AMERICAN MOSAIC

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹
By

Broadcast: Friday, June 25, 2004

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

(THEME)

This is Doug Johnson.

 
Graphic² Image
On our show this week: music by country singer Gretchen Wilson.

And a question about the nickname³ of former President Ronald Reagan.

But first, we report about blogs.

Blogs

HOST:

Do you know what a "blogger" is? Well, here is Shep O'Neal to tell us.

ANNCR:

A "blogger" is a person who writes on an Internet computer Web site called a "blog." The word "blog" is a short way of saying Web log, or personal Web site. Anyone can start a blog, and they can write about anything they like.

There are millions of blogs on the Internet today. They provide news, information and ideas to the many people who read them. They contain links to other Web sites. And they provide a place for people to write their ideas and react to the ideas of others.

A research company called Perseus has studied more than three-thousand Web logs. It says that blogs are most popular with teenage girls. They use them to let their friends know what is happening in their lives. The study also says that more than one-hundred-thousand bloggers stopped taking part in the activity after a year.

However, some people develop serious blogs to present political and other ideas. For example, the Republican⁴ and Democratic parties in the southern state of Kentucky recently started their own blogs. And American companies are beginning to use blogs to advertise their products.

At the same time, some long-standing blogs have ended. Last week, blogging leader Dave Winer closed his free blog service, weblogs.com. He says the site became too costly⁵ to continue. He started the blog four years ago, and thousands of people had written on it. They are now upset because they did not know that the site was closing.

One blog that is still going strong is called Rebecca's Pocket. Rebecca Blood created the Web site in nineteen-ninety-nine. She wrote about the history of blogs on the site. That article led to a book called "The Weblog Handbook⁶." It has been translated into four languages so far.

Mizz Blood says Rebecca's Pocket gets about thirty-thousand visitors a month. She writes about anything and everything -- politics, culture and movies. She recently provided medical advice. And she wrote about how to prevent people from stealing money from on-line bank accounts.

'The Gipper'

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week comes from N'Djamena, Chad. Awada Ehemir asks about the meaning of the phrase "the Gipper", used to describe former President Ronald Reagan.

President Reagan died earlier this month. He was called "the Gipper" by many announcers broadcasting his funeral on television. The explanation goes back to Mister Reagan's early years in Hollywood, California, before he entered politics.

Ronald Reagan moved to Hollywood from the American middle west and became a movie star. He appeared in about fifty movies, including "King's Row," "Bedtime For Bonzo" and "Hellcats of the Navy." But he became known as "the Gipper" because of a real person he played in a movie.

The real life "Gipper" was named George Gipp. He played football at the University of Notre Dame⁷ in Indiana from nineteen-seventeen to nineteen-twenty. He was one of the best college football players ever. But his story was a sad one. George Gipp developed a throat infection during one of his final football games at Notre Dame. He died a few weeks later, at the age of twenty-five.

Before dying, he told his football coach what to do when the team was in danger of losing. He said to tell the team to "win one for the Gipper." Eight years later, when Notre Dame was in danger of losing a game, Coach Knute Rockne told the players the story of the Gipper. And the team won the game.

In nineteen-forty, Hollywood made a movie about the famous Notre Dame coach. It was called "Knute Rockne-All American." Ronald Reagan played the part of George Gipp. In the movie, he speaks those famous words just before he dies.

AUDIO: " ... ask them to go in there with all they got, win just one for the Gipper."

After the movie was made, two men were known as "the Gipper" -- George Gipp and Ronald Reagan. And the words, "win one for the Gipper," later became Ronald Reagan's political battle cry.

Gretchen Wilson

HOST:

One of the most popular new country singers in the United States today is Gretchen Wilson. She tells about herself on her new album, "Here for the Party." It has sold more than one-million copies since its release last month. Gwen Outen has more.

ANNCR:

Gretchen Wilson was born in nineteen-seventy-three in a small town called Pocahontas in the middle western state of Illinois. She grew up poor, and without a father. She tells about her hometown in this song, "Pocahontas Proud."

(MUSIC)

The first hit song from Gretchen Wilson's new album is "Redneck Woman." "Redneck" is a slang⁸ word used to describe a poor white person in the southern United States. The term is sometimes used as an insult but often used with pride. The song tells us even more about Gretchen Wilson.

(MUSIC)

Critics have praised "Here for the Party" as a great first album. And they expect more fresh country sounds from Gretchen Wilson in the future. We leave you now with the title song from her new album, "Here for the Party."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

This is Bob Doughty⁹.

Our program was written by Nancy Steinbach. Paul Thompson was our producer. And our engineer was Roy Benson.

I hope you enjoyed AMERICAN MOSAIC. Join us again next week for VOA's radio magazine in Special 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 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

3 nickname   

n.绰号，昵称；v.给...取绰号，叫错名字

参考例句：

• She called me by my nickname.她叫我的外号。
• Why do you fasten such a nickname on her?你为什么给她取这样一个绰号？

4 republican   

n.拥护共和政体的人； adj.共和政体的，（Republican）共和党人，（Republican）共和党的

参考例句：

• Some families have been republican for generations.有些家庭世代都支持共和党。
• A third candidate has entered the contest for the Republican nomination.第三个候选人已经加入角逐共和党提名的行列。

5 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

6 handbook   

n.手册，便览，指南

参考例句：

• Her mother bought a handbook of English grammar for her last Sunday.上星期天她母亲给她买了一本英语语法手册。
• None of them has got a handbook to tourists.他们谁也没搞到旅游指南。

7 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。

8 slang   

n.俚语，行话；vt.使用俚语，辱骂；vi.辱骂

参考例句：

• The phrase is labelled as slang in the dictionary.这个短语在这本字典里被注为俚语。
• Slang often goes in and out of fashion quickly.俚语往往很快风行起来又很快不再风行了。

9 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。