VOA慢速英语2013 AS IT IS - The laughter with “The King of Old Trafford”

 

AS IT IS - The laughter with “The King of Old Trafford”

Hello and welcome, I’m June Simms with AS IT IS!

Today, we turn up the laughter with “The King of Old Trafford,” a show starring an Indian comedian¹ in South Africa.

But first, we hear about the continuing controversy² surrounding a recent trip to Cuba by one of the United States’ most famous music couples.

American lawmakers have criticized pop star Beyonce and her husband, rapper Jay-Z, for making a trip to Cuba to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Mario Ritter has the story.

Beyonce and Jay-Z celebrated³ their five years of marriage with a trip to Cuba two weeks ago. Large crowds of people greeted them as they walked hand-in-hand through Havana, the Cuban capital.

Trade restrictions⁴ bar Americans from visiting Cuba for tourism purposes. But President Obama has eased restrictions on travel

Trade restrictions bar Americans from visiting Cuba for tourism purposes. But President Obama has eased restrictions on travel to the island for academic, religious or cultural exchanges. The United States Treasury⁵ Department is responsible for approving such travel.

The Treasury Department released a statement following criticism of the trip. It said Beyonce and Jay-Z had gone to Cuba as part of an “education exchange” trip organized by another group.

Republican Party lawmakers have questioned why the trip was approved. One of them was Marco Rubio of Florida. He called on the Obama administration to explain how trips like these are permitted under American law.

Cuban-born Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen also condemned⁶ the trip. In her words, if the activities undertaken by Beyonce and Jay-Z “are classified as an educational exchange trip, then it is clear that the Obama administration is not serious about denying the Castro regime an economic lifeline that US tourism will extend to it."

The rapper released what he called an “Open Letter” condemning⁷

The rapper released what he called an “Open Letter” condemning the condemnation⁸ of the trip.

Thousands of United States citizens visit Cuba every year without official permission. In this case, the publicity⁹ that resulted from Beyonce and Jay-Z’s visit to Cuba may be what led to the request for an investigation¹⁰ into their trip. I’m Mario Ritter.

This is AS IT IS. I’m June Simms in Washington.

A thin man with light facial hair runs to the center of a theater stage. He is wearing skintight white shorts, a bright red football shirt, black socks and dirty white running shoes. Music from the 1970s movie “Rocky” plays from a loudspeaker.

He sits down in an old chair. The chair is perfectly¹¹ positioned in front of a television, where he can watch his favorite team, Manchester United.

As he drinks beer and smokes cigarettes, the man shouts at the television. “Glory, Glory, Man United! Come on you Red Devils!

As the imaginary game continues, the man known as “Ricky” looks back on his career as “Durban’s biggest “charro” United fan.” “Charro” is a slang word often used to describe South Africans of Indian ethnicity in Durban.

“Ricky is a hard-drinking, 100 percent pure United [fan] through and through. He will die with this team.”

That is the voice of Dhaveshan Govender, a comedian based in Durban. He calls himself a “die-hard” Manchester United supporter. He created the character Ricky. His love for United started as a young boy when he would visit a family of cousins in Durban.

“In that house you either support United or you keep your mouth shut. When the game was on I’d walk in and there’s my uncle and my cousins and all, drinking the beers and the brandy and watching the game and shouting at these guys [Manchester United players on TV].”   Ricky and a few other characters gather at a Durban pub. The business is named “Old Trafford,” after Manchester United’s home field in Manchester, England. In this imaginary world, Dhaveshan Govender makes fun of the many South African Indians who are big supporters of Manchester United. He calls their love for the team, “Man United mania” in his performance, called “The King of Old Trafford.”

“If the end of the world happens and United happened to be playing, they won’t notice it. It’s that extreme fanaticism¹² that I was trying to encapsulate with Ricky.”   The show is filled with different personalities¹³, each acted out by Dhaveshan Govender.

In arguably the funniest part of the show, armed robbers enter the Old Trafford bar. The character Rajan describes the incident in language rich with South African-Indian slang and in a larger-than-life Indian accent.

“This machine gun ou he pull the trigger, he shoot a hole in the ceiling. Next thing all the bras are on the ground, face down! And then these robbers, they’re moving through. And they’re gripping everything they can find, man – wallets, watches, cellphones, chains. And all the bras now, we’re scared. So all the bras now, we’re just donating our wallets and watches and cellphones and chains – all the bras…. Except, Ricky…”

Then one of the men stands in front of the television, blocking Ricky’s view. Ricky kicks him as hard as he can.

“This ou flies across the room onto the pool table – eight ball, corner pocket! Ricky sit down; he shout at Siva [the barman] to bring him another beer. Meanwhile Siva’s crawling in the corner praying that these ous don’t kill everyone!”

Another robber then turns off the television, depriving Ricky of his beloved Manchester United team.

“Ricky gets super-red, he gets up, he takes this ou one time with a Kung Fu kick. This ou flies straight out of Old Trafford into the car park.”

Dhaveshan Govender is not sure why South Africans of Indian ancestry¹⁴ love Manchester United so much. But, he has a theory.

“It may not be true but I think Indians like to back winners and United is quite a successful club.”

Not all South African Indians like the funnyman’s sense of humor. But he says, “what kind of human beings are we if we can’t laugh at ourselves?”

That’s all for AS IT IS. I’m June Simms. Thanks for spending time with us today.

1 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

2 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

3 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。

4 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

5 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

6 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

7 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

9 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

10 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。

11 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

12 fanaticism   

n.狂热，盲信

参考例句：

• Your fanaticism followed the girl is wrong. 你对那个女孩的狂热是错误的。
• All of Goebbels's speeches sounded the note of stereotyped fanaticism. 戈培尔的演讲，千篇一律，无非狂热二字。

13 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

14 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。