2014年12月英语四级听力冲刺练习6
英语四级听力部分算是同学们考试时的难点吧。听力这部分不能急于求成，需要时间来练习。对于这部分同学们平时在积累词汇的基础上多加练习就可以，听的多了就能掌握技巧，距离12月份的四六级考试还有一段时间，同学每天练习一点听力，考试时听力就能取得高分了。听力音频点击下载.mp3
听力材料：
Welcome to American Mosaic from VOA LearningEnglish!
I'm Steve Ember.
On the show today, we play songs from artists whoperformed at last weekend's Pitchfork Music Festival.
We also visit an independent craft brewery inWashington DC to learn about the American beerindustry.
But first, we hear about a group of military moms who are using music to help others.
A Swingin Singin Group
A singing group that began as a way to help mothers of soldiers deal with the horrors of war isnow bringing cheer to civilians and others. The Swingin' Blue Stars formed just after theterrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Almost 12 years later, the group is still performing.
Christopher Cruise has more.
Cindy Shon started the Swingin' Blue Stars. She says the group was never meant to be a long-term project. It was supposed to help her stop worrying about her son. He was deployed toAfghanistan after the September 11th attacks against the United States.
Cindy Shon had joined the Blue Star Moms, a support group for women with children in thearmed forces. She organized some other women to sing Christmas carols at a nearby hospitalfor military veterans. Then, they started getting more calls to sing for other former armedforces members.
Francie Roberts sings with the Swingin' Blue Stars. She says the performances helped herovercome the fear of getting bad news about a loved one.
"It just took our mind off of it, learning the songs and knowing where we're going to performbecause you just never know if he's going to be alive or if I'm going to lose him."
Soon the small group of women was performing again and again. They learned some songsfrom the 1940s and 50s. The shows were especially popular with veterans from World War IIand the Korean War.
Francie Roberts' son Blake spent 16 months in Iraq with the United States Army.
She says people hearing the Swingin' Blue Stars seemed to understand how the mothers felt.
"Afterwards, everybody would come up and shake our hands, and just give us that extraencouragement that they'll be back. Our kids will be back. So we needed to hear that."
The sons and daughters of the original members of the Swingin' Blue Stars came home safely.
Now, Cindy Merino says the women perform songs with special meaning for older militaryveterans.
"Sometimes they'll be enjoying it and laughing and the next song they will be crying. And thenthey'll come up to us and say thank you so much for that, that was the last song I danced towith my husband. It just brings back so many memories for them. It really is amazing."
The Swingin' Blue Stars have performed all over the San Francisco area. They have also sung atthe new Pearl Harbor visitors' center in Hawaii and the USS Midway in San Diego.
Sandy Lewis says that 20 years ago, she could not have imagined being a singer. But it isrewarding to see how her group makes people happy.
"It's not about having a huge audience, it's just get that one guy out there with that twinkle inhis eye and bring that smile to his face, and we would sing forever."
I'm Christopher Cruise.
The Craft of Beermaking...
Independent beer-making companies, called craft breweries, are growing fast in the UnitedStates. The industry started to develop in the late 1970s, when Americans who wanted morechoices started making their own beer at home.
The Brewers Association, an industry group, says the country had only eight craft breweries in1980. Last year, there were more than 2,300. The Brewers Association says more than 1,500others are under development.
One of these new breweries is Atlas Brew Works, in Washington, DC. Will Durgin and JustinCox are the creators of the company. They plan to begin selling their products in just a fewweeks.
Will Durgin is the head brewer at Atlas Brew Works. He knows everything about the brewingprocess, where malted barley is fermented.
"This tall vessel right here is the mash tun, and if you think of brewing beer as like roughlyanalogous to making coffee in a basket coffee maker, this would be the basket of the basketcoffee maker."
From start to finish, the process lasts about two weeks. Then, the product is ready to bepackaged, put in boxes, and shipped to buyers.
"And it goes into the kettle where we boil it for an hour, add hops there. Hops providebitterness and aroma. They also have some preservative qualities. Hops added early in theboil provide more bitterness, hops added late in the boil provide more aroma."
Historically, American craft beers were known for their strong and often bitter taste. Now, morenew breweries are experimenting with other flavors.
Chris Van Orden writes for a website that specializes in craft breweries in the DC area. He saysAmerican craft brewers usually "go big" with bold flavors. But now, he says, there are moreproducts to choose from.
"Beer just has a sort of unparalleled breadth of flavors. In one simple, elemental drink there'sa billion decisions that went into making a beer, and every single one of them changes theoutcome."
Colorado, Oregon, and California are already well-known for their craft breweries. Butindependent beer-makers are also expanding to other areas, like North Carolina and theDistrict of Columbia. Many public drinking places are supporting this growth by offering localproducts. They are also selling craft beers from across the country. Chris Van Orden calls thisan important development.
"You can't open up a bar these days that serves beer and have it be an afterthought."
Large businesses still largely control the American beer market. And many popular craft beersare still imported from Europe. But today, most Americans live within 10 miles of a brewery.With even more opening for business, there are more choices than ever.
Belle and Sebastian, Solange Knowles and Bjork
The Pitchfork Music Festival took place last weekend at Union Park in Chicago. Crowds enjoyedthree days of performances by musicians and groups from around the world.
Many of the performers became popular because of the Pitchfork music website.
Madeline Smith plays songs from some of the artists who attended the festival...
For many people, Pitchfork is an expert on independent music. The website provides interviewswith musicians and criticism of albums. It also offers new music from independent artists youmight not otherwise hear. And its yearly music festival showcases many of these artists.
One of the performers this year was the pop group Belle and Sebastian, a band from Glasgow,Scotland. Belle and Sebastian are currently planning their ninth album. The band's 2008 album, "The Life Pursuit," was a success with critics, with songs like "Funny Little Frog."
Another performer at the Pitchfork Music Festival comes from a famous family. Solange Knowlesis hoping to establish her own music career. But she is best known for being the younger sisterof Beyonce Knowles. The older sister is known for her powerful voice and catchy pop songs.Solange Knowles has a more relaxed, easy style that includes R&B and electronic beats.But she also has some hits, like her song "Sandcastle Disco."
One of the biggest acts at the festival was the Icelandic singer Bj?rk. She performed the finalconcert on the first night of the festival. Bj?rk is known as an artist who experiments with hersound. Each one of her eight albums sounds somewhat different from the others – but hervoice is always distinctive. On her 2011 album, "Biophilia," she added electronic elements to hersound. One of her songs includes sounds from a Tesla coil, a device that makes electricity.
We leave you with one of Bj?rk's most famous songs, "Hyperballad," from her 1995 album"Post."
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