VOA慢速英语2009年-AMERICAN MOSAIC - Rocking Out at the Air G

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson. Today, we answer a listener question from China about American lawmakers …

And we play music from singer Regina Spektor's latest album ...

But first, we visit the national air guitar championship competition in Washington, D.C.

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Air Guitar

HOST:

Anyone can try to play the guitar. But it takes a special talent to play an invisible guitar. To play "air guitar" you move to the music as if you are playing an imaginary guitar, maybe like a famous rock musician. Believe it or not, air guitar has become a competitive² sport. We attended this year's United States Air Guitar Championships in Washington, D.C., to learn more about this unusual activity. Mario Ritter has more.
　
A competitor this year

JUDGE: "Like the song, like your attitude, spirit, costume, crowd response, five point seven!"

MARIO RITTER:

Last week, twenty-five of the top winners from cities across the country gathered for this year's United States Air Guitar Championships.

Each performer had sixty seconds to perform his or her song. Many of the performers wore funny clothing and wore their hair in unusual styles. They made up names to go with their air guitar characters.

Three judges rated each performance based on technical skill, stage presence, and "airness." Event organizers define³ "airness" as the ability of a performer to go beyond playing an imaginary guitar to create a new art form. The whole event was very loud and very funny. Everyone pretended to take the event very seriously, which made it even funnier.

The United States Air Guitar Association organizes the event. It says the aim is to bring air guitarists out of the house where they secretly perform and onto the world's stage.

We asked competitor Chuck Mung from Portland, Oregon why he thinks air guitar is so popular.
　
Winner Andrew ''William Ocean'' Litz

CHUCK MUNG: "Air Guitar is the embodiment of the music that you hear, and so when you hear a rock song that really grabs⁴ you, just those steel hooks⁵ in your rib⁶ cage, you start miming⁷ it out. Basically, it's like lip synching with a guitar."

Lance "The Shred⁸" Kasten from Washington, D.C., made it to the final round of competition.

THE SHRED: "It's a passion for the sport, it's like, you can be that rock god for a minute, without playing anything. And you know, it's exhilarating."

This year's national champion isfrom New York City. He will now travel to Oulu, Finland for the Air Guitar World Championships starting August nineteenth.

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U.S. Congress

HOST:

Our listener question this week comes from China. Zhao Ya wants to know the difference between the United States House of Representatives and the Senate.

The United States Congress is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Congress is the legislative⁹ branch of government. It is responsible for creating, debating and changing laws in the United States. Both the House and the Senate must approve a bill in order for it to become law.
　
The Capitol building where Congress meets

The House of Representatives has four hundred thirty-five members elected by voters in congressional districts. The representatives are divided among the fifty states based on population size. States with more people have more representatives than states with smaller populations.

California has the largest number of representatives – fifty-three. Six states have only one representative. The House of Representatives also has six non-voting members. They represent the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and five United States territories.

Members of the House are elected every two years. They must be at least twenty-five years old, an American citizen for at least seven years and live in the state they represent.

While representation¹⁰ in the House is based on population size, all states are equally represented in the Senate. There are one hundred members of the Senate, two for each state. Senators¹¹ are elected every six years by voters in the states. They must be at least thirty years old, be American citizens for at least nine years, and live in the state they represent.

Each house of Congress has several special powers. Only the House of Representatives can introduce bills that deal with taxes or spending. The House can also remove federal officials from office. And it can elect the president in the case of an equal number of votes in the electoral college.

The Senate approves or disapproves¹² treaties. It also confirms or rejects presidential nominations¹³ for positions like Supreme¹⁴ Court justices and ambassadors¹⁵.

Thousands of bills are introduced in Congress every year. Only a small number of them are signed into law. After a bill is introduced in Congress, it is then sent to a committee for review. If the committee votes to approve the bill it is sent to the House and Senate for further debate and votes. Only after both the House and Senate have reached an agreement on a bill can it be presented to the president for his final approval.

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Regina Spektor

HOST:

Regina Spektor is known for her playful voice, fine piano playing and unusual songs. The twenty-nine-year-old performer became very popular after her album "Begin to Hope" was released in two thousand six. Her latest album, "Far," is filled with creative songs that talk about love, God, and the environment. Critics say it is her most musically expansive album yet. Shirley Griffith has more.

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SHIRLEY GRIFFITH:
　
Regina Spektor

That was the song "Folding Chair." Like many of Regina Spektor's songs, it tells a story filled with unusual details and sounds. Spektor worked with four different top producers to make this album. She has said that she will not be making a record every six months, so she might as well work with as many experts as she can.

Here is the song "Laughing With." It tells about different reasons people turn to God. Regina Spektor says she has always been interested in faith and religion and she is always thinking about them in different ways.

(MUSIC)

Regina Spektor was born in Russia and moved to the United States with her family when she was nine years old. She studied classical piano and later became interested in singing and songwriting.

She borrowed sound recordings¹⁶ from a musical project by the singer David Byrne to make one song on her new album. She says the drum beats sound like robots walking in the snow. We leave you with "Machine" from the album "Far."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

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

It was written by June Simms and Dana Demange, who was also our producer. For transcripts¹⁷, MP3s and podcasts of our programs, go to voaspecialenglish.com. You can also comment on our programs and send us questions.

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 competitive   

adj.竞争的，比赛的，好竞争的，有竞争力的

参考例句：

• Some kinds of business are competitive.有些商业是要竞争的。
• These businessmen are both competitive and honourable.这些商人既有竞争性又很诚实。

3 define   

vt.解释，下定义，阐述，限定，规定

参考例句：

• Please define the words.请解释这些字的意义。
• It's hard to define exactly what has changed.很难解释清楚到底发生了什么变化。

4 grabs   

n.试图抓取，有意抢夺( grab的名词复数 )v.抢先，抢占( grab的第三人称单数 )；（尤指匆忙地）取；攫取；（尤指自私、贪婪地）捞取

参考例句：

• The job is up for grabs.Why don't you apply now? 那工作谁都可以争取，你怎么不现在就申请呢？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She grabs a stack of baby photos and thrusts them into my hands. 她抓起一沓婴儿照片塞到我手里。 来自辞典例句

5 hooks   

钩拳( hook的名词复数 )； 挂钩； 转弯处； 曲线球

参考例句：

• I want to buy the hams hanging on the hooks. 我想买挂在钩子上的火腿。
• This dress hooks at the back, not at the side. 这件衣服是在背后而不是在旁边扣钩。

6 rib   

n.肋骨，肋状物

参考例句：

• He broke a rib when he fell off his horse.他从马上摔下来折断了一根肋骨。
• He has broken a rib and the doctor has strapped it up.他断了一根肋骨，医生已包扎好了。

7 miming   

v.指手画脚地表演，用哑剧的形式表演( mime的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The actor was miming the movements of a bird. 这位演员正在摹拟一只鸟的动作。 来自互联网
• Enneagram in Miming. A Silence Theatre production. 无声模式制作，用默剧手法介绍九型人格。 来自互联网

8 shred   

v.撕成碎片，变成碎片；n.碎布条，细片，些少

参考例句：

• There is not a shred of truth in what he says.他说的全是骗人的鬼话。
• The food processor can shred all kinds of vegetables.这架食品加工机可将各种蔬菜切丝切条。

9 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

10 representation   

n.表现某人（或某事物）的东西，图画，雕塑

参考例句：

• The painting is a representation of a storm at sea.这幅画描绘的是海上的暴风雨。
• All parties won representation in the national assembly.所有政党在国民大会中都赢得了代表资格。

11 senators   

n.参议员( senator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• When the senators vote, the ayes will have it. 参议员投票时，投赞成票的人将占多数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The committee concluded that the senators had engaged in improper conduct. 委员会断定议员们从事了不正当活动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 disapproves   

v.不赞成( disapprove的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She disapproves of unmarried couples living together. 她反对未婚男女同居。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Her mother disapproves of her wearing transparent underwear. 她母亲不赞成她穿透明的内衣。 来自辞典例句

13 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

14 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。

15 ambassadors   

大使( ambassador的名词复数 )； （派驻联合国等国际组织的）代表； 特使； [比喻]使者

参考例句：

• Kennedy, greatly admiring, rated him very high among his ambassadors. 肯尼迪十分赏识他，在所有大使中对他评价很高。
• Many countries were represented by their ambassadors at the Independence Day celebrations. 庆祝美国独立纪念日时，许多国家都派其大使代表参加。

16 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

17 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