AMERICAN MOSAIC

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹
By

Broadcast: Friday, December 31, 2004

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HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in V.O.A. Special English.

(MUSIC)

This is Bob Doughty². On our show this week:

Music for celebrating the beginning of a new year...and two listener questions that involve the final hours of the old year...a night commonly called New Year's Eve.

Drinking Age

HOST:

Tonight is New Year's Eve. Many people will attend New Year's parties where they will drink alcohol³. A listener in Vietnam wrote to ask why a person in the United States must be at least twenty-one years old to do this legally. Nguyen Hoang Phong noted⁴ that eighteen years is the legal age for drinking alcohol in most countries. Here is Faith Lapidus with our answer.

ANNCR:

Discussing the drinking age in the United States can lead to an argument. I will try to explain both sides of this issue.

In nineteen-eighty-four, Congress⁵ passed a measure called the National Minimum⁶ Drinking Age Act. President Ronald Reagan signed the measure into law.

 
 
It bars people in the United States from drinking alcohol unless they are twenty-one years of age or older. States must obey the law or risk losing federal⁷ money for building roads and road repairs. The measure was the result of work by several lawmakers and groups such as Mothers Against Drunk⁸ Driving.

Last July, that group and members of Congress celebrated⁹ the twentieth anniversary¹⁰ of the law. They praised the measure as one of the most effective anti-drunk driving laws ever passed. They said that twenty-thousand lives have been saved since its passage.

However, some opponents¹¹ of the measure say it did not save anyone. They say young people who want to drink will find a way to get alcohol. They also reject the number of young people reportedly saved by the law. They say fewer young people are drinking now than twenty yeas ago.

Other people say the National Minimum Drinking Age Act is not fair. They say a young person can join the military and fight in a war at age eighteen. However, they are still not permitted to drink alcohol until they are twenty-one.

Many Americans would like to change the law to make eighteen the age when a person can drink alcohol. But just as many want to keep the drinking age at twenty-one.

The question of a legal drinking age involves ideas of freedom, responsibility, religion, politics and the rights of parents. It is a question that will be argued in the United States for many years to come.

New Year's Eve Ball Drop

HOST:

Our second listener question this week also comes from Vietnam. Le van Thanh wants to know about a big ball seen dropping at a famous New Year's celebration in the United States. The ball drops down a flagpole during the final minute of the year. When it reaches the bottom, a new year will have arrived.

 
Times Square, NY Eve
That ball dropping ceremony takes place every New Year's Eve at Times Square in New York City. This New Year's tradition began in nineteen oh four. But the tradition of dropping a time ball reportedly began in the eighteen hundreds in England. Lowering a ball was a popular way of telling the time so that ships at sea could make sure they had the correct time. Time balls were used in many ports during the nineteenth century.

In the early nineteen hundreds, the New York Times newspaper owned a building in the Times Square area. The company began holding New Year's celebrations on top of the building. The first celebration in nineteen oh four included a fireworks display. Three years later, officials added a time ball to count down the seconds to the New Year.

The ball lowering has continued every year since then, except for two years during World War Two. Crowds still gathered in Times Square for the event in nineteen forty-two and nineteen forty-three. But they observed a minute of silence followed by the sound of bells.

The first New Year's Eve ball weighed more than three hundred kilograms and measured almost one and one-half meters around. It was made of iron and wood and covered with one-hundred lights. The ball used last year weighed almost five-hundred kilograms and measured almost two meters in diameter¹². It was covered with almost one thousand four hundred moving mirrors. The lighted ball drops twenty-three meters in sixty seconds.

 
Graphic¹³ Image
Many years ago, the only people who could watch it drop were those who went to Times Square to celebrate. Today, New York City officials say the ball drop has become an international sign of the New Year. They say satellite technology now makes it possible for more than one thousand million people around the world to watch the event in Times Square each year.

Auld¹⁴ Lang Syne¹⁵

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HOST:

That is a song millions of Americans will hear this New Year's Eve. It is called "Auld Lang Syne." It is the traditional music played during the New Year's celebration. Jim Tedder¹⁶ has more.

ANNCR:

Auld Lang Syne is a Scottish poem. It tells about the need to remember old friends. The words "auld lang syne" mean "old long since" or "the good old days." The song's message is to forget about the past and look with hope to the new year. Here, it is sung by Billy Joel.

(MUSIC)

No one knows who wrote the poem first. However, a version¹⁷ by Scottish poet Robert Burns was published in seventeen-ninety-six. The words and music we know today first appeared in a songbook three years later.

Today, "Auld Lang Syne" is heard in the United States mainly on New Year's Eve, as the clock strikes twelve and we enter a new year. We leave you now with "Auld Lang Syne" played by Guy Lombardo and his orchestra¹⁸. But before we go, all of us in Special English want to wish all of you a very Happy New Year.

(MUSIC)

HOST:

This is Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our special AMERICAN MOSAIC program for New Year's Eve.

This show was written by Marilyn Christiano, Nancy Steinbach and Paul Thompson, who also was the producer. Our engineer was Wayne Shorter.

Send your questions about American life to [email protected]. Be sure to include your full name and mailing address. Or write to American Mosaic, V.O.A. Special English, Washington, D.C., two-zero-two-three-seven, U.S.A.

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, V.O.A.'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 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。

3 alcohol   

n.酒精，乙醇；含酒精的饮料

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors.法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。
• The alcohol is industrial.这些酒精是供工业用的。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 Congress   

n.(代表)大会；(C-:美国等国的)国会，议会

参考例句：

• There were some days to wait before the Congress.大会的召开还有几天时间。
• After 18 years in Congress,he intented to return to private life.在国会供职18年后，他打算告老还乡。

6 minimum   

adj.最低的，最小的；n.最小量，最低限度

参考例句：

• What is the minimum price?最低价是多少？
• Today's minimum temperature is 10℃.今天的最低气温是10℃。

7 federal   

adj.联盟的；联邦的；(美国)联邦政府的

参考例句：

• Switzerland is a federal republic.瑞士是一个联邦共和国。
• The schools are screaming for federal aid.那些学校强烈要求联邦政府的援助。

8 drunk   

adj.醉酒的；(喻)陶醉的；n.酗酒者，醉汉

参考例句：

• People who drives when they are drunk should be heavily penalised.醉酒驾车的人应受重罚。
• She found him drunk when she came home at night.她晚上回家时，经常发现他醉醺醺的。

9 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。

10 anniversary   

n.周年(纪念日)

参考例句：

• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。
• Today is my parents'30th wedding anniversary.今天是我父母结婚30周年纪念日。

11 opponents   

n.对手，敌手( opponent的名词复数 )；反对者

参考例句：

• Somehow he always manages to outwit his opponents. 他反正总能设法智胜对手。
• to use strong-arm tactics against your political opponents 用强制手段对付政敌

12 diameter   

n.直径

参考例句：

• The circle has a diameter of 6 inches.这个圆直径六英寸。
• A diameter passes through the center of a circle.直径从圆心穿过。

13 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。

14 auld   

adj.老的，旧的

参考例句：

• Should auld acquaintance be forgot,and never brought to mind?怎能忘记旧日朋友，心中能不怀念？
• The party ended up with the singing of Auld Lang Sync.宴会以《友谊地久天长》的歌声而告终。

15 syne   

adv.自彼时至此时，曾经

参考例句：

• The meeting ended up with the singing of Auld Lang Syne.大会以唱《友谊地久天长》结束。
• We will take a cup of kindness yet for auld lang syne.让我们为了过去的好时光干一杯友谊的酒。

16 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

17 version   

n.版本；型号；叙述，说法

参考例句：

• His version of the events is pure supposition.他对这件事的说法纯属猜测。
• What is your version of this matter?你对这件事情的看法 怎么样？

18 orchestra   

n.管弦乐队；vt.命令，定购

参考例句：

• He plays the violin in an orchestra.他在管弦乐队中演奏小提琴。
• I was tempted to stay and hear this superb orchestra rehearse.我真想留下来听这支高超的管弦乐队排练。