“猫王”及其叛逆流行文化(有声)
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“猫王”是埃尔维斯·普雷斯利的昵称，普莱斯利以他神一般的魔力，将黑人和白人音乐十分自然地融为一体，并以其独特的夸张、刺激的动作和热情奔放的舞蹈相结合，使摇滚乐成为平民大众喜闻乐见的艺术形式。他在演唱风格、表演技巧和舞台作风等各方面都奠定了现代摇滚乐的基础。他的非凡的艺术天才影响了整整一代流行音乐家。因此，他被誉为“摇滚乐之王”是当之无愧的。42岁的美国摇滚乐坛偶像“猫王”离去了，但死后的他似乎比生前更加名声显赫。每年8月，成千上万的歌迷来到他的家乡，点燃蜡烛，用他们的方式纪念这位摇滚之王。
DOUG JOHNSON: Welcome to American Mosaic, in VOA Special English.
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I'm Doug Johnson. Today we tell about South by Southwest, the major music conference in Austin, Texas.
And we answer a listener question about the meaning of the stars on America's flag.
But first, we rediscover Elvis Presley at an exhibit in Washington, D.C.
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Elvis at the Newseum
DOUG JOHNSON: As you can probably guess from its name, the Newseum in Washington, D.C. is a museum about news. It recently opened an exhibit about a famous performer. His special sound and bold moves changed the history of music and popular culture. The exhibit is called "Elvis! His Groundbreaking, Hip-Shaking, Newsmaking Story."? It tells about Elvis Presley's influence on American culture. It shows newspaper articles, television recordings and personal objects belonging to the King himself. Barbara Klein tells us more.
BARBARA KLEIN: Most people know that Elvis Presley was a popular singer and actor. But many young people today might not realize that Elvis represented a rebellious new form of popular culture. He first became famous in the mid nineteen fifties.
At this time, music in America was mostly divided racially. Country music was for white people, while black people performed rhythm and blues music. Elvis changed this. He combined both influences to create a whole new kind of music -- rock and roll. And, the man could dance. He moved his hips in a way that drove crowds wild. Elvis came to represent energy, youth and freedom.
The "Elvis!" exhibit at the Newseum explores the way the media represented Elvis and his career. And it tells about his lasting influence. The exhibit shows newspaper headlines about efforts to ban Elvis's rebellious music, even his hairstyle. Other newspapers tell about his daily activities, fan reactions and crowded performances. The exhibit also tells about the important role television played in making Elvis a star.
REPORTER: "A phenomenon recalling Marilyn Monroe's sensational debut in show business, Mister Teenager is on his way to attaining a popularity unparalleled in theater history."
The exhibit includes a movie about Elvis' life and the evolution of his representation by the media. There are also several objects from Elvis' personal life. You can see a large nineteen fifty-seven Harley Davidson motorcycle he once owned. There is a bottle of Champagne from Elvis' wedding to Priscilla Beaulieu, and clothing worn by his daughter Lisa Marie. And it is hard to miss the jeweled white jumpsuit that Elvis wore for his famous "Aloha from Hawaii" performance. An estimated one billion people in forty countries watched this program when it was broadcast on television in nineteen seventy-three. He died four years later at the age of forty-two.
"Elvis! His Groundbreaking, Hip-Shaking, Newsmaking Story" marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of Elvis Presley's birth year. And, it shows that the popularity of the King of Rock and Roll lives on.
You can learn more about the life and music of Elvis Presley Sunday on the Special English program People in America.
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星上的国家
Stars on the Flag
DOUG JOHNSON: Our question this week comes from Saudi Arabia. Ali Awod asks about the meaning of the number of stars on the American flag.
The United States flag has fifty stars that represent the fifty states. The flag also has thirteen red and white horizontal stripes. They represent the thirteen original colonies that rebelled against British rule. They became the first states in the Union.
The white stars are in rows in a blue rectangle on the American flag. The stars have five points. Until the late seventeen hundreds, many stars had six, seven or even eight points. For many years there were different ways that the stars were shown, including in circles and rows. In nineteen twelve, Congress declared how the stars must be shown.
Throughout American history, the number of stars increased as more states were added. For example, the flag had forty-eight stars for forty-seven years, from nineteen twelve until nineteen fifty-nine. Then Alaska and Hawaii became states. They remain the only states not physically connected to the mainland United States. The fifty star flag became the official flag of the United States on July fourth, nineteen sixty.
Fifty years have now passed without any changes to the American flag. That is the longest period in United States history that the flag has remained unchanged.
Some American citizens live in places that do not have a star on the flag.
Washington, D.C. is the country's capital but it is a city, not a state, so it does not have its own star. Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands and the United States Virgin Islands are territories. So they do not have stars, either.
Some of the territories, like Puerto Rico and Guam, may vote to become states in the future. The United States government has created possible flags that have up to fifty-six stars.
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