VOA慢速英语-AMERICAN MOSAIC - Each Year, a Million People Escape

Also: Hear about the National Museum of Crime and Punishment in Washington, D.C. And listen to music about crime and punishment from some famous performers.Transcript¹ of radio broadcast:
19 June 2008

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC² in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I’m Doug Johnson.

On our program today, we play some songs about doing crime and doing time …

Answer a question about a famous former prison on an island in the San Francisco Bay in California …

And visit the new crime museum in Washington, D.C.

(MUSIC)

National Museum of Crime and Punishment

HOST:
　

A prison exhibit at the National Museum of Crime and Punishment

The National Museum of Crime and Punishment opened recently in Washington, D.C. It shows an interesting part of American history. We have more from Faith Lapidus.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

The museum exhibits are separated into different time periods in America. For example, the Great Depression in the early nineteen thirties was a very difficult period. During this time, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow became famous for stealing from stores and banks and killing³ police officers in several states. Police officers finally shot and killed them in their car along a highway in Louisiana in nineteen thirty-four.

Bonnie and Clyde influenced popular culture over time because of their loyalty⁴ to one another. There are many songs and movies about them. In the museum, you can see a copy of their car with many bullet holes. There is also a bullet from their real car, as well as a piece of glass from a window.
　

Al Capone

One of the most famous criminals in American history was active during the nineteen twenties. Al Capone was often called “Scarface.” He was the head of a criminal group in Chicago, Illinois. He became known as “Public Enemy Number One.” Capone was involved in many illegal activities as well as murder. He finally was sent to jail for not paying income taxes in nineteen thirty-one. He lived a wealthy life, which you can see in the jail cell recreated to look like the one Capone occupied when he was in prison.

Al Capone lives on in many movies, as well as on television and in books. “Scarface” is one famous film based on his life. The museum shows the gun that was used in the movie.

Part of the museum tells about unsolved murders in which the killer⁵ has never been found. These are called "cold cases." Two of the most recent are the murders of rap performers Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. They were shot and killed while in their cars in the late nineteen nineties.

One part of the National Museum of Crime and Punishment is about solving crimes. People can try to solve a "murder." A false dead body, drugs, and weapons are all part of the case.

You can learn about toxicology reports, which show what chemicals were in a person’s body when he or she died. You can also learn how a person's face can be recreated with a computer or with clay. Most importantly, learning about crime can help you protect yourself from it.

Alcatraz Island

HOST:
　

Alcatraz Island

While we are on the subject of crime, our listener question this week comes from Mohamad Firouzi in Iran. He wants to know about the history of Alcatraz Island and the prison that once operated there.

Alcatraz Island is in the harbor of San Francisco, California. It is best known for being a federal prison, which was also called “The Rock.” It was once the most famous prison in America.

Alcatraz was a military prison from the late eighteen fifties until the nineteen thirties. Then it became a federal prison for the country’s worst criminals. These included murderers, bank robbers and kidnappers⁶. One of the main reasons federal officials chose Alcatraz Island to detain these prisoners was because they thought it would be impossible for prisoners to escape.

Cold, deep and dangerous waters surround the island. Also, the distance between the island and San Francisco is too far for most humans to swim. No prisoner was ever officially reported to have successfully escaped.

However, in nineteen sixty-two, three men broke out of the prison. Each man worked very hard at night for many months to cut through the stone wall of his cell. They made false heads out of paper, paint and hair. On the night of June eleventh, the men placed the heads in their beds to make it look as if they were sleeping. Then, the prisoners escaped through the holes in their cells to get to the water. The men were never seen or heard from again. It is believed that they drowned while trying to swim to San Francisco.

The prison closed in nineteen sixty-three because of the high cost of keeping prisoners there and the need for major repairs. The last prisoners were moved to other jails.

In nineteen seventy-two, the United States Congress passed a bill creating the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Alcatraz Island and the old prison are part of this area.

Each year, more than one million people visit Alcatraz to see the prisoners’ cells and listen to stories about the jail’s history. But unlike the prisoners who once lived there, visitors can escape from the prison whenever they want and return back across the harbor to San Francisco.

Music About Crime and Punishment

HOST:
　

Lead Belly7

We end our program with some music about crime and punishment. Pat Bodnar plays a few popular and historical songs, like this one, “The Midnight Special.” It was made famous by the folk and blues⁸ musician, and former prisoner, Lead Belly, in the nineteen thirties.

(MUSIC)

PAT BODNAR:

Many crime songs are about murder. But often the killer is a sympathetic character like “Janie” in the Aerosmith song, “Janie’s Got a Gun.”

(MUSIC)

Many songs are about famous criminals. “The Night Chicago Died” was released in nineteen seventy-four by a British band called Paper Lace. It is about the famous Chicago crime gang leader Al Capone and an imaginary gun battle in that city.

(MUSIC)
　

Johnny Cash

This next song was first recorded by the Crickets in nineteen fifty-nine. Its message is clear: crime does not pay. Here the British band, the Clash, performs its hit version of “I Fought the Law.”

(MUSIC)

Finally, we leave you with a famous prison song. Here is the Johnny Cash performing his song, “Folsom Prison Blues.”

(MUSIC)

HOST:

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

It was written by Elizabeth Stern and Caty Weaver⁹ who were also our producers. To read the text of this program and download audio, go to our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.

Send your questions about American life to [email protected]. And please include your full name and where you are from. 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 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 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。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

5 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

6 kidnappers   

n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were freed yesterday by their kidnappers unharmed. 他们昨天被绑架者释放了，没有受到伤害。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The kidnappers had threatened to behead all four unless their jailed comrades were released. 帮匪们曾经威胁说如果印度方面不释放他们的同伙，他们就要将这四名人质全部斩首。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

8 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。

9 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。