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HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC — VOA’s radio magazine in SpecialEnglish.
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This is Doug Johnson. On our program today,
We play some music for Valentine’s Day…
Answer a question about American astronaut Kalpana Chawla…
And tell about a new kind of popular Amerian television program.
Reality Television
HOST:
Many Americans have been watching a new kind of entertainment. Itis called “reality television.” There are many kinds of realitytelevision programs. Each week, people who are not famous compete inunusual situations. Some try to win money by answering questions ongame shows. Others compete to see who is the best singer. Stillothers try to meet someone to marry. Jim Tedder has more.
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One of the most popular realitytelevision shows right now is called “American Idol.” The programsearches for the best young singers of popular songs. Threeentertainment professionals judge the young singers. One judge onthe program gives sharp criticism or high praise. The winning singerreceives a recording agreement and becomes famous.
Another popular reality show is called “Survivor.” It observespeople as they struggle through severe conditions in different areasof the world. A new series of “Survivor” started this week. One teamof women and one team of men were taken to the Amazon jungle inSouth America.
They face dangers from nature and from the other competitors.They get little food or sleep. One-by-one, those declared theweakest are forced to leave. The last one to remain wins one-milliondollars. Producer Mark Barnett says twenty-million people watch”Survivor.” He says people in one-hundred countries have seen theshow and it is influencing popular culture.
A popular reality game show is called “Who Wants to be aMillionaire.” The competitors answer a series of questions with thegoal of winning one-million dollars. “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire”is seen in one-hundred countries.
Some reality shows have been criticized. One of these is called”Joe Millionaire.” A group of young women competed on this show towin the love of a young man. They were told that the man had beengiven fifty-million dollars by his family. The women did not knowthat the man is not really rich. He is worker who earns low pay.
Television critics are not sure why these programs are sopopular. Some say the viewers want to know what happens each week topeople who are just like them. Some critics say reality televisionmay lose popularity as one show copies another. But producers saythat more reality television shows are likely to be made as long asthe demand for them continues.
Kalpana Chawla
HOST:
Our VOA listener question this week comes from India. Sampathasks about Kalpana Chawla, the Indian-born American astronaut whowas one of the seven people killed on the space shuttle Columbia.
Kalpana Chawla was responsible formore than twelve scientific experiments on the sixteen-day flight ofthe Columbia. It was her second trip into space. She first flew on aspace shuttle in nineteen-ninety-seven. She described earth as verybeautiful, and said she wished everyone could see it as she had.
Kalpana Chawla was born forty-one years ago in Karnal, aboutone-hundred-thirty kilometers north of New Delhi. Her friends sayshe always wanted to fly. She moved to the United States in thenineteen-eighties, after graduating from Punjab Engineering College.She continued to study aeronautical engineering at the University ofTexas in Arlington and the University of Colorado at Boulder. Shebecame an astronaut in nineteen-ninety-four.
After Mizz Chawla became an American citizen, she continued tocommunicate with students at her school in her hometown. Every year,she invited two of them to visit her at the American space agency.Students say she told them to follow their dreams, and that shewould help them if their dreams could not come true in India.
Hundreds of students had gathered at the school when the Columbiaastronauts were expected to return to Earth. They prayed togetherwhen they learned the news that the shuttle had broken apart.
Kalpana Chawla was the first Indian-born woman in space. But shetold Indian reporters that she did not feel Indian when flying. Shesaid that looking at the stars made her feel that she was from thesolar system, not from one area of land on Earth.
Millions of people in India, the United States and other nationsmourned the loss of Kalpana Chawla and the other six Columbiaastronauts. President Bush spoke about their lives and their work ata memorial service last week in Texas. He said the American spaceprogram would continue so that their scientific work would not belost.
Valentine’s Day Music
HOST:
Today, February fourteenth, is Valentine’s Day in the UnitedStates. The holiday is named for Saint Valentine, an early Christianchurchman who reportedly helped young lovers. Valentine was executedfor his beliefs on February fourteenth, more thanone-thousand-seven-hundred years ago. The ancient Romans alsocelebrated a holiday for lovers more than two-thousand years ago. SoValentine’s Day has been a special day for people in love for a verylong time.
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Americans celebrate Valentine’s Day by sending cards and giftssuch as flowers and candy. Men and women may go out to a restaurantfor a special meal. Sometimes a man will propose marriage to thewoman he loves on Valentine’s Day. Some people plan to have theirweddings on Valentine’s Day.
The music of love is important on Valentine’s Day. Here is a songthat attempts to describe the feeling. It is called “Love Is A ManySplendored Thing.” It is sung by Andy Williams.
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This next famous love song is sung by rock and roll great ElvisPresley. It is called “Love Me Tender.”
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We leave you now with another love song popular on Valentine’sDay. “My Funny Valentine” was written by Richard Rogers and LorenzHart. Ella Fitzgerald sings it.
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HOST:
This is Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today. And Ihope you will join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC — VOA’sradio magazine in Special English.
This AMERICAN MOSAIC program was written by Cynthia Kirk andNancy Steinbach. Our studio engineer was Glen Matlock. And ourproducer was Paul Thompson.