VOA慢速英语文本：《今日美国》第28课.doc

1、高考资源网（） 您身边的高考专家英语翻议讲解：1.ingredient n.成分,因素例句：One ingredient of Venetian success was national unity. 威尼斯获得成功的要素是国民团结一致。2.leftover n.剩货,残留物,剩饭例句：They pieced out a meal from leftovers. 他们用剩下的饭菜将就成一顿。3.resolution n.解析度,决心例句：Our resolution stiffens. 我们的决心下定了。 His resolution never sways. 他的决心从不动摇。4.prosp

2、erity n.繁荣,幸运,成功例句：We all long for a time of tranquilization and prosperity. 人人都向往太平盛世。5.disappoint vt.使失望,使受挫折例句：Unrighteous gains are sure to disappoint the getter. 不正当的获得一定令获得者失。1.JOE: I dont really do a whole lot. I normally just spend time with family, go out to eat, hang out, wait for the ball

3、 to drop on TV.hang out常去某处 泡在某处;闲荡 游荡;例句：The girls always clubbed together and did not hang out with him. 这些女孩们总是呆在一起，不跟他一起玩。 2.They count down the final seconds to midnight as they watch a brightly lit ball slide down a pole on top of a tall building.count down倒数,用倒数方式计算例句：The spaceship is already

4、 being counted down. 宇宙飞船已在进行倒计时。on top of在.之上,另外,紧接着例句：One of the main starling roosts is on top of the Town Hall. 市政厅的房顶是欧椋鸟的一个主要栖息处。on top of引申意：除之外例句：700 jobs are being cut on top of the 2000 that were lost last year. 除了去年2000人失去工作之外，又有700个工作职位被削减。 英语听力原文：VOICE ONE:Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in

5、VOA Special English. Im Steve Ember.VOICE TWO:Numbers arrive, on pedicabs, to be placed atop Times Square in New York for the New Years Eve ball drop welcoming 2010And Im Shirley Griffith. This week on our program, we find out how some people will be welcoming two thousand ten.(MUSIC)So what do Amer

6、icans do New Years Eve? Hillary Huesman is from South Carolina.HILLARY HUESMAN: I get dressed up. I look to go out. Im usually single, and that is usually not a problem. This year Im still making my plans. I havent quite confirmed them yet, but probably a hotel ballroom-type scenario, black-tie even

7、t.At a black-tie event, the men dress in tuxedos or dark suits and the women wear fancy dresses.Hotels in many cities have special deals for New Years Eve: dinner, Champagne and a party. Then people get a room for the night. That way, no one has to worry about drinking and driving home.On New Years

8、Eve, some communities in the United States hold what are called First Night celebrations. These are events where no alcohol is served. The celebrations include things like music performances, art displays and fireworks.Boston, Massachusetts, held the first First Night celebration in nineteen seventy

9、-six. Since then the idea has spread internationally.Some people might not have firm plans yet for New Years Eve, but others know exactly what they will be doing. Joe is a twenty-one year old student at the University of Virginia.JOE: I dont really do a whole lot. I normally just spend time with fam

10、ily, go out to eat, hang out, wait for the ball to drop on TV.Joe is talking about Americas best known celebration on New Years Eve. Hundreds of thousands of people crowd into Times Square in New York. They count down the final seconds to midnight as they watch a brightly lit ball slide down a pole

11、on top of a tall building.(SOUND)A couple welcoming 2009 in Times SquareThe first New Years Eve ball drop in Times Square took place more than a century ago. The ball was made of iron and wood and it was lit with one hundred lights. Today the ball is larger and covered in more than two thousand crys

12、tals.Two other traditions for welcoming the New Year are a midnight kiss and an attempt to sing a song that almost no one knows.Auld Lang Syne, by the eighteenth century Scottish poet Robert Burns, is a song about friends and remembering times long ago.A new year is a good time to start fresh - and,

13、 for some people, a time to seek good fortune in the year ahead.In the American South, for example, people might prepare a dish known as Hoppin John. They make it with black-eyed peas and ingredients like bacon, rice and vegetables. Eating it at the New Year is thought to bring good luck.On New Year

14、s Day, some families in the United States invite friends and relatives to an open house. Jill Cooper from Santa Fe, New Mexico, gave us a description.JILL COOPER: Theyre family parties, big open house-y kind of parties with lots of cookies - too many cookies -and punch and eggnog. And houses are dec

15、orated, and you see your friends and you bop from party to party.But that is not all she and her family like to do to celebrate the New Year.JILL COOPER: We try to do something outside cause we live in Santa Fe and we live right in the mountains. Everybody wants to go for a wonderful hike and start

16、off with fresh air and all the things were going to have in our lives the whole next year. And then we drop in on parties.Some families like to take it easy on January first and enjoy a quiet day of rest. Twenty year old Malia is from Virginia.MALIA: I usually sleep in because we stay up late on New

17、 Years Eve. And my family, we usually eat the leftovers of the desserts that we make for New Years, or New Years Eve and stuff, so. But, just relax, mainly.But New Years Day is anything but a day of rest for John Worster (WOO-ster), who lives in Idaho.JOHN WORSTER: I offer Catholic Mass, cause Im a

18、Catholic priest by profession, and so it is actually the feast day of Mary, Mother of God. And so we begin our Catholic way of understanding new year by just thanking God for Jesus mother, Mary. On New Years Day, after church well go out and sit in the goose pit and do some hunting for Canada geese

19、and also ducks.University of Illinois cheerleaders and float at the 2008 Rose ParadeOn New Years morning, millions of television viewers watch the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California. The parade includes marching bands and horseback riders. But the parade is most famous for its motori

20、zed floats. They come in all shapes and sizes, but they are all covered with flowers.In Southern California, the weather on New Years Day might be cold. But the skies are usually sunny and dry, even as other parts of the country might experience snowstorms.A local group created the Tournament of Ros

21、es festival in Pasadena in eighteen ninety. The festival later expanded to include the parade and a big game in college football.The champion teams from two college athletic conferences play in the Rose Bowl Stadium. This Friday, the Buckeyes of Ohio State University will play the University of Oreg

22、on Ducks.Will you be making any New Years resolutions? Hillary Huesman from South Carolina has a few in mind.HILLARY HUESMAN: Id like to solidify my romantic relationship, lose twenty-eight pounds. Id like to travel a lot more in twenty-ten. Two thousand nine was a long year - struggled financially,

23、 like most of America. So Im looking for prosperity in twenty-ten.Malia from Virginia does not make too many resolutions. She says she does not want to disappoint herself when she fails to keep them. Joe, the University of Virginia student, is of a similar mind.JOE: Im not a believer in resolutions

24、for New Years. I think that resolutions come when they need to throughout the year, when you decide that someone needs a change.What about John Worster, the Catholic priest?JOHN WORSTER: I make a New Years resolution every year and usually by the third or fourth of January its already been broken, s

25、o.(Laughs).REPORTER: What kind of resolutions are those?JOHN WORSTER: Oh, usually to lead a healthier lifestyle by eating better food and not drinking so much, so . (Laughs)Jamar Negron, a high school student from New Jersey, has a few resolutions for two thousand ten:JAMAR NEGRON: Im a fencer, so m

26、y New Years resolution is just to become better at fencing. And better in the general sense: become better in schoolwork, become a better person, become a better writer - become as best as I can be in all aspects of my life.Holiday planning can be difficult when business has to come before pleasure.

27、We did interviews near the Capitol building here in Washington. One of the people we met happened to be the wife of a newly elected senator. Jill Cooper is married to Tom Udall, a Democrat from New Mexico who entered the Senate this past January.When we talked to her earlier this month, their plans

28、for the New Year were still open.JILL COOPER: There was a chance that we would go on a trip to India and Afghanistan, but apparently were not doing that. Since hes in the Senate and we dont know whats going to happen with the health care bill, he may not even be home. If were home, well probably hav

29、e dinner with friends.We give the last word to Jamar, the high school student from New Jersey, and his hopes for two thousand ten.JAMAR NEGRON: Prosperity. Strength. Confidence. Equality. Good fortune. Goodwill. That everything will work out for the better. That Ill leave no stone unturned, and that

30、 Im able to go to sleep at night with no regrets at what Ive done.Our program was written by Nancy Steinbach and Mario Ritter and produced by Caty Weaver. Tell us your resolutions and hopes for two thousand ten, and what you will be doing New Years Eve. Post your comments at - where you can also find transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our programs. Im Shirley Griffith.And Im Steve Ember. We wish you all happiness and good fortune in the New Year, and hope will join us again next time for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.版权所有：高考资源网()版权所有：高考资源网()高考资源网版权所有 侵权必究