VOA慢速英语2016--Siri展示一个新的技巧

AS IT IS 2016-01-14 Trending Today: Siri Shows Off A New Trick Siri展示一个新的技巧

This is What’s Trending Today…

Apple’s virtual¹ assistant, named Siri, can do all sorts of cool things.

She can help you search for a contact. She can look up Donald Trump’s biography² on Wikipedia. She can play a sample of the songs on the top of the charts.

But did you know she can beatbox?

Beatboxing is what people do when they provide the background sounds for rap³ songs using only their mouths.

In the early days of rap, before people had special equipment, beatboxing was one of the only ways to create a good background track for a song.

Some people became famous for their ability to beatbox. There’s even a world championship of beatboxing.

Here are actor Will Smith and comedian⁴ Jimmy Fallon doing a beatbox skit⁵.

So if you ask Siri if she knows how to beatbox, you might be surprised at the answer.

She says “here’s one I’ve been practicing.”

The she goes on to say “boots and cats and boots and cats and boots and cats and boots.”

That is because an easy way to learn how to beatbox is by repeating those words quickly, and close together.

Here is a YouTube video where a girl named Mya explains.

The beatboxing trick was one of the trending topics on Facebook today after the website Mashable posted about it.

And lots of people got a kick out of trying it.

If you have an iPhone, try it out. Let us know what happens!

And that’s What’s Trending Today.

Words in This Story

beatbox – v. to use only sounds from your mouth to make the background sounds for a song

biography – n. the story of a real person's life written by someone other than that person

1 virtual   

adj.实质上的，事实上的，实际上的

参考例句：

• This reply is a virtual acceptance of our offer.这一回答实质上是接受了我们的建议。
• At that time the East India Company was the virtual ruler of Bengal.那时东印度公司是孟加拉的实际统治者。

2 biography   

n.个人经历，传记

参考例句：

• He is now collecting material for a biography of Tao Yuanming.他正在为写陶渊明传记搜集材料。
• Boswell wrote a famous biography of Dr.White.鲍斯韦尔为怀特博士写过一本著名传记。

3 rap   

n.轻敲，拍击，责骂，厉声说出，说唱音乐，谈话，最少量；vi.轻敲，敲门，表演说唱音乐，畅谈；vt.抓，抢，拍击

参考例句：

• I heard a rap on the door.我听到有轻轻的敲门声。
• Today we are going to rap about relationships.今天我们要聊聊关系的问题。

4 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。

5 skit   

n.滑稽短剧；一群

参考例句：

• The comic skIt sent up the foolishness of young men in love.那幅画把沉溺于热恋中的青年男子的痴态勾勒得滑稽可笑。
• They performed a skit to amuse the crowd.他们表演了一个幽默小品来娱乐观众。