VOA慢速英语20060224a

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - Are You Ready for Gyrotonics?By Dana Demange and Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Friday, February 24, 2006

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HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

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I'm Doug Johnson. On our show this week:

We play music by Roseanne Cash 鈥?nswer a question about Asian food 鈥?nd report about a popular new kind of exercise.

Gyrotonics

An exercise method designed to stretch muscles and improve strength and balance is becoming popular in the United States. Faith Lapidus tells us more about Gyrotonics and the man who invented this special form of exercise.


Using the gyrotonics machine

FAITH LAPIDUS: Gyrotonics is a kind of exercise that combines the movements of dancing and swimming with the mental and physical practice called yoga. It helps lengthen² muscles, improve balance, and exercise the joints³, the parts of the body where bones are joined.

A Hungarian dancer named Juliu Horvath developed this special form of exercise. After he was injured dancing, Mister⁴ Horvath studied yoga intensely⁵. In the nineteen eighties, he developed a new exercise method as a special kind of yoga to strengthen dancers.

Mister Horvath says that he based his method on the octopus⁶, monkey and cat. He says these animals have no restrictions⁷. They can move in any direction with control and strength. He designed the Gyrotonic movements to help the human body move more freely⁸.

A special machine made of wood and weights helps guide the body through the many Gyrotonics exercises. You sit or lie on a flat board. You put your legs or hands through special cloth handles attached to a line with weights. With the tension⁹ created by the weights, you must try to move through the exercises.

Seven kinds of backbone¹⁰ movements form the base of Gyrotonics. For example, you can stretch your back to the left and right or forward and backward. While moving your back, you can also work on arm or leg motions¹¹. These movements must be done in a smooth way. Often the motions are circular¹².

When Juliu Horvath first developed Gyrotonics, he was the only teacher. He has since taught almost seventy master trainers. Now, there are more than eight hundred official schools in the world where you can learn Gyrotonics.

Ethnic¹³ Food

HOST: Our VOA listener question this week comes from Cambodia. Long Sothea asks if Americans enjoy eating in Chinese, Vietnamese and other Asian restaurants.

The simple answer to the question is yes. Americans do enjoy eating in restaurants that serve foods of other nations. The American Restaurant Association¹⁴ says the popularity¹⁵ of ethnic food in the United States has greatly increased in the past ten years.


Examples of ethnic food

The Association says the three most popular kinds of ethnic foods in the United States are Chinese Cantonese, Italian and Mexican. Association officials say nine of every ten people in the United States have tried Chinese, Italian and Mexican food at least one time.

The most recent research about the number of restaurants offering ethnic food comes from the United States Economic Census¹⁶ of two thousand two. The census counted more than thirty-two thousand Chinese restaurants in the country. There were more than twenty-nine thousand Mexican restaurants. And there were more than twenty-two thousand Italian restaurants.

The American Restaurant Association says many ethnic foods are increasing in popularity. They include Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese sushi and Middle Eastern. American Restaurant Association research shows that fifty-three percent of Americans have eaten Japanese food. Twenty-six percent have tried Thai food. Nineteen percent have eaten Vietnamese food and sixteen percent of Americans have tried Korean food.

The Association says many people from these countries are settling in the United States and opening restaurants. And many older Americans are trying new kinds of foods they had not eaten before.

The Restaurant Association says Americans between the ages of eighteen and thirty-four are more likely than older people to eat ethnic food in restaurants quite often. It says younger people do not consider eating such foods to be different or experimental¹⁷, just a normal part of what they usually eat.

Rosanne Cash

The singer and songwriter Rosanne Cash has been making music for more than twenty years. In her records she combines the sounds of country, rock and pop music. Her newest album is called Black Cadillac. It is an exploration of family memories, mourning, and letting go. Barbara Klein tells us more.

BARBARA KLEIN: Rosanne Cash has spent her life surrounded by music. Her father, Johnny Cash, and stepmother, June Carter Cash, were famous country music singers. Recently, both of these family members as well as Rosanne's mother died within two years of each other. This album represents Rosanne Cash's expression of her sadness about losing these loved ones. Here is House on the Lake. In this song Cash remembers the sights and sounds of the house where she lived as a child. She thinks about the voice of her father and how it has gone away.


Rosanne Cash

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Rosanne Cash says that in making this album she had to show a degree of restraint¹⁸. She had to find the right balance between expressing her sadness while also making enjoyable music. Critics say this is a rich and expertly made album. Some critics have even said it is the best record of her long musical career.

Here is World without Sound. Rosanne Cash sings about her desire for clear answers in a world that can be very unsure.

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We leave you with I Was Watching You. This song expresses the way that families care for each other over many years. It tells how love can survive everything, even death.

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HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today.

Our show was written by Dana Demange and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver¹⁹ was our producer.

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 lengthen   

vt.使伸长，延长

参考例句：

• He asked the tailor to lengthen his coat.他请裁缝把他的外衣放长些。
• The teacher told her to lengthen her paper out.老师让她把论文加长。

3 joints   

接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语）

参考例句：

• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。
• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。

4 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

5 intensely   

adv.强烈地

参考例句：

• I was intensely curious to know more about him. 我迫不及待地想更多地了解他的情况。
• Her parents were intensely ambitious for her and her younger sister. 她的父母对她和她妹妹有着很高的期望。

6 octopus   

n.章鱼

参考例句：

• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。
• One octopus has eight tentacles.一条章鱼有八根触角。

7 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

8 freely   

adv.自由地，随便地，无拘无束地

参考例句：

• She was unable to keep back her tears,and wept freely.她抑制不住泪水，痛痛快快地哭了起来。
• A liquid flows freely and has no fixed shape.液体能自由流动，无固定形态。

9 tension   

n.(紧张)状态；拉(绷)紧；张力，拉力

参考例句：

• I could feel the tension in the room. 我可以感觉到房间里的紧张气氛。
• Relaxaion is better than tension. 缓和比紧张好。

10 backbone   

n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气

参考例句：

• The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。
• The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。

11 motions   

n.（物体的）运动( motion的名词复数 )；提议；通便

参考例句：

• She just went through the motions of being a poetess. 她只不过装成一个女诗人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He always accompanied his speech with motions. 他讲演时总是伴以手势。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 circular   

adj.圆(形)的，环形的；循环的；n.传单，通报

参考例句：

• The bright boy altered it to a circular form.这个聪明的男孩把它改成了圆形。
• The lamp stands on a circular base.这盏台灯是装在圆形底座上的。

13 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

14 association   

n.联盟，协会，社团；交往，联合；联想

参考例句：

• Our long association with your company has brought great benefits.我方和贵公司的长期合作带来了巨大的利益。
• I broke away from the association ten years ago.我10年前就脱离了那个团体。

15 popularity   

n.普及，流行，名望，受欢迎

参考例句：

• The story had an extensive popularity among American readers.这本小说在美国读者中赢得广泛的声望。
• Our product enjoys popularity throughout the world.我们的产品饮誉全球。

16 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

17 experimental   

adj.实验的，用作实验的，根据实验的

参考例句：

• This trip will be only experimental.这次旅行只是试验性的。
• The experimental farm is near the waterpower station.实验农场靠近水电站。

18 restraint   

n.克制，抑制，限制；约束措施，约束条件

参考例句：

• Do not take our restraint for a sign of weakness.不要把我方的克制看做是软弱可欺。
• She told me without restraint all about her married life.她毫无保留地告诉我她婚后的生活。

19 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。