VOA慢速英语2009-AMERICAN MOSAIC - Map Whizzes Test Their Skills

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ in VOA Special English.

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I'm Doug Johnson. This week:

We test our geography skills at the National Geographic² Bee in Washington, D.C. …

Answer a listener question about the actress Meryl Streep …

And listen to new music by the band Green Day.

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Geography Bee

HOST:

In nineteen eighty-nine, the National Geographic Society decided³ to do something about the lack of knowledge about geography among American students. So the group started a competition called the National Geographic Bee to test students' knowledge about places around the world. Almost five million students in the United States and its territories competed this year. Last week, state champions from around the country met in Washington, D.C. for the final competition. Steve Ember has more.

STEVE EMBER:

"Timis County shares its name with a tributary⁴ of the Danube and is located in the western part of which European country?" If you gave the correct answer, "Romania," you are very strong in geography.

Just like thirteen year old Eric Yang. This student from the state of Texas was the first place winner of last week's National Geographic Bee.
　
Alex Trebek and Eric Yang at last week's National Geographic Bee

On May nineteenth, Eric competed against fifty-five students between the ages of nine and fifteen. The next day, the competition began again with the remaining top ten winners. The final round was hosted by Alex Trebek, best known for hosting the television game show "Jeopardy⁵!" Arjun Kandaswamy from Oregon won second place. Shantan Krovvidi from North Carolina came in third.

Top winner Eric Yang will receive twenty-five thousand dollars for college and a trip to the Galapagos Islands this summer. We asked Eric how he studied for this difficult competition.

ERIC YANG: "I just read a lot of things, like the atlas⁶, the Internet, magazines, maps, travel guide books.

We also wanted to know what Eric does when he is not studying.

ERIC YANG: "I play basketball and the piano. I listen to all types of music. I read cookbooks too, for fun."

John Fahey is the president of the National Geographic Society. He says the aim of the group is to influence people to care about our planet. He says the Bee helps to provide children with a love of learning about Earth's many lands and cultures.

However, the National Geographic Bee seems to be a competition mainly for boys. This year, only two out of the fifty-five final competitors were girls.

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Meryl Streep

HOST:

Our listener question this week comes from a college student in China. Jiaqi wants to know about actress Meryl Streep. The director Sydney Pollack called her the most important actress of the late twentieth century. Streep has received fifteen Academy Award nominations⁷. This is more than any other actor in film history.

Born in nineteen forty-nine, Mary Louise Streep grew up in Summit, New Jersey⁸. When she was a child, she took singing lessons. She became interested in acting⁹ while in high school. She studied theater at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. She continued her studies at Yale University's School of Drama in New Haven¹⁰, Connecticut.
　
Meryl Streep at the Academy Awards in February

Meryl Streep began her career acting in plays in New York City. Her first movie appearance was in the nineteen seventy-seven movie "Julia." She only had a small part, but she gave an excellent performance. She was nominated for her first Academy Award for her next movie, "The Deer Hunter." It is about a group of young Americans affected¹¹ by the war in Vietnam. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress in nineteen seventy-nine for her work in "Kramer vs. Kramer." This movie is about a married couple going through a divorce.

MERYL STREEP: "I came here to take my son home, and I realized he already is home."

Three years later, Meryl Streep won Best Actress for her work in the movie "Sophie's Choice." She played a survivor¹² of a Nazi¹³ concentration camp. She is also famous for her roles in movies including "Silkwood", "Out of Africa" and "Ironweed."

Meryl Streep is known for her skills in speaking English with different foreign accents. She is also known for the intelligence and strength she brings to her dramatic roles. But she also has made funny movies. These include "Death Becomes Her", "The Devil Wears Prada" and the musical "Mama Mia!"

Meryl Streep's other important roles are as a wife and mother. She married the sculptor¹⁴ Don Gummer in nineteen seventy-eight. They have four children. Their daughter Mamie Gummer is also an actress.

Meryl Streep's latest movie, "Julie and Julia," will be released this summer. Streep plays the famous American cooking expert Julia Child.

MERYL STREEP: " I'm Julia Child, Bon Appetit!"

Amy Adams plays the role of Julie, a woman who spends a year trying to cook all the meals in one of Julia Child's most famous cookbooks.

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Green Day

HOST:

Green Day returns with their first official CD since "American Idiot" in two thousand four. That album sold more than twelve million copies worldwide and earned the band many awards. So how does Green Day plan to follow that? Barbara Klein has more.

BARBARA KLEIN:
　
Green Day

The band that brought us one of the best albums of the decade is back with a new CD, "21st Century Breakdown¹⁵." It is Green Day's eighth studio album. Early reviews suggest the new CD will push the punk rock trio right back to the top. Rolling Stone Magazine gives the CD four and a half out of five stars. And "Spin" says the album's title track is the band's best song to date. Here is "21st Century Breakdown."

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Green Day has been making music since nineteen eighty-seven. But it was not until their nineteen ninety-four album "Dookie" that the band experienced commercial success. Since then, they have sold more than sixty-five million CDs around the world.

However, this country's largest group of stores, Wal-mart , will not be selling "21st Century Breakdown." Wal-Mart banned the CD because of its language and content. Like "American Idiot," the new CD offers some strong political comments on religion and war. Listen to "21 Guns."

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Green Day will begin performing around the world in early July to support their new CD. We leave you with "Know Your Enemy."

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HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson.

This program was written by June Simms and Dana Demange, who also was the producer. For transcripts¹⁶, MP3s and podcasts of our programs, go to voaspecialenglish.com.

Send your questions about American life to [email protected]. Please include your full name and where you live.

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 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

3 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。

4 tributary   

n.支流；纳贡国；adj.附庸的；辅助的；支流的

参考例句：

• There was a tributary road near the end of the village.村的尽头有条岔道。
• As the largest tributary of Jinsha river,Yalong river is abundant in hydropower resources.雅砻江是金沙江的最大支流，水力资源十分丰富。

5 jeopardy   

n.危险；危难

参考例句：

• His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
• It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻，上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。

6 atlas   

n.地图册，图表集

参考例句：

• He reached down the atlas from the top shelf.他从书架顶层取下地图集。
• The atlas contains forty maps,including three of Great Britain.这本地图集有40幅地图，其中包括3幅英国地图。

7 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

8 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

9 acting   

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。

10 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

11 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

12 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

13 Nazi   

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。

14 sculptor   

n.雕刻家，雕刻家

参考例句：

• A sculptor forms her material.雕塑家把材料塑造成雕塑品。
• The sculptor rounded the clay into a sphere.那位雕塑家把黏土做成了一个球状。

15 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

16 transcripts   

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