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43 广受欢迎的电视剧《索普拉诺一家》
DATE=6-1-2001
TITLE=AMERICAN MOSAIC #820 - The Sopranos
BYLINE=Paul Thompson
HOST:
(Start at 0'58") Do you know the answers to these questions? Why would eating places and movie theaters like to see a television program stop broadcasting? How could the head of an (1) imaginary (2) criminal family make a six-thousand-year-old book popular? Shep O'Neal has the answers and more.
ANNCR:
"The Sopranos" is one of the most popular shows on American television. It won several television industry awards last year. It has a good chance of winning several more this year.
More than eight-million people watch the program every Sunday night on the (3) cable channel called Home Box Office. People must pay money each month to receive Home Box Office and some other cable television channels. So many people watch "The Sopranos" that the owners of eating places and movie theaters say their business is very slow on Sunday nights. People do not go out that night. They stay home and watch "The Sopranos."
"The Sopranos" is about a family: a father, mother, son and daughter. They live in a very costly home in (4) New Jersey. They have many of the same problems that all families have. The father is worried about his work. His son is having problems in school. His daughter is just starting college. His wife worries about each member of the family.
But there is another part to the story. The father, Tony Soprano, is the chief of a large criminal organization. State and (5) federal police agencies are (6) investigating the group. Tony and other members of this crime family often kill people.
Tony has another problem, too. He (7) suffers attacks of (8) extreme fear. A doctor is treating him for (9) mental health problems. The doctor knows Tony is (10) violent and dangerous. She is trying to help him deal with the many problems and fears that sometimes make him (11) physically sick.
(12) Critics have praised "The Sopranos." They say it is very well written. They say the acting is extremely good. The program is often very funny. It is also sad and very violent. Some critics say the violence is too extreme. They also say the violent head of a criminal group should not be the hero of a television program.
It does not seem to (13) matter what critics say. People love to watch "The Sopranos." The program has even helped sell thousands of copies of a book written by a Chinese (14) military (15) expert more than six-thousand years ago. In one program, Tony talked about the book "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu. Now, one newspaper (16) lists it as the sixth best-selling book in the United States.
美国作家约翰·格利什姆
DATE=6-1-2001
TITLE=AMERICAN MOSAIC #820 - John Grisham
BYLINE=Nancy Steinbach
HOST:
(Start at 5'07") Our VOA listener question this week comes from (1) Burma. Khin Htwe Su asks about the American writer John Grisham.
John Grisham has sold more than sixty-million books in twenty-nine languages. "Publisher's Weekly" magazine named him the best-selling novel writer of the Nineteen-Nineties. Six of his books have been made into movies.
Most of his books are exciting stories about lawyers and their work. That is because John Grisham is a lawyer.
He was born in the southern state of (2) Arkansas in Nineteen-Fifty-Five. He worked as a lawyer for nearly ten years in the small town of Southaven, (3) Mississippi. He also served in the Mississippi House of (4) Representatives.
One day, Mister Grisham heard a twelve-year-old girl tell a court how she had been (5) sexually (6) attacked. This led him to write a book exploring what would have happened if the girl's father had killed her attackers. He called the book "A Time to Kill." Many publishers rejected it before it was bought by a small company and published in Nineteen-Eighty-Eight.
John Grisham immediately began writing another book. This one was about a young lawyer who worked for a company that was not what it appeared to be. The book was called "The Firm." It became the best-selling novel of Nineteen-Ninety-One.
Since then, John Grisham has written one book a year. All of them have been best sellers. He no longer works as a lawyer. He did, however, go back to the (7) courtroom in Nineteen-Ninety-Six to keep a promise to a family. He had promised to represent them before he retired as a lawyer. He won the case. The family was (8) awarded more than six-hundred-thousand dollars in damages.
Today John Grisham lives with his wife and two children in Mississippi. He (9) supervises the local Little League baseball teams for children. He built six baseball fields on his (10) property. Twenty-six Little League baseball teams have played there. He also continues to write. His twelfth and latest book was published in February. It is called "A Painted House."
摇滚歌手埃文与杰仁
TITLE=AMERICAN MOSAIC #820 - Evan and Jaron
BYLINE=Nancy Steinbach
DATE=6-1-2001
HOST:
(Start at 8'32") Two American rock and roll singers look exactly alike. They are the members of the group Evan and Jaron. They are identical twin brothers. Shirley Griffith tells us more.
ANNCR:
Evan and Jaron Lowenstein are twenty-seven years old. They were born in the southern city of (1) Atlanta, (2) Georgia. They are (3) Orthodox (4) Jews. They do not work on the (5) Jewish Sabbath, from Friday night through Saturday. The brothers were baseball players for years until they decided their future was in music.
Their latest (6) album is a big hit. It is called "Evan and Jaron." The first single is this song, "Crazy For This Girl."
((CUT 1: CRAZY FOR THIS GIRL))
Evan and Jaron each write songs. Then they edit each other's work. They (7)reportedly use real life experiences and their imaginations when they write. This song is about (8)Los Angeles, (9)California, the city where they now live. It is called "(10)Outer space."
((CUT 2: OUTERSPACE))
Evan and Jaron are very good-looking. "People" magazine recently included them in the "Fifty Most Beautiful People in the World." They are now traveling throughout the United States performing their songs. We leave you now with this one, "From My Head to My Heart."
(1) imaginary [ i `mAdVinEri ] adj.假想的, 想象的, 虚构的
(2) criminal [ `kriminl] n.罪犯, 犯罪者 adj.犯罪的, 犯法的, 罪恶的
(3) cable [ 5keibl] n.电缆, 海底电报, 缆, 索 v.打(海底)电报
(4) New Jersey [nju: `dV[:zi] n.新泽西州(美国太平洋沿岸)
(5) federal [ `fedEral] adj.联邦的, 联合的, 联邦制的, 同盟的 n.(
(6) investigate [ in `vestigeit ] v.调查, 研究
(7) suffer [`sQfE] vt.遭受, 经历, 忍受 vi.受痛苦, 受损害
(8) extreme [iks`tri:m] adj.尽头的, 极端的, 极度的, 偏激的, 最后的
(9) mental [ `mentl] adj.精神的, 智力的
(10) violent [ `vaiElEnt] adj.猛烈的, 激烈的, 暴力引起的, 强暴的
(11) physically [ `fizikli] adv.身体上地
(12) critic [ `kritik] n.批评家, 评论家, 吹毛求疵者
(13) matter [ `mAtE] n. vi.有关系, 要紧
(14) military [ `militEri ] adj.军事的, 军用的
(15) expert [ `ekspE:t] n.专家, 行家
(16) list [list] vt.列出, 列于表上, 记入名单内vi.列于表上
(1) Burma [ `b[:mE] n.缅甸(东南亚国家)
(2) Arkansas [ `B:k[nsC: ] n.阿肯色州
(3) Mississippi [ 9misi `sipi ] n.密西西比河
(4) representative [ 9repri `zent[tiv] n.代表 adj.典型的, 有代表性的
(5) sexually [ `seksjU[li ]adv.性别地, 两性之间地
(6) attack [ [`Atk ] n.进攻, 攻击,侵袭 vt.攻击, 抨击, 动手处理(某事)
(7) courtroom [ `kR:tru:m] n.法庭, 审判室
(8) award [[ `wC:d] vt.授予, 判给
(9) supervise[ `sjU:p[vaiz] v.监督, 管理, 指导
(10) property [ `prCp[ti] n.财产, 所有物
(1) Atlanta [[t `lAnt[] 亚特兰大[美国佐治亚州首府]
(2) Georgia [ `dVC:dVjE ] n.乔治亚州(在美国南部,首府在Atlanta)
(3) Orthodox [ `C:W[dCks] adj.正统的, 传统的, 习惯的, 保守的,
(4) Jew [dVU:] n.犹太人, 犹太教徒
(5) Jewish Sabbath [ `dVU:iF, `sAbEW] 犹太安息日
(6) album [ `AlbEm] n.音乐专辑
(7) reportedly [rI5pC:tIdlI]adv.据传说, 据传闻
(8) Los Angeles [lRs5AndVElEs]n.洛杉矶(美国城市)
(9) California [ kAli5fC:njE ]n.加利福尼亚, 加州
(10) Outer space n.太空,外层空间
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