VOA慢速英语2009-THIS IS AMERICA - Summer Brings Out the Musi

VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Barbara Klein. This week on our program, we talk about summer music festivals in the United States.

(MUSIC: "Heavy Things")

VOICE ONE:
　
Sixty-four year old Rachael Birdwell cheers as Robert Plant and Alison Krauss perform at the Bonnaroo music festival in Tennessee last June.

That was "Heavy Things" by Phish. The newly reunited band is one of the groups to perform this year at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival.

The festival takes place on a farm about one hundred kilometers from Nashville, Tennessee. This is the eighth year. The four-day event has movies and comedy in addition to music.

VOICE TWO:

This year's music lineup at Bonnaroo also includes the Beastie Boys, Nine Inch Nails and TV on the Radio. Plus, Bela Fleck¹, Lucinda Williams, and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:
　
Bruce Springsteen and his E Street band are among artists that will perform at Bonnaroo this summer.

The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is June eleventh to the fourteenth. Then, four days later, the Telluride Bluegrass Festival brings American musical traditions to the high mountains of Colorado. The festival has four days of concerts, music workshops and songwriting contests.

This year's performers include Elvis Costello, David Byrne and the Yonder Mountain String Band. Here is the Yonder Mountain String Band at the thirtieth anniversary of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival six years ago. The song is called "Too Late Now."

(MUSIC: "TOO LATE NOW")

VOICE TWO:

Another summer music festival in Colorado is Blues² Under the Bridge. It will take place July twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth in the city of Colorado Springs. Performers this year include the Fabulous³ Thunderbirds and Bettye LaVette.
　
Bettye LaVette performs with Jon Bon Jovi in Washington in January.

Bettye LaVette sang in January at the inaugural⁴ celebration at the Lincoln Memorial for Barack Obama. The soul singer has been performing since the nineteen sixties.

Here, from her two thousand seven album "The Scene of the Crime," is the song "Choices."

(MUSIC: "CHOICES")

VOICE ONE:

Fans of classical music have their own outdoor summer festivals. The Midsummer Mozart Festival is July sixteenth to the twenty-sixth in San Francisco, California. This is the thirty-fifth anniversary.

Among the artists this year is flutist Maria Tamburrino, pianist Seymour Lipkin and French horn player David Sprung.

Here now is the Midsummer Mozart Festival Orchestra⁵, with conductor George Cleve and pianist Jeremy Menuhin. The work is Mozart's Piano Concerto⁶ Number 13 in C Major.

(MUSIC: "PIANO CONCERTO NUMBER 13")

VOICE TWO:
　
Music fans at Lollapalooza in Chicago last August.

From the eighteenth century and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart we fast-forward to alternative rock, hip-hop and punk. These can all be found at the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago, Illinois.

Perry Farrell, lead singer for Jane's Addiction⁷, started Lollapalooza in nineteen ninety-one. At first, the show traveled across North America and was meant to be the band's final tour. But since then, Lollapalooza has taken place every year except for a five-year break.

Lollapalooza will run from August seventh to the ninth. The bands this year include the Decemberists and the Killers⁸, as well as new acts like the Virgins⁹ and White Lies. Also on the lineup is a reunited Jane's Addiction. Here from the best of Jane's Addiction is "Summertime Rolls."

(MUSIC: "SUMMERTIME ROLLS")

VOICE ONE:

The first outdoor jazz festival in the United States took place fifty-five years ago in Newport, Rhode Island. Over the years, the Newport Jazz Festival presented greats like Miles Davis, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald.

But in March, producer George Wein announced that the company that sponsored the festival was no longer able to because of the recession¹⁰.

Still, he promised to save the show for this year at least. He renamed it George Wein's Jazz Festival 55. The festival is planned from August seventh to the ninth with performers including Etta James, Branford Marsalis, Tony Bennett and Mos Def.

We leave you with another act coming to Newport this summer. Here is the Dave Brubeck Quartet with their signature piece, "Take Five."

(MUSIC: "TAKE FIVE")

VOICE TWO:

Our program was written by Nancy Steinbach and produced by Caty Weaver¹¹. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Steve Ember. Transcripts¹² and MP3s of our programs are at voaspecialenglish.com. You can also follow us at twitter.com/voalearnenglish. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

 

1 fleck   

n.斑点，微粒 vt.使有斑点，使成斑驳

参考例句：

• The garlic moss has no the yellow fleck and other virus. 蒜苔无黄斑点及其它病毒。
• His coat is blue with a grey fleck.他的上衣是蓝色的，上面带有灰色的斑点。

2 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。

3 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

4 inaugural   

adj.就职的；n.就职典礼

参考例句：

• We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
• Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。

5 orchestra   

n.管弦乐队；vt.命令，定购

参考例句：

• He plays the violin in an orchestra.他在管弦乐队中演奏小提琴。
• I was tempted to stay and hear this superb orchestra rehearse.我真想留下来听这支高超的管弦乐队排练。

6 concerto   

n.协奏曲

参考例句：

• The piano concerto was well rendered.钢琴协奏曲演奏得很好。
• The concert ended with a Mozart violin concerto.音乐会在莫扎特的小提琴协奏曲中结束。

7 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

8 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

9 virgins   

处女，童男( virgin的名词复数 )； 童贞玛利亚（耶稣之母）

参考例句：

• They were both virgins when they met and married. 他们从相识到结婚前都未曾经历男女之事。
• Men want virgins as concubines. 人家买姨太太的要整货。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

10 recession   

n.（工商业的）衷退（期），萧条（期）

参考例句：

• Manufacturing fell sharply under the impact of the recession.受到经济萧条的影响，制造业急剧衰退。
• A rise in interest rates plunged Britain deeper into recession.利率的提高导致英国经济更加萧条。

11 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。

12 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句