AMERICAN MOSAIC - Julia Child's Kitchen / Music by Nirvana /

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - December 13, 2002: Julia Child's Kitchen / Music by Nirvana / Question from China
About Superstitions³

(THEME)
HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC --VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.
(THEME)
This is Steve Ember. On our program today:
We play some music by the rock group Nirvana ..
.
Answer a listener’s question about superstitions ..
.
And report about a famous kitchen in a museum in Washington, D.C.

Julia Child’s Kitchen

HOST:

People who love to cook are enjoying a new exhibit⁴ at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of
American History in Washington, D.C. The exhibit shows the cooking center, or kitchen, of Julia Child, one of
America’s most famous cooks. Shep O’Neal tells us more.

ANNCR:

Julia Child entered the cooking profession after World War Two. She took a six-month training class at the
famous Cordon⁵ Bleu cooking school in Paris, France. Then, in nineteen-fifty-one, she and two friends started a
private cooking school in Julia’s own kitchen. The three teachers later wrote a cookbook called “Mastering the
Art of French Cooking.
”
The way Julia Child wrote showed Americans more than just how to cook French
food. She also taught readers how to re-create the food.

Julia Child became known to millions of Americans when she started her television
program “The French Chef” almost forty years ago. During each program, Mizz
Child explained simple cooking skills and methods. She also showed how to prepare
special foods that were later included in many of her thirteen published cookbooks.
“The French Chef” was America’s first television cooking show. It was
broadcast for more than thirty-five years.

Mizz Child is now ninety years old. She recently moved from the eastern state of
Massachusetts to her home state of California. Before retiring, Mizz Child gave her
famous kitchen to the National Museum of American History. This room was the

main place where her television shows were recorded.

Julia Child’s husband Paul designed the kitchen in nineteen-sixty-one. He wanted the room to be a useful area
where two or three cooks could work together. Also, because Mizz Child is very tall, many of her cooking tools
and equipment hung on boards from the floor to the top of the room. She could easily reach everything she
needed.

Visitors to the American History Museum in Washington can see exactly how Mizz Child’s kitchen was
organized. They can see more than one-thousand of her cooking tools. They can also enjoy watching a video of
her cooking shows. The exhibit will be open through February, two-thousand-four.

(Picture - Smithsonian
Institution)

Superstitions

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week comes from China. Zhou Fan asks about superstitions.

That is a good question to answer today, on Friday the Thirteenth. Many people believe it is a very unlucky day.
They believe bad things happen on Friday the Thirteenth. There is no good reason for them to feel that way.
Their belief is not based on fact. It is a superstition².

History experts say superstitions have existed in many different times and places. Many
people believed some methods would bring good luck, tell the future and heal⁶ or prevent
sickness and accidents. Today, many people say they do not believe in bad luck. But they are
extra careful on Friday the Thirteenth.

Why? Because Friday the Thirteenth mixes two of the strongest superstitions -- the day
Friday and the number thirteen.

Some say these superstitions began because Jesus was killed on a Friday and ate his last
meal with twelve other people. Others tell about an old Scandinavian story of twelve gods
who were invited to dinner. Thirteen came. One of the thirteen was killed. So, if you are superstitious⁷, you do not
eat at a table with twelve other people. Superstition says the first or the last person to leave the table will die
within a year.

Americans do not often say that they believe in things like bad luck or that they fear the number thirteen. But
there is evidence that they do. For example, there is no thirteenth floor in most American buildings. And there is
no gate number thirteen at many American airports. The numbers go from twelve to fourteen.

There are many popular superstitions. One says that spilling salt means that you will soon get sick. Another
superstition says that breaking a mirror will bring seven years of bad luck. Some people believe it is bad luck to
walk under a ladder or permit a black cat to cross your path.

Many superstitions concern cats that are black or any other color. In ancient times, people believed that witches
turned themselves into black cats. So the animals were considered to be evil⁸. However, some cats were thought to
bring good luck, especially to men who worked at sea. That is why cats were often kept on ships to bring the
voyage good luck.

Nirvana

HOST:

The band Nirvana released¹⁰ a new album in late October. It includes one song never heard publicly before. Mary
Tillotson tells about the new album and about the band.

ANNCR:

The band Nirvana now is drummer Dave Grohl and bass¹¹ guitarist Krist Novoselic.
The band’s lead singer and lead guitar player Kurt Cobain died in nineteen-ninetyfour. Cobain shot himself at his home in Seattle, Washington.

Kurt Cobain wrote most of Nirvana’s songs. However, all three members of the
band wrote this huge hit song, “Smells Like Teen Spirit.
”

(MUSIC)

Nirvana was formed in the late nineteen-eighties. Music critics say the group was responsible for making popular
a kind of music called “grunge.” The sound is rough. The songs are about mostly serious subjects. The music
was not like most songs on popular radio at the time. Here Kurt Cobain sings “Sliver¹²” about a child whose
parents will no longer care for him.

New album

(MUSIC)

Nirvana recorded its last song about a month before Cobain died. His wife, musician Courtney Love, sought legal
action to block its release⁹. She said she should control the recording¹³ because her husband wrote the song. The
legal action was settled recently, and the song became part of Nirvana’s new album. We leave you now with
that song, “You Know You’re Right.
”

(MUSIC)
HOST:
This is Steve Ember. I hope you enjoyed our program today. And I hope you will join us again

next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC -- VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.
This AMERICAN MOSAIC program was written by Jill Moss¹⁴, Nancy Steinbach and Caty
Weaver¹⁵. Our studio engineer was Glen Matlock. And our producer was Paul Thompson.

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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 superstition   

n.迷信，迷信行为

参考例句：

• It's a common superstition that black cats are unlucky.认为黑猫不吉祥是一种很普遍的迷信。
• Superstition results from ignorance.迷信产生于无知。

3 superstitions   

迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Old superstitions seem incredible to educated people. 旧的迷信对于受过教育的人来说是不可思议的。
• Do away with all fetishes and superstitions. 破除一切盲目崇拜和迷信。

4 exhibit   

vt.展览，展出，陈列；n.展览品；陈列品

参考例句：

• Next week those goods will exhibit in that shop. 下个星期，这些货物将在那家商店展出。
• The economy continued to exhibit signs of decline in September.9月份，经济继续呈现出衰退的迹象。

5 cordon   

n.警戒线，哨兵线

参考例句：

• Police officers threw a cordon around his car to protect him.警察在他汽车周围设置了防卫圈以保护他。
• There is a tight security cordon around the area.这一地区周围设有严密的安全警戒圈。

6 heal   

v.使愈合，治愈，使康复；平息(争吵等)；消除，解决(分支等)

参考例句：

• Time helped heal the old wounds.时间有助于治愈旧创伤。
• This wound will soon heal if yon keep it clean.如果你保持伤口清洁，它很快就会痊愈。

7 superstitious   

adj.迷信的

参考例句：

• They aim to deliver the people who are in bondage to superstitious belief.他们的目的在于解脱那些受迷信束缚的人。
• These superstitious practices should be abolished as soon as possible.这些迷信做法应尽早取消。

8 evil   

n.邪恶，不幸，罪恶；adj.邪恶的，不幸的，有害的，诽谤的

参考例句：

• We pray to God to deliver us from evil.我们祈求上帝把我们从罪恶中拯救出来。
• Love of money is the root of all evil.爱钱是邪恶的根源。

9 release   

vt.发布，发表，发行；释放，放开

参考例句：

• After my examination I had a feeling of release.考完试后我有如释重负之感。
• This medicine will give you release from pain.这药吃后会解除你的疼痛。

10 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

11 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

12 sliver   

n.裂片，细片，梳毛；v.纵切，切成长片，剖开

参考例句：

• There was only one sliver of light in the darkness.黑暗中只有一点零星的光亮。
• Then,one night,Monica saw a thin sliver of the moon reappear.之后的一天晚上，莫尼卡看到了一个月牙。

13 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

14 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

15 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。