AMERICAN MOSAIC - 'Betty Rules': Is It Punk? Pop? Alternativ

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - 'Betty Rules': Is It Punk? Pop? Alternative? Decide for Yourself
By Shelley Gollust,Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Friday, May 06, 2005

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HOST: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

I'm Doug Johnson. On our show this week:

Music by Betty…

A question from a listener about the movie "Gone With The Wind"

And a report about Mother's Day in the United States.

Mother's Day

 
 
Sunday, May eighth, is Mother's Day in the United States. It is a special day when Americans honor their mothers. Faith Lapidus tells us about it.

FAITH LAPIDUS: Writer Julia Ward² Howe made the first known suggestion for a Mother's Day in the United States. That was in eighteen seventy-two. She said it should be a day to celebrate peace. For several years, she held a yearly Mother's Day meeting in June in Boston, Massachusetts.

Mother's Day as it is celebrated³ now began with a woman named Anna Jarvis. She started a campaign for a national observance in the early nineteen hundreds. She wrote thousands of letters to public officials. She urged that the second Sunday in May be declared Mother's Day.

In nineteen fourteen, President Woodrow Wilson and the United States Congress finally agreed. After that, the second Sunday in May became a day to express love for mothers throughout the country.

On Mother's Day, children of all ages give their mothers special gifts. Popular gifts include flowers, jewelry⁴ or candy. Children also do nice things so their mother will not have to do any work on her special day. They might bring her breakfast in bed or clean the house.

Children who no longer live at home may travel to visit their mother on Mother's Day. The whole family may go to a restaurant for a holiday meal. Children who cannot be with their mother on the holiday send a special card with a message of love. They also call their mother on the telephone to wish her a happy day. Mother's Day is one of the busiest days of the year for telephone use in the United States.

So, you may ask, do Americans have a special day to honor their fathers? The answer is yes. Father's Day is in June, but that is a story for another time!

'Gone With the Wind'

 
 
HOST: Our listener question this week comes from Bangkok, Thailand. Apiradee Treerutkuarkul asks about the famous American movie "Gone with The Wind" and its stars.

"Gone With the Wind" was released in nineteen thirty-nine. Experts still consider it one of the best American movies of all time. It was one of the longest films ever made, at three and one-half hours. It was also one of the most costly⁵ at the time. It cost more than four million dollars to make.

The movie is based on a book by Margaret Mitchell published in nineteen thirty-six. Producer David O. Selznick bought the film rights to the book soon after. The book and movie told about people living in the South during and after the American Civil War in the eighteen sixties. The characters must deal with war, survival⁶, love, disloyalty and changes to their way of life.

"Gone with the Wind" broke records for Academy Awards. It won eight Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress. Actress Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to be nominated⁷ for an Oscar. She won for her performance in a supporting role.

The movie was not made easily, however. It had several different directors, although only Victor Fleming won the Oscar. Fifty actors had speaking parts. Thousands of other people were used for crowd and battle scenes.

Vivien Leigh won the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance as Scartlett O'Hara. She had been chosen for the part over many other actresses. But Vivien Leigh was no southern belle⁸. In fact, she was not even American. She was a British citizen born in India. Vivien Leigh was only twenty-six when she became Scarlett O'Hara.

Clark Gable played Rhett Butler in "Gone With the Wind." Gable was born in Ohio in nineteen-oh-one. He became one of America's most popular actors in the nineteen thirties and forties. Clark Gable was tall and very good-looking. He did both comedy and drama well.

Some people were surprised when Clark Gable did not win the Best Actor Oscar for "Gone With the Wind." But, then he already had one. The industry had honored him in nineteen thirty-four for his performance in the movie "It Happened One Night."

'Betty Rules'

 
 
Betty is the name of a musical group led by three women: Alyson Palmer and sisters Amy Ziff and Elizabeth Ziff. They have been singing together since nineteen eighty-five. They also wrote and perform in a rock musical play about themselves and their band called "Betty Rules." Barbara Klein has more.

BARBARA KLEIN: Betty has been described as a punk-pop-alternative-rock group. The band has released six albums. The latest is the recording⁹ of the songs in their musical play, "Betty Rules." It opened in New York City in two thousand two and was a great success. The group has performed the play in other cities. It recently played in Washington, D.C. Listen to "Kissing You" from "Betty Rules."

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Alyson Palmer, Amy Ziff and Elizabeth Ziff are from the Washington area. The group added two male musicians -- a guitarist and a drummer -- in nineteen ninety-five.

Here is another song from their play, "Betty Rules." It is called "Slap Bang."

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The members of Betty and their songs have appeared in many television programs and films. The group has also performed at large gatherings¹⁰ for women's rights and the empowerment of women and girls. They have helped raise millions of dollars for causes such as finding cures for breast cancer and AIDS. We leave you now with another song from "Betty Rules." It is called "It Girl."

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

Our show was written by Shelley Gollust, Nancy Steinbach and Caty Weaver¹¹, who was also our producer. Our audio engineer was Bob O'Brien.

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 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

3 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

4 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

5 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

6 survival   

n.留住生命，生存，残存，幸存者

参考例句：

• The doctor told my wife I had a fifty-fifty chance of survival.医生告诉我的妻子，说我活下去的可能性只有50%。
• The old man was a survival of a past age.这位老人是上一代的遗老。

7 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。

8 belle   

n.靓女

参考例句：

• She was the belle of her Sunday School class.在主日学校她是她们班的班花。
• She was the belle of the ball.她是那个舞会中的美女。

9 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。

10 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

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。