HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC – VOA’s radio magazine in SpecialEnglish.
(THEME)
This is Bob Doughty. On our program today:
We play music by John Lennon …
answer a question about eating eggs …
and tell about a new book written by someone at VOA.
Key Monster
HOST:
Lee Dravis is a studio engineer here at the Voice of America. Infact, he is the engineer who is recording this show. Lee Dravis isalso a published writer. His newest book is called “Key Monster.”Sarah Long has more.
ANNCR:
Lee Dravis says he got the idea for his book from hearing about amysterious creature in the Chesapeake Bay, near Washington, D-C.This gave him the idea of writing about a man who sees a sea monsterbut nobody believes him.
The main character in the book “Key Monster” is a boat captainnamed Eugene Winchell, or Winch for short. He tells people about amysterious sea creature he has seen in the Chesapeake Bay. No onebelieves him, so he goes to the Florida city of Key West. But themonster moves in that direction too.
Other people also join Winch in the Florida Keys. One is abaseball player who is trying to escape political problems in Cuba.Another is a former scientist who performs in nightclubs wearingwomen’s clothes. Also following Winch to the Keys is the formerowner of his boat, who wants it back.Lee Dravis visited Key Westwhile writing the book. He says it is not like anywhere else in theUnited States.
The Florida Keys are a group of small islands between theAtlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Only one road links them. KeyWest is at the very end of these islands. Lee Dravis says that someof the people who live there are very strange. It was the perfectplace for the characters in his book.
Lee Dravis worked on the book for six months. He wrote it duringweekends while continuing his job at VOA. He is now writing anotherbook, called “Fenwick Street.” Lee Dravis says he likes writingbooks for the same reason he likes working in radio. You work alone,yet the product of the work could affect thousands or millions ofpeople all over the world.
Eating Eggs
HOST:
Our VOA listener question this week comes from Vietnam. Truong AiHien asks if eating chicken eggs is good for your health.
Eggs contain important protein, vitamins and minerals. These arefound in two parts of the egg, the yolk and the white.
The yolk is the yellow part of the egg. It contains a little lessthan half the protein of the egg. The yolk contains importantminerals. And it has more vitamins than the white. These includevitamins A, D and E. Experts say that egg yolks are one of the fewfoods that contain vitamin D.
The egg white is called the albumen. It contains more than halfof the egg’s protein. It also contains important vitamins andminerals.
For many years, people believed that eating eggs increased thechances of suffering a heart attack or stroke because eggs containcholesterol. Studies over the past few years, however, have shownthat eating eggs is not a serious health concern.
Research has found that saturated fat increases blood cholesterollevels the most. Saturated fat comes from animal products. One largeegg contains about two-hundred-fifteen milligrams of cholesterol andfive grams of fat. About one-and-one-half grams of that fat issaturated. Experts also say much of the concern about eggs waslinked to how they were cooked. Eggs fried in butter or eaten withbacon greatly increase the saturated fat.
The American Heart Association says healthy adults should limittheir cholesterol to less than three-hundred milligrams a day. Itsays a healthy person should eat no more than four eggs a week. Allthe fat and cholesterol in an egg are in the yolk. So there are nolimits for eating egg whites.
Eggs sometimes contain bacteria that make people sick. Suchbacteria can be killed by cooking the eggs well. Other kinds oforganisms can attach to the outside of the egg. Experts say eggsshould be kept in a cold place. Never eat eggs that are dirty,cracked, broken or leaking. Never serve food that includes uncookedeggs. And wash your hands before preparing eggs or any other food.
John Lennon Exhibit
HOST:
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio hasa special show about a famous musician. It tells about the life andmusic of John Lennon. Shep O’Neal tells us more.
ANNCR:
Music experts say John Lennon did not invent rock and roll. Yethe did more than anyone else to change it, move it forward and addsocial meaning to its songs. Many experts call him one of thegreatest songwriters in the history of rock and roll.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum organized an exhibitabout John Lennon. It opened in October. It honors the sixtiethanniversary of John Lennon’s birth in Liverpool, England, and thetwentieth anniversary of his tragic death in New York City.
Visitors can see hundreds of objects from Lennon’s life. Thereare reports from his teachers when he was a boy about his schoolwork. More than thirty paintings and drawings he made throughout hislife. The suit he wore as a member of the Beatles. His guitars andpiano. And the handwritten words for twenty-five of his most famoussongs.
John Lennon helped form the Beatles in the Nineteen-Sixties. Thegroup changed the sound of rock and roll music. Here the Beatlessing John Lennon’s song “Help!”
((CUT ONE: HELP!))
Later, John Lennon wrote songs that expressed his efforts fortruth, peace and human rights. This one is called “Imagine.”
((CUT TWO – IMAGINE))
Recently, a British music magazine asked several songwriters,producers and musicians to name the best songs of the last century.They chose John Lennon’s “In My Life” as the top song.
((CUT THREE – IN MY LIFE)
HOST:
This is Bob Doughty. 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 Shelley Gollust andNancy Steinbach. Our studio engineer was Lee Dravis. And ourproducer was Paul Thompson.