot in eight months over a four year period. The director is Greg MacGillivray. He and his brother Shaun produced the film. It was made for release on the huge IMAX theater screens. “To the Arctic” also is 3-D, or three dimensional, giving theater goers the sensation⁴ of being part of the action.

The film tells the story of a mother polar bear and her two cubs⁵. Through their struggle to survive, theatergoers see the results of rising temperatures on the Arctic and its animals. The bears are central to the film because they cannot survive anywhere else. And, the movie says their environment is warming two thirds faster than anywhere else on Earth.

Academy Award winner Meryl Street narrates⁶ the film.

(SOUND)

“To the Arctic” is part of an international campaign to save the polar bears and their home. Scientists say there are only twenty thousand polar bears alive today. And, they say, their long term existence is at risk.

Nature photographer Florian Schulz has produced a book to go along with the movie. He says the purpose of both works is to educate people about what is happening in Earth’s extreme north.

FLORIAN SCHULZ: “The polar bears won’t be able to survive without the ice, and, right now, scientists are predicting that by two thousand and forty or two thousand and fifty, somewhere in between, the sea ice in the summer will completely go away.”

Mr. Shultz spent eighteen months in the Arctic. He lived in a tent and would get around on a special vehicle powered by the sun’s energy. The extreme cold presented some interesting problems for the work.

FLORIAN SCHULZ: “You have to let your equipment completely freeze and then it will stay frozen⁷. You can’t take it inside your sleeping bag or inside your tent because then the condensation⁸ will go on top of it, and then the ice will build and then you don’t get rid of the ice anymore.”

Florian Schultz says there were also some dangerous incidents with wildlife. Like a bear that showed interest in a camera. The animal got within seven meters of the photographer.

FLORIAN SCHULZ: “We then shot with a flare⁹ gun at the ground level so the bang was closer to the ground and the bear understood that he should move on. That was definitely a scary moment.”

The movie and book are part of a larger campaign to save polar bears and the Arctic. Suzanne Apple is with the World Wildlife Fund.

SUZANNE APPLE: “This area that we are focused on called the last ice area in northern Canada, Greenland and Denmark. Our research shows that this is the ice that will persist¹⁰ the longest. So we are hoping to protect and preserve that.”

“To the Arctic” is getting mixed reviews from critics. Although most praise the extraordinary images, several critics say the writing is weak.

Remembering Chuck Brown and Donna Summer

JUNE SIMMS: America lost two major entertainers this week. Chuck Brown was considered the "godfather of go-go" music. Donna Summer was the "queen of disco."

Chuck Brown died Wednesday at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland. The musician had developed the blood infection sepsis during treatment for pneumonia¹¹. He was seventy-five.

The singer was born in North Carolina but moved to the American capital when he was eight. The city remained his home, and it was where he invented the music known as go-go.

(MUSIC)

Chuck Brown grew up poor. He was raised by his mother, Lyla Louise Brown. He never knew his father. Chuck stopped going to school soon after the family moved to Washington. He worked instead. He held jobs including shining shoes and selling newspapers.

Chuck Brown got into trouble as a teenager. He spent eight years in a prison near Washington. He started playing guitar while there.

(MUSIC)

When Chuck Brown gained his freedom he did not look back. He moved back to Washington. He began playing his guitar and singing at events in the area.

In his late twenties, Brown joined some local bands. Within two years he had formed his own. Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers found a new sound that combined funk, jazz and rhythm and blues¹² music. The bouncy beat of go-go music was especially popular in the Washington area. But it influenced music in many other areas.

The nineteen seventy-eight song “Bustin’ Loose” is probably the most widely recognized go-go recording¹³. It was Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers’ biggest hit.

(MUSIC)

Chuck Brown was considered a hero to many in Washington, DC. The city loves him so much it named a street block for him. Hundreds gathered outside the Howard Theater on Chuck Brown Way Wednesday to remember the musician.

(MUSIC)

JUNE SIMMS: Disco singer Donna Summer died Thursday. The sixty-three-year-old had battled lung cancer. Christopher Cruise¹⁴ remembers her life and her work.

(MUSIC)

CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Donna Summer was born LaDonna Gaines to a large family in Boston, Massachusetts, in nineteen forty-eight. She sang in church as a child. As a teenager she began forming musical groups.

Summer’s voice was clear, high and powerful. Her first big hit came in nineteen seventy-five with “Love to Love You, Baby.” She was in her twenties at the time.

(MUSIC)

In nineteen seventy-nine Donna Summer had three number-one hits. One of them, “Hot Stuff,” won a Grammy.

(MUSIC)

Donna Summer was married twice. She had two children. Her last album “Crayons” was released in two thousand eight. Donna Summer won numerous awards during her career including five Grammys. We leave you with Donna Summer performing her hit song “Last Dance.”

(MUSIC)

JUNE SIMMS: I’m June Simms. This program was written and produced by Caty Weaver¹⁵. Zulima Palacio provided additional reporting.

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 Arctic   

adj.北极的；n.北极

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• The sort of animal lived in the Arctic Circle.这种动物生活在北极圈里。

3 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

4 sensation   

n.感觉，感知力，激动，轰动

参考例句：

• He lost all sensation in his legs through cramp.他的腿部因抽筋而失去知觉。
• Seeing him again after so many years was a strange sensation.那么多年以后又见到他，是一种不可思议的感觉。

5 cubs   

n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lioness guarding her cubs 守护幼崽的母狮
• Lion cubs depend on their mother to feed them. 狮子的幼仔依靠母狮喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 narrates   

v.故事( narrate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• It narrates the unconstitutional acts of James II. 它历数了詹姆斯二世的违法行为。 来自辞典例句
• Chapter three narrates the economy activity which Jew return the Occident. 第三章讲述了犹太人重返西欧后的经济活动。 来自互联网

7 frozen   

adj.冻结的，冰冻的

参考例句：

• He was frozen to death on a snowing night.在一个风雪的晚上，他被冻死了。
• The weather is cold and the ground is frozen.天寒地冻。

8 condensation   

n.压缩，浓缩；凝结的水珠

参考例句：

• A cloud is a condensation of water vapour in the atmosphere.云是由大气中的水蒸气凝结成的。
• He used his sleeve to wipe the condensation off the glass.他用袖子擦掉玻璃上凝结的水珠。

9 flare   

v.闪耀，闪烁；n.潮红；突发

参考例句：

• The match gave a flare.火柴发出闪光。
• You need not flare up merely because I mentioned your work.你大可不必因为我提到你的工作就动怒。

10 persist   

v.持续，存留；坚持不懈，执意

参考例句：

• The bad weather will persist all over the country.这种坏天气将在全国各地持续下去。
• His strength of will enabled him to persist.他的意志力使他能坚持下去。

11 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

12 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

13 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。

14 cruise   

v.巡航，航游，缓慢巡行；n.海上航游

参考例句：

• They went on a cruise to Tenerife.他们乘船去特纳利夫岛。
• She wants to cruise the canals of France in a barge.她想乘驳船游览法国的运河。

15 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。