문화여행

Children's Story: 'Pecos Bill'

2009-11-28T10:16:03Z

Children's Story: 'Pecos Bill'
A tall tale about a larger than life cowboy. Transcript of radio broadcast: 28 November 2009

Now, the Special English Program AMERICAN STORIES.

(MUSIC)

Today we tell a traditional American story called a "tall tale." A tall tale is a story about a person who is larger than life. The descriptions in the story are exaggerated – much greater than in real life. Long ago, the people who settled in undeveloped areas in America first told tall tales. After a hard day's work, people gathered to tell each other funny stories.

Pecos Bill was a larger than life hero of the American West. No one knows who first told stories about Pecos Bill. Cowboys may have invented the stories. Others say Edward O'Reilly invented the character in stories he wrote for The Century Magazine in the early nineteen hundreds. The stories were collected in a book called "The Saga of Pecos Bill" published in nineteen twenty-three.

Another writer, James Cloyd Bowman, wrote an award-winning children's book called "Pecos Bill: The Greatest Cowboy of All Time." The book won the Newbery Honor in nineteen thirty-eight.

Pecos Bill was not a historical person. But he does represent the spirit of early settlers in the American West. His unusual childhood and extraordinary actions tell about people who believed there were no limits to what they could do. Now, here is Barbara Klein with our story.

(MUSIC)

STORYTELLER:

Pecos Bill had one of the strangest childhoods a boy ever had. It all started after his father decided that there was no longer enough room in east Texas for his family.

"Pack up, Ma!" he cried. "Neighbors movin' in fifty miles away! It's getting' too crowded!"

So they loaded up a wagon with all their things. Now some say they had fifteen children while others say eighteen. However many there were, the children were louder than thunder. And as they set off across the wild country of west Texas, their mother and father could hardly hear a thing.

Now, as they came to the Pecos River, the wagon hit a big rock. The force threw little Bill out of the wagon and he landed on the sandy ground. Mother did not know Bill was gone until she gathered the children for the midday meal. Mother set off with some of the children to look for Bill, but they could find no sign of him.

Well, some people say Bill was just a baby when his family lost him. Others say he was four years old. But all agree that a group of animals called coyotes found Bill and raised him. Bill did all the things those animals did, like chase lizards and howl at the moon. He became as good a coyote as any.

(SOUND)

Now, Bill spent seventeen years living like a coyote until one day a cowboy rode by on his horse. Some say the cowboy was one of Bill's brothers. Whoever he was, he took one look at Bill and asked, "What are you?"

Bill was not used to human language. At first, he could not say anything. The cowboy repeated his question. This time, Bill said, "varmint."

That is a word used for any kind of wild animal.

"No you aren't," said the cowboy.

"Yes, I am," said Bill. "I have fleas."

"Lots of people have fleas," said the cowboy. "You don't have a tail."

"Yes, I do," said Bill.

"Show it to me then," the cowboy said.

Bill looked at his backside and realized that he did not have a tail like the other coyotes. "Well, what am I then?" asked Bill.

"You're a cowboy! So start acting like one!" the cowboy cried out. Well that was all Bill needed to hear. He said goodbye to his coyote friends and left to join the world of humans.

(MUSIC)

Now, Pecos Bill was a good cowboy. Still, he hungered for adventure. One day he heard about a rough group of men. There is some debate over what the group was called. But one storyteller calls it the "Hell's Gate Gang."

So Bill set out across the rough country to find this gang of men. Well, Bill's horse soon was injured so Bill had to carry it for a hundred miles. Then Bill met a rattlesnake fifty feet long. The snake made a hissing noise and was not about to let Bill pass. But after a tense minute, Bill beat the snake until it surrendered. He felt sorry for the varmint, though, and wrapped it around his arm.

After Bill walked another hundred miles, he came across an angry mountain lion. There was a huge battle, but Bill took control of the big cat and put his saddle on it. He rode that mountain lion all the way to the camp of the Hell's Gate Gang.

Now, when Bill saw the gang he shouted out, "Who's the boss around here?"

A huge cowboy, nine feet tall, took one look at Bill and said in a shaky voice, "I was the boss. But you are the boss from here on in."

With his gang, Pecos Bill was able to create the biggest ranch in the Southwest. Bill and his men had so many cattle that they needed all of New Mexico to hold them. Arizona was the pasture where the cattle ate grass.

Pecos Bill invented the art of being a cowboy. He invented the skill of throwing a special rope called a lasso over a cow's head to catch wandering cattle.

Some say he used a rattlesnake for a lasso. Others say he made a lasso so big that it circled the whole Earth.

Bill invented the method of using a hot branding iron to permanently put the mark of a ranch on a cow's skin. That helped stop people from stealing cattle. Some say he invented cowboy songs to help calm the cattle and make the cowboy's life easier. But he is also said to have invented tarantulas and scorpions as jokes. Cowboys have had trouble with those poisonous creatures ever since.

Now, Pecos Bill could ride anything that ever was. So, as some tell the story, there came a storm bigger than any other. It all happened during the worst drought the West had ever seen. It was so dry that horses and cows started to dry up and blow away in the wind. So when Bill saw the windstorm, he got an idea. The huge tornado kicked across the land like a wild bronco. But Bill jumped on it without a thought.

He rode that tornado across Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, all the time squeezing the rain out of it to save the land from drought. When the storm was over, Bill fell off the tornado. He landed in California. He left a hole so deep that to this day it is known as Death Valley.

(MUSIC)

Now, Bill had a horse named Widow Maker. He got that name because any man who rode that horse would be thrown off and killed and his wife would become a widow. No one could ride that horse but Bill.

And Widow Maker, in the end, caused the biggest problem for Pecos Bill. You see, one day Bill saw a woman. Not just any woman, but a wild, red- haired woman, riding a giant catfish down the Rio Grande River.

Her name was Slue-foot Sue. And Bill fell in love with her at first sight. Well, Bill would not rest until he had asked for her hand in marriage. And Slue-foot Sue accepted.

On their wedding day, Pecos Bill dressed in his best buckskin suit. And Sue wore a beautiful white dress with a huge steel-spring bustle in the back. It was the kind of big dress that many women wore in those days — the bigger the better.

Now, after the marriage ceremony Slue-foot Sue got a really bad idea. She decided that she wanted to ride Widow Maker. Bill begged her not to try. But she had her mind made up.

Well, the second she jumped on the horse's back he began to kick and buck like nothing anyone had ever seen. He sent Sue flying so high that she sailed clear over the new moon.

She fell back to Earth, but the steel-spring bustle just bounced her back up as high as before.

Now, there are many different stories about what happened next. One story says Bill saw that Sue was in trouble. She would keep bouncing forever if nothing was done. So he took his rope out -- though some say it was a huge rattlesnake -- and lassoed Sue to catch her and bring her down to Earth. Only, she just bounced him back up with her.

Somehow the two came to rest on the moon. And that's where they stayed. Some people say they raised a family up there. Their children were as loud and wild as Bill and Sue were in their younger days. People say the sound of thunder that sometimes carries over the dry land around the Pecos River is nothing more than Pecos Bill's family laughing up a storm.

(SOUND)

(MUSIC: "(There'll Never Be Another) Pecos Bill")

ANNOUNCER:

This tall tale of Pecos Bill was adapted for Special English and produced by Mario Ritter. Your storyteller was Barbara Klein. I'm Steve Ember.

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[빈섬문화칼럼]문화란 무엇인가

2009-11-27T19:32:35Z

http://memolog.blog.naver.com/isomis/343 ☜클릭.본문읽기

문화란 무엇인가

13036

tag : 이상국, 빈섬, 빈섬이상국, 문화란 무엇인가, 빈섬의 좋은 글, 빈섬문화칼럼

[신택리지.3] 파주 인문지리지

2009-11-27T17:11:49Z

http://blog.joins.com/isomkiss/11191774 ☜클릭.본문보기

파주 인문지리지

출처: 파주시청 홍보물

13035

tag : 파주, 문화의 향기, 이상국, 빈섬, 빈섬이상국, 신택리지, 파주 인문지리지

'Sesame Street' Turns 40 Years Old

2009-11-27T11:22:15Z

'Sesame Street' Turns 40 Years Old
Versions of the popular children’s show are broadcast all over the world. Transcript of radio broadcast: 26 November 2009

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson.

Today, we take a virtual walk down a famous street found in almost every land on the planet… the children's television show "Sesame Street" turns forty years old.

(MUSIC)

HOST:

More than forty years ago, a group of television educators, child development experts and artists gathered to develop a revolutionary television program. Their goal was to make a television show that would teach young children about subjects like reading and math in a way that was entertaining and fun to watch. The show was also aimed at providing children from low-income families with additional preparation for school.

(MUSIC)

"Sesame Street" was first broadcast on November tenth, nineteen sixty-nine. It was produced by a non-profit group called The Children's Television Workshop, today called The Sesame Workshop. Money for developing the program came from private foundations, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the United States government.

The show combines animation, music, large puppets and human actors to create a series of funny and creative lessons. Some of the most famous characters on the show include Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, and Bert and Ernie. Puppet maker Jim Henson created these loveable and funny characters.

Research is an important part of what made "Sesame Street" special. The show's creators studied the children they were targeting very carefully to understand how to best keep them entertained -- and learning.

When the show first aired, some of its creators were not sure it would last one season. But forty years later, "Sesame Street" is the longest running children's television program in the United States.

(MUSIC)

Michelle Obama on "Sesame Street"

As part of its forty year anniversary, "Sesame Street" had an extra special guest on its show. First Lady Michelle Obama showed a group of children and Big Bird how to plant seeds. She explained that the seeds would grow into vegetables, which are a healthy and good to eat.

MICHELLE OBAMA: "Hi Everyone!We are here digging up soil, because we are about to plant a garden."

ELMO: "Yeah! So we can grow our very own food.

MICHELLE OBAMA: "Right. We're planting vegetables like these right here."

Michelle Obama also had a message to the many parents who watch the show with their children. She said parents can help their children do things to have healthy lives, like getting enough exercise.

ELMO: "Yay Exercise!"

MICHELLE OBAMA: "If you want your child to have healthy habits, practice healthy habits too because you're your child's best role model."

There have been many other famous guests on the show throughout the years. Some recent ones include singer Norah Jones, actress Sarah Jessica Parker and reporter Anderson Cooper.

(MUSIC)

Today, versions of "Sesame Street" are broadcast in more than one hundred twenty-five countries. And "Sesame Street" has worked hard to deal with important issues. In two thousand two, a puppet named Kami appeared on the South African version of "Sesame Street" which is called "Takalani Sesame."

Kami

Kami is known as the first HIV positive puppet. The aim of this puppet is to teach about the spread of AIDS in the country. This is not a subject that many media programs have tried to explain to very small children. In South Africa, over five million people have the virus, including hundreds of thousands of children. So, the Kami puppet was created to help change social beliefs about AIDS and inform people about the virus.

In Egypt, "Sesame Street" is called "Alam Simsim." The program has a female puppet called Khokha. She loves learning and is always asking questions.

She was created to be a role model for Egyptian girls. She expresses the importance of girls going to school and working hard to learn.

More recently, "Sesame Street" launched a version of the show in Northern Ireland called "Sesame Tree." The show has two characters, Potto and Hilda. It takes place in a large hollow tree. The show aims to teach children about acceptance and respect.

This month, visitors to Union Station in Washington, D.C. could learn more about the different versions of "Sesame Street" around the world at a special exhibit. The picture exhibit helps explain the cultural differences behind "Sesame Street"s many productions.

The words of one of "Sesame Street"s creators are written on one of the images. They explain the goals of the show. Joan Ganz Cooney says that "Sesame Street" producers do not pretend that a television show can solve the problems of the world. But she says they believe it would be a terrible mistake not to use these influential tools to contribute to the answers.

We asked one person at the exhibit what he remembers most about "Sesame Street."

MORI DIANE: "It helped teach me how to count and read. And I also loved how they integrated the human characters with the Muppet characters. It kind of helped me live in a fantasy world as a child."

Another person we spoke to had a different experience.

MISHKA MUKHERJI: "I didn't really think about it as an educational program, I just really fell in love with the characters. My parents always tell me that I loved Big Bird."

(MUSIC)

No program about "Sesame Street" would be complete without presenting some of its most famous songs. Here is Mario Ritter with more.

(MUSIC)

Johnny Cash and Oscar the Grouch

MARIO RITTER:

That was "I Love Trash" sung by the ever unhappy green creature, Oscar the Grouch. Sometimes "Sesame Street" characters sing by themselves. Other times, famous performers sing with them. For example, here is Johnny Cash and Oscar the Grouch singing "Nasty Dan."

(MUSIC)

Many of the songs have an educational message. Here the group "Hootie and the Blowfish" sings with Elmo. They tell children about the importance of holding an adult's hand to cross the street.

(MUSIC)

The hip-hop group the Fugees has also performed on "Sesame Street." Here is "Just Happy to Be Me."

(MUSIC)

We leave you with another favorite by a character who appeared on the first episode of "Sesame Street." Here is Kermit the Frog singing "Bein' Green."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson. Our program was written and produced by Dana Demange. For transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our programs, go to voaspecialenglish.com. You can also comment on our programs.

Do you have a question about people, places or things in America? Send it to mosaic@voanews.com and we may answer it on this show.

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

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Number of Foreign Students in US Hits New High

2009-11-26T21:39:06Z

Number of Foreign Students in US Hits New High
A new report shows that India and China remained the top senders of students last year. In all, seven of the ten top countries sent more, just as the recession was worsening. Transcript of radio broadcast: 26 November 2009

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

A new report says the number of foreign students in the United States reached a record high in two thousand eight.

More than six hundred seventy thousand international students attended an American college or university last year. That was eight percent higher than the year before, the largest percentage increase since nineteen eighty.

The "Open Doors" report is published by the Institute of International Education, with support from the State Department.

It says the number of international students last year was almost fifteen percent higher than the last record setting year, two thousand two. In all, seven of the ten top countries sent more students last year, just as the economic downturn was worsening.

Foreign students at Dickinson State University in North Dakota

For the eighth year, India remained the leader in sending students to the United States. More than one hundred thousand students from India attended American schools last year. That was nine percent more than the year before.

China again sent the second largest number, more than ninety-eight thousand, an increase of twenty-one percent. The biggest increases were in Chinese undergraduate students.

South Korea was third. The number of South Korean students increased nine percent to seventy-five thousand.

Canada was the only non-Asian country in the top five. It rose two percent to fourth place. Almost thirty thousand Canadian students enrolled for the school year that began last autumn.

Japan fell to fifth place. The number of Japanese students in the United States decreased for the fourth year, to just over twenty-nine thousand.

Taiwan also sent fewer students, and the number from Mexico was nearly unchanged.

The University of Southern California in Los Angeles once again had the highest number of foreign students. The "Open Doors" report says nearly seven thousand five hundred attended U.S.C. last year.

New York University and Columbia University, both in New York City, were second and third. The other schools in the top five were the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Business and management was again the most popular area of study for international students. The next most popular subjects are engineering, math and computer science.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by June Simms. You can find our Foreign Student Series with advice on studying in the United States at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

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American History Series: The Battle of Cold Harbor

2009-11-26T21:30:46Z

American History Series: The Battle of Cold Harbor
The final Union campaign of the Civil War began on May 3, 1864. General Ulysses Grant had kept the details as secret as possible. Transcript of radio broadcast: 26 November 2009

Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English.

On July fourth, eighteen sixty-three, a huge Confederate army surrendered at Vicksburg, Mississippi. Union forces had surrounded the city for forty-seven days. Food was gone. The situation was hopeless. The Confederate commander gave up.

The terms of surrender were simple. The Confederate soldiers promised not to fight anymore. In return for this promise, they were released on parole and sent home to their families.

Never had Union forces won such a victory. Thirty thousand Confederate soldiers were now out of the war. Sixty thousand guns and one hundred seventy cannon were now in Union hands. The Mississippi River was now under Union control.

This week in our series, Larry West and Maurice Joyce continue our story of the American Civil War.

VOICE ONE:

General Ulysses Grant

The victory at Vicksburg went to General Ulysses Grant. He was named commander of all Union armies in the west. Then he was sent to Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The Union army there had just been defeated in a battle along a little river called the Chickamauga. Now the Union soldiers were resting and re-organizing in Chattanooga. The Confederate line stretched halfway around the city.

The Confederates had artillery on Lookout Mountain. They controlled every road into the city except a rough one through the mountains. They had blocked the Tennessee River above and below the city. And they had cut the railroad. The Confederate general said he would let hunger force the Union Army to surrender.

VOICE TWO:

Grant arrived in Chattanooga late in October. The city was full of hungry Union soldiers. They had been without supplies for almost a month.

Grant wasted no time. He quickly sent troops to fight the Confederate force blocking the Tennessee River. He sent others to fight the Confederates blocking the road to the nearest Union supply center. Within one week, supply wagons were rolling into Chattanooga. Within a few weeks, the defeated Union army was ready to fight again.

VOICE ONE:

Fighting on Lookout Mountain in Tennessee

General Grant sent his men against the middle and ends of the Confederate line at the same time.

There were few Confederate soldiers at Lookout Mountain. That end of the line fell easily. The center of the line was along a low hill called Missionary Ridge. It held for a while. Then Union soldiers -- acting without orders -- forced their way to the top of the hill. The Confederate line broke. Southern soldiers threw down their guns and ran for their lives.

The Confederate army withdrew south into the state of Georgia. Tennessee was completely in Union hands. The way was now open for the armies of the North to march into the heart of the Confederacy.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

It was clear that the South could not win the war. Too many Confederate soldiers had fallen in battle. None were left to take their place. Supplies were very low. There was not enough food to eat, no shoes to wear, and little left to fight with.

No one held any hope of getting supplies from outside the Confederacy. The South was circled by Union troops and warships. All seemed lost.

Yet Confederate soldiers refused to stop fighting. They would not surrender. The war would not end until the Confederate armies were defeated by military force.

VOICE ONE:

There was no question that the North had the military strength. Supplies were no problem. Factories were producing more than ever before. Manpower was no problem. Men continued to join the Union army. Fewer than before, but still enough to make it a powerful force.

The problem with the Union army was its generals. Some were too careful. Some were unwilling to fight. Some did not know how to fight.

The only general who seemed able to win victories was Ulysses Grant. That is why President Abraham Lincoln named Grant commander of all Union armies. Lincoln depended on him to end the Civil War.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Grant went east in March eighteen sixty-four, five months after the battle at Chattanooga. He decided to make his headquarters in the field with the Army of the Potomac. He said he would not command from an office in Washington. But he went to the city to explain his plans to President Lincoln.

Grant noted that, in the past, the separate Union armies had moved and fought independently. He said they were like a poorly trained team of horses. No two of them ever pulled at the same time in the same direction.

Under his command, Grant said, the Union armies would pull together. They would hit the Confederates with so much strength in so many places that the rebels could not stop them.

Grant said all the armies would attack at the same time.

VOICE ONE:

Grant spent the month of April preparing for the big campaign. The main target, once again, was the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia.

The Army of the Potomac had one hundred twenty thousand men. It would move against Richmond from the north. General Ben Butler had fifty thousand men. He would move against Richmond from the east. General Franz Sigel would bring thousands more through the Shenandoah Valley to the northwest.

These forces were three times the size of Robert E. Lee's army near Richmond.

In the west, William Sherman had three armies with more than one hundred thousand men. His opponent, Joe Johnston, had just sixty thousand.

VOICE TWO:

General Grant kept details of the campaign as secret as possible. Reporters asked President Lincoln when Grant would move.

The president answered, "Ask General Grant."

"General Grant will not tell us," said the reporters. Said Lincoln, "He will not tell me, either."

The final Union campaign of the Civil War began on May third, eighteen sixty-four.

After two days of marching, the Army of the Potomac reached the wilderness. It was a thickly wooded area west of Fredericksburg, Virginia. That was where the Union army had lost a battle to the Confederates one year before. That was where the two armies would fight again.

VOICE ONE:

The battle quickly became a blind struggle. The woods were thick. The smoke was heavy. The soldiers could not see each other until they were very close. Shells set the trees on fire. The wounded could not escape the flames. Their screams filled the air.

After two days, General Grant decided that the wilderness was not the place to fight Robert E. Lee. He wanted to get around the end of Lee's army. He wanted to fight in the open, where he could use his artillery. So he began to march his men toward a place called Spotsylvania Court House.

VOICE TWO:

General Grant at his headquarters in Cold Harbor

Lee moved his men as fast as Grant. When the Union army got to Spotsylvania, the Confederates were waiting behind walls of earth and stone.

For several more days, the two armies fought. At times, they were so close they had no time to load and fire their guns. So they used their guns to hit each other.

The Confederate line bent. But it never broke. Once again, Lee had stopped the Union army.

Grant refused to accept defeat. He said he would fight to the finish, if it took all summer. Once again, he ordered his men to march around the end of Lee's line. Lee quickly pulled his men back to a place called Cold Harbor, not far from Richmond. There they waited.

VOICE ONE:

The Battle of Cold Harbor

As he had done in the wilderness and at Spotsylvania, Grant ordered his men to attack hard. It was a slaughter. In less than an hour, seven thousand Union soldiers fell dead or wounded.

Grant finally stopped the attack. The Union soldiers returned to their lines. They left behind hundreds of wounded men.

For four days, the wounded lay on the battlefield crying for help, for water. Men who tried to rescue them were shot down. Finally, Grant and Lee agreed on a ceasefire to take care of the wounded and bury the dead. It was too late for most of the wounded. They had died.

VOICE TWO:

The battle at Cold Harbor ended one month of fighting for the Army of the Potomac. The campaign had brought it almost to the edge of Richmond, the Confederate capital. But Grant had paid a terrible price: more than fifty thousand dead and wounded.

Confederate losses were much lighter: about twenty thousand.

General Grant was beginning to learn an important lesson of the war. The methods of defense had improved much more than the methods of attack.

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER:

Our program was written by Frank Beardsley. The narrators were Larry West and Maurice Joyce. You can find transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our programs, along with historical images, at voaspecialenglish.com. And you can follow us on Twitter at VOA Learning English. Join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION -- an American history series in VOA Special English.

___

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[미국 신문 헤드라인] 미국 경제 정상회복까지 5-6년 걸릴 것

2009-11-26T21:28:05Z

[미국 신문 헤드라인] 미국 경제 정상회복까지 5-6년 걸릴 것 - 워싱턴 포스트
11/25/2009

문; 미국 주요 신문의 대표적인 기사들을 간추려 소개해 드리는 미국 신문 헤드라인입니다. 노시창 기자와 함께 알아봅니다. 오늘은 미국 경제, 오바마 대통령의 아프가니스탄 정책 발표 예정, 추수감사절 연휴의 경기 등에 관한 기사들이 많습니다. 워싱턴 포스트는 미국 경제의 회복 속도가 극히 느리다고 보도했습니다. 이 신문부터 살펴볼까요?

답: 워싱턴 포스트는 실업률이 앞으로도 여러 해 동안 높은 수준에 머물러 있을 것이라는 연방준비제도 이사회의 발표를 전하고 있습니다. 약칭 FED의 관리들은 24일 처음으로, 앞으로 차기 대통령 선거가 있을 때까지의 경제 전망을 발표했는데요, 2012년 까지 미국 실업률은 6.8%에서 7.5% 선을 고수할 것이라고 내다보았습니다. 지난 10월 미국 실업률은 무려 10.2%를 기록했습니다. FED는 또 미국 경제가 정상 수준으로 돌아오려면 앞으로도 5년 내지 6년이 걸릴 것이라고 전망했습니다.

문: 오바마 대통령이 다음 주 아프가니스탄 정책을 발표할 예정인데, 병력 증강만이 아니라 어떻게 전쟁을 끝낼 것인가도 거론할 것이라고 보도했습니다. 좀더 자세히 전해주시죠.

답: 워싱턴 포스트는 오바마 대통령이 다음주, 어쩌면 화요일, 즉 12월 2일에, 전국을 향한 연설을 통해 자신의 아프간 정책을 발표할 예정이라고 전하면서 8년 동안 계속되고 갈수록 국민들로부터 지지를 받지 못하고 있는 이 전쟁에 미군을 증강하는 이유를 설명해야 하는 어려움에 봉착해 있다고 보도했습니다. 오바마 대통령은 또 아프간 전쟁을 끝내기 위한 계획도 아울러 발표할 예정이라고 이 기사는 전하고 있습니다. 오바마 대통령은 북대서양 조약 기구에게도 아프간 문제 해결에 적극 참여해 줄 것을 호소할 예정이라고 워싱턴 포스트는 보도했습니다.

문: 오늘 이 신문 1면에는 "워싱턴의 얼굴을 바꾼 인물이 사라졌다"라는 기사도 싣고 있는데요, 간단히 소개해 주시죠.

답; 워싱턴의 프로 농구와 아이스 하키 팀 구단주 에이브 폴린씨가24일 타계한 소식입니다. 그는 가난한 러시아 이민자 가정에서 태어나 사업가, 자선사업가 등으로 성공하고 , 워싱턴 디씨 시내에 대규모 스포츠 경기장, 공연장 등을 건설하면서 빈민가 같았던 도시의 모습을 바꾸어 놓은 인물이라는 평을 하고 있습니다.

문; '뉴욕 타임스' 는 1면에서 오바마 대통령이 취임 후 첫 국빈 만찬을 열고 있는 장면을 보여주고 있군요?

답; 24일 저녁, 인도의 만모한 싱 총리를 백악관으로 초청해 만찬을 가진 소식입니다. 전통적 기준에다 현대적 화려함으로 꾸며진 국빈 만찬이었다고 소개하고 있습니다.

이 신문은 또 오바마 대통령이 싱 총리와의 정상회담 후 가진 기자회견에서 아프가니스탄 전쟁을 종결시키겠다고 다짐했다고 전하고 있습니다. 오바마 대통령은 다음주 아프가니스탄 정책을 발표할 예정인데 그의 측근들은 2만 5천명 내지 3만명의 미군 증파 계획을 발표할 수도 있음을 시사하고 있다고 보도했습니다.

문: 연말 휴가철의 여행자들이 일찌감치 집을 나서고 있다는 이야기도 전하고 있는데요, 어떤 내용인지 간추려주시죠.

답; 내일은 11월 넷째 목요일로 미국인들의 큰 명절인 추수감사절입니다. 한국의 추석처럼 객지에서 살던 가족들이 고향에 모여 함께 칠면조 요리를 드는 풍습을 갖고 있습니다. 보통 때는 오늘 즉 하루 전날인 수요일에 공항이 매우 붐비는데, 올해에는 미국인들이 할인 항공편을 이용하느라고 미리 여행을 나선 사람이 많아, 올 연휴 모습이 마치 100미터 달리기가 마라톤 처럼 변했다는 기사입니다.

문; 오늘 월스트리트 저널 1면에는 미국이 에너지 개발에 역점을 두면서 과학의 방향이 바뀌고 있다고 보도했습니다. 좀더 자세히 소개해주시죠.

답; 오바마 행정부가 국가의 에너지 문제를 해결하기 위해 연방차원의 대규모 사업을 추진 중이라는 보도입니다. 정부 산하 또는 대학의 연구소 등에 거금을 투입해서 각종 에너지 연구를 추진하고 있다는데, 그 규모가 워낙 커서 원자탄을 만들어낸 맨하탄 사업과도 비교할 수 있고, 한 세대에 하나 있을까 말까 한 규모라고 합니다. 그 결과 관련 연구소나 대학은 일자리도 많이 늘어나고 여러 해 동안 연구 자금이 빈약해서 고민을 하던 것이 이제는 새로운 에너지 원을 찾는 일에서부터 자동차 연료효율성 향상, 지구 온난화 방지 등에 이르기까지 각종 연구가 활발하다는 것입니다.

문; 유에스 에이 투데이는 오바마 대통령의 아프가니스탄 정책에 대한 지지도가 곤두박질 치고 있다고 보도했습니다. 내용 좀 소개해 주시죠.

답; 유에스 에이 투데이와 갤럽이 실시한 여론조사에서는 아프가니스탄 전쟁의 장래에 대해 미국인들이 갈수록 비관적인 생각을 하고 있는 것으로 나타났습니다. 또 미군 증파에 대해서는 약 절반이 지지를 하고 있고 10명중 4명 정도가 반대를 하고 있습니다. 전반적으로 오바마 대통령의 아프간 문제 해결에 대해 잘하고 있다는 대답은 35%에 그치고 있습니다. 불과 4개월 전의 55% 지지도에 비하면 크게 떨어진 것이라고 이 신문은 지적하고 있습니다.

문; 추수감사절부터 미국에서는 연말 선물 구매기가 시작되는데요, 유에스 에이 투데이는 올해 미국인들의 마음가짐이 "감사하고, 절약하는 것"이라고 보도했군요?

답; 고급 상점가에서부터 무주택자 수용소에 이르기까지 미국 인들은 어디에서나 올해 다시 한번 나라 안에서는 경제불황, 밖에서는 전쟁이라는 장애물로 시달리고 있다고 보도했습니다.

그런 가운데서도 미국인들은 현재의 가진 것에 감사하면서, 비록 규모는 줄이지만 집 없는 사람, 배고픈 사람들에 대한 배려를 잊지 않고 있다고 보도했습니다. 불우한 사람들에게 줄 선물을 준비하는 사람, 가난한 가정을 위해 파이를 준비하는 여성등 온정을 베푸는 여러 사람들의 예를 소개하고 있습니다.

자응스님이 보낸 茶를 받고

2009-11-26T13:01:59Z

http://blog.naver.com/isomis/100093991341 ☜클릭.본문보기

자응스님이 보낸 차(茶)를 받고

13034

tag : 이상국, 빈섬, 빈섬이상국, 빈섬의 좋은 글, 빈섬詩

영화 '2012'와 노아의 방주(方舟) 콤플렉스

2009-11-25T15:48:43Z

http://blog.naver.com/isomis/100093947966 ☜클릭.본문보기

영화 '2012'와 노아의 방주(方舟) 콤플렉스

13033

tag : 영화리뷰, 이상국, 빈섬, 빈섬이상국, 빈섬의 좋은 글, 영화 -2012, 노아의 방주 콤플렉스

[세계를 움직인 인물들] ‘유럽의 양심’ 바츨라프 하벨 전 체코 대통령

2009-11-25T11:17:15Z

[세계를 움직인 인물들] ‘유럽의 양심’ 바츨라프 하벨 전 체코 대통령
11/16/2009

바츨라프 하벨 전 체코 대통령

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다운로드 받기 (MP3)

인류의 역사는 수많은 이들의 행적이 겹겹이 쌓여 이루어지는 것이라 할 수 있습니다. 그리고 그 기나긴 역사속에는 뚜렷한 족적을 남겨 거대한 역사의 수레바퀴를 이끌어가는 사람들이 있습니다. 그들의 업적과 사상, 그들이 세상에 미친 영향 등을 알아보는 세계를 움직인 인물들, 오늘은 ‘유럽의 양심’으로 불리우는 바츨라프 하벨 전 체코 대통령에 대해 알아보겠습니다

tag : 오디오뉴스

Watch: Desert Museum

2009-11-25T00:40:54Z

Watch: Desert Museum
Windows Media

tag : 영어 동영상뉴스

Chinese Author Describes Horrors of Cultural Revolution

2009-11-25T00:33:09Z

Chinese Author Describes Horrors of Cultural Revolution

18 November 2009

Listen: INTV with Ian Vasquez of Cato Institute about Nien Cheng
MP3

Chinese-American author Nien Cheng, whose best-selling book "Life and Death in Shanghai" described her imprisonment and torture during China's Cultural Revolution, has died in Washington, D.C. at the age of 94. Her book, published in 1987, chronicled life in China when Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong tried to purge his rivals and reassert power.

"It is a powerful story about the dignity of the individual and the power of the individual even in the face of totalitarianism, even in the face of terrible persecution, which included in her case being jailed for six and a half years and having her daughter killed as a result of not admitting to something that she never did," said Ian Vasquez, who directs the Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity at the Cato Institute and was Cheng's friend.

Nien Cheng was born in 1915 in Beijing to a wealthy family, and studied at the London School of Economics. She married a Chinese diplomat and businessman who eventually became general manager of Shell Oil in Shanghai. The couple had one daughter, Meiping, before the death of Cheng's husband in 1957. Cheng remained a manager at Shell until her arrest in 1966.

Xu Wenli, a Chinese dissident now teaching at Brown University in Rhode Island, said Cheng's life merged East and West. "What's really interesting about Nien Cheng's book and her personal life experience is that although she's a Chinese-born national, that she had been heading a Western-based organization for most of her life and that she had been educated in the West, so through her writing we can really see how she's managed to bring both these cultures together," he said.

In 1966, the Red Guard invaded and ransacked Cheng's home in Shanghai. She was later arrested, charged with being an "imperialist" spy and held in a detention center. She endured solitary confinement, and was tortured. After her release in 1973, she was told her daughter had committed suicide. She later discovered that her daughter had been killed by the Red Guard.

Xu Wenli said Cheng's traditional upbringing probably helped her defy her captors. "One of the values that we learned is a Chinese phrase that means that one would rather be killed than be shamed," he said. "So there is an idea that dignity must be preserved at all costs, no matter the situation."

Cheng left China in 1980, and settled in Washington, D.C. She wrote her book in English, and following its success, traveled and lectured in Britain, Singapore and Hong Kong. She became an American citizen in 1988, and was a guest at a White House dinner where she sat next to President Ronald Reagan.

Ian Vasquez and his wife had tea several times at Cheng's apartment. "We would discuss all sorts of things, mostly world events, and her views about China today and politics in the United States, and she was very sharp, right up until the very end," he said

tag : 영어 오디오뉴스, 중국의 문화혁명

등심구이를 맛없게 먹는 법에 관하여

2009-11-24T22:44:31Z

http://blog.naver.com/isomis/100093790232 ☜클릭.본문보기

등심구이를 맛없게 먹는 법에 관하여

13032

tag : 등심구이, 이상국, 빈섬, 빈섬이상국, 빈섬의 좋은 글, 장기하 -아무것도 없잖어

What Thanksgiving Day Means to People in US

2009-11-24T18:56:18Z

What Thanksgiving Day Means to People in US
Sharing some favorite memories, mixed with cold reality about the effects of the economic downturn. Transcript of radio broadcast: 22 November 2009

VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA. I'm Faith Lapidus. This Thursday is a day for families and friends to share a special holiday meal and think about what they are thankful for. This week on our program, we ask some people to share their favorite memories of Thanksgiving Day.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Special English reporters June Simms and Dana Demange talked to people about the holiday.

JIM OLDHAM: "My name is Jim Oldham and I'm from Nashville, Tennessee. I remember my father drove a bus and my mother was a waitress, and so we often didn't get to have Thanksgiving together. And I remember when I was about twelve, her work and his work permitted us all to do that. And we had brothers and sisters, and the traditional turkey and all the trimmings. We always had pumpkin pie, and if we were really lucky, a little bit of whipped cream on top. And it was just a wonderful day."

ANN GEIGER: "I'm Ann Geiger from Tucson, Arizona. Thanksgiving is special for our family because like so many families our adult children live around the country. And we usually get at least part of them together for Thanksgiving."

REPORTER: "And what is one of your fondest Thanksgiving Day memories?"

ANN GEIGER: "Oh, I think a recent Thanksgiving when my son and I had a turkey cook-off. He brined his turkey and I didn't brine mine. And we decided which one was the best."

REPORTER: "Who won?"

ANN GEIGER: "He did."

VOICE ONE:

Brining is a way to prepare meat in a salt solution, whether for a competitive "cook-off" or just any meal. Traditionally the meat served on Thanksgiving is turkey. The bird is usually served with side dishes including a mixture known either as stuffing or dressing.

Many families also bring out their finest table settings -- the "good china" -- for Thanksgiving.

JOEL UPTON: "My name is Joel Upton. I'm from Livingston, Tennessee. Thanksgiving at my family was always a time when brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, cousins, we all got together. And someone would bring different dishes. Someone would bring the sweet potatoes. Someone would bring the meat. Someone would bring the dressing. And we would all sort of combine the efforts to have a family Thanksgiving dinner and bring out the good china for that particular event.

And Thanksgiving also, in my early days when I was a child, the kids would all get to play, maybe we hadn't seen each other for a while. The men would always watch a football game on TV. And Thanksgiving was just a really, really special time. And, of course, we had in mind the Pilgrims and what it was all about too. But it was a family time."

VOICE ONE:

The Pilgrims first arrived in America in sixteen twenty. They were separatists from the Church of England and other settlers. The ship that brought the first group was the Mayflower.

An exploring party landed at Plymouth, in what became the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The state is named after an American Indian tribe -- a recognition of the groups that came long before the Pilgrims.

The first Pilgrims established a village. Those who survived the first difficult years held harvest festivals and religious celebrations of thanksgiving. These events formed the basis of the holiday that Americans now celebrate.

But there are no official "rules" for a Thanksgiving meal. Some people like to find ways to do things a little differently.

BUTCH HUNSINGER: "Butch Hunsinger from Williamsport, Pennsylvania."

REPORTER: "The bird. What are you going to do differently this year?"

BUTCH HUNSINGER: "Try to shoot it myself, instead of go to the store to buy it. Go to the family cabin, and hunt on the family land and try to call in a turkey and fire away."

REPORTER: "And who's the better shot in the family?"

BUTCH: "Oh my son, by far."

REPORTER: "What about your worst Thanksgiving memory?"

BUTCH: "Worst…[Laughter] The worst was also the funnest, 'cause I got up early Thanksgiving day and we went to the Burwick Marathon, but it's a nine-mile road race. Just a crusher." [Laughter]

HUGUETTE MBELLA: "Hi, my name is Huguette Mbella. And I was born in Cameroon and grew up in France. And I live now in the United States in Washington, D.C. The whole concept of Thanksgiving was a little bit bizarre. In France, the main celebration is Christmas, not Thanksgiving."

REPORTER: "Can you think of one of your most fond Thanksgiving memories?"

HUGUETTE MBELLA: "I would say my first one. It was in New York. Suddenly the turkey comes on the table, and I was amazed by the size. It was huge! The first thing that came to my mind was actually that's a lot of food!"

ELIZABETH BRINKMAN: "My name is Elizabeth Brinkman and I'm from Cleveland, Ohio. It was always a day that my mother did all the cooking. And we had turkey and I got to chop the vegetables for the dressing. And we got out the good china."

GORDON GEIGER: "Gordon Geiger from Tucson, Arizona. We used to get together at my parents' house and all of my relatives would come over and we'd have a big dinner. And after dinner we would watch football games on the television.

I think it's probably really the most important holiday in the United States because it is a day that is not tied to a particular religion. It is not tied as much to commercial activities. It's more a reflection of the fact that we've had a good life and we appreciate it."

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This Thanksgiving, Americans can be thankful that the Great Recession may be over. But the job market faces a long recovery. Unemployment is now above ten percent. And if the underemployed are added, the rate is seventeen and a half percent. The underemployed are people no longer searching for work or only able to find part time jobs.

Last week, the United States Department of Agriculture released its "household food security" report for two thousand eight. The study found that families in seventeen million households had difficulty getting enough food at times during the year. That was almost fifteen percent -- up from eleven percent in two thousand seven. It was the highest level since the current surveys began in nineteen ninety-five.

The Agriculture Department says poverty is the main cause of food insecurity and hunger in the United States.

President Obama, in a statement, called the report unsettling. Especially troubling, he said, is that there were more than five hundred thousand families in which a child experienced hunger multiple times during the year.

He said the first task is to renew job growth, but added that his administration is taking other steps to prevent hunger. These include an increase in aid for people in the government's nutrition assistance program, commonly known as food stamps.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The Continental Congress wrote the first national Thanksgiving proclamation in seventeen seventy-seven, during the Revolutionary War. George Washington issued the first presidential Thanksgiving proclamation in seventeen eighty-nine. Here is part of what he wrote.

READER:

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor -- and whereas both houses of Congress have by their joint committee requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness."

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the twenty-sixth day of November next to be devoted by the people of these states to the service of that great and glorious being, who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be ...

VOICE ONE:

Sarah Josepha Hale was a magazine editor and writer who campaigned for a Thanksgiving holiday. That way, there would be "two great American national festivals," she said, the other being Independence Day on the Fourth of July.

In September of eighteen sixty-three, Sarah Josepha Hale appealed to President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln had made proclamations in the spring of eighteen sixty-two and sixty-three. But these gave thanks for victories in battle during the Civil War.

Then came another proclamation on October third, eighteen sixty-three. It gave more general thanks for the blessings of the year. This is part of what it said:

READER:

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. ...

I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.

VOICE ONE:

Lincoln's proclamation began a tradition. Presidents have issued Thanksgiving proclamations every year since eighteen sixty-three. All can be found on the Web site of the Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth.

In nineteen forty-one, Franklin Roosevelt was president. Roosevelt approved a resolution by Congress. It established, by law, the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.

(MUSIC)

Our program was produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.


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Words and Their Stories: Ace in the Hole

2009-11-24T18:47:32Z

Words and Their Stories: Ace in the Hole
Terms that come from card games. Transcript of radio broadcast: 21 November 2009

Now, Words and Their Stories, a program in Special English by the Voice of America.

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It is surprising how many expressions that Americans use every day came from the card game of poker. For example, you hear the expression, ace in the hole, used by many people who would never think of going near a poker table. An ace in the hole is an argument, plan or thing kept hidden until needed. It is used especially when it can turn failure into success.

In poker and most card games, the ace is the highest and most valuable card. It is often a winning card. In one kind of poker game, the first card to each player is given face down. A player does not show this card to the other players. The other cards are dealt face up. The players bet money each time they receive another card.

No one knows until the end of the game whose hidden card is the winner. Often, the ace in the hole wins the game.

Smart card players, especially those who play for large amounts of money, closely watch the person who deals the cards. They are watching to make sure he is dealing honestly. They want to be sure that he is not dealing off the bottom of the stack of cards. A dealer who is doing that has stacked the deck. He has fixed the cards so that he will get higher cards. He will win and you will lose.

The expression, dealing off the bottom, now means cheating in business, as well as in cards. And when someone tells you that the cards are stacked against you, he is saying you do not have a chance to succeed.

In a poker game you do not want to let your opponents know if your cards are good or bad. So having a poker face is important. A poker face never shows any emotion, never expresses either good or bad feelings. No one can learn – by looking at your face – if your cards are good or bad.

People now use poker face in everyday speech to describe someone who shows no emotion.

Someone who has a poker face usually is good at bluffing. Bluffing is trying to trick a person into believing something about you that is not true.

In poker, you bluff when you bet heavily on a poor hand. The idea is make the other players believe you have strong cards and are sure to win. If they believe you have strong cards and are sure to win. If they believe you, they are likely to drop out of the game. This means you win the money they have bet.

You can do a better job of bluffing if you hold your cards close to your vest. You hold your cards close to you so no one can see what you have. In everyday speech, holding your cards close to your vest means not letting other know what you are doing or thinking. You are keeping you plans secret.

We are not bluffing when we say we hope you have enjoyed today’s program.

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This Special English program, Words and Their Stories, was written by Marilyn Rice Christiano. This is Bob Doughty.

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