VOA慢速英语 2007 1225b

HOST:

I’m Shirley Griffith with a VOA Special English program for the Christmas holiday.

 
Mormon Tabernacle Choir¹
Christians² around the world are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.  In the United States, people are observing the Christmas holiday in homes and religious centers. Music has always been an important part of Christmas.  Holiday music fills the air.  Today, we will hear a program of Christmas music performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

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HOST:

That was the Mormon Tabernacle Choir with “Joy To the World.‿nbsp; The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is one of the largest singing groups in the world.  It has more than three hundred singers.

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The members of the choir offer their time and skills without payment.  All choir members are Mormons who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints³.

Many Christmas songs sound most beautiful when sung by a large group.  Here is the choir performing a Ukrainian song, “Carol of the Bells.‿

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HOST:

“Silent Night‿is perhaps the best known of all Christmas songs.  An Austrian clergyman named Joseph Mohr wrote the words.  His friend Franz Gruber wrote the music.  The song was performed for the first time at a religious service on the night before Christmas in eighteen eighteen. 

At that time, it was performed with a single musical instrument -- a guitar.  Here are the men of the Tabernacle Choir with “Silent Night.‿/P>

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HOST:

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is based at the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah.  The choir made its first recording⁴ in nineteen ten.  Since then, it has made more than one hundred fifty recordings⁵.

One recording of holiday music is called “A Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas.‿nbsp; You are listening to music from that recording. 

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HOST:

This is Shirley Griffith.  We hope you enjoyed our program of Christmas music.  This program was written and produced by George Grow. Our studio engineer was Greg Burns.  All of us in Special English wish you a very happy holiday season. 

 

1 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

2 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

3 saints   

圣人般的人（指特别善良、仁爱或有耐性的人）( saint的名词复数 )； 圣…（冠于人名、地名之前）； （因其生死言行而被基督教会追封的）圣人； 圣徒

参考例句：

• The children were all named after saints. 这些孩子都取了圣徒的名字。
• In 1461, the bishop of Saints, Louis de Rochechouart, saw only a plain wall. 1461年Saints主教，LouisdeRochechouart主教看到只剩一堵朴质的墙。

4 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。

5 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐