Museum of Financial History

 

Broadcast: Feb 7, 2003
By Jill Moss¹

This is Doug Johnson. On our program today:

We play some music by Michelle Branch ...

Answer a question about which foreign languages American students study ...

And tell about a museum in New York City that celebrates capitalism².

Museum of Financial History

HOST:

The Museum of American Financial History in New York City is the only independent public museum of capitalism in the nation. It tells the story of America's economic system. Shep O'Neal has more.

ANNCR:

The Museum of American Financial History helps people learn about the financial history of the United States. The museum opened in nineteen-eighty-eight in the Standard Oil Building, near Wall Street, the financial center of the country. About thirty-five-thousand people visit the museum each year. Half of them are school children. The museum shows the history of Wall Street and the American stock market. It also tells about famous American businessmen and women.

The museum tells about the bad days in America's financial life as well as the good times. For example, there are brightly colored stock ownership documents from failed businesses. These certificates show ownership of one share of stock in companies including Enron, ImClone Systems and WorldCom. Investors³ in these companies once made lots of money. The certificates were highly valued. Now they are almost worthless except to collectors.

The museum received many of these stock certificates from a company called Scripophily (skrih-POFF-a-lee)-dot-com. Scripophily buys and sells collectible stock and bond certificates on the Internet.

A popular museum exhibit shows the events of October twenty-fourth, nineteen-twenty-nine. On that day, the American stock market crashed. Many investors lost all their money. The crash started the Great Depression. Visitors at the museum can see the list of falling stock prices.

The museum also is showing the most valuable piece of paper money that the United States ever produced. This paper money was worth one-hundred-thousand dollars. It was printed in nineteen-thirty-four. It was used to send money between Federal Reserve banks. Today, the highest valued paper money in America is the one-hundred-dollar bill. The government stopped printing bills of larger amounts to try to prevent illegal financial activities.

A statue of John D. Rockefeller looks over the museum's exhibits. Mister Rockefeller was one of America's richest businessmen. He started the Standard Oil Company in eighteen-seventy. His headquarters once was in the building that now is home to the Museum of American Financial History.

Foreign Language Study

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week comes from China. Jessica asks if students are required to learn a foreign language in the United States, and if so, which ones are the most popular.

Foreign language study starts at a very young age for many students in America. A recent report by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages says some students start language training at age six. States do not require foreign language training this early in education. But many students choose to study languages in elementary school. The most popular languages for young students are Spanish, French and German.

Almost seven-million students in public secondary schools in the United States are studying a foreign language. This is about thirty-four percent of students at the junior high and high school level. These students are from twelve to seventeen years old. Nearly seventy percent of students studying a foreign language at this level choose Spanish. French, German, Italian, Japanese and Russian are also popular. There is also a growing interest in the Arabic language in the United States.

Each state sets its own requirements for foreign language study at the junior high and high school level. Many students graduate high school with at least two years of foreign language study. Some study a foreign language for four years.

There are different foreign language requirements at colleges and universities. Some universities require students to have had several years of language education in high school. In addition, many colleges and universities require students to complete at least two years of foreign language study before graduating.

Two years ago, the United States government passed legislation⁴ to help states increase foreign language study for all public school students. State and local education agencies can request money to help establish, improve or expand foreign language study. The American Council2 on the Teaching of Foreign Languages says interest in the program is huge. The council says this proves that young Americans are ready and willing to learn foreign languages.

Michelle Branch

HOST:

Female singer-songwriters are very popular in the United States. These young women sing, write their own songs and play their own musical instruments. Mary Tillotson tells us about one of them.

ANNCR:

Michelle Branch has been singing for as long as she can remember. Michelle was born in the southwestern state of Arizona in nineteen-eighty-three. She was raised in the town of Sedona.

Michelle began playing the guitar when she was fourteen years old. A short time later, she began writing her own songs and performing in the Sedona area.

Michelle started recording⁵ songs for her first album, "The Spirit Room," two years ago. That album has sold more than one-million copies. Here is a song from "The Spirit Room." It is called "Everywhere."

(MUSIC)

Michelle Branch also performs on the album "Shaman" by Carlos Santana. Her hit song from that album is called "The Game of Love."

(MUSIC)

Last month, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences announced nominations⁶ for its Grammy Awards. The awards will be presented February twenty-third. Michelle Branch was one of five nominees3 for the award of Best New Artist. We leave you now with her song "Goodbye to You."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

This is Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today. And I hope you will join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC⁷--VOA's radio magazine in Special English.

This AMERICAN MOSAIC program was written by Jill Moss, Jerilyn Watson and George Grow. Our studio engineer was Glen Matlock. And our producer was Paul Thompson.

1. certificate [sE5tIfIkIt] n. 证书
2. council [5kaunsIl] n. 政务会，理事会
3. nominee [nCmi5nI:] n. 被提名的人，被任命者

1 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

2 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

3 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

4 legislation   

n.立法，法律的制定；法规，法律

参考例句：

• They began to draft legislation.他们开始起草法规。
• The liberals band together against the new legislation.自由党员联合一致反对新的立法。

5 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。

6 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

7 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。