VOA标准英语2010年-Want some Cajun music or food?

The trend toward virtually indistinguishable shopping malls began about when this photo of the Meadowlane Shopping Center was taken in Anderson, California, in 1960.

The United States is often called a mosaic¹ - a savory² stew³ of races, cultures, and points of view.

They coexist, sometimes uncomfortably. There is even diversity training in business to help executives and workers deal with growing numbers of Americans of dissimilar backgrounds.

The nation has always been regionally diverse as well, with distinctive⁴ customs, vocabulary, accents, and even dress.  But some say THAT kind of diversity is fading. And they have lots of evidence:

Carol M. Highsmith
No Holiday Inn or Hilton looks like this. This is the Wigwam Motel in Arizona - one of what were once thousands of unique motels and tourist courts.

Shopping malls, with their huge parking lots, look the same from Hawaii to Florida to Upper Michigan. So do their franchised⁵ stores, boutiques, and fast-food restaurants.

If you listen to radio, it's harder to find unique local personalities⁶ with their quirky sayings and accents. Instead, all across the country, you hear standardized⁷ music formats⁸ and syndicated national talk shows beamed from New York or Los Angeles.

Along America's interstate highways - all built to the same specifications⁹ - you see the same road signs and gasoline stations.

Even foods that were once exotic, like Tex-Mex tacos or Japanese sushi, are available in stores and restaurants all over the nation. Satellite dishes, the Internet and cable television have brought the outside world into what were once isolated¹⁰ backwoods and mountain hollows.

Carol M. Highsmith
You don't get the usual, formulaic burger and fries at unusual restaurants like the Uranium Café along old U.S. Highway 66 in Grants, New Mexico.

And regional diversity is declining because Americans are moving about the nation and settling in places that once kept pretty much to themselves. And the newcomers are not wasting much time getting involved and taking leadership positions in their new communities.

In short, it can be argued that thanks to mass media, marketing¹¹, and migration¹², American tastes and habits - once dramatically different depending on the state or region - are rapidly blurring¹³ into indistinctive, even boring, uniformity.
 

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 savory   

adj.风味极佳的，可口的，味香的

参考例句：

• She placed a huge dish before him of savory steaming meat.她将一大盘热气腾腾、美味可口的肉放在他面前。
• He doesn't have a very savory reputation.他的名誉不太好。

3 stew   

n.炖汤，焖，烦恼；v.炖汤，焖，忧虑

参考例句：

• The stew must be boiled up before serving.炖肉必须煮熟才能上桌。
• There's no need to get in a stew.没有必要烦恼。

4 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

5 franchised   

v.给…以特许权，出售特许权( franchise的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He is starting the first school himself,but subsequent ones will be franchised to use the Fujita method. 他已经自己开办了第一所学校，但是以后的学校将被特许使用富士达方法。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Driving tests for franchised bus are held on request by bus companies. 专营巴士的驾驶考试只在巴士公司要求下才举行。 来自互联网

6 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

7 standardized   

adj.标准化的

参考例句：

• We use standardized tests to measure scholastic achievement. 我们用标准化考试来衡量学生的学业成绩。
• The parts of an automobile are standardized. 汽车零件是标准化了的。

8 formats   

n.（出版物的）版式( format的名词复数 )；[电视]电视节目的总安排（或计划）

参考例句：

• They are producing books in all kinds of different formats. 他们出版各种不同开本的书籍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A true GUI includes standard formats for representing text and graphics. 真正的图形用户界面包括表示文字和图形的标准格式。 来自互联网

9 specifications   

n.规格；载明；详述；（产品等的）说明书；说明书( specification的名词复数 )；详细的计划书；载明；详述

参考例句：

• Our work must answer the specifications laid down. 我们的工作应符合所定的规范。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This sketch does not conform with the specifications. 图文不符。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

11 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

12 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

13 blurring   

n.模糊，斑点甚多，（图像的）混乱v.（使）变模糊( blur的现在分词 )；（使）难以区分

参考例句：

• Retinal hemorrhage, and blurring of the optic dise cause visual disturbances. 视网膜出血及神经盘模糊等可导致视力障碍。 来自辞典例句
• In other ways the Bible limited Puritan writing, blurring and deadening the pages. 另一方面，圣经又限制了清教时期的作品，使它们显得晦涩沉闷。 来自辞典例句