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VOA慢速英语 2007 0330b

时间:2007-08-16 03:18:11

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HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC1, in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

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

We answer a question about MP3 players‿/P>

Present some music from Elvis Perkins‿/P>

And report about something called "March Madness."

March Madness

HOST:

"March Madness" describes the excitement about men's college basketball games every year at this time. Barbara Klein has more.

BARBARA KLEIN:

 
North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough tries to block Georgetown's Roy Hibbert. But Georgetown defeated North Carolina in overtime2 to go on to the Final Four.
For the past two weeks, men's basketball teams from large colleges and universities have been playing in a championship competition. Millions of people have been watching the games on television and on Internet web sites. They are also betting on which teams will win and advance in the tournament.

The New York Times newspaper reports that the basketball tournament is one of the busiest times of the year in Las Vegas, Nevada.  That is because college basketball fans from all over the country meet each other and bet on the games.

The series of games is known as "March Madness" because of the public's excitement about the games.  And sometimes a team that is not expected to win defeats a team with a better record. 

The Division One National Collegiate Athletic3 Association Championship Tournament has been played every year since nineteen thirty-nine.  Sixty-three basketball games take place each March.  The competition begins with sixty-five teams.  The winner of each game continues on to play the winner of another game.  The number of teams in the competition is slowly reduced to the "Sweet Sixteen" then the "Elite4 Eight" and finally the two teams who will play for the championship. 

Four teams have won all their games so far. They will compete in the semi-final games on Saturday in Atlanta, Georgia.  These teams are called the "Final Four."  The University of Florida basketball team will play the University of California at Los Angeles.  And the Ohio State University team will play Georgetown University. The winners will face each other in the Division One NCAA championship game on Monday, April second.

Last year, the teams from Florida and UCLA played each other in the final game of the basketball tournament.  Florida won, so it is now the defending champion.  Will it win again?  We will let you know next week.

MP3s

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week comes from Nigeria.  Aminu Tijjani Ali wants to learn more about MP3s. 

 
Several kinds of small MP3 players
An MP3 is a kind of file used for sending music or other material over the Internet. These files are compressed, or reduced in size, compared to songs on a compact disc, or CD.  MP3 files are played on a computer using media programs like iTunes or Windows Media Player. 

MP3s can also be played on iPods and other small players as well as some wireless5 telephones that can store music. Many players can hold thousands of songs yet are small enough to carry in your pocket. Changing, or converting, a song from a music CD to an MP3 file is called "ripping."  Software for ripping is available by itself and in programs like iTunes and Windows Media Player.

The MP3 was developed by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany and other laboratories in the nineteen eighties.  By the late nineteen nineties, music fans were beginning to change their music collections from CDs to MP3s.  They were also able to download MP3 music files from the Internet much faster because of the MP3’s smaller file size.

File-sharing services quickly began appearing on the Internet.  They made it possible for people to exchange copyrighted music at no cost.  However, the record industry started to get concerned because people were trading free music on the Internet instead of buying it in music stores.

A few years ago, the original Napster Web site was one of the most popular music-sharing services.  But then the music industry won court cases that decided6 that this kind of file-sharing was illegal and violated copyright laws.

 MP3 files are still shared on the Internet today.  People also buy them from online music stores. The new Napster Web site is one of these services that charges money for MP3s on the Internet.

On the Special English Web site, voaspecialenglish.com, we provide MP3 files of our programs at no cost. 

Elvis Perkins

HOST:

 
Elvis Perkins
Elvis Perkins has just released his first album, "Ash Wednesday." Perkins performs folk music-influenced songs about dreams, memories, and sadness. Critics are praising his imaginative songs and soft but expressive7 voice. Faith Lapidus has more.

(MUSIC)

FAITH LAPIDUS:

That was "While You Were Sleeping." Its rich imagery gives a good example of the poetic8 quality of Elvis Perkins' music. The song describes the many thoughts of a person who cannot sleep at night. Like many songs on this record, it also expresses sadness. You could say it is an album that deals with mourning.

Perkins' mother, the photographer Berry Berenson, died in one of the planes that terrorists used to attack the United States on September eleventh, two thousand one.  Nine years earlier, Elvis' father, the famous actor Anthony Perkins, had died.  In songs like "Ash Wednesday" Elvis Perkins mourns for his parents.

(MUSIC)

Elvis Perkins has been playing music since he was a child. In high school he had his own music band. During his twenties, he wrote and recorded songs, some of which are on this album. Perkins did not want his album to have a digital high-tech9 sound. He made many of the recordings10 on analog11 tape, both at a sound studio and also at an old house in Los Angeles, California. This method helps give a warm and personal sound to the album.

Elvis Perkins will be performing around the United States and Canada this spring to promote "Ash Wednesday." He gives an energetic performance, singing and playing the guitar and harmonica.  We leave you with the dreamy sound of "Sleep Sandwich."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

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

It was written by Brianna Blake, Dana Demange and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver12 was our producer.

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 mosaic CEExS     
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 overtime aKqxn     
adj.超时的,加班的;adv.加班地
参考例句:
  • They are working overtime to finish the work.为了完成任务他们正在加班加点地工作。
  • He was paid for the overtime he worked.他领到了加班费。
3 athletic sOPy8     
adj.擅长运动的,强健的;活跃的,体格健壮的
参考例句:
  • This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
  • He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。
4 elite CqzxN     
n.精英阶层;实力集团;adj.杰出的,卓越的
参考例句:
  • The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
  • We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。
5 wireless Rfwww     
adj.无线的;n.无线电
参考例句:
  • There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
  • Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。
6 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
7 expressive shwz4     
adj.表现的,表达…的,富于表情的
参考例句:
  • Black English can be more expressive than standard English.黑人所使用的英语可能比正式英语更有表现力。
  • He had a mobile,expressive,animated face.他有一张多变的,富于表情的,生动活泼的脸。
8 poetic b2PzT     
adj.富有诗意的,有诗人气质的,善于抒情的
参考例句:
  • 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。
9 high-tech high-tech     
adj.高科技的
参考例句:
  • The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展,这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
  • The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。
10 recordings 22f9946cd05973582e73e4e3c0239bb7     
n.记录( recording的名词复数 );录音;录像;唱片
参考例句:
  • 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
11 analog yLDyQ     
n.类似物,模拟
参考例句:
  • The analog signal contains high-frequency video information,which helps make up the picture.模拟信号包括有助于构成图像的高频视频信息。
  • The analog computer measures continuously,without proceeding step by step.模拟计算机不是一步一步地进行,而是连续地进行量度。
12 weaver LgWwd     
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。

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