来自母亲节的报道

33 来自母亲节的报道

DATE=5/7/01
TITLE=THIS IS AMERICA #1063 - Mother's Day
 BYLINE=Shelley Gollust

      VOICE ONE:
     Sunday, May 13th, is Mother's Day in America.  It is a day when millions of Americans (1) honor¹ their mothers in many （2） different ways. I'm Shirley Griffith.
       VOICE TWO:
      And I'm Steve Ember. The story of Mother's Day is our report today on the VOA Special English program, THIS IS AMERICA.
       (MUSIC BRIDGE)
       VOICE ONE:
      Mother's Day is the day when people （3）express the love and thanks they feel for their mother.  They give her gifts.  They send her a （4）greeting card.  They buy her flowers.  And they take her out to dinner.
       Mother's Day has been a national （5）celebration in the United States for more than eighty years.  The idea of honoring² mothers is much older than that.  Ancient civilizations in what is now (6) Turkey honored³ the goddess (7) Cybele.  In their belief system, she was the mother of all the gods.  The belief in Cybele spread to the （8）ancient Greek and Roman civilizations.  Many centuries later, celebrations to honor mothers were held in other countries, too.
       VOICE TWO:
      During the Eighteen-Hundreds, a number of Americans （9）organized local celebrations to honor mothers.  It took a long time, however, to gain support for a national celebration.  The person most responsible for doing this was Anna Jarvis.  
       Miss Jarvis began her effort in the early Nineteen- Hundreds. She wrote thousands of letters to （10）congressmen, city officials, teachers, and newspaper publishers.  She traveled across the country to gain support for her idea.  
    In Nineteen-Fourteen, President Woodrow Wilson and Congress⁴ agreed that the second Sunday in May should be observed as Mother's Day in America.
       VOICE ONE:
     Anna Jarvis wanted Mother's Day to be a simple event.  She thought children could honor their mothers with small acts of （11）kindness.  She did not want Mother's Day to become a time for businesses to make a lot of money.  But her efforts to prevent this from happening did not succeed.  The day has become a major moneymaking event for gift stores, flower stores, the greeting card industry, and telephone companies.
       ((MUSIC BRIDGE))
       VOICE TWO:
      Today, millions of Americans （12）observe Mother's Day in some way. They buy more than one- hundred- fifty million Mother's Day greeting cards. Companies produce more than one- thousand different kinds.  Most of the cards show pictures of flowers or hearts or other things that people feel are linked to being a mother.  They have messages that express a person's love and thanks for his or her mother.  Some are humorous.  And some have no words -- people can express their own feelings for their mother.
       VOICE ONE:
       Many people give flowers for Mother's Day.  It is one of the busiest days of the year for the flower industry.  Even Americans who live far away from their mothers can send flowers.
       They order and pay for the flowers at a local flower store.  The local store places a telephone call or sends a fax message to a flower store in a faraway city.  And that store carries the flowers to the person's mother in that city.
       VOICE TWO:
     Many people have written songs about mothers and Mother's Day. Here is a song called "Mother's Day."  It was written and is （13）performed by Rick Margitza.
       ((TAPE CUT 1:  "MOTHER'S DAY))
       VOICE ONE:
      Americans spend millions of dollars to buy Mother's Day gifts. Stores begin major advertising⁵ （14）campaigns several weeks before the holiday.  Clothes, sweet-smelling (15) perfume⁶, and jewelry⁷ are popular traditional gifts.  Candy also is very popular.  But Mother's Day gifts can be imaginative⁸, too.  Many mothers like to receive books or sports （16）equipment or tickets to the theater.
       VOICE TWO:
     Mother's Day is a time for young children to do special things for their mother.  Some will make a special gift or draw a special picture.  Maybe they will play this special song on the piano.  It is called "My Dear Little Mother."  It was written by Russian composer Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky in the Eighteen- Hundreds, the music shows how he felt about his mother, and here, it is performed by Carol Rosen Berger.
       ((TAPE CUT 2:  "MY DEAR LITTLE MOTHER"))
       VOICE ONE:
      One family activity on Mother's Day is to have the children cook the early morning meal.  Then they serve the food to their mother while she is still in bed.  Or they might clean the house so she does not have to do it.  Fathers might take care of the children that day so the mother can rest or take a walk or read a book. Many mothers feel that this free time on their special day is a very good Mother's Day gift.
       VOICE TWO:
      The day is an important time for family （17）gatherings.  Some families get together to honor all members who are mothers: grandmothers, aunts, sisters, and cousins.  Many people who cannot spend the day with their mother call them on the telephone.  Mother's Day is one of the busiest days of the year for America's telephone companies.  More than one- hundred- twenty- five million sons and daughters will telephone their mother on Sunday.
       VOICE ONE:
      Other families will get together for a meal at a local eating-place.  This means that mothers do not have to cook on their special day.  Going out to dinner has become a tradition on Mother's Day. More than thirty-percent of Americans do it. As a result, restaurants are extremely (18) crowded that day.  It has become one of the busiest days of the year for the restaurant industry in the United States.
       VOICE TWO:
      Another Mother's Day activity is to go to a music （19）concert.  One of the songs people might hear is this one, "Songs My Mother Taught Me."  It is by the Czech composer Antonin Dvorak ['DVAWR ZHAHK].  It is performed by violinist Itzhak Perlman.
       ((TAPE CUT 3:  "SONGS MY MOTHER TAUGHT ME"))
       VOICE ONE:
       Mothers are not the only members of the family who have a special day.  In June, Americans will celebrate Father's Day.  It is a much newer celebration.  President Richard Nixon declared Father's Day a national （20）observance in the early Nineteen-Seventies.
       There also is a special day to honor grandparents in the United States.  It is in September.  It is a day when children are urged to talk with -- and learn from -- older people.
       VOICE TWO:
      For now, we want to wish all mothers, everywhere, a "Happy Mother's Day."  Here is Dick Hyman playing the song "Let Every Day Be Mother's Day."
       ((TAPE CUT 4: "LET EVERY DAY BE MOTHER'S DAY"))
       VOICE ONE:
     This program was written by Shelley Gollust, it was produced and directed by Lawan Davis.  I'm Shirley Griffith.
       VOICE TWO:
     And I'm Steve Ember.  Join us again next week for another report about life in the United States on the VOA Special English program THIS IS AMERICA.

注释：
（1） honor[ 5CnE ]n.尊敬, 敬意v.尊敬, 给以荣誉
（2） different[ 5difrEnt ]adj.不同的
（3） express[ iks5pres ]adj.急速的, 特殊的n.快车, 快递v.表达, 表示
（4） greeting[ 5^ri:tiN ]n.祝贺, 问候
（5） celebration[ 7seli5breiFEn ]n.庆祝, 庆典
（6） Turkey [5tE:ki] n. 土耳其
（7） Cybele[ 5sibili ]n.西布莉(古代小亚细亚人崇拜的自然女神,与希腊女神Rhea等同)
（8） ancient[ 5einFEnt ]adj.远古的, 旧的
（9） organize[ 5C:^Enaiz ]v.组织, 使有机化
（10） Congress [5kCN^res] n. (代表) 大会, [C～] (美国等国的) 国会, 议会
（11） kindness[ 5kaindnis ]n.仁慈, 亲切
（12） observe[ Eb5zE:v ]v.观察, 观测
（13） perform[ pE5fC:m ]v.履行, 执行
（14） campaign [kAm5pein ] n. [军] 战役, (政治或商业性) 活动
（15） perfume[ 5pE:fju:m ]n.香味,香水v.使发香
（16） equipment[ i5kwipmEnt ]n.装备, 设备
（17） gathering[ 5^ATEriN ]n.聚集, 收款
（18） crowded[ 5kraudid ]adj.拥挤的, 塞满的
（19） concert[ 5kCnsEt ]n.音乐会, 一致
（20） observance[ Eb5zE:vEns ]n.遵守, 惯例

1 honor   

n.光荣；敬意；荣幸；vt.给…以荣誉；尊敬

参考例句：

• I take your visit as a great honor.您的来访是我莫大的光荣。
• It is a great honor to receive that prize.能拿到那个奖是无上的光荣。

2 honoring   

v.尊敬，给以荣誉( honor的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They sat in silence, honoring the clan Jordache for a moment. 他们默默地坐了一会儿，对乔达虚家族表示了一番敬意。 来自辞典例句
• Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check. 美国没有履行这项神圣的义务，只是给黑人开了一张空头支票。 来自辞典例句

3 honored   

adj.光荣的：荣幸的v.尊敬，给以荣誉( honor的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I hope to be honored with further orders. 如蒙惠顾，不胜荣幸。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This is a time-honored custom. 这是一个古老的习俗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 Congress   

n.(代表)大会；(C-:美国等国的)国会，议会

参考例句：

• There were some days to wait before the Congress.大会的召开还有几天时间。
• After 18 years in Congress,he intented to return to private life.在国会供职18年后，他打算告老还乡。

5 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

6 perfume   

n.香水(料，气)；vt.使充满芳香；洒香水

参考例句：

• The air was heavy with the perfume of the flower.空气中充满了花香。
• Those roses perfume the whole garden.那些玫瑰花使满园飘香。

7 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。

8 imaginative   

adj.富有想象力的，爱想象的

参考例句：

• The imaginative child made up fairy stories.这个想像力丰富的孩子自己编神话故事。
• Scott was an imaginative writer.司格特是位富于想象力的作家。