AMERICAN MOSAIC - The Best of 2005 in Music, Books and Movie

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - The Best of 2005 in Music, Books and Movies
By Shelley Gollust and Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Friday, December 30, 2005

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HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

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I'm Doug Johnson. The year two thousand five is coming to a close. So we present a special year ender show this week.

We hear some of the best country songs of the year…

Tell about some popular movies released this year…

And…Report about some successful books published in two thousand five.

Country Music

HOST:

This year, we are looking back at some of the best country music songs released recently. Bob Doughty² plays some country music hits of two thousand five.

ANNCR:

VOA Country Music expert Mary Morningstar says one of the songs of the past year she likes best is by singer Jo Dee Messina. It is the first hit song on her album, "Delicious Surprise." It is called "My Give a Damn's Busted³".

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Another of Mary's favorite artists this year is the country group called "Sugarland." She says everyone should look for more success from this group in the future. One of their big hits this year was from their album "Twice The Speed of Life." Here it is:"Baby Girl".

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My Kind of Livin'
Each year, Billboard⁴ Magazine publishes lists of the most popular recordings⁵. Billboard says the most popular country single record this year was by Craig Morgan. We leave you now with that song, "That's What I Love About Sunday".

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Top Selling Books

HOST:

Hundreds of books are published in the United States each year. Only a few are extremely successful. Here is Faith Lapidus to tell us about three of the best books of the year.

ANNCR:

One extremely successful book published this year is "The Year of Magical Thinking" by Joan Didion. It won the National Book Award for Non-Fiction.

Didion writes about the year following the death of her husband and the serious sickness of her daughter. Critics say the book describes how a person mourns for a loved one and for the end of a long marriage. They say it shows the ways people do and do not deal with the fact that life ends.

People who have read "The Year of Magical Thinking" say that it is extremely honest. But it is not meant to be a self-help book for others who are mourning. Some people say it did help them recognize that they are not alone in sadness after the death of a loved one. Still others say that Joan Didion's book takes the reader on a trip to a place that people can not fully⁶ imagine until they have been there.

Another critically praised book published this year is "The March" by E.L.Doctorow. It is a fictional⁷ story based on real people and events in history. The event is the American Civil War during the eighteen sixties. The real main character is the Union General, William Tecumseh Sherman.

The story follows Sherman's army as it marches through the South in the final days of the war. It shows the burning of southern cities and the executions⁸ of captured soldiers. It shows how the characters are changed by the war --Union and Southern soldiers, blacks and whites, men and women. Critics say the book tells a human story that shows how people in the South reacted to the destruction of their world.

A third notable⁹ book published this year is "Prep" by a young woman named Curtis Sittenfeld. It tells about the experiences of a young American girl at a high school where the students live. This kind of school is called a boarding school or prep school. The main character is Lee Fiora who tells the story as a twenty-four year old looking back on her school days. People who have read "Prep" say it makes the reader feel what Lee feels during her four years at the school. And it clearly shows how young people will deny their individuality to fit in with the group.

HIT MOVIES

HOST:

Three of the best movies of the year were about American men who became famous during the nineteen fifties and sixties. Pat Bodnar tells us about them.

ANNNCR:

Critics say "Good Night and Good Luck," "Capote" and "Walk the Line" were among the best American movies this year. The three films were based on true stories about famous men. Movies about famous people are called "biopics" (BUY-oh-picks). The three movies also create detailed¹⁰ pictures of America as it was about fifty years ago.

 
David Strathairn as Edward R. Murrow in the new movie 'Good Night and Good Luck'
"Good Night, and Good Luck" is about the famous CBS television newsman Edward R. Murrow. It shows how he made television broadcasts against Senator¹¹ Joseph McCarthy in nineteen fifty-four. Murrow showed that the powerful senator's charges of disloyalty against innocent Americans were false.

David Strathairn (stra-THAIR-in) plays Edward R. Murrow. The actor looks and sounds very much like the famous newsman. George Clooney plays Murrow's producer, Fred Friendly. Mister Clooney also directed the movie. Critics say the film is about power, truth-telling and responsibility.

Truman Capote was a famous, wealthy writer living in New York City. In nineteen fifty-nine, he read a newspaper story about the murder of a family in a small town in Kansas. He decided¹² to write a book about it.

The movie "Capote" shows how he spent the next six years following the case. Capote established a close relationship with one of the two men jailed for the murders. The two were finally executed for their crimes.

Capote published his book, "In Cold Blood," in nineteen sixty-six. Experts said he created a new kind of non-fiction: a crime story that was literature. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Truman Capote in the movie. The actor changed his appearance and voice to look and sound more like the famous writer.

The actor Joaquin Phoenix¹³ also changed his appearance and voice to star as singer Johnny Cash in the film "Walk the Line." The movie tells about Cash's life from childhood in a poor Southern family to success as a country music singer.

Phoenix performs Cash's most famous songs in the movie. Reese Witherspoon plays June Carter, a famous country singer who performs with Cash and later marries him. Some critics say the two were among the best performances by actors in movies this year.

HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our special program for the end of the year. And we in Special English wish you a Happy New Year.

Our show was written by Shelley Gollust and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver¹⁴ 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 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 busted   

adj. 破产了的，失败了的，被降级的，被逮捕的，被抓到的 动词bust的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You are so busted! 你被当场逮住了！
• It was money troubles that busted up their marriage. 是金钱纠纷使他们的婚姻破裂了。

4 billboard   

n.布告板，揭示栏，广告牌

参考例句：

• He ploughed his energies into his father's billboard business.他把精力投入到父亲的广告牌业务中。
• Billboard spreads will be simpler and more eye-catching.广告牌广告会比较简单且更引人注目。

5 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。

8 executions   

n.实行( execution的名词复数 )；（尤指遗嘱的）执行；演奏；依法处决

参考例句：

• Executions used to be held in public. 过去处决犯人都公开执行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The espionage, the betrayals, the arrests, the tortures, the executions, the disappearances will never cease. 间谍活动、叛党卖国、逮捕拷打、处决灭迹，这种事情永远不会完。 来自英汉文学

9 notable   

adj.值得注意的，著名的；n.名人，要人

参考例句：

• His achievement is very notable.他的成就是非常显著的。
• He wrote and published the essay under notable's name.他假托名人写文章发表。

10 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

11 senator   

n.参议员，评议员

参考例句：

• The senator urged against the adoption of the measure.那参议员极力反对采取这项措施。
• The senator's speech hit at government spending.参议员的讲话批评了政府的开支。

12 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。

13 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

14 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。