VOA慢速英语2012 AMERICAN MOSAIC - DC Dinosaur Hunter; New Family Movies; Albums ‘Red’ and ‘R.E.D.’

 

 

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - DC Dinosaur² Hunter; New Family Movies; Albums ‘Red’ and ‘R.E.D.’

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

I’m June Simms.

On our show this week, we play music from “Red” by Taylor Swift and “R.E.D.” from Ne-Yo.

We also look at two new movies…

But first, we tell you about a man who looks for evidence of ancient creatures in the national capital area.

Dinosaur Tracker

Most people who live and work near Washington, DC, would have trouble imagining dinosaurs³ walking around the area. But fossil⁴-hunter Ray Stanford can. He believes dinosaurs were in the area as recently as a hundred million years ago. His proof is dinosaur foot prints. He found them in fossils⁵ that he collected from around the nation’s capital. Christopher Cruise⁶ tells us about Mr. Stanford’s explorations and finds.

Ray Stanford is walking along a small stream in College Park, Maryland, near Washington, DC. 

“Wait, we got one here. This is from a flesh-eating dinosaur. This is from a theropod dinosaur. You can see where the toenails were.”

He says he knows these are dinosaur fossils based on his knowledge and experience -- he began hunting for fossil footprints in nineteen ninety-three.

“Really my children did. They took interest in dinosaurs and we got a book about dinosaur tracks. And once we looked at it -- we were in a streambed -- we began to discover dinosaur tracks. At first I couldn’t believe it.”

Since then, Ray Stanford has collected more than a thousand footprints from many different kinds of dinosaurs. He says he has made part of his home into a place he calls the “Stanford Museum.” He has given some of the fossils he found to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington. They are shown in the “Dinosaurs in Our Backyard” show. Matthew Carrano is the museum’s curator.

“Most importantly, he’s found footprints of dinosaurs that we haven’t found bones of yet. So because he’s found the footprints, we know these dinosaurs lived here, and we didn’t have the information before Ray discovered them.”

David Weishampel studies prehistoric⁷ life as a paleontologist at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. He was an advisor⁸ on the ninety ninety-three film “Jurassic Park,” about modern-day dinosaurs. He says Ray Stanford has helped professionals like him.

“He has given us a lot, more full picture of dinosaurs of the East Coast. He seems to have this gift to be able to find these things and recognize their significance.”

Ray Stanford calls himself an amateur⁹ paleontologist, but he has co-written scientific papers with Professor Weishampel and other scientists.

Mister Stanford says finding dinosaur fossils is a great pleasure. He loves the sense of discovery. He says he will keep searching for dinosaur fossils until there is nothing left to find.

Two New Movies

Americans celebrate Thanksgiving in a couple of weeks. Families gather for a big meal centered on turkey. They also might play board games or watch a parade on television.

But many families also enjoy Thanksgiving at the movies. The holiday is usually extremely profitable¹⁰ for Hollywood. Today, we tell about a couple of films that are perfect for family movie viewing come November twenty-second.

The computer animated¹¹ movie “Wreck-It Ralph” is already making big money at the box office. Disney released the movie on November second, and more than sixty-million dollars worth of tickets have been sold worldwide.

“Wreck-It Ralph” is about a video game character of the same name. He is the traditional “bad guy” in a game called “Fix-It Felix.” But Ralph longs to be a good guy.

He gets his chance at heroism¹² when a dangerous “bug¹³” threatens to destroy all the video games at his arcade¹⁴. Ralph goes into battle to try to defeat the enemy bug.

The Academy Award - nominated¹⁵ actor John C. Reilly is the voice of Ralph. Comedian¹⁶ Sarah Silverman also stars as Vanellope, a driver in a racing¹⁷ game. Jane Lynch plays the strong and demanding soldier Sergeant¹⁸ Calhoun, who starts Ralph on his hero path.

Oscar winning director Ang Lee also presents a Thanksgiving movie choice with “Life of Pi.” Lee spent four years and about one hundred million dollars to make the film.

“Life of Pi” is based on a book of the same name. Patel Pi is the son of a zoo-keeper in India. His family decides to move to Canada for a better life. They set off by ship with a few of the zoo animals.

But there is a disaster at sea. Pi ends up on a small boat with a Bengal tiger. The movie tells of their struggle to survive.

Ang Lee says the movie also explores deep philosophical¹⁹ questions. Lee filmed most of the movie in Taiwan, where he lives. The different movie sets included a very large water tank.

This is a first film for Suraj Sharma, the human star of “Life of Pi.” The nineteen year old called the year shooting the film the “hardest and most beautiful of my life.” Suraj Sharma told the Hindustan Times newspaper that he was not sure if he wanted to act again. But he said he knows he wants to be a part of movie-making in some way.

“Red” and “R.E.D.”

Taylor Swift is on top again. “Red,” her latest album, came out October twenty-second. More than one million two hundred thousand copies were sold in the first week of its release. “Red” is already the third biggest selling album of the year, after Adele’s “21” and “Up All Night” from the boy band One Direction.

This week, the recording²⁰ artist Ne-Yo also released a red album. Well, the record is actually called “R.E.D.” for “realizing every dream.” Faith Lapidus has songs from both new releases.

Ne-Yo and Taylor Swift both deal with change in their latest albums. Ne-Yo works with many artists as a vice-president at Motown Records. He is known for his skill at discovering and producing new artists.

On “R.E.D.” he also shows his ability to take on a different sound. He shares the song “She Is” with Country Music star Tim McGraw.

“R.E.D.” is Ne-Yo’s fifth studio album. Critics are mostly praising the effort.

“Let Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself)” has a dance beat that is hard to resist. But it is also romantic.

Taylor Swift’s “Red” shares the love theme of her earlier albums. But that is where the similarity ends.

That song is called “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” It was the first single from “Red.” It signaled Taylor Swift’s move to pop music.

Taylor Swift worked with British musician Ed Sheeran on “Red.” He has agreed to take part in her concert tour for the new album. The first of their shows is set to take place in March.

Here the two singer-songwriters perform “Everything Has Changed.” The name could refer to Taylor Swift’s style, sound and substance on “Red.”

 

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 dinosaur   

n.恐龙

参考例句：

• Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？
• He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。

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 fossil   

n.化石，食古不化的人，老顽固

参考例句：

• At this distance of time it is difficult to date the fossil.时间隔得这么久了，很难确定这化石的年代。
• The man is a fossil.那人是个老顽固。

5 fossils   

n.化石( fossil的名词复数 )；老顽固；食古不化的人；老古董（老人）

参考例句：

• fossils over two million years old 两百多万年的化石
• The geologist found many uncovered fossils in the valley. 在那山谷里，地质学家发现了许多裸露的化石。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 cruise   

v.巡航，航游，缓慢巡行；n.海上航游

参考例句：

• They went on a cruise to Tenerife.他们乘船去特纳利夫岛。
• She wants to cruise the canals of France in a barge.她想乘驳船游览法国的运河。

7 prehistoric   

adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的

参考例句：

• They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
• It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。

8 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

9 amateur   

adj.业余的，非专业的；n.业余爱好者

参考例句：

• He made an amateur attempt to build a cupboard.他很外行地试做了一个碗柜。
• Although Tom's only an amateur he's a first-class player.虽然汤姆只是个业余爱好者，但却是一流的高手。

10 profitable   

adj.有益的，能带来利益的，有利可图的

参考例句：

• That business became profitable last year.那项生意去年变得很赚钱。
• The convention business is very profitable for the hotel industry.承办会议业务能给旅馆业带来很高的利润。

11 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。

12 heroism   

n.大无畏精神，英勇

参考例句：

• He received a medal for his heroism.他由于英勇而获得一枚奖章。
• Stories of his heroism resounded through the country.他的英雄故事传遍全国。

13 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

14 arcade   

n.拱廊；(一侧或两侧有商店的)通道

参考例句：

• At this time of the morning,the arcade was almost empty.在早晨的这个时候，拱廊街上几乎空无一人。
• In our shopping arcade,you can find different kinds of souvenir.在我们的拱廊市场，你可以发现许多的纪念品。

15 nominated   

adj.被提名的，被任命的 动词nominate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She has been nominated for the presidency. 她已经获得了董事长职位的提名。
• The movie was nominated for an Oscar. 这部电影获奥斯卡金像奖提名。

16 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

17 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

18 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

19 philosophical   

adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的

参考例句：

• The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
• She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。

20 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。