时间:2018-12-16 作者:英语课 分类:2013年VOA慢速英语(七)月


英语课

 


Fireworks!


 


Now, the VOA Special English program, Words and Their Stories.


I’m Rich Kleinfeldt.


Today we tell about the word fireworks.


The expression “fireworks” gets its meaning from the fireworks that people shoot into the sky when they are celebrating a great event. Rockets explode to fill the dark, night sky with bright reds and blues 1, with yellows and greens and whites.


The expression also means a great show of noisy anger, or something exciting. For example, a defense 2 lawyer in a court trial may become very emotional 3 in arguing with the government lawyer about evidence affecting the accused. The judge finally stops the loud argument and calls the two lawyers forward. He tells them, “I want no more of these fireworks in my courtroom.”


 


Another kind of fireworks can be any event or activity that is especially exciting. One such event is falling in love. If anything can produce fireworks, it is a sweetheart’s kiss or the touch of a lover’s hand. Often movie or television cartoons show fireworks to represent the excitement of a kiss.


People use the expression fireworks throughout the year. But if you live in the United States and want to see real fireworks, the best time of the year is about now. The Fourth of July is Independence Day in the United States. Americans traditionally celebrate their nation’s freedom with giant public parties and fireworks at night.


In Washington, for example, large crowds gather near the Washington Monument to listen to music and watch a huge fireworks show.


In other cities and smaller towns, local people listen to band concerts and watch fireworks explode in a dark sky.


Many other countries around the world also enjoy the tradition of exploding fireworks on special days. In Australia, the city of Sydney begins each new year with a fireworks show at midnight. China is the birthplace of fireworks. Large fireworks shows were held often during earlier times in China. Now, people use small fireworks to help celebrate weddings and birthdays.


?France also has a great fireworks tradition. A large fireworks show always takes place on Bastille Day, which celebrates the beginning of the French Revolution. The French city of Cannes holds an international fireworks competition each year in July and August.


In India, people have been using fireworks for more than 500 years. A great Indian fireworks show takes place during the religious celebration of Diwali, every autumn.


Fireworks shows are popular around the world. But, if I do not end this program right now, there will be fireworks from my producer.


This VOA Special English program “Words and Their Stories” was written by David Jarmul. I’m Rich Kleinfeldt.


 


 



1 blues
n.抑郁,沮丧;布鲁斯音乐
  • She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
  • He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。
2 defense
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩
  • The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
  • The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。
3 emotional
adj.令人动情的;易动感情的;感情(上)的
  • Emotional people don't stop to calculate.感情容易冲动的人做事往往不加考虑。
  • This is an emotional scene in the play.这是剧中动人的一幕。
学英语单词
ageing of tube
allbaugh
alloy steel rail
Alzheimer stain
armed forces medicine
auricular lappet
break ... in
cebiche
chlorocomplex
chordamesoderms
chorltons
co-incidence
constant-voltage transmission
continuous placing
copsed
counte line
coxsone
curium(iv) fluoride
cyanic
deep freeze compressor
degaser
dodecapolis
education standard
El Seibo
fart about
flight-shooting
fluorescent metabolite
forward mutual admittance
four-fold axis
fourchon
fractionation assembly
frambesioid syphilid
fuel oil leakage tank
fused magnesite
gas tight seal
gitterns
green hands
Gusevka
head earing
height anomaly
hilb
Holofernes
independant
invigorating heart and kidney
iridescent cloud
jaseys
jenrette
khafre
lastik
learning model
leptocoelotes edentulus
lock circuit controller
maggiores
male uterus
Mediterranean sea region
memory protocol
Microsisymbrium minutiflorum
ministerialism
molline
multichannel plysiological monitoring equipment
mycosis of tympanic membrane
network planning technique
nozzle exit section
Octachlorocyclohexenone
operating thermal efficiency
ordeal trees
orix
oscillatory pressure pick-up
overfarmed
overfeeding
Piper attenuatum
plant-label
prereads
pressed shape
pyotherapy
radioactivity-bearing tissue
regional supplementary procedures
remote multiplexer
Salurin
Sambir
Sanicula astrantiifolia
sheened
specific impedance
spectator catch
Subsidy lock
supersonic hardness tester
system of rating
tax liability
thanks a million
three stage network
tick-seed
to cable
usable storage
veiga
wheel stand slide bed
white milkweed
work-caused injuries
workations
workshop building
wretchful
xi-type structure
XIM