2007年VOA慢速英语special200708100045
时间：2018-12-15 作者：英语课 分类：VOA慢速英语2007年（八）月
英语课
HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC 1, in VOA Special English.
(MUSIC)
I'm Doug Johnson. On our show this week:
We listen to music from singer Andrew Bird...
Answer a question about International Left-Handers' Day...
And in sports, a home run record for Barry Bonds.
Barry Bonds Home Run Record
HOST:
Major League Baseball has a new king of home runs. This week Barry Bonds of the
Barry Bonds hits his 756th career home run in San Francisco on August 7, 2007.
San Francisco Giants broke the record set by Hank Aaron. Faith Lapidus has our story.
FAITH LAPIDUS:
First of all, here is a simple description, for anyone not sure how the game of baseball is played.
A pitcher 2 throws a ball toward a catcher. In front of the catcher is a batter 3. The batter tries to hit the small, speeding ball with a narrow bat and then run to first base. If the batter hits the ball, and a player from the opposing team catches it or throws it to first base before the batter gets there, the batter is out.
Sometimes the ball flies high over the walls of the field then no one can catch it...except maybe a lucky fan in the crowd. Now the batter can safely get to first base, and second, and third and back to home plate. The batter has scored a run, but not just a run, a home run -- one of the most thrilling plays in the game.
This helps explain all the attention over Barry Bonds breaking the career record set by Hank Aaron.
In nineteen seventy-four, Hank Aaron hit his seven hundred fifteenth home run to break the record held for many years by Babe Ruth. Hank Aaron went on to hit seven hundred fifty-five home runs before he retired 4 in nineteen seventy-six.
Now Barry Bonds has done better than that. Some baseball fans are excited for him. But others have been yelling 5 cheater or steroids when he goes to bat.
Many people suspect him of taking drugs to improve his performance. They think he lied four years ago during a federal investigation 6 into illegal steroid sales by a San Francisco laboratory.
News reports said he told a grand jury 7 that he did take a substance to improve his health but thought it was flaxseed oil. Barry Bonds denies ever having knowingly used steroids.
His former personal trainer is in prison for refusing to answer questions about the case. The investigation continues. And, so does the suspicion.
Major League Baseball banned steroids in two thousand two. The question now is what would happen to Barry Bonds' record if he is ever proven to have taken steroids? Pete Rose was banned from baseball in nineteen eighty-nine for gambling 8 on games. But his record as all-time hits leader still stands
Left-Handers' Day
HOST:
Our VOA listener question this week is from Iran. Mohammed Sadegh Poladtan asks about an international holiday called Left-Handers Day.
International Left-Handers Day
International Left-Handers Day is Monday, August thirteenth. The International Left-Handers Day Web site says the Left-Handers Club started the holiday in nineteen ninety-two. It wanted left-handers around the world to celebrate. And it wanted to bring attention to the everyday problems of people who use their left hands.
One of these problems is difficulty using equipment and tools, like scissors. In general, most tools and equipment are made for people who are right-handed. The Left-Handers Club tries to educate designers and manufacturers to consider the safety of left-handed people when producing their products.
Another problem is that many societies have considered it bad to be left-handed. Some teachers and parents have tried to force children who used their left hand to use their right one instead.
Scientists do not really know why some people are left-handed. They have believed the reason is genetic 10. Researchers in Britain recently identified a gene 9 that helps confirm this. Scientists at the University of Oxford 11 reported their discovery in the publication Molecular 13 Psychiatry 14.
They say the gene increases the chance of being left- handed. It appears to play an important part in deciding which part of the brain controls different activities. In right-handed people, the left side of the brain usually controls speech and language. The right side controls feelings. However, the opposite is often true in left-handed people. Scientists believe the gene is responsible for this. The gene showed a link with left-handedness in nine to twelve percent of the population. About ten percent of people around the world are left-handed.
Here is an interesting fact from the Left-Handers Club Web site: five out of the last six American presidents have been left-handed. They are Gerald Ford 12, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
The Left-Handers Club wants everyone to know that left-handed people may be a little different from those who use their right hand. But they want left-handers to celebrate these differences on International Left-Handers Day August thirteenth.
Andrew Bird
HOST:
Andrew Bird is a skillful singer and songwriter who also plays the guitar, violin and glockenspiel instruments. This singer from the state of Illinois is even known for his extraordinary whistling abilities. He has explored just about every kind of musical tradition with his nine albums. Barbara Klein has more.
BARBARA KLEIN:
The music of Andrew Bird is hard to define 15. He combines many kinds of musical styles
Andrew Bird
into richly poetic 16 songs. Bird started studying classical music as a small child. He also studied violin performance in college. His first records were heavily influenced by early jazz and swing music. Here is the song Simple X from his latest album Armchair Apocrypha 17.
(MUSIC)
Andrew Bird gives an excellent live performance. The sounds are so rich, it is hard to believe there are not several musicians on stage. To do this, Bird records himself playing musical instruments one at a time. He plays these recordings 18 over and over and layers them together to make a complex arrangement. Every performance is a little bit different with this method. Here is the energetic song Darkmatter. Listen for Andrew Bird's expert whistling noises.
(MUSIC)
We leave you with the song Scythian Empires. Andrew Bird says he was influenced by maps of the ancient world showing how people and civilizations change and move. The song tells about the beginnings and endings of ruling groups throughout history.
(MUSIC)
HOST:
I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today.
It was written by Dana Demange, and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver 19 was our producer.
Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA's radio magazine in Special English.
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC 1, in VOA Special English.
(MUSIC)
I'm Doug Johnson. On our show this week:
We listen to music from singer Andrew Bird...
Answer a question about International Left-Handers' Day...
And in sports, a home run record for Barry Bonds.
Barry Bonds Home Run Record
HOST:
Major League Baseball has a new king of home runs. This week Barry Bonds of the
Barry Bonds hits his 756th career home run in San Francisco on August 7, 2007.
San Francisco Giants broke the record set by Hank Aaron. Faith Lapidus has our story.
FAITH LAPIDUS:
First of all, here is a simple description, for anyone not sure how the game of baseball is played.
A pitcher 2 throws a ball toward a catcher. In front of the catcher is a batter 3. The batter tries to hit the small, speeding ball with a narrow bat and then run to first base. If the batter hits the ball, and a player from the opposing team catches it or throws it to first base before the batter gets there, the batter is out.
Sometimes the ball flies high over the walls of the field then no one can catch it...except maybe a lucky fan in the crowd. Now the batter can safely get to first base, and second, and third and back to home plate. The batter has scored a run, but not just a run, a home run -- one of the most thrilling plays in the game.
This helps explain all the attention over Barry Bonds breaking the career record set by Hank Aaron.
In nineteen seventy-four, Hank Aaron hit his seven hundred fifteenth home run to break the record held for many years by Babe Ruth. Hank Aaron went on to hit seven hundred fifty-five home runs before he retired 4 in nineteen seventy-six.
Now Barry Bonds has done better than that. Some baseball fans are excited for him. But others have been yelling 5 cheater or steroids when he goes to bat.
Many people suspect him of taking drugs to improve his performance. They think he lied four years ago during a federal investigation 6 into illegal steroid sales by a San Francisco laboratory.
News reports said he told a grand jury 7 that he did take a substance to improve his health but thought it was flaxseed oil. Barry Bonds denies ever having knowingly used steroids.
His former personal trainer is in prison for refusing to answer questions about the case. The investigation continues. And, so does the suspicion.
Major League Baseball banned steroids in two thousand two. The question now is what would happen to Barry Bonds' record if he is ever proven to have taken steroids? Pete Rose was banned from baseball in nineteen eighty-nine for gambling 8 on games. But his record as all-time hits leader still stands
Left-Handers' Day
HOST:
Our VOA listener question this week is from Iran. Mohammed Sadegh Poladtan asks about an international holiday called Left-Handers Day.
International Left-Handers Day
International Left-Handers Day is Monday, August thirteenth. The International Left-Handers Day Web site says the Left-Handers Club started the holiday in nineteen ninety-two. It wanted left-handers around the world to celebrate. And it wanted to bring attention to the everyday problems of people who use their left hands.
One of these problems is difficulty using equipment and tools, like scissors. In general, most tools and equipment are made for people who are right-handed. The Left-Handers Club tries to educate designers and manufacturers to consider the safety of left-handed people when producing their products.
Another problem is that many societies have considered it bad to be left-handed. Some teachers and parents have tried to force children who used their left hand to use their right one instead.
Scientists do not really know why some people are left-handed. They have believed the reason is genetic 10. Researchers in Britain recently identified a gene 9 that helps confirm this. Scientists at the University of Oxford 11 reported their discovery in the publication Molecular 13 Psychiatry 14.
They say the gene increases the chance of being left- handed. It appears to play an important part in deciding which part of the brain controls different activities. In right-handed people, the left side of the brain usually controls speech and language. The right side controls feelings. However, the opposite is often true in left-handed people. Scientists believe the gene is responsible for this. The gene showed a link with left-handedness in nine to twelve percent of the population. About ten percent of people around the world are left-handed.
Here is an interesting fact from the Left-Handers Club Web site: five out of the last six American presidents have been left-handed. They are Gerald Ford 12, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
The Left-Handers Club wants everyone to know that left-handed people may be a little different from those who use their right hand. But they want left-handers to celebrate these differences on International Left-Handers Day August thirteenth.
Andrew Bird
HOST:
Andrew Bird is a skillful singer and songwriter who also plays the guitar, violin and glockenspiel instruments. This singer from the state of Illinois is even known for his extraordinary whistling abilities. He has explored just about every kind of musical tradition with his nine albums. Barbara Klein has more.
BARBARA KLEIN:
The music of Andrew Bird is hard to define 15. He combines many kinds of musical styles
Andrew Bird
into richly poetic 16 songs. Bird started studying classical music as a small child. He also studied violin performance in college. His first records were heavily influenced by early jazz and swing music. Here is the song Simple X from his latest album Armchair Apocrypha 17.
(MUSIC)
Andrew Bird gives an excellent live performance. The sounds are so rich, it is hard to believe there are not several musicians on stage. To do this, Bird records himself playing musical instruments one at a time. He plays these recordings 18 over and over and layers them together to make a complex arrangement. Every performance is a little bit different with this method. Here is the energetic song Darkmatter. Listen for Andrew Bird's expert whistling noises.
(MUSIC)
We leave you with the song Scythian Empires. Andrew Bird says he was influenced by maps of the ancient world showing how people and civilizations change and move. The song tells about the beginnings and endings of ruling groups throughout history.
(MUSIC)
HOST:
I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today.
It was written by Dana Demange, and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver 19 was our producer.
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
- 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 pitcher
n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手
- 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。
3 batter
v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员
- The batter skied to the center fielder.击球手打出一个高飞球到中外野手。
- Put a small quantity of sugar into the batter.在面糊里放少量的糖。
4 retired
adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的
- The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
- Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。
5 yelling
v.叫喊，号叫，叫着说( yell的现在分词 )
- The coach stood on the sidelines yelling instructions to the players. 教练站在场外，大声指挥运动员。
- He let off steam by yelling at a clerk. 他对一个职员大喊大叫，借以发泄怒气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 investigation
n.调查，调查研究
- In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
- He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。
7 jury
n.陪审团，评委会；adj.临时用的；vt.挑选
- These twelve men are believed to compose the jury.据信，陪审团是由这12人组成的。
- The members of the jury were discharged from their duties.陪审员们被解除了职务。
8 gambling
n.赌博；投机
- They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
- The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。
9 gene
n.遗传因子，基因
- A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
- The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。
10 genetic
adj.遗传的，遗传学的
- It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
- Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。
11 Oxford
n.牛津（英国城市）
- At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
- This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。
12 Ford
n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过
- They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
- If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。
13 molecular
adj.分子的；克分子的
- The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms.这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。
- For the pressure to become zero, molecular bombardment must cease.当压强趋近于零时，分子的碰撞就停止了。
14 psychiatry
n.精神病学，精神病疗法
- The study appeared in the Amercian science Journal of Psychiatry.这个研究发表在美国精神病学的杂志上。
- A physician is someone who specializes in psychiatry.精神病专家是专门从事精神病治疗的人。
15 define
vt.解释，下定义，阐述，限定，规定
- 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。
16 poetic
adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的
- His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
- His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。
17 apocrypha
n.伪经，伪书
- Although New Testament apocrypha go into these details,some quite extensively.尽管在新约的伪经进一步详细地写这些细节，一些还写得十分广阔。
- Esdras is the first two books of the old testament apocrypha.埃斯德拉斯是第一个关于旧约伪经的两本书。
18 recordings
n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片
- 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