VOA慢速英语2013 肯尼迪中心公布2013年获奖者

 

Kennedy Center Announces Its Honorees for 2013 肯尼迪中心公布2013年获奖者

Welcome to American Mosaic¹ from VOA Learning English.

I’m Faith Lapidus.

On the show today, we tell all about this year’s Kennedy Center honorees. And we play music by some of the honored artists.

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

Brown Mountain Lights

For almost one hundred years, people have looked up at the night 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 the 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 sing about a lonely old slave who came back from the grave searching for his master, night after night after night.

Kennedy Center Honorees Announced

Each year in Washington, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts honors performers for a lifetime of work. The ceremony is held at the Kennedy Center in December. This week, officials announced the names of the artists who will receive the honors for 2013.

They include two rock and rollers, a jazz composer and an opera singer. But we will start with someone who seems to do everything: Shirley MacLaine.

Shirley MacLaine has performed on stage and screen during her 60 year career. She is an actor, dancer, writer and political activist¹¹.

MacLaine has been nominated for five best actress Academy Awards. She won the Oscar for playing Aurora¹² Greenway in the 1983 film, “Terms of Endearment¹³.” The character is controlling and judgmental but also very funny.

Here, Aurora Greenway is having a dinner party when her daughter Emma announces that she and her husband Flap are expecting a baby.

EMMA: “I got some good news.”

AURORA: “What’s that?”

EMMA: “I’m unofficially pregnant. I mean we haven’t gotten the test back yet but you know me I’m never late.”

AURORA: “Well. I don’t understand.”

EMMA: “Um. Hmm, if you’re not happy for me…I’m gonna get so mad, if you’re not happy.”

AURORA: “Why should I…why should I be happy about being a grandmother?”

FLAP: “Does this mean you won’t be knitting the baby any booties?”

Carlos Santana is another honoree. The Mexican-American guitarist and composer performed at Woodstock in 1969. He continues to lead his band Santana to this day. Santana has 10 Grammys and three Latin Grammys among his many music awards. The 66-year-old is considered one of the greatest guitarists in the world.

Carlos Santana is credited with developing a whole new style of music. He mixes jazz, rock, blues¹⁴ and Latin influences to create a sound that is smooth and danceable.

Here he performs the Grammy-winning song “Smooth” from his 1999 Grammy-winning album “Supernatural.”

The Kennedy Center is also honoring pop star Billy Joel this year. Joel is sometimes thought of as the American version of Elton John. They both play piano and have a history of writing hit song after hit song. And both are praised by serious music critics.

At 64 years old, Billy Joel has won six Grammys and been nominated for 23. He is one of the world’s biggest-selling musicians and a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Billy Joel is a native of the Bronx area of New York City. Here is performs, “Piano Man,” a hit from early in his career.

The Kennedy Center is also honoring another New York City native, classical soprano Martina Arroyo¹⁵. Arroyo was born and raised in the Harlem area in 1937. She began her career in opera in the 1960s. The African-American-Hispanic singer was entering the industry when few blacks performed at major opera houses. She helped break down the racial barriers in the opera world.

Martina Arroyo starred in many shows over the next 20 years at all the famous opera houses including La Scala in Milan, Italy, the Paris Opera in France and the Metropolitan¹⁶ Opera in New York City.

Here she sings as Aida, from Guiseppe Verdi’s opera of the same name.

The final Kennedy Center honoree is jazz great Herbie Hancock. The 73-year-old pianist, composer and bandleader modernized¹⁷ jazz with his use of electronic instruments.

Herbie Hancock was born in Chicago, Illinois. He began playing classical piano very young. At the age of eleven, he played with the Chicago Orchestra. Several years later he taught himself how to play jazz, just by listening to the music.

Hancock has won fourteen Grammys and an Oscar for his work. He has worked on many projects with artists from different music styles. The Kennedy Center calls Herbie Hancock “a true living treasure of American culture.”

I’m Faith Lapidus. Our program was written by Jim Tedder and Caty Weaver¹⁸, who was also the producer. 

Do you have a question about American life, people or places? Send an e-mail to [email protected]. We might answer your question in a future show.

Join us again next week for music and more on American Mosaic from VOA Learning 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 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 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。

12 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

13 endearment   

n.表示亲爱的行为

参考例句：

• This endearment indicated the highest degree of delight in the old cooper.这个称呼是老箍桶匠快乐到了极点的表示。
• To every endearment and attention he continued listless.对于每一种亲爱的表示和每一种的照顾，他一直漫不在意。

14 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。

15 arroyo   

n.干涸的河床，小河

参考例句：

• She continued along the path until she came to the arroyo.她沿着小路一直走到小河边。
• They had a picnic by the arroyo.他们在干枯的河床边野餐过。

16 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

17 modernized   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的过去式和过去分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• By 1985 the entire railway network will have been modernized. 等到1985年整个铁路网就实现现代化了。
• He set about rebuilding France, and made it into a brilliant-looking modernized imperialism. 他试图重建法国，使它成为一项表面华丽的现代化帝业。

18 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。