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VOA慢速英语2010年-American Mosaic - 'YouTube Play' Creat

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DOUG JOHNSON: Welcome to American Mosaic1 in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I’m Doug Johnson.

Today, we listen to “Wake Up,” a new album from John Legend and the Roots.

And we answer a question about a famous Tennessee Williams play.

But first, we tell about YouTube videos appearing at the Guggenheim Museums in New York and Europe.

(MUSIC)

YouTube at the Guggenheim

The video sharing website, YouTube, was created in two thousand five and became an overnight success. Google bought YouTube for more than one billion six hundred thousand dollars the following year. In May, YouTube announced that two billion videos were watched each day.

In June, the Guggenheim Museum in New York City announced it would hold a competition among YouTube videos. Now, the judges have chosen the top one hundred twenty-five videos. Mario Ritter has more.

MARIO RITTER: The Guggenheim and YouTube launched the competition called “YouTube Play. A Biennial2 of Creative Video.” The information technology companies HP and Intel are supporting the event. Twenty-three thousand videos entered the competition. They represented ninety-one countries and every possible style of moviemaking.

A scene from the video "Luis" by Niles Atallah, Joaquin Cociña Varas and Cristobal Leon

The rules of the competition were few. Videomakers had to be eighteen years or older. They could enter only one video. It had to be no more than ten minutes long. Any language, subject, sound and style were considered.

Eleven people are judging the videos. They include artists, musicians and filmmakers. Laurie Anderson is all three. She says all her art starts with a story. So she looks for a story as she judges the videos.

Other judges include the filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, the band Animal Collective and artist and filmmaker Shirin Neshat.

New Jersey3 artist Dahlia Elsayed’s video is one of the finalists. She used the camera in her computer to record herself describing her daily food desires for one month. The video is simple, short and interesting.

A frightening but beautiful video came from Chile. The video by Niles Atallah, Joaquin Cociña Varas and Cristobal Leon is called “Luis.” It is an animated4 ghostly story of a tense, angry boy. It is very dark but impossible to stop watching.

“Mars to Jupiter” is a video from Canada by Sterling5 Pache. It is about a survivor6 of the nineteen ninety-four genocide in Rwanda. The video explores how her past still haunts7 her.

Other chosen videos are from France, Spain, Taiwan, Australia and Israel. Almost thirty countries are represented. You can see them if you link to YouTube Play from our website at voaspecialenglish.com.

People can also see the one hundred twenty-five videos at the Guggenheim museums in New York; Bilbao, Spain; Berlin, Germany, and Venice, Italy.

On October twenty-first, the YouTube Play judges will announce the final twenty winning videos at a special event at the Guggenheim in New York. The videos will be on view there until October twenty-fourth.

(MUSIC)

“A Streetcar Named Desire”

DOUG JOHNSON: Our listener question this week comes from Vietnam. Tuan Nong would like to know about the famous play, “A Streetcar Named Desire.”

Tennessee Williams wrote the play in nineteen forty-seven. “A Streetcar Named Desire” is filled with emotion and tension. The story has three main characters. They are Stanley Kowalski, his wife Stella, and her sister, Blanche DuBois.

Blanche comes to New Orleans to visit her sister. She stays with Stella and Stanley in their crowded, noisy apartment. Stanley is a violent and abusive man. He is not happy that Blanche is there. From the beginning, Blanche says things that are not true. She pretends to be a Southern lady with high morals.

But the truth is she was fired from a teaching job because she had sex with a teenage student. She was thrown out of a hotel for having sex with many different men. She also has lost her house and land and has no money. She drinks a lot of alcohol, but tries to hide it from everyone. Her entire life is one big lie.

When Stanley finds out about her past, he violently tries to force Blanche to face the truth. But Blanche is not just a liar8. She is emotionally sick. In the end, she is sent to a mental hospital.

Portrait of Marlon Brando from the play "A streetcar named desire"

“A Streetcar Named Desire” is considered a great American play. Tennessee Williams won the Pulitzer Prize in nineteen forty-eight. The play was a success on Broadway and was then made into a movie in nineteen fifty-one. Elia Kazan directed both the Broadway play and film. On stage and in the film, the part of Stanley Kowalski was played by a young Marlon Brando.

MARLON BRANDO AS STANLEY KOWALSKI: “And I never met a dame9 yet that didn’t know whether she was good looking or not without being told. And some of them give themselves credit for more than they’ve got.”

“A Streetcar Named Desire” has been restaged several times on Broadway and in many other cities. It has won many awards. The movie won four Academy Awards, including best actress for Vivien Leigh as Blanche DuBois.

And there really was a streetcar named Desire in New Orleans. It carried passengers through the French Quarter from nineteen twenty until nineteen forty-eight.

(MUSIC)

“Wake Up”

DOUG JOHNSON: John Legend and the hip-hop group the Roots released a new album together this week. “Wake Up!” is a collection of mostly protest songs from the nineteen sixties and seventies. John Legend says the idea for the album came in the heat of the summer and an important American presidential campaign. Katherine Cole has more.

KATHERINE COLE: John Legend says he sought the help of the Roots because it is one of the best bands in the business. Legend says he had wanted to work with the musicians since college.

John legend, from right, with Melanie Fiona, Common and ?uestlove

He also says he knew that Roots leader Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson would understand the message Legend wanted to create with “Wake Up!” Thompson told Billboard10 Magazine that the album is filled with music his parents played when he was a very young child. He said he hopes parents today will play “Wake Up!” for their two and three-year-olds.

Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes were the first to record “Wake Up Everybody.” Here John Legend and the Roots perform their version.

(MUSIC)

Donny Hathaway recorded “Little Ghetto11 Boy” in nineteen seventy-two. Here is how it is done on “Wake Up!”

(MUSIC)

John Legend and the Roots also perform this reggae song from nineteen seventy-nine, “Humanity (Love the Way it Should Be).”

(MUSIC)

There is one new song on the album “Wake Up!” John Legend wrote it for Davis Guggenheim’s new film about America’s public schools called “Waiting for Superman.” We leave you with Legend and the Roots performing “Shine.”

(MUSIC)

DOUG JOHNSON: I'm Doug Johnson. Our program was written by Jim Tedder12 and Caty Weaver13, who also was the producer.

You can find us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube at VOA Learning English. If you have a question about American life, send an e-mail to [email protected].

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 biennial 7oRyT     
adj.两年一次的
参考例句:
  • The workers were strongly against the biennial election.工人们强烈反对两年一次的选举。
  • His is a biennial,and one of the most useful pasture plants we have.这是两年生植物,也是我们最有用的牧草之一。
3 jersey Lp5zzo     
n.运动衫
参考例句:
  • He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
  • They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致,都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。
4 animated Cz7zMa     
adj.生气勃勃的,活跃的,愉快的
参考例句:
  • His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
  • We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。
5 sterling yG8z6     
adj.英币的(纯粹的,货真价实的);n.英国货币(英镑)
参考例句:
  • Could you tell me the current rate for sterling, please?能否请您告诉我现行英国货币的兑换率?
  • Sterling has recently been strong,which will help to abate inflationary pressures.英国货币最近非常坚挺,这有助于减轻通胀压力。
6 survivor hrIw8     
n.生存者,残存者,幸存者
参考例句:
  • The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
  • There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。
7 haunts cfce5407c726c46b6589adfcf9faa56e     
v.(鬼魂)出没( haunt的第三人称单数 );经常出没于;(不快的事情)萦绕于脑际;长期不断地缠扰(某人)
参考例句:
  • A headless rider haunts the country lanes. 一个无头骑士常出没于乡间的小路上。
  • This is a problem that haunts all of us. 这是一个使我们大家都担忧不已的问题。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 liar V1ixD     
n.说谎的人
参考例句:
  • I know you for a thief and a liar!我算认识你了,一个又偷又骗的家伙!
  • She was wrongly labelled a liar.她被错误地扣上说谎者的帽子。
9 dame dvGzR0     
n.女士
参考例句:
  • The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
  • If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会,你就要跟那个夫人结婚。
10 billboard Ttrzj     
n.布告板,揭示栏,广告牌
参考例句:
  • He ploughed his energies into his father's billboard business.他把精力投入到父亲的广告牌业务中。
  • Billboard spreads will be simpler and more eye-catching.广告牌广告会比较简单且更引人注目。
11 ghetto nzGyV     
n.少数民族聚居区,贫民区
参考例句:
  • Racism and crime still flourish in the ghetto.城市贫民区的种族主义和犯罪仍然十分猖獗。
  • I saw that achievement as a possible pattern for the entire ghetto.我把获得的成就看作整个黑人区可以仿效的榜样。
12 tedder 2833afc4f8252d8dc9f8cd73b24db55d     
n.(干草)翻晒者,翻晒机
参考例句:
  • Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆?特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
  • Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆?泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网
13 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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