在线英语听力室

VOA慢速英语2013 AS IT IS 2013-05-11 Being President of the United States Takes Work

时间:2013-05-15 09:27:14

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)

 

AS IT IS 2013-05-11 Being President of the United States Takes Work

Hello again, and welcome to As It Is from VOA Learning English.

I’m June Simms.

Today we pay tribute to one of America’s greatest composers.

And we visit a play that honors one of the world’s most beloved reggae musicians.

But first, we hear from the “leader of the free world,” or at least someone pretending to be him.

Being President of the United States Takes Work

In some countries, people can be put in jail for impersonating a political leader. But in places where freedom of speech is protected, you may see people copying politicians in public or on television. Today, Kelly Jean Kelly tells us about one such impersonator in the Washington, DC area.

Larry Graves looks a lot like President Obama and Mr. Graves spends much of his time acting1 like the first black president of the United States. He recently spoke2 at an environmental conference in Arlington, Virginia.

“I want to thank the Environmental Information Association for having me here today. Now I understand this is your 30th anniversary, so congratulations.”

As expected, some people attending the conference thought they were seeing President Obama. Mike Farrell was one of them.

“It’s really astonishing how close he actually is -- his mannerisms, the way that he speaks, actually his hair, you know the whole package.”

The crowd smiled and laughed once they understood that Larry Graves was just a President Obama look-alike. His performance includes two men who act as Secret Service agents, protecting the look-alike. Matt Baldwin has worked with Mr. Graves for five years.

“People have actually come up to me and asked 'Is that really the president?' Like really. I’ve had fun with it and I just didn’t say anything.”

Many people wanted to have their picture taken with the look-alike president, including Eric Goeller of Arizona.

“I just sent this picture of myself and Mr. Obama back home and I’ve gotten about 25 text messages.”

Environmentalist Sean Fitzgerald spoke at length with Larry Graves about the dangers of asbestos, which is known to cause cancer.

“I was thinking what would it be like if this was the real president.”

Mr. Graves is shocked that people talk to him like that, even knowing that he is not the president.

“I find it slightly incredulous that people do come up to me with such reverence3, with such respect, with such awe4.”

He says it took time to perfect the way President Obama speaks. He also uses makeup5 to help him look more like the president. This includes, darkening his eyebrows6, deepening his lip color, and adding a mole7.

Besides facial similarities, Larry Graves says he and the president have other things in common.

“We’re about the same size, body size. We’re both left-handed. We both like basketball.”

He has yet to meet the president, but hopes to one day. And he would like to face him in a game of pick-up basketball.

“I don’t think that Obama could beat me in a game of basketball.”

When he is not playing president, Larry Graves works as a substitute teacher in Gaithersburg, Maryland. His fifth grade students watched a video of his performance. At first they thought they were watching the president.

“It looked like our gym teacher but it was really hard to tell.

“It looked just like Obama. It feels like I’m getting taught by a famous gym teacher.”

The students say eventually Larry Graves’ voice gave him away.

Vince Brennan of Vermont was among the delegates at the Environmental Information Association meeting. He enjoyed having the President Obama look-alike stop by.

“It’s great to have great people like the president come down and see us.”

I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

You are listening to As It Is, your daily magazine show from VOA Learning English. I’m June Simms.

Bob Marley’s Music Comes to Life 

One of the world’s most beloved reggae musicians is at the heart of a new musical now showing in Glen Echo, Maryland. The musical is called “Three Little Birds.” It combines the music of reggae star Bob Marley and a story by his daughter, writer Cedella Marley. The name of the play, and the book on which it is based, is taken from one of Bob Marley’s most famous songs.

The music of Bob Marley mixes with a story by his daughter Cedella Marley to create a charming children’s musical.

“The play is about a little boy named Ziggy who is nervous about all the outside issues like hurricanes and mongoose.”

“I have to stay home and watch the weather report.”

“And so he decides to stay in his house and watch TV.

Michael Bobbitt is Producing Artistic8 Director of Adventure Theatre MTC in Glen Echo, Maryland. He made the musical production from the book.

Ziggy is also afraid of Duppy, an evil spirit who steals the hair of young people to become powerful.

“More hair, more power, more souls.”

Ziggy’s friends and family have decided9 to get him out of the house so he can start to enjoy life.

“Life is full of danger, but also adventure.”

Eventually they succeed.

“In his travels, he of course encounters all the things that he’s a little bit afraid of, especially Duppy. And then Ziggy learns that yes, life is filled with dangers, but adventures are a lot more fun than danger.”

The young people who attended the show seem to agree. They talked about the parts of the play they liked best.

“I liked the part when the witch was sneaking10 up and wanted to take the hair.”

“I liked the part when he winked11 his eye.”

“Three Little Birds.”

“Three Little Birds” is the name of one of Marley’s most popular songs. Based on the excitement of the crowd, Bob Marley’s music is touching12 a whole new generation.

Remembering Irving Berlin

Finally, American composer and song writer Irving Berlin was born 125 years ago today. He wrote more than 1,000 songs during the course of his career and is considered one of the greatest songwriters in American History. We leave you with one of his most famous songs as sung by Kate Smith.


分享到:


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 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。
2 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。
3 reverence BByzT     
n.敬畏,尊敬,尊严;Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称;v.尊敬,敬畏,崇敬
参考例句:
  • He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
  • We reverence tradition but will not be fettered by it.我们尊重传统,但不被传统所束缚。
4 awe WNqzC     
n.敬畏,惊惧;vt.使敬畏,使惊惧
参考例句:
  • The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
  • The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。
5 makeup 4AXxO     
n.组织;性格;化装品
参考例句:
  • Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
  • Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗?
6 eyebrows a0e6fb1330e9cfecfd1c7a4d00030ed5     
眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
  • His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。
7 mole 26Nzn     
n.胎块;痣;克分子
参考例句:
  • She had a tiny mole on her cheek.她的面颊上有一颗小黑痣。
  • The young girl felt very self- conscious about the large mole on her chin.那位年轻姑娘对自己下巴上的一颗大痣感到很不自在。
8 artistic IeWyG     
adj.艺术(家)的,美术(家)的;善于艺术创作的
参考例句:
  • The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
  • These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。
9 decided lvqzZd     
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。
10 sneaking iibzMu     
a.秘密的,不公开的
参考例句:
  • She had always had a sneaking affection for him. 以前她一直暗暗倾心于他。
  • She ducked the interviewers by sneaking out the back door. 她从后门偷偷溜走,躲开采访者。
11 winked af6ada503978fa80fce7e5d109333278     
v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 );递眼色(表示友好或高兴等);(指光)闪烁;闪亮
参考例句:
  • He winked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. 他冲她眨了眨眼,她便知道他的想法和她一样。
  • He winked his eyes at her and left the classroom. 他向她眨巴一下眼睛走出了教室。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
12 touching sg6zQ9     
adj.动人的,使人感伤的
参考例句:
  • It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
  • His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

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。