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VOA慢速英语2011--For Many Americans Summertime is Reading

时间:2011-07-13 08:14:00

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(单词翻译)

EXPLORATIONS - For Many Americans Summertime is Reading Time

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: I’m Shirley Griffith.
STEVE EMBER: And I’m Steve Ember with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Our subject today is books. For many Americans, summer is a good time to catch up on reading, whether the book is serious or fun. Some popular novels are called “beach reads” because they are fun and light stories that can be read while –possibly - sitting by the ocean on a beach. Some newspapers and magazines publish lists with summer reading suggestions. Today, we tell about some of those books.
(MUSIC)
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: We start with a reading suggestion that seems a good choice for the summer. “Maine” takes place during a summer holiday at a seaside community in the United States. This is the second novel by New York-based writer J. Courtney Sullivan. It tells the story of three generations of women in the Kelleher family. They spend time together each year at the family’s summer home in Maine. Each woman is facing her own difficulties. Critics say “Maine” is a thoughtful story about desire, secrets, and the deep love of family.
STEVE EMBER: Writer Ann Patchett’s latest book is called “State of Wonder.” It tells the story of Marina Singh, a medical researcher living in the state of Minnesota. Her co-worker Anders travels to the Amazon River forests of Brazil to examine a research program his company operates there. The program is led by another researcher: Dr. Swenson. She lives with and studies a tribe of natives whose women are able to have babies into their seventies. Dr. Swenson and her team are working on developing a fertility drug from a plant the women eat every day.
Marina Singh receives news that Anders mysteriously dies. She then travels to Brazil to investigate his death and learn more about Dr. Swenson’s findings. Her trip brings many surprising discoveries.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Last month, Ann Patchett spoke1 at Politics and Prose, a bookstore in Washington D.C. Here, she reads a passage where Marina Singh, two doctors and two tribe members, named Benoit and Easter, have a frightening moment together. Benoit has just lifted a huge Anaconda snake onto the group’s riverboat, deep in the Amazon forest.
ANN PATCHETT: “There was too much coiling and uncoiling for an accurate measurement but the snake appeared to be fifteen feet long, eighteen when it stretched. Benoit appeared to be five feet, five inches, and he was outweighed2 by as much as fifty pounds. The three doctors pressed away, screaming various invectives in an unhelpful language. Marina wanted to jump in the water and to run across the lettuce3 with the long toed birds, but who could say the snake didn’t have a family down there?
There was an odor none of them recognized, the smell of (a) furious reptile4, an oily stench of putrid5 rage that worked its way into the membranes6 of their nostrils7 as if it planned to stay there forever. The back half of the snake whipped up and made itself a knot around Easter’s slender waist and wrapped and wrapped and at the moment its head swung past, Easter reached into the air, his hand a quarter of a second faster than the snake, and grabbed its throat just below the head, well above Benoit’s fist. Easter had caught the snake that Benoit had caught.”
(Sound courtesy of Politics and Prose)
STEVE EMBER: Mark LaFramboise is a book buyer for Politics and Prose. We asked him what defines a good summer book.
MARK LAFRAMBOISE: “I think, for me, summer reading is all of those things that you wish you had time to read during the busiest part of year, now you are going to take some time off, now you are going to go on vacation and now it is time to read that stack of books that has been sitting next to your desk. So I don’t necessarily think that summer reading has to be something light, has to be something mindless”
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Two of Mark LaFramboise’s suggested books involve animals. “The Tiger’s Wife” is by the twenty-five year old writer Tea Obreht. She lives in the United States, but was born in the former Yugoslavia. Her book takes place in an unnamed Balkan country.
MARK LAFRAMBOISE: “Even though the writing is beautiful, the language is beautiful, it’s really the story that packs the most punch”
STEVE EMBER: “The Tiger’s Wife” tells the story of a young doctor named Natalia. She is on a trip to treat a group of children whose parents have died. Natalia has just learned that her beloved grandfather died mysteriously. Much of the book includes stories the grandfather told about his childhood. These include the story of a wild tiger that frightens a small village and the story of a deathless man. Last month, Ms. Obreht became the youngest person ever to win the British Orange Prize for Fiction for her novel.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: “Swamplandia!” by Karen Russell is set in the heat of southern Florida.
MARK LAFRAMBOISE: “I love books that can make you laugh and can make you cry at the same time, and she does that really well.”
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Thirteen year old Ava Bigtree comes from a family of alligator8 wrestlers. Her family owns a wildlife park called “Swamplandia!,” where they perform their unusual skills. But after the death of Ava’s mother, the family’s business and home life slowly start to fall apart. Her father leaves home on business. Her brother goes off to work at a competing business. And her sister falls in love with a ghost.
Ava bravely attempts to repair the failing “Swamplandia!” and also bring her family back together.
(MUSIC)
STEVE EMBER: Last summer many Americans picked up Swedish crime novels, including “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest” by Stieg Larsson. This was the third of three books in his popular “Millennium Series.”
Swedish crime books remain popular this year. “The Hypnotist” is the first book by Lars Kepler. Lars Kepler is the professional name for Alexander and Alexandra Ahndoril, the Swedish husband and wife team who wrote the book. The story is about the murder of a family, and the son who survived this tragic9 incident. However, he is too shocked to discuss the events he witnessed. A hypnotist attempts to get the boy to a mental state where he can discuss what he saw so that police can learn more about the attacker.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: American crime writer George Pelecanos is known for both his books and his writing for the television show “The Wire.” His latest book will be released in August. “The Cut” tells about a young man named Spero Lucas. He has returned to the United States after serving in the military in Iraq. He finds work doing special investigations10 for a lawyer in Washington, D.C. But he soon finds himself deeply involved in a world of crime and violence.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: E.L. Doctorow is known for his many novels. He recently published a collection of short stories called “All the Time in the World.” One critic said the stories in this collection reveal news not just about the world, but also about the mysteries of human behavior.
STEVE EMBER: Bharati Mukherjee is an Indian-born writer who teaches at the University of California, Berkeley. Her new book is called “Miss New India.” The main character, Anjali, comes from a traditional lower middle-class family in a small town. She is expected to marry the man her parents choose for her. Anjali decides this is not the kind of life she wants. So she leaves her family and moves to the big city of Bangalore where she finds work. She becomes part of a group of energetic and successful young people.
Ms. Mukherjee says she met and talked with people just like Anjali in India. The writer says she saw these Indians as time-travelers moving away from tradition and an eventless youth, heading into an exciting and high-tech11 future.
(MUSIC)
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Other summer reading possibilities include works of non-fiction.
“The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris” is by historian David McCullough. It tells about how the city of Paris had a huge influence on many nineteenth century American artists and scientists. These include writer James Fenimore Cooper and inventor Samuel Morse.
Erik Larson’s latest book takes place during the first years of Adolf Hitler’s rule in Germany in the nineteen thirties. “In the Garden of Beasts” tells the story of the growing influence of the Nazi12 party through the eyes of two Americans living in Berlin at the time.
STEVE EMBER: “On China” is by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. In this book he describes his efforts to restart diplomatic ties with China during the presidency13 of Richard Nixon in the early nineteen seventies. Mr. Kissinger discusses how China’s history has helped shape its foreign policy and its positions toward western countries.
Two popular books are autobiographies14, books in which the writer tells about his or her life. “Bossypants” is the work of television actress and writer Tina Fey. It is a funny book that tells about how Ms. Fey became famous for her writing and acting15.
STEVE EMBER: Steven Tyler is the lead singer of the rock band Aerosmith. The book he wrote about his long music career is called “Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?” One critic said the book does not make a lot of sense, but it is filled with spirit and energy. It is about his music, marriages, drug problems, and much more.
(MUSIC)
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: This program was written and produced by Dana Demange. I’m Shirley Griffith.
STEVE EMBER: And I’m Steve Ember. What books are you enjoying? Leave a comment telling us what you have read on our website, voaspecialenglish.com. You can also find us on Facebook and YouTube at VOA Learning English. Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
2 outweighed ab362c03a68adf0ab499937abbf51262     
v.在重量上超过( outweigh的过去式和过去分词 );在重要性或价值方面超过
参考例句:
  • This boxer outweighed by his opponent 20 pounds. 这个拳击选手体重比他的对手重20磅。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She outweighed me by ten pounds, and sometimes she knocked me down. 她的体重超过我十磅,有时竟把我撞倒。 来自百科语句
3 lettuce C9GzQ     
n.莴苣;生菜
参考例句:
  • Get some lettuce and tomatoes so I can make a salad.买些莴苣和西红柿,我好做色拉。
  • The lettuce is crisp and cold.莴苣松脆爽口。
4 reptile xBiz7     
n.爬行动物;两栖动物
参考例句:
  • The frog is not a true reptile.青蛙并非真正的爬行动物。
  • So you should not be surprised to see someone keep a reptile as a pet.所以,你不必惊奇有人养了一只爬行动物作为宠物。
5 putrid P04zD     
adj.腐臭的;有毒的;已腐烂的;卑劣的
参考例句:
  • To eat putrid food is liable to get sick.吃了腐败的食物容易生病。
  • A putrid smell drove us from the room.一股腐臭的气味迫使我们离开这房间。
6 membranes 93ec26b8b1eb155ef0aeaa845da95972     
n.(动物或植物体内的)薄膜( membrane的名词复数 );隔膜;(可起防水、防风等作用的)膜状物
参考例句:
  • The waste material is placed in cells with permeable membranes. 废液置于有渗透膜的槽中。 来自辞典例句
  • The sarcoplasmic reticulum is a system of intracellular membranes. 肌浆网属于细胞内膜系统。 来自辞典例句
7 nostrils 23a65b62ec4d8a35d85125cdb1b4410e     
鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Her nostrils flared with anger. 她气得两个鼻孔都鼓了起来。
  • The horse dilated its nostrils. 马张大鼻孔。
8 alligator XVgza     
n.短吻鳄(一种鳄鱼)
参考例句:
  • She wandered off to play with her toy alligator.她开始玩鳄鱼玩具。
  • Alligator skin is five times more costlier than leather.鳄鱼皮比通常的皮革要贵5倍。
9 tragic inaw2     
adj.悲剧的,悲剧性的,悲惨的
参考例句:
  • The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
  • Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。
10 investigations 02de25420938593f7db7bd4052010b32     
(正式的)调查( investigation的名词复数 ); 侦查; 科学研究; 学术研究
参考例句:
  • His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查,但没有发现什么。
  • He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。
11 high-tech high-tech     
adj.高科技的
参考例句:
  • The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展,这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
  • The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。
12 Nazi BjXyF     
n.纳粹分子,adj.纳粹党的,纳粹的
参考例句:
  • They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻,并出面求和。
  • Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。
13 presidency J1HzD     
n.总统(校长,总经理)的职位(任期)
参考例句:
  • Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
  • Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。
14 autobiographies f2cdb4f6f9dc2f372896a22a3192ad84     
n.自传( autobiography的名词复数 );自传文学
参考例句:
  • The series was based on the autobiographies of the author. 这部连续剧是根据那位作家的自传拍摄的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • There are some songs and, recently, a few autobiographies about peasant experience. 有些歌曲描述了农民的经验,最近还出了几本自传。 来自互联网
15 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。

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