VOA慢速英语2012 THIS IS AMERICA - Training as a Mascot; One-Day Makeovers for Streets

 

THIS IS AMERICA - Training as a Mascot¹; One-Day Makeovers for Streets

BOB DOUGHTY²: Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty.

JUNE SIMMS: And I'm June Simms. This week on our program we visit a camp where sports team mascots³ go for training. We also tell you about a group that helps cities bring new life -- for a day -- to troubled streets. And we learn about a group that helps women in Uganda earn money by selling beads⁵ at parties in the United States.

(MUSIC)

BOB DOUGHTY: Communities often depend on drawings and written documents to describe the changes they want to make to improve neighborhoods. But a nonprofit organization called Better Block shows the public a working example of how the proposed improvements would look. It makes the changes along one block for one day.

(SOUND)

JUNE SIMMS: That was how an older, mostly empty business district near downtown Denver, Colorado, came to life on a recent Saturday. A street musician played his guitar as people walked, biked and pushed baby strollers down Twenty-fifth Avenue in the Jefferson Park area. A crowd enjoyed lunch along what had been an empty stretch of sidewalk the day before. One of the empty storefronts became a bike rental⁶ shop. Another was a restaurant for the day.

Benches, trees and flowers were brought in for what looked like a street festival. But there was a more serious goal, as Denver Mayor Michael Hancock explained to the crowd.

MICHAEL HANCOCK: "Thank you for what you're doing to make our city great, and to help make Jefferson Park a better block."

BOB DOUGHTY: The idea for the transformation⁷ came from a national program called the Better Block project. The program supports urban redevelopment by helping⁸ local activists¹⁰ demonstrate how to create a lively atmosphere. Volunteers can spend months getting ready for the short-term transformations¹¹.

Gosia Kung is an architect who leads a citizens group called Walk Denver. The group is part of the coalition¹² working to renew the city's urban neighborhoods.

GOSIA KUNG: "Two weeks ago, these spaces were empty, and by empty, I mean rats and pigeons and you name it. And today it's [an] art gallery and a bike shop and restaurants."

JUNE SIMMS: The one-day makeover was designed to help people explore the possibilities for renewing the neighborhood. Gosia Kung says the trees, the flowers, everything was borrowed, so it all had to be returned.

GOSIA KUNG: "This is a kind of low-budget way to create this environment without having to ask for a million-dollar national grant."

The organizers also invited food trucks to come to the event. Tables were set up along the sidewalk to give people a place to sit and eat. One food truck offered different kinds of tacos. Another served pizza baked in a wood-fired oven.

The festive¹³ atmosphere appealed to local business owners like Francisco Bustamente. He owns a grocery store that sells Mexican food.

FRANCISCO BUSTAMENTE: "I like this project. I like the party."

Women wearing traditional, rainbow-colored Mexican skirts danced in front of Mr. Bustamente's market. His family served slices of fresh mango to people on the street.

BOB DOUGHTY: Mary Mackey has run an art studio in the neighborhood for twenty years. She also liked the day's party atmosphere. She says a lot of communities are spread out and people have to drive to go places. She herself mostly goes out on foot only to walk her dog.

MARY MACKEY: "It'd be nice to get out of our cars and be able to bike and walk more places, but we're just not that dense¹⁴ of a population like in Europe, so it's a little more difficult."

Ms. Mackey likes the idea of a prettier street. She would like to see improvements that would bring more customers. But she worries that she would have to pay higher rent if property values rise. And she wonders whether the neighborhood is truly ready for a change for the better.

MARY MACKEY: "The trees, yeah. Benches, I don't think they'd last very long. They'd either get graffitied or stolen."

JUNE SIMMS: Susan Shephard represents Jefferson Park on the Denver City Council. She believes the time has come to improve the neighborhood.

SUSAN SHEPHARD: "It's heart-breaking to look around and see sixty percent of these storefronts vacant on a regular basis. And I got here today, and I am so excited. Because it's vibrant¹⁵ here, and there are people, and folks are walking around and talking to each other. This is exactly what a real living street is."

The changes along Twenty-fifth Avenue were temporary. But architect and activist⁹ Gosia Kung says supporters are working to get full neighborhood approval for the changes.

GOSIA KUNG: "We're working with local business owners on establishing a local improvement district to raise funds, to raise support and make these changes permanent."

(MUSIC)

BOB DOUGHTY: A summer camp near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, teaches people how to act as mascots. Mascots are people who dress in costumes to entertain crowds for sports teams, businesses and other organizations. High school student Jesse King attended the camp this summer for the first time.

JESSE KING: "I am the Wildcat. I have learned a lot just about how to develop my personality and I think that will really help me."

Half of the people at the camp were returning campers like Frank Vespe. He is a full-time¹⁶ mascot for a professional baseball team.

FRANK VESPE: "I like to present the campers with skills that I have and learn new skills along the way."

Caren Simmons dresses as a red robin¹⁷ to represent a restaurant.

CAREN SIMMONS: "I have been doing this for eleven years. It is relief and release. I work full time for the federal government. That can be very trying and very frustrating¹⁸. This is a physical outlet¹⁹ with a lot of physical fun."

The camp is run by a longtime mascot named Erin Blank.

ERIN BLANK: "I started Keystone Mascots about fifteen years ago, mainly because there was a need for people like myself to learn performing skills and have costumes that will be going to be able to fit them in a more effective way."

JUNE SIMMS: Campers learn how mascots should behave and how they should not behave. Erin Blank says safety and responsibility are as important as being entertaining.

ERIN BLANK: "It is to promote the organization they represent. Whether it is a sport or a school or even a business or a corporation, we want to be the most positive image that the business can put out into the community."

Ms. Blank wanted to be a mascot since she was ten years old.

ERIN BLANK: "In elementary school, I got to wear a Cookie Monster costume, and I fell in love with the activity."

Since then she has worked as a mascot for several sports teams and organizations.

ERIN BLANK: "At forty-two years old I am still being a mascot. It is addicting²⁰. I tried to quit four times and it didn't happen. Considering one of the oldest performers I have ever met is seventy-two, it might be a while before I quit again."

BOB DOUGHTY: Erin Blank also builds mascot costumes.

ERIN BLANK: "We actually build them so the whole thing is water washable. We like to put a baseball helmet for our heads. The hair, there is actually ventilation holes throughout the whole head that allow for the steam to rise out, and the same with the body."

But sweat stays inside the costume. Ms. Blank's current costume, as the mascot for a local football team, is all wet after a performance.

ERIN BLANK: "When I put it on, it is probably five degrees hotter than outside. It is humid. Right now it just feels like I am in a kind of rain cloud inside my costume."

JUNE SIMMS: Erin Blank took her campers to a minor²¹ league baseball game for their graduation performance. The temperature was near thirty-seven degrees Celsius²². But the crowd enjoyed the show, and so did the mascots.

(MUSIC)

BOB DOUGHTY: Eleven-year-old Madison Blandford recently invited about forty of her friends and neighbors to a party. It was a chance to see -- and buy -- beaded jewelry²³ made by women in Uganda.

MADISON BLANDFORD: "My grandma got me a bracelet²⁴, and that's when I got interested."

So Madison started to learn about how the jewelry pieces are created. The colorful beads on necklaces, earrings²⁵ and bracelets²⁶ are made of paper.

MADISON BLANDFORD: "It takes thirty seconds for each bead⁴ to be made, but the whole process takes two weeks."

Madison wanted to share the story with her friends. Her mother, Sharon Blandford, thought it was a great idea.

SHARON BLANDFORD: "I really felt like this was something that she could learn and grow with, and she could also lead her friends into wanting to do something that's really important and special."

The Blandfords visited the Bead for Life website and signed up to host a jewelry party.

JUNE SIMMS: Bead for Life started in two thousand four. Founder²⁷ Torkin Wakefield and her daughter, Devin Hibbard, and a friend had visited Uganda and met a bead maker²⁸.

TORKIN WAKEFIELD: "She told us that she loves making beads, but that she had no market for her beads. So we started thinking, 'Why does she think there is no market?' We love these beads and our friends like these beads. Surely, we could find a market."

Bead for Life is a nonprofit group that works to fight poverty. The idea is to help Ugandan women find markets for their jewelry, improve their business skills and change their lives.

BOB DOUGHTY: Devin Hibbard says thousands of women in the United States and around the world have organized Bead for Life parties to sell the beads.

DEVIN HIBBARD: "We came up with this idea of a bead party, which is a woman taking beads to her community, to her house, to her children's school and sharing the beads and the story of the women who make them."

The organizers say that last year, three thousand bead parties worldwide raised three million dollars. They say the Ugandan women are paid first, and the rest of the money is reinvested into education and community development projects in Uganda.

TORKIN WAKEFIELD: "This particular woman started a sweater business, she put a solar panel on top of her shop to charge cell phones. She has chickens out back. She was able to begin several businesses and she’s now employing people.”

JUNE SIMMS: Stories like that inspired guests at Madison Blandford's party.

The jewelry party raised about one thousand dollars from the guests. It also raised their awareness²⁹ of people in a far-away country.

BOB DOUGHTY: Brianna Blake produced our program, with reporting by Shelley Schlender, June Soh and Faiza Elmasry. I'm Bob Doughty.

JUNE SIMMS: And I'm June Simms. You can find videos about the bead parties, the Better Block project and the mascot camp at www.voanews.cn. You can also read, listen and learn English with our programs and activities. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

1 mascot   

n.福神，吉祥的东西

参考例句：

• The football team's mascot is a goat.足球队的吉祥物是山羊。
• We had a panda as our mascot.我们把熊猫作为吉详物。

2 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。

3 mascots   

n.吉祥物( mascot的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the mascots was the platypus. 吉祥物一是鸭嘴兽。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Information on all things Olympic, including logos, mascots, venues,and bid candidates. 所有事情奥林匹克，包括的标识语，吉祥物，地点，和出价候选人的信息。 来自互联网

4 bead   

n.念珠；(pl.)珠子项链；水珠

参考例句：

• She accidentally swallowed a glass bead.她不小心吞下了一颗玻璃珠。
• She has a beautiful glass bead and a bracelet in the box.盒子里有一颗美丽的玻璃珠和手镯。

5 beads   

n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链

参考例句：

• a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链
• Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。

6 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。

7 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

8 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。

9 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

10 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 transformations   

n.变化( transformation的名词复数 )；转换；转换；变换

参考例句：

• Energy transformations go on constantly, all about us. 在我们周围，能量始终在不停地转换着。 来自辞典例句
• On the average, such transformations balance out. 平均起来，这种转化可以互相抵消。 来自辞典例句

12 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

13 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。

14 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

15 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

16 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

17 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

18 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 outlet   

n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄

参考例句：

• The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
• Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。

20 addicting   

使沉溺（addict的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• I love salt and vinegar chips. They are very addicting. 我爱盐和醋芯片。他们非常上瘾。
• Leave it to Britney to sing a juicy and addicting song. 布兰妮呈现了一首很刺激也很让人上瘾的歌曲！

21 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

22 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。

23 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

24 bracelet   

n.手镯，臂镯

参考例句：

• The jeweler charges lots of money to set diamonds in a bracelet.珠宝匠要很多钱才肯把钻石镶在手镯上。
• She left her gold bracelet as a pledge.她留下她的金手镯作抵押品。

25 earrings   

n.耳环( earring的名词复数 )；耳坠子

参考例句：

• a pair of earrings 一对耳环
• These earrings snap on with special fastener. 这付耳环是用特制的按扣扣上去的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 bracelets   

n.手镯，臂镯( bracelet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The lamplight struck a gleam from her bracelets. 她的手镯在灯光的照射下闪闪发亮。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• On display are earrings, necklaces and bracelets made from jade, amber and amethyst. 展出的有用玉石、琥珀和紫水晶做的耳环、项链和手镯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

27 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

28 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

29 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。