AMERICAN MOSAIC - Kids Helping Kids Survive the Effects of K

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - Kids Helping² Kids Survive the Effects of Katrina
By Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Friday, September 09, 2005

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

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

We hear music made by a Moog Synthesizer …

Answer a question from a listener about Americans who are too fat …

And report about children around the country helping other children who lost their homes in Hurricane Katrina.

Aid to Hurricane Victims

The American Red Cross says Hurricane Katrina has left hundreds of thousands of people homeless. Many other Americans, especially children, want to help these people. Barbara Klein tells us about some of their efforts.

 
New Orleans
BARBARA KLEIN: Children in many parts of the United States have organized projects to help children who lost their homes in the hurricane. In Glen Rock, New Jersey³, children organized a three-day bake sale. They sold cakes, cookies and lemon drinks. They earned more than three thousand dollars. One local businessman gave the same amount of money as the children earned. So they have more than six thousand dollars to send to the hurricane victims.

Children sold baked goods and lemonade in other areas of the country, too. Students in the state of Indiana also washed people's cars to earn money for hurricane victims. Older children in the area are organizing dance competitions. The dancers ask their families and friends to promise money. The money will go to hurricane victims.

 
Biloxi, Mississippi
Students in Palm Bay, Florida are sewing cloth bear toys for children affected⁴ by the storm. The children say they hope the teddy bears will make the hurricane victims feel better. Teachers say the children who are making the bears feel good because they know the stuffed⁵ animals will be held in the hands of other children.

Another group of children is filling special cloth bags for hurricane victims. Three sisters in Bethesda, Maryland got the idea for Project Backpack. They are asking other children to fill backpacks with things hurricane victims might like. These include books, crayons, games, toys, stuffed animals, dolls, balls and school supplies. They are asking for things that will help the children have some fun. The girls say on their Web site that they hope to get one thousand backpacks to send to the hurricane victims in the South.

Other efforts are more individual. One boy in New Jersey celebrated⁶ his tenth birthday with a party. He asked his guests to bring money for the hurricane victims instead of birthday presents for him.

Obesity⁷ in the United States

HOST: Our VOA listener question this week comes from Ankara, Turkey. Doctor Ahmet Korkmaz asks about the weight situation among Americans.

The short answer to that question is that a majority of Americans are too fat. Some Americans are overweight and others are severely⁸ overweight, or obese⁹.

Last month, an organization called Trust for America's Health released¹⁰ the results of a study about obesity in the United States. The report is called "F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America, Two Thousand Five."

The report said more than sixty-four percent of adult Americans are either overweight or obese. That is about one hundred twenty million people. More than twenty-four percent of American adults are obese. The United States Department of Health and Human Services has set a goal of reducing the number of obese adults to fifteen percent or less by two thousand ten.

The report said the number of obese people continued to increase in every American state except Oregon. It said more than twenty-five percent of adults in ten states are obese. Seven of these states are in the Southeast. Mississippi had the highest percentage of obese people, followed by Alabama, West Virginia, Louisiana and Tennessee.

The group Trust for America's Health said the government should help solve the problem. It said obesity leads to heart disease¹¹, diabetes¹² and many other health problems. And the cost of health care to treat such problems is huge.

Critics say it is extremely difficult to get people to change what they eat or how they prepare their food. And they say it is not clear that the government knows how to influence people to make healthier decisions for themselves and their families.

Still, the report suggests some actions that federal¹³, state and local policy makers¹⁴ could take. One is to design communities to increase people's physical activity. Another is to make schools serve healthier foods and require more physical education classes. Still another is to include exercise programs as part of government medical insurance. And a fourth is to provide the public with more information about the importance of healthy foods.

Moog Music

American inventor Robert Moog (rhymes with vogue) died last month. He was seventy-one years old. Mister¹⁵ Moog invented a device¹⁶ that changed the music industry. Faith Lapidus explains.

FAITH LAPIDUS: Robert Moog was born in New York City in nineteen thirty-four. He studied science at school and earned advanced degrees in engineering¹⁷ and physics. He combined his two main interests: science and music.

Robert Moog built his first electronic instrument when he was fourteen years old. Later, he began designing and producing devices¹⁸ that play sounds without the use of musical instruments. In the nineteen sixties, he developed what has always been known as the Moog Synthesizer. It was the first successful electronic music synthesizer.

Musician Walter Carlos used the synthesizer to record the album "Switched-On Bach" in nineteen sixty-eight. It became a huge hit. Here is one of the songs on that classical electronic album, "Sinfonia To Cantata¹⁹ Number Twenty-Nine."

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The success of "Switched-On Bach" led popular recording²⁰ artists to use the Moog Synthesizer. Critics say you can hear its value at the end of the song "Lucky Man" recorded by the group Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Let's listen:

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Robert Moog received honors²¹ for his inventions, including a Grammy Award for technical achievement. Last year, a documentary²² film was made about his life. We leave you now with another example of the Moog Synthesizer. It is the title music from the nineteen seventy-one movie "A Clockwork Orange."

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

Our show was written by Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver²³ 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 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 stuffed   

adj.充满的；饱的v.塞住( stuff的过去式和过去分词 )；把…装进；把…装满；（使）吃撑

参考例句：

• stuffed animals in glass cases 玻璃柜里的动物标本
• I was stuffed to the gills with chocolate cake. 我嘴里塞满了巧克力蛋糕。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。

8 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

9 obese   

adj.过度肥胖的，肥大的

参考例句：

• The old man is really obese,it can't be healthy.那位老人确实过于肥胖了，不能算是健康。
• Being obese and lazy is dangerous to health.又胖又懒危害健康。

10 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

11 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

12 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

13 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。

14 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

16 device   

n.器械，装置；计划，策略，诡计

参考例句：

• The device will be in production by the end of the year.该装置将于年底投入生产。
• The device will save much time and effort for us.这种装置会使我们节省大量时间和气力。

17 engineering   

n.工程，工程学，管理，操纵

参考例句：

• The science of engineering began as soon as man learned to use tools. 人类一学会使用工具,工程科学就开始了。
• It was the first great engineering works in the world. 这是世界上第一家大型的工程工厂。

18 devices   

n.设备；装置( device的名词复数 )；花招；（为实现某种目的的）计划；手段

参考例句：

• electrical labour-saving devices around the home 节省劳力的各种家用电器
• modern labour-saving devices such as washing machines and dishwashers 诸如洗衣机和洗碗机之类的现代化省力设备

19 cantata   

n.清唱剧，大合唱

参考例句：

• The music of the song has been rearranged for the cantata.这支歌改编已成大合唱。
• The choral society sang the new cantata composed by its leader.该合唱队演唱了他们领队编写的大合唱。

20 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。

21 honors   

n.礼仪；荣典；礼节； 大学荣誉学位；大学优等成绩；尊敬( honor的名词复数 )；敬意；荣誉；光荣

参考例句：

• He aims at honors. 他力求名誉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We did the last honors to his remains. 我们向他的遗体告别。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 documentary   

adj.文献的；n.纪录片

参考例句：

• This case lacked documentary proof.本案缺少书面证据。
• I watched a documentary on the Civil War.我看了一部关于内战的纪录片。

23 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。