【每日阅读训练——速度越障6系列】【6-6】

抓抓sandra

【速度6-6】


今天抓找了自己喜欢的music方面的，题材应该算比较简单，所以字数多一点~大家撑住~





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Michael Jackson, 1958-2009: He Amazed the World with His Music and Dancing


http://www.51voa.com/VOA_Special_English/Michael-Jackson--43234.html


FAITH LAPIDUS: I'm Faith Lapidus.


BOB DOUGHTY: And I'm Bob Doughty with People in America in VOA Special English. Today we tell about one of the most famous performers in the world, Michael Jackson. Known as the "King of Pop", Jackson sold more than seven hundred fifty million albums over his career. Michael Jackson redefined popular culture with his energetic music, dance moves and revolutionary music videos.


But Jackson's huge success as a performer was not always easy. He was a complex individual with an often troubled private life.


(MUSIC)


FAITH LAPIDUS: That was a song that hardly needs an introduction. "Billie Jean" first came out on the nineteen eighty-two hit album "Thriller." The Guinness World Records lists that record as the best-selling album of all time. Other famous songs on the album include "Thriller", "Beat It" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'."


The album "Thriller" was as much about moves as it was about music. Michael Jackson brought attention to his body's movements by wearing a shiny white glove, shortened black pants and white socks. He created dance movements that were electrifying. He could be as hard as a robot, or as smooth as liquid. While doing his famous "Moonwalk" step, he seemed to be walking backwards on air.


(MUSIC: "I Want You Back")


BOB DOUGHTY: Michael Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana in nineteen fifty-eight. He was the seventh of nine children. He was five years old when he began singing with his brothers in a group called the Jackson 5. In nineteen sixty-eight the group signed a recording deal from Motown Records. Michael was eleven years old when they released their first album a year later.


The Jackson 5 became an immediate success. Their music set records. Their first four songs were "I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save" and "I'll Be There." They all reached the number one position in pop music record sales in nineteen seventy.


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FAITH LAPIDUS: Michael was the star of the group. He was the lead singer and danced with great energy. His extraordinary skill and presence on stage was remarkable, especially for someone so young. The group made youthful and fun music that was very popular with both African-Americans and white listeners.


In the nineteen seventies, the group changed record companies and shortened their name to the Jacksons. They continued to perform together, although Michael Jackson started to record music on his own as well. His first album performing alone was "Off the Wall," released in nineteen seventy-nine.


(MUSIC: "Don't Stop ‘Til You Get Enough")


BOB DOUGHTY: Three years later, Jackson released "Thriller." The album was not just the best selling album of all time. It also won eight Grammy Awards and seven American Music Awards. And it helped establish the popularity of a new form of entertainment, music videos.


(MUSIC: "Thriller")


The video for the song "Thriller" was important in the history of the music industry. Michael Jackson understood the power of these videos in bringing attention to his music and to his image. He worked hard to make exciting videos with complex stories and dances.


FAITH LAPIDUS: In nineteen eighty-five, Michael Jackson helped write the song "We Are the World." He recorded it with many other famous performers. The aim of the record was to raise money for starving people in Africa. The project raised millions of dollars with this best selling song.


Michael Jackson's next album, "Bad," produced five number one hits, including "The Way You Make Me Feel."


(MUSIC)


BOB DOUGHTY: Michael Jackson was a huge success, but he was also a very troubled man. His behavior and appearance became increasingly strange. He had many operations to change his face.


He acted and spoke in a childlike way. Jackson bought a huge property in California which he called "Neverland" after the children's story of Peter Pan. He had amusement park rides, a zoo and a large movie theater built for his home. Michael Jackson also went into major debt. And he suffered from injuries and illness that reportedly led him to take many kinds of pain-killing medicines.


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FAITH LAPIDUS: In nineteen ninety-three, a thirteen-year-old boy accused him of sexual abuse. The child molestation case was settled out of court with Jackson reportedly paying the boy millions of dollars. But ten years later, a similar accusation by another boy led to a criminal trial which began in two thousand five. A jury cleared Jackson of all charges. He called the trial the hardest thing he had ever done in his life.


During this time, Michael Jackson kept recording and performing music. His later albums include "Dangerous", "HIStory" and "Invincible."


(MUSIC- "Black and White")


BOB DOUGHTY: Michael Jackson was briefly married to Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of musician Elvis Presley. He later married a nurse named Deborah Rowe. They had two children, Michael Joseph Jackson and Paris Michael Katherine Jackson. The couple divorced in nineteen ninety-nine. Mister Jackson later had a third child, Prince Michael Jackson.


FAITH LAPIDUS: After his two thousand five trial, the singer spent much of his time in Europe and the Middle East. He returned to the United States with the aim of planning what was to be a victorious comeback. ?Michael Jackson died on June twenty-fifth, two thousand nine of heart failure. He was just days away from launching a series of fifty concerts in London.


BOB DOUGHTY: Fans around the world mourned his death. Prisoners in a jail in the Philippines danced for him. Fans in Paris, France attended a service at the city's ancient religious center in his honor. Famous performers around the world told about the influence he had on their work. Michael Jackson left a huge mark on popular culture. His memory will live on in his unforgettable music.


(MUSIC: "Man in the Mirror")


FAITH LAPIDUS: This program was written and produced by Dana Demange. I'm Faith Lapidus


BOB DOUGHTY: And I'm Bob Doughty. You can learn about other famous Americans on our Web site, 51voa.com. Join us again next week forPeople in America in VOA Special English.


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Ted Nash Plays Jazz Inspired by Art


http://www.51voa.com/VOA_Special_English/Ted-Nash-Plays-Jazz-Inspired-by-Art-43260.html


By Dana Demange
2011-9-27


STEVE EMBER: I'm Steve Ember.


BARBARA KLEIN: And I'm Barbara Klein with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Many people may know what the artist Pablo Picasso's paintings looks like. But what would they sound like if they were turned into music? Jazz musician Ted Nash explores this question in his album "ortrait in Seven Shades."


Nash studied the works of seven important painters who lived during a one hundred year period, a time frame similar to that of jazz. Then, he created a jazz composition in seven parts influenced by their art.


STEVE EMBER: Wynton Marsalis is the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. He asked Ted Nash to write the hour-long composition "ortrait in Seven Shades." Nash said one of the hardest parts was limiting his choice to only seven artists. Jazz at Lincoln Center worked with the Museum of Modern Art in New York to give Ted Nash access to its art collection. The music is performed by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, of which Ted Nash is a member.


(MUSIC)


BARBARA KLEIN: That was Ted Nash's composition "Monet," influenced by the French Impressionist painter Claude Monet. He was famous for painting flowers, buildings and the natural environment in a way that explored color and the changing effects of light. Ted Nash was influenced by Monet's famous series of huge paintings of water lilies. Nash liked how these works express the feeling of nature, lightness and air.


When he looked at the paintings up close, he saw brush strokes, texture and fields of color. But seen from a distance, these elements come together to create a dreamy representation of water lilies. Ted Nash said he wanted his music to be the same way. Up close, it is made up of individual sounds and instruments. But when you step back and listen to the composition, all these elements artfully come together.


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STEVE EMBER: Salvador Dali was a Spanish surrealist painter whose works often represent a strange, dream-like world. Ted Nash's composition "Dali" was influenced by the painting called "The Persistence of Memory." The painting shows melting clocks, insects, and a dead tree in an empty landscape.


(MUSIC)


Ted Nash says that Dali combined everyday objects in a way that creates a feeling of insecurity. Nash did the same thing with music by layering sounds and creating an unusual timing.


BARBARA KLEIN: The French painter Henri Matisse is known for his use of bright colors and expressive forms. His nineteen-oh-nine painting "Dance" shows five women energetically dancing in a circle.


The painting is mostly three colors -- blue, green and pink. Matisse was a master of expressing great beauty using the simplest combinations of colors and forms.


(MUSIC)


Ted Nash said his main goal in "Matisse" was to express the painting's playfulness and feeling of joy. He says Matisse showed a child-like quality in his work. Nash wanted his jazz composition for this artist to be swinging, and make you feel good.


STEVE EMBER: Pablo Picasso was a revolutionary modern artist who painted in many different styles during his long career. He had a very strong influence over several art movements, including cubism. His nineteen-oh-seven painting "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" turned the art world upside down. This painting of five women went against the traditional values of artistic representation and changed modern art forever.


(MUSIC)


Ted Nash explored cubism and the four sides of a square through the idea of fourths in this composition. For example, four musical chords are repeated in this work. The music also has two parts to express different sides of Picasso.


The first part explores the artist's romantic side and his love of women. The second part is about the emotional effect of Picasso's paintings.


(MUSIC)


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BARBARA KLEIN: The Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh is famous today for his bold works that use thick paint and bright colors. But while he was alive, he received little respect for his art. Vincent Van Gogh's life was filled with sadness and struggles. Ted Nash chose to express the tragic side of the artist's life with this composition. One Van Gogh painting that especially influenced him was "The Starry Night", painted in eighteen eighty-nine. The curving brushstrokes of Van Gogh's expressive sky look like explosions of blue fire.


(MUSIC)


This is the only part of "ortrait in Seven Shades" that includes singing. Ted Nash imagined what Van Gogh might say to his friend, painter Paul Gaugin.


STEVE EMBER: The artist Marc Chagall was born in Russia to a large Jewish family. He spent most of his career in France. Chagall painted colorful works filled with imaginative details such as floating people and dancing animals. His work was also influenced by his interest in theater. Ted Nash wanted his composition about Chagall to express his ties to family and Eastern European culture. He wanted the music to sound like the streets of Chagall's neighborhood in Russia.


(MUSIC)


Ted Nash paid special attention to Chagall's nineteen eleven work "I and the Village." It represents the artist's memories of his childhood village and its farmers, cows and buildings. The work is colorful and playful, just like this music.


BARBARA KLEIN: Of all these artists, Jackson Pollock was the only one who grew up during the age of jazz music. Jackson Pollock helped create the art movement called Abstract Expressionism. His work redefined modern art and brought new attention to American artists.


Pollock's paintings do not represent objects. They are examples of pure color, action and emotion. Pollock placed the canvas on the floor and threw different colors of paint onto its surface. His works are rivers of paint that are filled with an expressive energy.


Ted Nash wanted to copy the idea of thrown paint musically by creating a composition that sounded big and free. He also wanted the music to express the kind of jazz music that Pollock listened to and enjoyed. We leave you with "ollock," the last part of "ortrait in Seven Shades."


(MUSIC)


STEVE EMBER: This program was written and produced by Dana Demange. I'm Steve Ember.


BARBARA KLEIN: And I'm Barbara Klein. You can read, listen and comment on this program on our Web site, 51voa.com. Join us again next week for Explorations in VOA Special English.





【越障6-6】


接下来几次轮到抓的越障，抓都想post一些law方面的，觉得我们大家都需要多普及普及美国的法律知识~~水权文，至今记忆犹新啊。。。sigh。。。





Internet freedom
Tort and technology
http://www.economist.com/node/18986482
Lawyers and legislators put pressure on globe-trotting tech firms
Jul 21st 2011 | from the print edition



ASK a human-rights campaigner in Beijing what hope of vindication is offered by China’s judicial system, and the likely response is a cynical shrug. America’s courts could provide a more interesting avenue—especially to those whose complaint is the use of information technology to restrict freedom.


In May and June human-rights lawyers in America filed two suits alleging that executives at Cisco Systems, a California-based tech firm, sold China’s government equipment customised to help track dissenters online. Only one of the plaintiffs is an American citizen; more than a dozen are Chinese. Cisco denies all wrongdoing.


Such jurisdictional jiggery-pokery is made possible in part by the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA), which lets foreigners bring alleged violations of international law before American courts. Oil companies, mining firms and banks have all been subject to ATCA litigation since the ancient law was unburied in the 1980s. But only in recent years has the act been used to target tech firms whose products, or user data, might have been used to trap activists. In the best-known case, in 2007, Yahoo! reached a settlement with representatives of two Chinese democracy campaigners who said the firm had given authorities information that had led to their arrest. Daniel Ward, a lawyer leading one of the suits against Cisco, thinks that similar cases could be brought against other firms.


The issue is getting hotter as Sino-American internet business expands, in both directions. American tech firms covet China’s huge market. On July 4th Microsoft confirmed that its Bing search engine will soon be powering English-language results for local users of Baidu, China’s censored search giant. Even firms with more modest horizons may find themselves dealing with regimes that closely control the internet. More and more governments are moving to restrict the flow of information online, according to Freedom House, a lobby group.


Meanwhile, the global reach of China’s own internet firms, many of them listed on American stock exchanges, is drawing legal challenges. Campaigners in New York have started a suit against Baidu, saying its censored search results violate their constitutional rights. The plaintiffs’ lawyer, Stephen Preziosi, insists the case be heard in an American court—Baidu sells advertising to American firms and aggressively protects its American trademark, he says.


Still, suits against Cisco or other high-tech players face an uncertain legal path. Last year an appeals court hearing another ATCA case said the statute could not be used to prosecute firms, creating a division among judges that only the Supreme Court can settle. Lawyers retort that even if ATCA use against firms is curbed, individual executives could still be targeted.


Some American politicians think clearer legislation would help. One long-mooted bill, the Global Online Freedom Act, would make the government keep a list of internet-restricting states. Under its latest revision, advanced in April by Chris Smith, a Republican congressman, firms would need to seek the approval of American authorities before passing user information to one of these regimes; search engines would have to reveal details of any content they are asked to block. Export controls on web-blocking technologies would also be reviewed.


The bill has struggled to gain support since it was floated in 2006. But it could be helpful to American firms, argues Cindy Cohn of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a lobby group, because clear legislation at home would give ammunition to executives negotiating business terms with foreign authorities. “They could all point to the same rules,” she says.


Liberty online
Tech firms may hope that self-regulation will keep legislators at bay. The Global Network Initiative is a partnership between human-rights groups and three of the largest web firms (Google, Microsoft and Yahoo!). Set up in 2008, it creates guidelines for technology companies in internet-restricting countries. But the group has signed up no new members; notably absent is Facebook, which is said to be considering its own Chinese tie-up, possibly with Baidu. And apart from the courts, American firms will also have to keep an eye on the mood in the White House. Selling technology that can be used for web-censoring or web-monitoring sits uneasily with the Obama administration’s ever-louder support for “internet freedom”.





Correction: We initially referred to the Electronic Frontier Foundation as the Electronic Freedom Foundation. This was corrected on July 26th. Sorry.

fox0923

速度读过了哈，本来那天没事就去VOA随便转，正好挑了这篇。

抓抓sandra

速度读过了哈，本来那天没事就去VOA随便转，正好挑了这篇。

-- by 会员 fox0923 (2011/9/29 1:39:27)

嗷~明天换~

fox0923

抓老大就是抓老大，非常的敬业！

来越障~~饿了，后面读的有点懵~~
- The chinese court system is cynical, the american court system is interesting esp. for those cases of tech. information.
- The company Cisco has been accused that it sold the chinese government equipment, and there is one American plaintiff, the rest are chinese plaintiff, but Cisco denies this issue.
- ATCA is an organization that countries can deal with their information tech. cases since the asian law was unburied in 1980.
- The American firms want to get more benefit from china by putting the search engine Bing to Chinese website Baidu, and in this case, the government could control and review the sites people go to and block the information sites as well. AND baidu was also involved in the case that it sells its advertisements to American firms and protect its trademark. This caused many people's complaint.
- Since there's no particular law to regulate the search engine, some people also argue to have a legislation to control, so even the export's searching record can be viewed.
Liberty
- The online information selling has to get attention from the white house.最后一段没读懂，等会学习大家的~~

ykelly123

1:07
1:30
1:14
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自由阅读忘记按

郁闷。。法律。。
不记得啊囧~关系令不清

南瓜0729

1‘29
1’30
1‘14
1’25
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越障一会儿再看

balapupu

我回归了·~~
1.1‘07’
2.1‘11’
3.1‘24’
4.1‘04’
5.1‘05’
还是有点不想做越障啊。。。。懒。、、

很邻家

1'50
2'01
1'41
1'40
1'41
2'08
越障5'32

很邻家

为什么越障还是写不出东西来呢，好伤心啊!!
读了一遍我只知道是关于网络维权的，开始是关于suits to Cisco, but Cisco don't think itself did something wrong.
还涉及到一些中美贸易The USA is interest in the China's huge market.The issue of trotting gets hotter as the trade between the US and China develops.
后来又谈到法律制约Some policymaker of America think that clear legislation may do some help.
好像这个法律对美国比较好?
最后貌似又开了个什么会，Facebook is absent.
That's all i can catch from the article......

daisyの小夢想

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