VOA慢速英语2009-AMERICAN MOSAIC - Action, Drama, Terror and

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Mario Ritter. This week we play music by blues² great Koko Taylor, who died last week at the age of eighty.

But first, we take a look at cars that walk and talk … visit a land down under where dinosaurs³ roam … watch a madman seize a subway train… and fear for the family of a very frightening little girl. Welcome to summer in American movie theaters!

Summer Movies

HOST:

Summertime is big business in the movie theaters. And so far this summer, Hollywood is doing well, even in a recession. Last week, we talked about the movie "Star Trek⁴." It is still the top moneymaker so far this season. As of last weekend, the movie had earned more than three hundred thirty-four million dollars in ticket sales.

But there are still lots more movies to come. Movie lovers have adventure, comedy, animated⁵ and horror films to look forward to this summer.
　
Denzel Washington in "The Taking of Pelham 123"

Opening today is a remake of an exciting movie from the nineteen seventies about a hijacking⁶ of a New York City underground train. It stars John Travolta as the leader of the hijackers and Denzel Washington as the transportation employee who negotiates with him.

(SOUND)

"Now you tell me. What is the going rate for a New York City hostage today? What do you think, a million a piece is too high?"

"Maybe I'm not the guy you should be talking to. I'm a civil service employee."

"What time do you got on your watch?"

"2:13."

"In fifty-nine minutes I'm gonna' start killing⁷ passengers."

"You don't want innocent people dying, do you?"

"You tell me."

"The Taking of Pelham 123" was based on a book by John Godey. The latest version is getting mixed reviews. One movie critic noted⁸ that the earlier film was darkly funny to the very end. She writes that she misses that humor in the most recent version.

(SOUND)

Later this month, older children are expected to flood the theaters for "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen." It opens June twenty-fourth. Shia LeBoeuf again plays Sam Witwicky in this second "Transformers" film. Like the toys, Transformers are robots that can change into vehicles such as cars and earth-moving equipment. Some Transformers are good, like the autobot Optimus Prime. Some are bad, like the decepticon Megatron. The two sides battle to control Earth. Sam, his friends and the United States Army are caught in the middle.

(SOUND)

"Most babies are accidents. Not me. I was engineered. Born to save my sister's life."
　
Cameron Diaz and Alec Baldwin in "My Sister's Keeper"

Family drama is another subject of movies this summer. "My Sister's Keeper" stars Cameron Diaz and Jason Patric as parents of a little girl who has cancer. Her only hope is a baby sister who was genetically⁹ engineered to help save the older girl's life. Abigail Breslin plays Anna, the younger sister. She experiences years of operations to treat her sister's cancer. Anna decides to take legal action against her parents so she can start making medical decisions herself. Alec Baldwin plays her lawyer.

"My sister has been in renal failure for months now."

"You're supposed to give her a kidney?"

"I want to sue my parents for the rights to my own body."

"Would you repeat that please?"

Jody Picoult wrote the book, "My Sister's Keeper." She says the movie ends differently from the novel. But she says book fans will like the film version, too.

Now, Bob Doughty¹⁰ tells us about some other movies opening this summer.

BOB DOUGHTY:

"Nobody move a muscle ..."

"Ahh!"
　
Sid from "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs"

July may be hot but another cool hit may be coming with the movieThis is the third in the "Ice Age" animated series. Ray Romano, John Leguizamo and Dennis Leary return as the voices of the three main animal characters. Manny is a wooly¹¹ mammoth¹², Sid is a ground sloth¹³ and Diego is a smilodon or saber-toothed cat.

Manny and his love, Ellie, voiced by Queen Latifah, are waiting for their first baby mammoth to arrive. And if that is not exciting enough, the friends discover an underground land of dinosaurs.

For children and adults, another Harry¹⁴ Potter movie opens later in July. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" will be shown in normal theaters as well as on the huge screens of IMAX theaters. The young wizard is in his sixth year at Hogwarts School. He and Professor Dumbledore must visit the past because of the dangers now facing them and the world.

"What you are looking at are memories. In this case, pertaining¹⁵ to one individual. This is perhaps the most important memory I've collected. I'd like you to see it."

For fans of horror movies, "Orphan¹⁶" opens July twenty-fourth. After the loss of a baby, a husband and wife adopt an older child. The parents are played by Peter Sarsgaard and Vera Farmiga. They already have a little boy and girl when they bring home Esther, played by Isabelle Fuhrman. Her behavior seems only a little strange at first. Then it becomes dark, dangerous and decidedly evil.

"My name is Dr. Varava. I'm calling from the Sarn Institute."

"I don't understand. How can they have no record of her being there."

"There has to be some explanation."

"The orphanage¹⁷ has never heard of her."

"Mom!"

"I don't think Mommy likes me very much."

Two-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep can be seen in August playing the famous cook and cookbook writer Julia Child. The movie "Julie and Julia" also stars Amy Adams as Julie. She is a young woman struggling in her career until she gets an idea. She decides to make every recipe in Child's best known cookbook in one year and write her own book about the experience. The movie is based on Julie Powell's book, although Nora Ephron wrote the screenplay.

(SOUND)

"I'm Julia Child. Bon appetit.

"Before she changed the world, Julia Child was just an American living in France …"

"Shouldn't I find something to do?"

"What is it that you really like to do?"

"Eat!"

"And we are so good at it."

"I am good at it!"

"Look at you! Now, how good you are!"

"Growing in front of you!"

And, finally, movie director Quentin Tarantino has a new film to be released in August. "Inglorious Basterds" stars Brad Pitt and Eli Roth. They play Jewish American soldiers during World War Two. Their military operation is to seek and kill Nazi¹⁸ Germans. The especially vicious nature of the killings¹⁹ is supposed to spread fear among the Nazis²⁰. The special soldiers are called the Basterds.

(MUSIC)

Koko Taylor

HOST:
　
Koko Taylor

Today we celebrate the life and music of famous blues singer Koko Taylor. The award winning singer died last week. She was eighty years old. Shirley Griffith has more.

(MUSIC)

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH:

That was Koko Taylor with her nineteen sixty-three song "Honky Tonk." It was her first official recording²¹. Koko Taylor was born Cora Walton in nineteen twenty-eight. Her love for chocolate earned her the name Koko. Years later her love for the blues would earn her the title "Queen of the Blues." Koko Taylor began singing gospel and blues music as a child in Memphis, Tennessee.

In the early nineteen fifties she moved to Chicago, Illinois. Soon she began singing with some of the city's top blues musicians. They included Muddy Waters, Junior Wells and Little Walter. She quickly gained widespread recognition. In nineteen sixty-five she released "Wang Dang Doodle."

(MUSIC)

"Wang Dang Doodle" was a huge success. It sold more than one million copies and reached the top five on the music charts. Over the years Koko Taylor won many awards. They included two Grammy Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award and the National Heritage Fellowship Award. In the weeks before her death she won her twenty-ninth Blues Music Award, the most for any artist ever. We leave you with Koko Taylor's "I'm A Woman."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

I'm Mario Ritter. I hope you enjoyed our program today.

It was written by June Simms and Caty Weaver²², who was also the producer. Please 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 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 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。

5 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

6 hijacking   

n. 劫持, 抢劫 动词hijack的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• I have been told about the hijacking . 我已听说了那次劫机事件。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语
• They are taking measures to guarantee against the occurrence of hijacking. 他们正采取措施防止劫机事件的发生。

7 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。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 genetically   

adv.遗传上

参考例句：

• All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
• Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物

10 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

11 wooly   

adj.毛茸茸的；糊涂的

参考例句：

• I like the feel of this cloth and it has a warm wooly feel.我喜欢这块布的手感,它摸上去毛茸茸的很暖和。
• He wore a brown t-shirt with jeans and a pair of shoes,with a wooly hat covering his hair.小贝身穿一件棕色t恤，搭配牛仔裤和皮鞋，头戴一顶盖住头发的羊毛帽子。

12 mammoth   

n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的

参考例句：

• You can only undertake mammoth changes if the finances are there.资金到位的情况下方可进行重大变革。
• Building the new railroad will be a mammoth job.修建那条新铁路将是一项巨大工程。

13 sloth   

n.[动]树懒；懒惰，懒散

参考例句：

• Absence of competition makes for sloth.没有竞争会导致懒惰。
• The sloth spends most of its time hanging upside down from the branches.大部分时间里树懒都是倒挂在树枝上。

14 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

15 pertaining   

与…有关系的，附属…的，为…固有的(to)

参考例句：

• Living conditions are vastly different from those pertaining in their country of origin. 生活条件与他们祖国大不相同。
• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school. 视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。

16 orphan   

n.孤儿；adj.无父母的

参考例句：

• He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大，并且把自己的医术传给了他。
• The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。

17 orphanage   

n.孤儿院

参考例句：

• They dispensed new clothes to the children in the orphanage.他们把新衣服发给孤儿院的小孩们。
• They gave the proceeds of the sale to the orphanage.他们把销售的收入给了这家孤儿院。

18 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

19 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

20 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 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。

22 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。