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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 songssung by Frank Sinatra…tell about scientific crime sceneinvestigations…and report about a new American coin.
Helen Keller Quarter
HOST:
The United States government agency that produces the nation’smoney has organized a program to honor each of the fifty states inthe country. The United States Mint is producing a specialtwenty-five coin for each state. And each state can choose what orwhom to show on its coin. Shep O’Neal tells us about it.
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The United States Mint Fifty State Quarters Program began inJanuary nineteen-ninety-nine as a ten-year project. A state designis shown on one side of each quarter. The other side continues toshow the picture of the first American president, George Washington.
A recent quarter produced in thisprogram honors the southern state of Alabama. Alabama’s statequarter was the twenty-second quarter produced because Alabamabecame the twenty-second state in eighteen-nineteen.
The Alabama quarter honors writer and activist Helen Keller whowas born in Tuscumbia, Alabama in eighteen-eighty. Helen lost hersight and hearing as a result of a serious disease when she wasnineteen months old. The teacher Anne Sullivan helped Helen Kellerlearn to talk using her fingers. She also taught her to read andwrite.
Helen Keller graduated from Radcliffe College in Cambridge,Massachusetts in nineteen-oh-four. She traveled to thirty-ninecountries and wrote letters to five American presidents to improvethe lives of blind and deaf people. She published many articles andbooks before her death in nineteen-sixty-eight. She became famous inpart because of the stage plays and movies made about her life.
The coin honoring her is the first one produced in the UnitedStates that includes words written in the language of the blindcalled Braille. Under the picture of Helen Keller on the coin is thesaying “Spirit of Courage.” Former Alabama Governor Don Siegelmansaid Helen Keller lived a life of courage that continues to helppeople all over the world.
To learn more about the life of Helen Keller, listen to theSpecial English program “People In America” on Sunday.
Real Life C.S.I
HOST:
Two of the most popular television programs in the United Statesright now are called “C.S.I.” and “C.S.I: Miami.” The lettersrepresent the words “Crime Scene Investigation.” Every week, theinvestigators on the shows solve one or two murders using scientificmethods to gather and study evidence. Such investigators areimportant in solving crimes like murder in real life, too. SteveEmber has more.
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Crime scene investigators examine the area where a murder hastaken place. They remove blood, hairs, the murder weapon or anythings that the killer has left behind. They examine them in alaboratory using high-tech machines and medical tests. The policeuse this information to discover who committed the crime. Sometimes,however, poor work by the C.S.I team makes it difficult to provethat a person committed the crime.
Forensic scientist Henry Lee became famous innineteen-ninety-five when he spoke at the trial of O.J. Simpson inLos Angeles, California. Mister Simpson was found innocent ofkilling his former wife Nicole and a male friend. Mister Lee saysthe murders could have been solved right away if the investigatorshad not washed Nicole Simpson’s body. He says that genetic studiesshould have been done on the blood found on her body and the bloodyfingerprint on her arm.
Henry Lee says the training for crime scene investigators isstill very local and differs from place to place. He and otherexperts believe that C.S.I. teams need more education about how todeal with a crime scene scientifically. They also need to know howto use the newest scientific tests and devices.
That is the kind of training offered at the new National CrimeScene Training Center at the University of New Haven in Connecticut.Officials say the program is designed to give crime laboratoryworkers the skills needed to gather evidence and scientificallyexamine it correctly. They say it is important for everyone involvedin a real life investigation to do their jobs correctly so that nomistakes will be made.
Frank Sinatra
HOST:
Our VOA listener question this week comes from Nigeria. AbohEkoja asks about American singer Frank Sinatra.
Francis Albert Sinatra was born in the eastern city of Hoboken,New Jersey in nineteen-fifteen. He began singing professionally inthe nineteen-thirties. He sang with the top dance bands of the time,including the band led by Tommy Dorsey. In nineteen-forty, theyrecorded the song “I’ll Never Smile Again”. It was the first numberone single ever listed by Billboard Magazine.
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Frank Sinatra won many awards forhis singing, including Grammy Awards. But he was not just a singer.He had his own television show, and he acted in more than fiftymovies. In nineteen-fifty-three, he won an Academy Award for hisserious acting part in the movie “From Here to Eternity.”
He also sang in many movies, such as “Pal Joey” and “Guys andDolls.” Recently, one of his recordings was used in the movie “WhatWomen Want.” It was “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.”
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Frank Sinatra died of a heart attack in nineteen-ninety-eight. Hewill always be remembered as one of the world’s greatest singers. Weleave you now with one of his most famous songs, “It Was a Very GoodYear.”
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HOST:
This is Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today.
Our program was written by Nancy Steinbach. Our studio engineerwas Ricardo Barnez. And our producer was Paul Thompson.
Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC — VOA’s radiomagazine in Special English.