AMERICAN MOSAIC

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹
By

Broadcast: Friday, March 11, 2005

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DOUG JOHNSON: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

I'm Doug Johnson. On our show this week:

Music by Maroon² Five ...

A question about a famous law enforcement agency ...

And a report on Steve Fossett's latest trip around the world.

Steve Fossett

 
AP Photo
American pilot Steve Fossett flew around the world last week. He made the flight alone and without stopping for fuel. He spent sixty-seven hours and one minute in the air. Bob Doughty³ has our story.

BOB DOUGHTY: Steve Fossett likes to set records. Before last week he held sixty-two international records for flying and sailing. His earlier best-known flight record was for traveling around the world, alone, in a balloon.

The aircraft he used last week is called the Virgin⁴ Atlantic GlobalFlyer. This experimental aircraft has one jet engine and carries nine tons of fuel. Its wings are almost forty-four meters long.

The GlobalFlyer cost one-and-one-half million dollars. The money came from Richard Branson, the British businessman who owns Virgin Atlantic airlines.

The flight began in Salina [sa-LIE-nuh], Kansas, in the middle of the United States.

Organizers of the flight chose that city because its airport has a very long runway. The experimental aircraft needed an extra long runway to take off because of the weight of its fuel.

Steve Fossett took the aircraft to fourteen thousand meters. The sixty-year-old pilot used the strong winds at that height to gain speed and save fuel. Several hours into the flight, it appeared that the plane had a fuel shortage. But Mister Fossett and the ground controllers could not tell if the fuel was gone or if the instruments were wrong.

Ground control told Mister Fossett that he would have to make a decision about continuing the flight when he reached Hawaii. As he neared the islands, the strong winds that helped carry the GlobalFlyer increased. Steve Fossett decided⁵ to continue his attempt. Those winds continued to help the GlobalFlyer on its return to Salina.

Mister Fossett had little sleep during his sixty-seven-hour flight. He says he has more projects in the planning.

As of last week, all he needed was recognition from the National Aeronautic⁶ Association. Then he could claim the record for the fastest non-stop, non-refueled trip ever made around the world.

 
Some items at the Texas Rangers⁸ Museum.
Texas Rangers

DOUG JOHNSON: Our question this week comes from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Desta Terefe would like to know about the Texas Rangers. There is a team in baseball with that name. But our listener means the famous group of law enforcement officers. Over the years, those Texas Rangers have been the subject of books, movies and television programs.

In the city of Dallas, at Love Field Airport, there is a large statue of a man. On his head is a cowboy hat. On his hip⁹ is a large pistol. His hand is not near the gun, but it is easy to tell that he could reach for it quickly. Near the bottom of the statue are the words "One Riot, One Ranger⁷!"

The Texas Rangers is one of the oldest law enforcement organizations in North America. The first group was organized in eighteen twenty-three. In the early history of the state, the Texas Rangers acted somewhere between a police force and a military force. Their main task was to protect settlers from Indian attacks.

Today, the main job of the Texas Rangers is to investigate and capture wanted criminals. They do this by working with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

About one hundred eighteen officers work as Texas Rangers. They are divided into a headquarters group, six companies of Rangers and a special team that investigates unsolved crimes.

Those who want to become a Texas Ranger must not only have police experience. They must also have at least eight years' experience dealing¹⁰ with major crimes. It is not unusual for two hundred police officers to apply for one or two openings in the Texas Rangers.

Maroon Five

The band Maroon Five won a Grammy award last month for best new artist. Yet members of this group have been performing together for years. Gwen Outen explains.

GWEN OUTEN: Maroon Five is Adam Levine, Jesse Carmichael, Mickey Madden, Ryan Dusick and James Valentine. All but James Valentine went to high school together in Los Angeles. They formed a band, Kara's Flowers. But Kara's Flowers never grew very popular. So they stopped performing and went to college.

After that, the four got back together. By then their music had changed. And they added the fifth member of their group, James Valentine on guitar. They called themselves Maroon Five.

 
Graphic¹¹ Image
Their first album is called "Songs About Jane." It was recorded while Adam Levine was ending a relationship with his girlfriend, Jane. This song is called "Harder to Breathe."

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"Songs About Jane" was released in two thousand two. It has sold more than eight million copies. Here is a song called "This Love."

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The album "Songs About Jane" by Maroon Five has been described as rock pop, influenced by funk and rhythm-and-blues. We leave you with "She Will Be Loved."

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DOUG JOHNSON: I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program this week. Our show was written by Nancy Steinbach, Paul Thompson. Our producer was Caty Weaver¹². And our engineer was Efeem Drucker. Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, 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 maroon   

v.困住，使（人）处于孤独无助之境；n.逃亡黑奴；孤立的人；酱紫色，褐红色；adj.酱紫色的，褐红色的

参考例句：

• Five couples were marooned in their caravans when the River Avon broke its banks.埃文河决堤的时候，有5对夫妇被困在了他们的房车里。
• Robinson Crusoe has been marooned on a desert island for 26 years.鲁滨逊在荒岛上被困了26年。

3 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。

4 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

5 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。

6 aeronautic   

adj.航空（学）的

参考例句：

• Something akin to panic swept the National Aeronautic and Space Agency. 一种近乎恐慌的心情席卷了国家宇航局。 来自辞典例句
• They are widely used in electronic instruments aeronautic instruments etc. 此类轴承在各类电子仪器中得以广泛运用。 来自互联网

7 ranger   

n.国家公园管理员，护林员；骑兵巡逻队员

参考例句：

• He was the head ranger of the national park.他曾是国家公园的首席看守员。
• He loved working as a ranger.他喜欢做护林人。

8 rangers   

护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员

参考例句：

• Do you know where the Rangers Stadium is? 你知道Rangers体育场在哪吗？ 来自超越目标英语 第3册
• Now I'm a Rangers' fan, so I like to be near the stadium. 现在我是Rangers的爱好者，所以我想离体育场近一点。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

9 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

11 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。

12 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。