AMERICAN MOSAIC - Where Players Know When to Hold 'em: World

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - Where Players Know When to Hold 'em: World Series of Poker²
By Shelley Gollust, Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Friday, July 08, 2005

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HOST: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

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

Music from Amerie …

A question from a listener about jury³ trials in the United States …

And a report about a popular card game called poker.

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World Series of Poker

 
Jennifer Harman, a player in the World Series of Poker, looks at her cards as dealer⁴ Kevin Ferguson deals to other players on the first day of the no-limit Texas Hold 'em main event in Las Vegas.
HOST: The World Series of Poker is taking place in the gambling⁵ capital of America: Las Vegas, Nevada. Pat Bodner tells us more about this popular card game.

PAT BODNER: Experts say poker was first played in the United States almost two hundred years ago. Gamblers on riverboats that sailed on the Mississippi River played the game. They bet money on who had the best cards.

Today, poker is the most popular card game in the United States. People play poker with friends in their homes. They watch professional poker players and famous people play the game on television.

One popular show is called "Celebrity⁶ Poker Showdown." Famous actors, athletes and musicians try to win money that they give to non-profit organizations. Thousands of people around the world play poker on the Internet.

There are several kinds of poker. The most popular one today is called Texas hold 'em. If you guessed that this game was first played by cowboys in the state of Texas, you would be right. Here is how you play: Each player gets two cards face down. Then the dealer places five cards face up in the middle of the table.

Each player tries to make the best five-card hand by combining his or her two cards with the five cards on the table. The players bet money four times during the game. The player who has the best hand of cards -- or who makes the other players THINK he or she has the best cards -- wins all the money. Sometimes a player acts like he or she has the best cards but really does not and wins anyway. This is called "bluffing⁷."

This year's World Series of Poker began June second. Last week, actress Jennifer Tilly won the Ladies No-Limit Texas Hold 'em event. She beat six hundred players, including some of the top female professional card players in the world. She won more than one hundred fifty thousand dollars.

In the past, other women, non-professional card players and players from other countries have won major events.

The main event of the World Series of Poker is the No-Limit Texas Hold 'em World Championship. It is being held July seventh to the fifteenth. More than six thousand players are competing. They had to pay ten thousand dollars to enter the competition. They are playing for more than sixty million dollars in prize money.

Trial by Jury

 
Jury box in a U.S. countroom
HOST: Our VOA listener question this week comes from Bauchi State, Nigeria. Adamu Shaibu Onakpa asks what juries⁸, judges and lawyers do in an American court.

A jury is a group of six to twelve people who listen to evidence in a trial. The right to have a jury hear evidence in court is guaranteed in the United States Constitution. The purpose of a jury is to decide the answer to the question, "What really happened?" But an accused person may not want a jury to make that decision. Such people are said to waive⁹ a jury trial. A judge makes the decision instead.

Any American citizen can be called for jury duty. The court gets names of local citizens from lists of voters, drivers and taxpayers¹⁰. Court officials write to the people on the list telling them to come to the courthouse to serve on a jury.

At the courthouse, the lawyers representing each side ask proposed jurors what they think or how they feel about the case to be tried. The judge also can ask questions. The government or defense¹¹ lawyer can dismiss a proposed juror if he or she believes that the person cannot decide the case fairly. For example, if a proposed juror says he read all about the crime in the newspaper and believes the accused is guilty, he cannot be a member of the jury.

After the jury is chosen, the lawyers present evidence to support their positions. The government lawyer tries to show that the person accused of a crime is guilty. The defense lawyer tries to show that the accused person may not have done what he is charged with. The judge at a jury trial decides what evidence is legal and can be presented to the jury.

Under American law, a person is considered innocent until proven guilty. The defense does not have to prove that the accused person is innocent. Instead, the government must show that the person is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

When both sides are finished presenting their case, the judge explains to the jury the laws they must follow in deciding the case. The jury members privately¹² discuss the evidence and make a decision. Usually, all the jury members must agree before a person can be found guilty or not guilty. In some American courts, the jury also decides the punishment if it finds the defendant¹³ guilty. In other states, the judge decides the sentence.

Amerie

 
 
HOST: The singer known as Amerie is twenty-five years old. She has just released her second album. Gwen Outen tells us about her.

GWEN OUTEN: Amerie Rogers traveled a lot when she was a child. Her father served in the United States military. The family lived at several military bases in Germany, South Korea, the state of Alaska and Washington, D.C.

Amerie's mother is Korean. Her father is African-American. Amerie developed a love for classical arts through her mother. She learned about rhythm and blues¹⁴ music from her father. She studied dance and performed in talent competitions throughout her childhood.

Amerie attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and began to develop a career in singing. In two thousand two, she recorded her first album, "All I Have." Here she sings "Why Don't We Fall in Love."

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Recently, Amerie recorded a second album. It is called "Touch." In this next song, she uses the influences of Go-Go music. Go-Go is a kind of music that is strong in percussive¹⁵ instruments, especially drums. The song is called "One Thing".

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Amerie wrote the songs and helped produce her album "Touch." She also helped design the picture on the CD. We leave you with another song by Amerie from the album "Touch." Here is "Falling."

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HOST: I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program.

Our show was written by Lawan Davis, Shelley Gollust and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver¹⁶ was our producer.

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

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 poker   

n.扑克；vt.烙制

参考例句：

• He was cleared out in the poker game.他打扑克牌，把钱都输光了。
• I'm old enough to play poker and do something with it.我打扑克是老手了，可以玩些花样。

3 jury   

n.陪审团，评委会；adj.临时用的；vt.挑选

参考例句：

• These twelve men are believed to compose the jury.据信，陪审团是由这12人组成的。
• The members of the jury were discharged from their duties.陪审员们被解除了职务。

4 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

5 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

6 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

7 bluffing   

n. 威吓，唬人 动词bluff的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• I don't think he'll shoot—I think he's just bluffing. 我认为他不会开枪—我想他不过是在吓唬人。
• He says he'll win the race, but he's only bluffing. 他说他会赢得这场比赛，事实上只是在吹牛。

8 juries   

n.陪审团( jury的名词复数 )；评判委员会

参考例句：

• Grand juries have enormous powers to investigate wrong-doing by public officials as well as private citizens. 大陪审团拥有极大权力调查政府官员及平民的过失。
• Juries for a state court are drawn from the county in which the court is located. 州法院的陪审员一般从该法院所在的县选取，而联邦法院的陪审员则从整个地区选取，包括许多县。

9 waive   

vt.放弃，不坚持(规定、要求、权力等)

参考例句：

• I'll record to our habitat office waive our claim immediately.我立即写信给咱们的总公司提出放弃索赔。
• In view of the unusual circumstances,they agree to waive their requirement.鉴于特殊情况，他们同意放弃他们的要求。

10 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

11 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

12 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

13 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

14 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

15 percussive   

adj.敲击的

参考例句：

• When it is dragged over pliant areas, an additional percussive tap could indicate this collision. 当它被拖到受范区域时，一个附加的敲击声提示这种碰触。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Pneumatic DTH (Down-The-Hole) hammer is one of main pneumatic percussive-rotary drilling equipments. 风动冲击器是气动冲击回转钻进的主要设备之一。 来自互联网

16 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。