VOA慢速英语2010年-American Mosaic - A Look at Baseball’
时间：2019-01-11 作者：英语课 分类：2010年VOA慢速英语(六)月
DOUG JOHNSON: Welcome to American Mosaic 1 in VOA Special English.
(MUSIC)
I’m Doug Johnson.
Today we listen to music from Gershwin Prize winner Paul McCartney…
And we answer a question about what American college students do over summer vacation.
But first, a report on baseball’s bright new star Stephen Strasburg.
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Stephen Strasburg
DOUG JOHNSON: Baseball fans across America are excited about a new pitcher 2 for the Washington Nationals named Stephen Strasburg. The twenty-one year-old throws a sharp breaking ball that cuts across the plate at the last second. He has great control of all his pitches. But what really has fans on the edge of their seats is “The Kid’s” fastball. Mario Ritter tells us more.
Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg during a game Sunday against the Cleveland Indians
MARIO RITTER: Stephen Strasburg can throw a baseball more than one hundred sixty kilometers per hour. The Washington Nationals chose Strasburg with the first pick in the two thousand nine baseball draft 3. The team was able to do so because it was the worst team in baseball last season. But fans in Washington hope that will change this season.
Strasburg received the highest pay agreement of any rookie pitcher in baseball history. He signed a four-year deal worth more than fifteen million dollars.
The Washington Nationals announced that Strasburg would make his first major league start against the Pittsburgh Pirates 4 on June eighth. Fans bought all the tickets within a day. Some were resold for as much as one thousand dollars.
When the time finally came for Strasburg to take the mound 5, he did not let fans down. In seven innings, he gave up only four hits and two earned runs against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He also set a team record by striking 6 out fourteen batters 7, including the last seven he faced. Each of the nine Pirates in the lineup struck out at least once.
Strasburg was almost as exciting in his second game. He struck out eight hitters, walked five and permitted only one run last Sunday. The Nationals defeated the Cleveland Indians nine to four.
Strasburg has struck out twenty-two hitters in his first two wins. Only one major league pitcher had more strike outs in his first two appearances.
Baseball experts say Strasburg could be one of the best pitchers 8 in many years. They are comparing him to greats like Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens.
Stephen Strasburg is expected to make his next start Friday night against the Chicago White Sox. The team is a tough match for the pitcher. They have struck out the fewest times of any major league team.
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Summer for College Students
DOUG JOHNSON: This week’s listener question comes from China. Vera Tang wants to know what college students do during their summer vacation. There is no quick answer to this question. Students spend their summers in many different ways.
Many students work hard at summer jobs. They realize it can be difficult to balance college classes and a job during the school year. Summer is a good time to save up some money. Restaurants, swimming pools, stores and other businesses are always looking for hardworking students.
Nirvana Habash is from San Diego, California. She will be a senior next year at American University in Washington, D.C. She is working three jobs this summer.
NIRVANA HABASH: “I told my parents that I didn’t want them to help me with money this summer so the two main jobs, the one on campus 9 and at the environmental consulting firm, are mainly to make money for rent and utilities 10 and all that.”
Some students get jobs in the field they hope to enter after college. This is called an internship 13. Some interns 12 receive money for their work. Other internships are unpaid 14. Still, the experience gives students a taste of the world outside of college. Sara Aucker is entering her junior year at American University. She is from Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. She is working for an organization that helps victims of violence at home.
SARA AUCKER: “Internships are huge. Everyone’s just trying to get a feel for what experiences they want and what they want to do in the future.”
Other college students choose to take summer classes. Students usually do not take a full set of classes. Instead, they take just one or two. The extra classes can help students to get ahead in their studies.
However, summers are not all work. Students spend time with friends, go to a movie or take a trip. David Spiegel is from Fort 15 Worth, Texas. He will be a senior at American University in the fall. He wanted to make the most of his summer vacation.
DAVID SPIEGEL:“My friends and I have made a list of things we want to do over the summer. Different places to travel, to get away to, maybe a beach a few hours away. I’m trying to travel as much as possible and discover the city I’ve been living in for three years.”
More than anything else, summer is a much needed break. College can be stressful. Sometimes doing nothing at all is just what a student needs after studying for final exams. A relaxing day under the summer sun will help students forget all about tests and studying.
Paul McCartney
(MUSIC: “WHEN I’M SIXTY-FOUR”)
DOUG JOHNSON: Paul McCartney got his start in music before his teens. He learned 16 to play piano and trumpet 17 as a child. The guitar followed a short time later. He wrote one of the Beatles’ most famous songs, “When I’m Sixty-Four,” before he had even met any of the other band members.
Sixty years later, President Obama awarded the British musician the Library of Congress 18 Gershwin Prize for American Song. Faith Lapidus tells about the event and plays some of Paul McCartney’s songs.
FAITH LAPIDUS: The event was held at the White House earlier this month. President Obama praised Paul McCartney for what he called his extraordinary contributions to American music and culture. He joked: “that’s right, we stole you, Paul.” The president called Paul McCartney the most successful songwriter in history. As a member of the Beatles, he wrote hundreds of songs that changed popular music forever.
President Obama presents Paul McCartney with the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song
President Obama also spoke 19 about the difficult time people in the Gulf 20 area were going through as a result of the oil spill. He said music can help people through bad times.“Hey Jude” is a song that eases 21 pain. Paul McCartney and John Lennon wrote the song. McCartney’s words were meant to comfort Lennon’s son, Julian, during his parents’ separation.
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Many people performed Paul McCartney’s songs at the White House to honor 22 him. They included Emmylou Harris, Herbie Hancock, Corrine Bailey Rae, Dave Grohl and Stevie Wonder. Wonder received the Gershwin Prize last year. In nineteen eighty-two Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder had a hit song. Here they perform “Ebony and Ivory,” written by McCartney.
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After the Beatles broke up in nineteen seventy, Paul McCartney formed another successful band, Wings. The band included his wife, Linda, who died of breast cancer in nineteen ninety-eight. We leave you with Wings performing “Let 'Em In” from nineteen seventy-six.
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DOUG JOHNSON: I'm Doug Johnson. Our program was written by our Special English intern 11, Michael DeFabo, and Caty Weaver 23 who was also the producer.
If you have a question about American life, send an e-mail to mosaic@voanews.com. We might answer in on this show. Please remember to tell us your name and where you live.
Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.
- 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。
- He poured the milk out of the pitcher.他从大罐中倒出牛奶。
- Any pitcher is liable to crack during a tight game.任何投手在紧张的比赛中都可能会失常。
- He's now revising the first draft of his essay.他目前正修改他的文章初稿。
- The draft of this article has been done。这篇文章已经定稿。
- Children dressed (themselves) up as pirates. 孩子们假扮成海盗。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
- The pirates treated their captives with barbarity. 海盗们残暴地对待他们的俘虏。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
- The explorers climbed a mound to survey the land around them.勘探者爬上土丘去勘测周围的土地。
- The mound can be used as our screen.这个土丘可做我们的掩蔽物。
- There is a striking difference between Jane and Mary.简和玛丽之间有显著的差异。
- What is immediately striking is how resourceful the children are.最令人注目的是孩子们的机智聪明。
- The pitcher has beaned as many as three batters in this game. 在这？热？投手投球竟打中了三个击手的头。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
- A storm batters the ship. 一场风暴袭击了这条船。 来自辞典例句
- Over the next five years, he became one of the greatest pitchers in baseball. 在接下来的5年时间里，他成为了最了不起的棒球投手之一。
- Why he probably won't: Pitchers on also-rans can win the award. 为什麽不是他得奖：投手在失败的球队可以赢得赛扬奖。
- They spoke of the old days on the campus.他们谈起昔日的校园生活。
- The campus covers an area of twenty square kilometres.这个校园占地二十平方公里。
- the administration of public utilities 公共事业的管理
- Phase II requires utilities to reduce emissions by an additional fifty percent. 第二阶段要求排放再减少50％。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
- I worked as an intern in that firm last summer.去年夏天我在那家商行实习。
- The intern bandaged the cut as the nurse looked on.这位实习生在护士的照看下给病人包扎伤口。
- Our interns also greet our guests when they arrive in our studios. 我们的实习生也会在嘉宾抵达演播室的时候向他们致以问候。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
- The interns work alongside experienced civil engineers and receive training in the different work sectors. 实习生陪同有经验的国内工程师工作，接受不同工作部门的相关培训。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
- an internship at a television station 在电视台的实习期
- a summer internship with a small stipend 薪水微薄的暑期实习
- Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
- He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。
- The fort can not be defended against an air attack.这座要塞遭到空袭时无法防御。
- No one can get into the fort without a pass.没有通行证，任何人不得进入要塞。
- He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
- In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。
- He plays the violin, but I play the trumpet.他拉提琴，我吹喇叭。
- The trumpet sounded for battle.战斗的号角吹响了。
- 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。
- They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
- The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
- The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
- There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。
- Centaury eases cough, bronchitis, inflammation of liver and eye. 咳嗽、支气管炎、肝脏及眼睛发炎有抑制功效。
- When the crisis eases and confidence returns, valuations are bound to recover. 当危机缓解、信心恢复，市值必将反弹。
- 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。