在线英语听力室

VOA慢速英语2010年-American Mosaic - The Story of 'Moby D

时间:2010-07-09 02:24:51

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号:tingroom,领取免费英语资料大礼包。

(单词翻译)

DOUG JOHNSON:

Welcome to American Mosaic1 in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I’m Doug Johnson.

Today we listen to new music by three country and western performers.

And we answer a question about the first nuclear-powered submarine.

But first, we hear about a new opera based on a famous book.

(MUSIC)

DOUG JOHNSON: “Moby Dick” by Herman Melville is one of the great American novels of the nineteenth century. It tells about a sailor named Ishmael and his observations on the whaling ship Pequod. The ship’s Captain Ahab is seeking to find the great, white whale that destroyed his former ship and bit off his leg. Now, this famous book has been made into an opera. Mario Ritter tells us more.

(MUSIC)

Crewmen on a whale hunt in the opera based on Herman Melville's 'Moby Dick'

MARIO RITTER: The Dallas Opera in Texas and four other opera companies hired American composer Jake Heggie to write the opera “Moby Dick.” He reduced the long story into an opera that lasts about three hours. The bold novel works well as an equally bold opera.

JAKE HEGGIE: “It’s a tremendous adventure story. It’s got real human drama. It makes sense for people to sing rather than say these words, because the emotions are so huge, the conflicts are so large and so real.”

The songs are rooted in nineteenth and twentieth century music. But the video effects used on stage are very much part of the twenty-first century. Like the book, the opera “Moby Dick” begins quietly. The tense music expresses the restlessness of the sea. Video images of stars shine in a dark, night sky. The stars turn into sea routes, which turn into sailing maps, which then form the shape of a ship.

Special effects artist Elaine McCarthy designed the video. She wanted to represent life on a ship in an unexpected way. The stage itself becomes the ship’s surface with sails and rigging.

Ben Heppner as Captain Ahab encourages his crew to keep a sharp eye out for the white whale

Ben Heppner sings the role of Captain Ahab. This character has a wooden peg2 to replace the leg destroyed by Moby Dick. Mr. Heppner had his own leg tied back so that a wooden leg could be attached at the knee. He says it was not easy moving with this device.

Here he sings with the character Starbuck, played by Morgan Smith.

(MUSIC)

Mr. Heggie says that the beauty of the language in the book “Moby Dick” forced him to work in a new way.

JAKE HEGGIE: “The combination of the sweep and scope of Melville’s language, the beauty of the story, the depth of the characters all pushed me into a whole new realm of composing and thinking of what music is onstage.”

“Moby Dick” will be performed in Australia next year. Then the opera will move on to Calgary, Canada and the California cities of San Diego and San Francisco.

(MUSIC)

DOUG JOHNSON: Our listener question this week comes from Italy. Robert Corsino wants to know the history of Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine.

There have been many ships named Nautilus, but Nautilus 571 has a special place in history. In nineteen fifty-one, Navy Admiral Hyman Rickover urged the United States Congress to provide money for the first nuclear-powered submarine. Before that time, submarines had operated on diesel3 fuel and electricity.

The USS Nautilus

The older kind of submarine used in World War Two could stay under water for only about forty-eight hours. Engineers thought the new nuclear submarine would be able to stay under water for two weeks or more.

After Congress provided the money, the General Dynamics4 company began building Nautilus in Groton, Connecticut. Work was finished in about two years. Nautilus was put to sea for the first time on January seventeenth, nineteen fifty-five. The ship’s captain sent out a historic message: “Underway on nuclear power.”

Nautilus was a large submarine. It was about ninety-eight meters long. It carried eleven officers and a crew of about one hundred men. For its first trip, the submarine sailed under water from New London, Connecticut to San Juan, Puerto Rico. It traveled two thousand one hundred kilometers in less than ninety hours. This was the fastest any submarine had ever traveled.

In nineteen fifty-eight, Nautilus made another historic trip. The secret project was called “Operation Sunshine.” The submarine sailed under and around the North Pole. This was the first time any submarine had made such a dangerous trip.

In nineteen sixty, Nautilus was deployed5 to the Mediterranean6 Sea to become the first nuclear-powered submarine in the United States Sixth Fleet.

For almost twenty years, Nautilus sailed to many ports around the world. But by nineteen seventy-nine, the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine had become an old ship. Its last trip that year was from Connecticut to California. It was then “decommissioned” or retired7 by the navy.

But the life of Nautilus did not end there. The sub was brought back to the East Coast of the United States and became a floating museum in nineteen eighty-six. It is now a major part of the United States Navy Submarine Force Museum and Library near New London, Connecticut. Each year thousands of people visit the museum and go on board the submarine that made history -- the U.S.S. Nautilus.

(MUSIC)

DOUG JOHNSON: Three of the biggest names in country music have each recently released new albums. Barbara Klein tells us about the latest records from Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson and Alan Jackson.

BARBARA KLEIN: Merle Haggard has spent fifty years as a singer, songwriter and guitarist. He became a star of what was known as the Bakersfield Sound. It came out of California where he was born. The sound had a rougher and more rebellious8 edge than the highly produced country music coming out of Nashville, Tennessee.

Merle Haggard is seventy-three now. He says his latest album "I Am What I Am" is more personal and a little more from the heart than earlier records. Here is "I've Seen It Go Away."

(MUSIC)

The latest album from Willie Nelson is simply called "Country Music." It includes bluegrass and spirituals. All but one of the songs were written by others. The producer was the highly skilled T Bone Burnett.

Here is Willie Nelson with "Drinking Champagne9."

(MUSIC)

Alan Jackson is a generation younger than Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. His newest record "Freight Train" is his eighteenth album. We leave you with Alan Jackson and Lee Ann Womack performing a love song. Here is "Till the End."

(MUSIC)

DOUG JOHNSON: I'm Doug Johnson. Our program was written by Jim Tedder10, Bill Zeeble and Dana Demange who was also the producer.

You can find transcripts11, MP3s and podcasts of our shows at voaspecialenglish.com. If you have a question about American life, send an e-mail to [email protected]. Please remember to tell us your name and where you live.

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.

 


分享到:


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 mosaic CEExS     
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 peg p3Fzi     
n.木栓,木钉;vt.用木钉钉,用短桩固定
参考例句:
  • Hang your overcoat on the peg in the hall.把你的大衣挂在门厅的挂衣钩上。
  • He hit the peg mightily on the top with a mallet.他用木槌猛敲木栓顶。
3 diesel ql6zo     
n.柴油发动机,内燃机
参考例句:
  • We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
  • My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。
4 dynamics NuSzQq     
n.力学,动力学,动力,原动力;动态
参考例句:
  • In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利,你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
  • Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。
5 deployed 4ceaf19fb3d0a70e329fcd3777bb05ea     
(尤指军事行动)使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 ); 施展; 部署; 有效地利用
参考例句:
  • Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
  • The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。
6 Mediterranean ezuzT     
adj.地中海的;地中海沿岸的
参考例句:
  • The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
  • Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。
7 retired Njhzyv     
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的
参考例句:
  • The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
  • Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。
8 rebellious CtbyI     
adj.造反的,反抗的,难控制的
参考例句:
  • They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反,他们就要发生危险。
  • Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和,但她的心里十分反感。
9 champagne iwBzh3     
n.香槟酒;微黄色
参考例句:
  • There were two glasses of champagne on the tray.托盘里有两杯香槟酒。
  • They sat there swilling champagne.他们坐在那里大喝香槟酒。
10 tedder 2833afc4f8252d8dc9f8cd73b24db55d     
n.(干草)翻晒者,翻晒机
参考例句:
  • Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆?特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
  • Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆?泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网
11 transcripts 525c0b10bb61e5ddfdd47d7faa92db26     
n.抄本( transcript的名词复数 );转写本;文字本;副本
参考例句:
  • Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样,都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
  • You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书,你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句

本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎 点击提交 分享给大家。