VOA慢速英语20061027c

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - Poet Jack² Prelutsky: Writing About the Little Things in LifeBy Dana Demange and Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Friday, October 27, 2006

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

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

We answer a question about the American holiday Halloween ...

Play some music from Mindy Smith ...

And report about the new children's poet laureate.

Jack Prelutsky

The Poetry Foundation recently named American poet Jack Prelutsky as the nation's first children's poet laureate. The group created the award as a way to increase Americans' love of poetry from an early age. Faith Lapidus has more.

FAITH LAPIDUS:


Jack Prelutsky

As children's poet laureate, Jack Prelutsky will give two public readings in the next two years. He will also advise the Poetry Foundation about children's literature and take part in projects concerning children and poetry.

Jack Prelutsky has been writing poetry for children for almost forty years. He has written more than thirty-five books of poems. His first book was called A Gopher in the Garden. It was published in nineteen sixty-seven. His latest is called Behold³ the Bold Umbrellaphant and Other Poems.

Jack Prelutsky is well known for creating new words by combining two words to create a new kind of creature. For example, he combined radish with shark to get radishark. Lion and broccoli⁴ became a broccolion. Listen now as Jack Prelutsky reads his description of an umbrellaphant, a mixture of the words umbrella and elephant.

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Jack Prelutsky says children like his poems because he writes about things they care about. Poetry experts say Jack Prelutsky's poems recognize children's feelings. An example of this is the poem My Sister is a Werewolf which is about how it feels to be different.

Jack Prelutsky also writes poems about American holidays. We leave you now with Jack Prelutsky reading part of his poem It's Halloween, about the holiday celebrated⁵ at the end of October.

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HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week comes from Vietnam. Ha Duy Kim Khuyen asks about the meaning of Halloween.




Halloween is celebrated in the United States every year on October thirty-first. On that night, many people will dress in clothing that makes them look like frightening creatures such as monsters or ghosts.

Such traditions developed from Celtic beliefs in ancient Britain. The Celts believed that spirits of the dead would return to their homes on October thirty-first, the day of the autumn feast. They built huge fires to frighten away evil spirits released with the dead on that night.

People from Scotland and Ireland brought these ideas with them when they came to America. Some believed that spirits played tricks on people on the last night of October.

History experts say many of the Halloween traditions of today developed from those of ancient times. They say that burning a candle inside a hollow pumpkin⁶ recalls the fires set many years ago in Britain. And they say that wearing a mask to hide a person's face is similar to the way ancient villagers covered their faces to force evil spirits away.

On Halloween night, American children put on masks and other special clothing. They go from house to house shouting Trick or treat! If the people in the houses do not give them candy, the children may play a trick on them.

Some adults dress in costumes on Halloween and attend parties. They also place pumpkins⁷ and frightening objects outside their homes. A National Retail⁸ Federation⁹ study says that Americans are spending almost five thousand million dollars to celebrate Halloween this year.

The study also listed the most popular costumes Americans will wear on Halloween. The most popular costume among children is the princess. Other popular costumes for children are pirates, witches and characters from popular movies, like Spiderman. The study says more than six million adults plan to dress like a witch for Halloween. The next most popular costumes for adults are pirates and vampires¹⁰.

Mindy Smith

Mindy Smith is a Northerner with a Southern sound. She grew up on Long Island, New York. But she has made a career in the southern state of Tennessee singing country-influenced music. Smith's second album, Long Island Shores, shows off her clear voice and emotion-filled songs. Catherine Cole has more.

CATHERINE COLE:


Mindy Smith

Mindy Smith was raised by a religious leader and his wife. Sharron Smith was the music director of her husband's Christian¹¹ religious center. She taught Mindy to love music and to touch people emotionally with the power of song.

Listen to Little Devil, a song written and performed by Mindy Smith. She talks about how evil things can sometimes appear to be nice.

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Mindy Smith's first record, One Moment More, brought her great success in the world of country music. But she says she does not think of herself as a country artist. She wants to be a singer and songwriter with her own sound. And she wants her music to honestly express her life experiences. Here is Tennessee, a song about the state that Smith now calls home.

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We close with music from a different record. The song Jolene was first written and sung by the famous country and western singer Dolly Parton. Here, Mindy Smith performs the well-known song. Dolly Parton said that of all the artists who have performed Jolene over the years, Mindy Smith's version is her favorite.

(MUSIC)

HOST:

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

This show was written by Dana Demange and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver¹² was our producer. To read the text of this program and download audio, go to our Web site, www.unsv.com.

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 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

3 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

4 broccoli   

n.绿菜花，花椰菜

参考例句：

• She grew all the broccoli plants from seed.这些花椰菜都是她用种子培育出来的。
• They think broccoli is only green and cauliflower is only white.他们认为西兰花只有绿色的，而菜花都是白色的。

5 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

6 pumpkin   

n.南瓜

参考例句：

• They ate turkey and pumpkin pie.他们吃了火鸡和南瓜馅饼。
• It looks like there is a person looking out of the pumpkin!看起来就像南瓜里有人在看着你！

7 pumpkins   

n.南瓜( pumpkin的名词复数 )；南瓜的果肉，南瓜囊

参考例句：

• I like white gourds, but not pumpkins. 我喜欢吃冬瓜，但不喜欢吃南瓜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they cut faces in the pumpkins and put lights inside. 然后在南瓜上刻出一张脸，并把瓜挖空。 来自英语晨读30分（高三）

8 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

9 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

10 vampires   

n.吸血鬼( vampire的名词复数 )；吸血蝠；高利贷者；（舞台上的）活板门

参考例句：

• The most effective weapon against the vampires is avampire itself. 对付吸血鬼最有效的武器就是吸血鬼自己。 来自电影对白
• If vampires existed, don`t you think we would`ve found them by now? 如果真有吸血鬼，那我们怎么还没有找到他们呢？ 来自电影对白

11 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

12 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。