VOA慢速英语 2008 0118b

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

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

We listen to some music from a new movie about musician Bob Dylan, and answer a listener's question about an American civil rights leader whose life and work we celebrate this time each year.

Martin Luther King

Our VOA listener question this week comes from Vietnam. Nguyen Thanh Duc asks about American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Junior and his family.

 
Martin Luther King Jr.
Each year, Americans celebrate Martin Luther King's life and work on the Monday closest to his birthday. That is January twenty-first this year.  Schools and government offices are closed. Cities and towns hold special ceremonies to honor² him.

Martin Luther King Junior was born on January fifteenth, nineteen twenty-nine in the southern city of Atlanta, Georgia.  His father was a minister of a Christian³ Baptist Church.

At that time, laws in the American South separated black people and white people.  African-Americans attended separate schools and lived in separate areas.  They did not have the same civil rights as white people.

Martin attended Morehouse College in Atlanta. He studied the ideas of India’s spiritual leader, Mahatma Gandhi.  He also studied the American philosopher⁴ Henry David Thoreau. Both Gandhi and Thoreau urged people to disobey unjust⁵ laws without using violence.

Martin Luther King wanted to spread these ideas about peaceful protest⁶.  He became a Baptist minister like his father.  He married Coretta Scott in nineteen fifty-three.  They had four children -- Yolanda, Martin Luther the third, Dexter and Bernice.

The Kings were living in Montgomery, Alabama, in nineteen fifty-five. A black woman refused to leave a seat on a bus that was saved for white people.  Rosa Parks was arrested.  Reverend King organized a peaceful protest against the bus system.  The United States Supreme⁷ Court later ruled it was illegal to separate the races on buses.  Groups formed to protest racial separation.  Martin Luther King became the leader of the struggle.

He led many peaceful demonstrations⁸ across the country. Reverend King received the Nobel Peace Prize in nineteen sixty-four.  He was shot and killed four years later while visiting Memphis, Tennessee.  Coretta Scott King started the King Center in Atlanta in nineteen sixty-eight to continue his work.  She died in two thousand six. 

You can learn more about the life and work of Martin Luther King Junior. Listen to the two-part Special English program PEOPLE IN AMERICA on January twentieth and twenty-seventh.

"I'm Not There"

HOST:

 
The real Bob Dylan
"I'm Not There" is a new movie about musician Bob Dylan.  Todd Haynes directed the movie.  He uses six different actors and several different film styles to show the life, work and cultural importance of Bob Dylan.  Pat⁹ Bodnar tells about the movie and plays some of its music. 

PAT BODNAR:

Bob Dylan wrote all thirty-three songs on the album of music from "I'm Not There." All but one of the songs are performed by other musicians.  Critics say Bob Dylan's songs are so rich and complex that they welcome new versions¹⁰ by other artists.  Many of the songs are from Dylan's early career and are the most well-known.  For example, this one, "The Times They Are A-Changin'" performed by Mason Jennings.

(MUSIC)

 
Cate Blanchett
In the movie "I'm Not There" six actors play versions of Bob Dylan at different times of his life. But none of them is called "Bob Dylan" in the movie.  One of the actors is Cate Blanchett, an Australian woman. She portrays¹¹ a rebellious¹² musician during the nineteen sixties. She is the only character in the movie who looks and sounds like the real Bob Dylan.

 
Marcus Carl Franklin
Marcus Carl Franklin plays an eleven-year-old African-American boy named "Woody Guthrie."  The real Woody Guthrie was a strong influence on Dylan when he began performing folk songs in the early nineteen sixties.  Here Marcus Carl Franklin sings "When the Ship Comes In."

(MUSIC)

Another of Bob Dylan's famous early songs is "Highway Sixty-One Revisited." Karen O and the Million Dollar Bashers perform the song. 

(MUSIC)

Critics say the best songs on "I'm Not There" are the ones where the artists seem to be having a great time being Bob Dylan.  Here is an example, Cat Power singing "Stuck Inside of Mobile¹³ with the Memphis Blues¹⁴ Again."

(MUSIC)

The movie "I'm Not There" shows changes in Bob Dylan's life and career.  However, some of the versions of Dylan in the movie are not musicians.  One character is a poet. One is a movie star.  One is a religious preacher. And one is a citizen of a town in America's Old West long ago.  The movie is sometimes confusing. But the music on the CD is always entertaining.  This song is one of our favorites. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova sing "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere."

(MUSIC)

The real Bob Dylan performs the last song on the album.  He recorded it with The Band in nineteen sixty-seven, but it had never before been released¹⁵.  We leave you with "I'm Not There."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

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

It was written by Shelley Gollust and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver¹⁶ was our producer. To read the text of this program and download audio¹⁷, go to our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. 

Send your questions about American life to [email protected].  Please include your full name and mailing address.  Or write to American Mosaic, VOA Special English, Washington, D.C., two-zero-two-three-seven, U.S.A. 

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 honor   

n.光荣；敬意；荣幸；vt.给…以荣誉；尊敬

参考例句：

• I take your visit as a great honor.您的来访是我莫大的光荣。
• It is a great honor to receive that prize.能拿到那个奖是无上的光荣。

3 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。

4 philosopher   

n.哲学家，哲人

参考例句：

• The philosopher has his ideas built on the rock of reason.那位哲学家把思想稳固地建立于理性之上。
• What a philosopher seeks after is truth.一个哲学家所追求的是真理。

5 unjust   

adj.非正义的；不公正的，不公平的，不该受的

参考例句：

• The unjust peace agreement set the scene for another war.这项不公平的和约为另一场战争埋下了祸根。
• It was unjust of them not to hear my side.他们不听我这方面的意见，这不公正。

6 protest   

v.反对，抗议；宣称；n.抗议；宣称

参考例句：

• I can't pass the matter by without a protest.我不能对此事视而不见，我要提出抗议。
• We translated his silence as a protest.我们把他的沉默解释为抗议。

7 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

8 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

9 pat   

n.轻拍，拍打声；vt.轻拍，拍打；vi.轻跑，轻击；adv.适时，彻底；adj.油腔滑调的，恰好的，合适的

参考例句：

• Could you hear the pat?你能听到轻轻的拍击声吗？
• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。

10 versions   

n.译本( version的名词复数 )；版本；（个人对事件的）描述；（原物的）变体

参考例句：

• There are two versions of the game, a long one and a short one. 这游戏有两个版本，一长一短。
• When both versions of the story were collated,major discrepancies were found. 在将这个故事的两个版本对照后，找出了主要的不符之处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 portrays   

v.画像( portray的第三人称单数 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• The museum collection vividly portrays the heritage of 200 years of canals. 博物馆的藏品让运河200 年的历史再现眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The film portrays Gandhi as a kind of superman. 这部电影把甘地描绘成一个超人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 rebellious   

adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的

参考例句：

• They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
• Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。

13 mobile   

adj.可移动的，易变的，机动的；n.运动物体

参考例句：

• The old lady sits on a mobile chair every morning.那位老妇人每天上午坐在一把可携带使用的椅子上。
• She's much more mobile now that she's bought a car.自从她买了汽车后，活动量就大多了。

14 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

15 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。

16 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。

17 audio   

n./adj.音频(响)(的)；声音(的)，听觉(的)

参考例句：

• Often,the meeting is recorded on audio or video media for later reference.通常这种会议会以视频或者音频形式记录下来，供以后查阅。
• You don't even have to pay for audio programs.你大可不必为自己听这些节目付费。