AMERICAN MOSAIC - Daydreams (and Dragons) Lead Young Writer

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - Daydreams² (and Dragons) Lead Young Writer Paolini to Success
By Nancy Steinbach and Caty Weaver³

Broadcast: Friday, October 14, 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 some music from The Rolling Stones …

Answer a question about the name of his program …

And report about a popular young American writer.

Christopher Paolini

 
 
Christopher Paolini has never attended high school. But he says that he has visited more high schools than anyone else. He made the visits to talk about an extremely popular book that he began writing at the age of fifteen. Pat⁴ Bodnar has more.

PAT BODNAR: Christopher Paolini lives in the state of Montana. His parents taught him at home, so he did not go to school. He finished his studies at the age of fifteen. But his family decided⁵ he was too young to attend college. So he started writing.

His effort became the book called "Eragon". It is for children ages twelve and older. It is about a poor farm boy named Eragon who finds a strange blue stone that is really an egg. The egg becomes an imaginary⁶ creature called a dragon. The dragon's name is Saphira. She is beautiful, blue and powerful. Eragon cares for her and she becomes his best friend.

Eragon and Saphira have many adventures as they struggle against an evil⁷ king. They also develop a mind link: they know what each other is thinking.

Christopher's parents published "Eragon" themselves. It became so popular that a major publishing company bought the rights to it. The book has sold more than two million copies so far. The company also agreed to publish the two other books Christopher planned to write about Eragon the Sephira.

 
 
The second book has now been published. It is called "Eldest⁸." It continues the story of Eragon and Saphira and their struggle to save their world from the evil king. And Christopher is traveling around the country talking about how and why he wrote the books.

Christopher Paolini is twenty-one years old now. He has no plans to go to college. He says he has the best job in the world because he gets to write down his daydreams. He is now working on the third book that will complete the adventures of Eragon and Saphira in their imaginary land.

Soon, people all over the world will be able to enjoy "Eragon" in another way. A movie of the book is being filmed in Hungary. It will be released⁹ next year.

Meaning of 'Mosaic'

HOST: Our VOA listener question this week comes from China. Eric asks about the meaning of this program's name, American Mosaic.

We will answer that question as a way to help celebrate the anniversary¹⁰ of Special English. Special English began on October nineteenth, nineteen fifty-nine. Voice of America officials wanted a program to communicate with people learning¹¹ English. They wanted a way for people to get to know the language and at the same time learn about the United States and world news.

Special English writing is limited as much as possible to about one thousand five hundred words. Special English uses short sentences. And it is read at a slower speed than normal English.

The program "American Mosaic" began in nineteen eighty-five. We wanted to broadcast a show that young people would like. We wanted to tell about American culture, answer questions from listeners and play popular music. But we could not agree about what to call the program. We began with the name "The Friday Program." And we announced a contest for listeners to send in suggestions for better names.

Two people won the contest. Listeners from China and Egypt both suggested the same name: American Mosaic. Mosaic is spelled m-o-s-a-i-c. The dictionary says that the English word "mosaic" means a picture or design that is made by placing small colored pieces together. You can see colorful mosaics¹² in art and in designs on buildings.

We chose the name "American Mosaic" because the purpose of the show is to create a picture of life in this country through many small stories. Each story is different, like the different pieces of a mosaic. But together, they form a complete picture. We hope that our radio mosaic provides a complete and interesting picture of life in the United States. You can learn more about Special English on our Web site, www.tingroom.com.

Rolling Stones

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Mick Jagger
The Rolling Stones are not American. But, the band is probably as popular in the United States as anywhere else in the world. Right now, the group is performing around the country in huge sports centers. Faith Lapidus tells about the Rolling Stones and plays some of their songs -- old and new.

FAITH LAPIDUS: The Rolling Stones started as a band forty-four years ago. Their first shows in the United States were in the nineteen-sixties. Many critics compared the band with the Beatles. Both groups were British, played rock and roll and became major music stars quickly. But, unlike the Beatles, the Rolling Stones were seen as bad boys. Their hair was longer, their clothes were tighter and they acted wilder.

In nineteen seventy-two, the Rolling Stones released the album, "Exile¹³ on Main Street." Some critics consider it their best. The song "Rip¹⁴ This Joint¹⁵" is an example of the band's bad boy sound.

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Singer Mick Jagger and lead guitarist Keith Richards write the songs. The band's drummer is Charlie Watts¹⁶. Guitarist Ron Wood is the fourth member. He joined the Rolling Stones in nineteen seventy-five.

The album "Some Girls" was released a few years later. A song about New York City, "Shattered," became one of its biggest hits.

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Last month, the Rolling Stones released their latest album, "A Bigger Bang¹⁷." It includes a political song, which is unusual for the band. We leave you with "Sweet Neo-Con."

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

Our show was written by Nancy Steinbach and Caty Weaver, who also 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 daydreams   

n.白日梦( daydream的名词复数 )v.想入非非，空想( daydream的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Often they gave themselves up to daydreams of escape. 他们常沉溺进这种逃避现实的白日梦。 来自英汉文学
• I would become disgusted with my futile daydreams. 我就讨厌自己那种虚无的梦想。 来自辞典例句

3 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。

4 pat   

n.轻拍，拍打声；vt.轻拍，拍打；vi.轻跑，轻击；adv.适时，彻底；adj.油腔滑调的，恰好的，合适的

参考例句：

• Could you hear the pat?你能听到轻轻的拍击声吗？
• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。

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 imaginary   

adj.想象中的，假想的，虚构的，幻想的；虚数的

参考例句：

• All the characters in this book are imaginary.此书中的所有人物都是虚构的。
• The boy's fears were only imaginary.这小孩的恐惧只是一种想象。

7 evil   

n.邪恶，不幸，罪恶；adj.邪恶的，不幸的，有害的，诽谤的

参考例句：

• We pray to God to deliver us from evil.我们祈求上帝把我们从罪恶中拯救出来。
• Love of money is the root of all evil.爱钱是邪恶的根源。

8 eldest   

adj.最年长的，最年老的

参考例句：

• The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。
• The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。

9 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。

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 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

12 mosaics   

n.马赛克( mosaic的名词复数 )；镶嵌；镶嵌工艺；镶嵌图案

参考例句：

• The panel shows marked similarities with mosaics found elsewhere. 这块嵌板和在其他地方找到的镶嵌图案有明显的相似之处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The unsullied and shining floor was paved with white mosaics. 干净明亮的地上镶嵌着白色图案。 来自辞典例句

13 exile   

n.流放，被流放者；vt.流放，放逐，使流亡

参考例句：

• After an exile of eight years her uncle returned to Cairo.她叔叔背井离乡8年后返回开罗。
• Napoleon was sent into exile on an island.拿破仑被流放到一个岛上。

14 rip   

n.拉裂，破绽，激流，浪荡子；vt.撕裂，激昂地说，贬损；vi.裂开，仓促地冲过...

参考例句：

• He had seen the rip in the book.他看到了书里的裂缝。
• I tried not to rip the paper as I unwrapped it.我把纸打开的时候，尽量不把它撕破。

15 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

16 watts   

（电力计量单位）瓦，瓦特( watt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• My lamp uses 60 watts; my toaster uses 600 watts. 我的灯用60瓦，我的烤面包器用600瓦。
• My lamp uses 40 watts. 我的灯40瓦。

17 bang   

n.巨响，猛击；vi.砰砰作响；vt.砰地敲，猛击

参考例句：

• Pack it up, you kids;or I'll bang your heads together!住手，你们这些小孩，再弄就揍你们！
• She fell and got a nasty bang on the knee.她摔倒了，膝盖猛撞在地上。