HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC – VOA’s radio magazine in SpecialEnglish.
(THEME)
This is Doug Johnson. On our special Christmas program today, we:
Play some Christmas music …
Answer a question about Santa Claus …
And report about what many American young people want to receiveas gifts this holiday season.
Holiday Gifts
HOST:
Tuesday, December twenty-fifth, is Christmas Day. Millions ofAmerican families will celebrate the holiday. One important part ofthe celebration is giving and receiving gifts. Jim Tedder tells usabout some of the most popular gifts for young people this year.
ANNCR:
Many American young people want to receive electronic gifts. Atthe top of the list is the mobile telephone or cell phone. A newstudy by Teenage Research Unlimited says thirty-one percent ofAmericans between the ages of twelve and nineteen already use a cellphone.
Teenagers like mobile phones because they can talk to theirfriends anytime they want. Parents like cell phones too. They likebeing able to talk to their children and to know where they are andwhat they are doing at all times.
Young people also like to send and receive immediate computere-mail messages with their friends. This is called instantmessaging. Now it is possible to send instant messages using mobilephones.
It is also possible to send instant messages on new devicescalled text phones. The Motorola company says it has already soldmore than one-million text phones.Another welcome gift for Christmasthis year is called a pocket personal computer. Young people can usethese small computers to send and receive electronic mail, searchthe World Wide Web or watch a video. Students can even use this funmachine to do their homework.
One of the most popular electronic devices for young people isthe video game player system. Two new video game systems are beingsold this year. The Microsoft company recently released its newvideo game system called Xbox. The Nintendo company’s new electronicgame player is called GameCube. Reports say each company expects tosell more than one-million by the end of the holiday season.
And every young person who has a video game player needs gamesfor it. One popular game this year is a hockey game called N-H-LHitz Two-Thousand-Two. Critics say this hockey game is fast andexciting. Another exciting video game is a racing car game calledBurnout. Some experts say video game sales this year will set newrecords.
Santa Claus, Christmas Day
HOST:
Our VOA listener question thisweek comes from Iran. Nima Foroud asks about Santa Claus andChristmas Day.
To understand Santa Claus, we must go back sixteen-hundred years,to the fourth century. A Roman Catholic Church official of thattime, Nicholas of Myra, became famous for his many good works. Afterhe died, the Church declared him a saint. He became a special saintfor children. On the anniversary of his death each year, goodchildren received gifts.
In the Netherlands, people told children the gifts came fromSaint Herr Nicholas. In the Dutch language, his name was “SinterKlaas.” The Dutch brought this tradition to America. Americanscalled the gift giver “Santa Claus”. And they included him in theirChristmas celebration.
History experts say the first description of Santa Claus in theUnited States appeared in the poem, “A Visit from Saint Nicholas.”It was published in Eighteen-Twenty-Three.
In the Eighteen-Sixties, artist Thomas Nast drew a picture ofSanta Claus for a newspaper. He drew a fat, smiling, old man with along, white beard. Santa Claus was dressed in a red suit with whitefur.
Tradition says that on the night before Christmas, Santa Claustravels from the North Pole through the air in a sleigh pulled byeight reindeer. He stops at each house to leave gifts for children.Gene Autry sings about him in this song.
((CUT 1:HERE COMES SANTA CLAUS))
Some Americans open their gifts the night before Christmas.Others wait until Christmas morning.
On Christmas Day, many Americans go to church or visit friends orfamily members. They eat a special meal. Or they help celebrate theholiday by serving meals to homeless people. But wherever Americansgo on Christmas Day, they always wish each other “Merry Christmas”.
Christmas Music
HOST:
Music is a big part of Christmas celebrations in the UnitedStates. Americans enjoy all kinds of Christmas songs. Here isShirley Griffith to tell us about a few of them.
ANNCR:
Christmas celebrates the birth of the child called Jesus.Christians believe Jesus was the son of God sent to earth to savethe world. Many Americans go to church on Christmas. They pray andsing songs in praise of Jesus Christ. One religious Christmas songis “O Holy Night.” Leontyne Price sings it here.
((CUT 1: O HOLY NIGHT))
This Christmas will not be the happiest holiday for manyAmericans. Thousands of people lost loved ones in the terroristattacks in September. Here is a rather sad Christmas song aboutcelebrating the holiday during a troubled time. Judy Garland sings”Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”.
((CUT 2: HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS))
We leave you now with a song expressing the wish for a happyholiday season. It is sung by the Manhattan Transfer.
((CUT 3: HAPPY HOLIDAY/THE HOLIDAY SEASON))
HOST:
I hope you enjoyed our special Christmas 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 Nancy Steinbach. Ourstudio engineer was Tom Verba. And our producer was Paul Thompson.This is Doug Johnson wishing you a very happy holiday from all of usin Special English.