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2024年3月17日发(作者：描写冬天的诗歌)

AMERICAN STORIES - A Story for Halloween: 'The Boy on Graves-End Road'

PAT BODNAR: Now, the VOA Special English program AMERICAN STORIES.

I'm Pat Bodnar. October thirty-first is Halloween. In the spirit of this ancient

holiday, we prent a story written by Special English reporter and producer Caty

Weaver. It's called "The Boy on Graves-End Road.

NARRATOR: Kelly Ryan was making dinner. Her ten-year-old son Benjamin was

watching television in the living room. Or at least she thought he was.

KELLY: "Benny-boy, do you want black beans or red beans?"

BEN: "Red beans, Mama."

Kelly: "Don't do that, Ben. You scared me half to death! You're going to get it

now ... "

NARRATOR: Ben had come up quietly right behind her.

(SOUND)

KELLY: "I'll get back to you, stinker!"

NARRATOR: Kelly goes to the phone, but as soon as she lays her hand on it,

the ringing stops.

KELLY: "How strange. Oh, the beans!"

NARRATOR: Kelly turns her attention back to cooking. As soon as she does, the

phone rings again.

KELLY: "Honey, can you get that?"

BEN: "Hello? Oh, hi. Yes, I remember. Sure, it sounds fun. Let me ask my mom.

Can you hold? She might wanna talk to your mom. Oh, um, OK. See you

tomorrow."

KELLY: "Ben, your rice and beans are on the table. Let's eat."

(SOUND)

KELLY: "So, what was that call about?"

BEN: "That was Wallace Gray. You know him, from class. He wants to play

tomorrow. Can I go home with him after school? Plea, Mom? I get bored around

here waiting for you after work."

KELLY: "But, Ben, I don't even know his parents. Maybe I should talk to them."

BEN: "You can't, Mom. He was with his babysitter. He said his parents wouldn't

be home until late tonight and they would leave before he went to school in the

morning. Plea Mom, Wallace lives right over on Graves-End Road. It's a

five-minute walk from here. PLEASE,?"

KELLY: "Well, OK. What's so great about this guy, anyway? You've got a ton of

friends to play with."

BEN: "I know. But Wallace is just different. He's got a lot of imagination."

NARRATOR: The school week pass, and Ben starts to go home almost every

day with Wallace. Kelly notices a change in her son. He ems tired and withdrawn.

His eyes do not em to really look at her. They em ... lifeless. On Friday night she

decides they need to have a talk.

KELLY: "Sweetie, what's going on with you? You em so tired and far away. Is

something wrong? Did you and your new friend have a fight?"

BEN:"No, Mom. We've been having a great time. There's nothing wrong with

us. Why don't you like Wallace? You don't even know him, but you don't trust him."

KELLY: "Benjamin, what are you talking about? I don't dislike Wallace. You're

right, I don't know him. You just don't em like yourlf. You've been very quiet

the past few nights."

BEN: "I'm sorry, Mom. I guess I'm just tired. I have a great time with Wallace.

We play games like cops and robbers, but they em so real that half of the time I

feel like I'm in another world. It's hard to explain. It's like, it's like ... "

KELLY: "I think the word you're looking for is inten."

BEN: "Yeah, that's it -- it's inten."

KELLY: "Well, tell me about today. What kind of game did you play?"

(SOUND)

BEN: "We were train robbers. Or Wallace was. I was a station manager. Wallace

was running through a long train, from car to car. He had stolen a lot of money and

gold from the pasngers. I was chasing right behind him, moving as fast as I could.

Finally he jumps out of the train into the station to make his escape. But I block his

path. He grabs a woman on the station platform. She screams 'No, no!' But he yells

'Let me through, or she dies.' So I let him go."

KELLY: "What happened then?"

BEN: "Well, that's what was weird and, like you said, inten. Wallace threw the

lady onto the tracks. And laughed. He said that's what evil characters do in games.

They always do the worst."

NARRATOR: Later, after Ben went to bed, Kelly turned on the eleven o'clock

news. She was only half-listening as she prepared a list of things to do the next day,

on Halloween.

KELLY: "Let's e, grocery shopping, Halloween decorating, dog to the

groomer, hardware store, clean up the garden ...

(SOUND)

NEWS ANNOUNCER: "... the victim, who has not been identified, was killed

instantly. Reports say it appears she was pushed off the station platform into the

path of the oncoming train. It happened during rush hour today. Some witness

reported eing two boys running and playing near the woman. But police say

they did not e any images like that on curity cameras at the station. In other

news, there was more trouble today as workers protested outside the Hammond ...

"

KELLY: "No! It can't be. The station is an hour away. They couldn't have gotten

there. How could they? It's just a coincidence."

NARRATOR: The wind blew low and lonely that night. Kelly slept little. She

dreamed she was waiting for Ben at a train station. Then, she saw him on the other

side, running with another little boy.

It must be Wallace she thought. The little boy went in and out of view. Then, all

of a sudden, he stopped and looked across the tracks -- directly at her.

He had no face.

NARRATOR: Saturday morning was bright and sunny, a cool October day. Kelly

made Ben eggs and toast and watched him eat happily.

KELLY: "You know, Benny-boy, a woman DID get hurt at the train station

yesterday. She actually got hit by a train. Isn't that strange?"

NARRATOR: She looked at Ben.

BEN: "What do you mean, Mom?"

KELLY: "Well, you and Wallace were playing that game yesterday. About being

at a train station. You said he threw a woman off the platform, and she was killed

by a train."

NARRATOR: Kelly felt like a fool even saying the words. She was speaking to a

ten-year-old who had been playing an imaginary game with another ten-year-old.

What was she thinking?

BEN: "I said we played that yesterday? I did? Hmmm. No, we played that a few

days ago, I think. It was just a really good game, really inten. Yesterday we played

pirates. I got to be Captain Frank on the pirate ship, the Argh.

"Wallace was Davey, the first mate. But he tried to rebel and take over the ship

so I made him walk the plank. Davey walked off into the a and drowned. Wallace

told me I had to order him to walk the plank. He said that's what evil pirates do."

KELLY: "I guess he's right. I don't know any pirates, but I do hear they're pretty

evil!"

BEN: "So can I play with Wallace today when you are doing your errands?

Plea, Mom? I don't want to go shopping and putting up Halloween decorations."

KELLY: "Oh, whatever. I guess so. I'll pick you up at Wallace's hou at about

five-thirty, so you can get ready for trick or treating. Where does he live again?

BEN: "Graves-End Road. I don't know the street number but there are only two

hous on each side. His is the cond one on the left."

KELLY: "OK. I can find that easy enough. Do you still want me to pick up a

ghost costume for you?"

BEN: "Yep. Oh, and guess what, Mom: Wallace says he's a ghost, too! I suppo

we'll haunt the neighborhood together."

NARRATOR: Everywhere Kelly went that day was crowded. She spent an hour

and a half just at the market. When she got home, decorating the hou for

Halloween was difficult.

But finally she had it all up the way she wanted.

KELLY: "Oh, gosh, five already. I don't even have Ben's costume."

NARRATOR: She jumped into her car and drove to Wilson Boulevard. The party

store was just a few blocks away.

Kelly finally found a space for her car. The store was crowded with excited kids

and hurried parents. But Kelly soon found the ghost costume that Ben wanted. She

bought it and walked out of the store.

EILEEN: "Hey, Kelly! Long time no e. How's Benjamin doing?"

KELLY: "Eileen! Wow, it's great to e you. How's Matt? We've been so busy

since the school year started, we haven't en anyone!"

EILEEN: "Matt's good. Well, he broke his arm last month so no sports for him.

It is driving him crazy, but at least he's got a lot of time for school now!"

EILEEN: "Anyway, Matt was wondering why Benny-boy never comes by

anymore. We saw him running around the neighborhood after school last week. It

looks like he's having fun, but he's always alone. We don't need to t up a play

date. Ben should know that. You just tell him to come by anytime -- "

KELLY: "Wait, wait a minute. Alone? What do mean alone? He started playing

with a new friend, Wallace somebody, after school, like everyday this past week.

Ben hasn't been alone. Wallace Gray, that's it. Do you know him? Does Matt?"

EILEEN: "Oh, Kell. Kelly, I'm sure he's a fine kid. I don't know him but don't

worry, Ben's got great taste in friends, we know that! I'm sure he wasn't really alone,

he was probably just playing hide and ek or something. I didn't mean to worry

you. I guess everybody's on edge becau of what happened to the Godwin boy

this morning."

NARRATOR: Kelly suddenly felt cold and scared. What Godwin boy? And what

happened to him? She was not sure she wanted to know, but she had to ask.

EILEEN: "Frank Godwin's youngest boy, Davey, the five-year-old. You know

Frank, we call him Captain. He ud to be a ship captain. Well, this morning the

rescue squad found Davey in Blackhart Lake. They also found a little toy boat that

his dad made for him. Davey and his dad named it the Argh. Davey must have

been trying to sail it. It's so sad."

KELLY: "Wait, he's dead?

EILEEN: "Yes. Davey drowned."

KELLY: "Where's Blackhart Lake?"

EILEEN: "It's right off Graves-End Road, right behind that little cemetery. That's

why they call it Graves-End. Kelly, where are you going?"

Kelly: "I've got to get Benjamin."

(MUSIC)

NARRATOR: Kelly raced down Main Street. She had no idea who Wallace Gray

was or how he was involved in any of this. But she did not trust him and she knew

her child was in danger.

Finally she was at Graves-End Road.

BEN: "Only two hous on each side."

NARRATOR: She remembered what Ben had told her.

EILEEN: "Right behind that little cemetery."

NARRATOR: And what Eileen had told her. Kelly got out of the car and walked

down the street. She looked around.

BEN: "It's the cond one on the left."

NARRATOR: She could e the lake. Some fog was coming up as the sky

darkened on this Halloween night. But there was no cond hou. Instead, what

lay before her was grass and large white stones. The cemetery. Kelly walked

through the gate into the yard of graves.

Kelly: "Ben?"

NARRATOR: No answer. She kept walking.

KELLY: "Ben? Answer me. I know you're here."

NARRATOR: Again no answer. But the wind blew and some leaves began to

dance around a headstone. Kelly walked slowly toward the grave. Suddenly the sky

blackened -- so dark, she could not e anything. She felt a force pushing at her. It

tried to push her away from the grave. But she knew she had to stay.

KELLY: "Benjamin Owen Orr, this is your mother. Come out this cond!"

NARRATOR: No one answered, except for the sound of the blowing wind. The

darkness lifted. Silvery moonlight shone down directly onto the old gravestone in

front of her. But Kelly already knew who name she would e.

KELLY: "'Wallace Gray. October thirty-first, nineteen hundred, to October

thirty-first, nineteen hundred and ten. Some are best when laid to rest.'"

NARRATOR: Kelly took a deep breath. Then ...

KELLY: "Wallace Gray this play date is OVER! Give me back my son. Wallace,

you are in TIME-OUT."

NARRATOR: Suddenly, the ground shoots upward like a small volcano. Soil,

sticks and worms fly over Kelly's head and rain down again -- followed by her son,

who lands beside her.

BEN: (COUGHING, CHOKING)

KELLY: "Ben! Ben!"

BEN: (COUGHING, CHOKING) "Mom, Mom! Are you there? I can't e. All this

dirt in my eyes."

KELLY: "Ben, I'm here, I'm here baby, right here. Oh, sweet Benny-boy. Can you

breathe? Are you really ok? What happened? How long were you in there?"

BEN: "I don't know, Mom. But I didn't like it. I didn't like where Wallace lives. I

want to go home."

KELLY: "Oh, me too, Sweetie. C'mon, Ben, put your arm around me. C'mon.

(SOUNDS)

BEN: "And Mom, one more thing ... "

KELLY: "What is it, Ben?"

BEN "I don't want to be a ghost for Halloween."

(MUSIC)

PAT BODNAR: Our story "The Boy on Graves-End Road" was written and

produced by Caty Weaver. The voices were Andrew Bracken, Faith Lapidus,

Katherine Cole, Shirley Griffith and Jim Tedder. I'm Pat Bodnar.

Join us again next week for another American story in VOA Coming to Terms

With Academic Titles at US Colleges

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Not everyone who teaches in a college or university is a professor. Many are

instructors or lecturers. In fact, not even all professors are full professors. Many of

them are assistant or associate professors or adjunct professors.

So what do all of the different academic titles mean at American colleges

and universities? Get ready for a short lecture, especially if you are thinking of a

career in higher education.

Professors usually need a doctoral degree. But sometimes a school will offer

positions to people who have not yet received their doctorate.

This person would be called an instructor until the degree has been completed.

After that, the instructor could become an assistant professor. Assistant professors

do not have tenure.

Tenure means a permanent appointment. This goal of greater job curity is

harder to reach the days. Fewer teaching positions offer the chance for tenure.

Teachers and rearchers who are hired into positions that do offer it are said

to be "on the tenure track." Assistant professor is the first job on this path.

Assistant professors generally have five to ven years to gain tenure. During

this time, other faculty members study the person's work. If tenure is denied, then

the assistant professor usually has a year to find another job.

Candidates for tenure may feel great pressure to get rearch published.

"Publish or perish" is the traditional saying.

An assistant professor who receives tenure becomes an associate professor.

An associate professor may later be appointed a full professor.

Assistant, associate and full professors perform many duties. They teach

class. They advi students. And they carry out rearch. They also rve on

committees and take part in other activities.

Other faculty members are not expected to do all the jobs. They are not on a

tenure track. Instead, they might be in adjunct or visiting positions.

A visiting professor has a job at one school but works at another for a period

of time. An adjunct professor is also a limited or part-time position, to do rearch

or teach class. Adjunct professors have a doctorate.

Another position is that of lecturer. Lecturers teach class, but they may or

may not have a doctorate.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy

Steinbach. You and read and listen to our reports, and get information on how to

study in the United States, at . I'm Barbara Klein.

EDUCATION REPORT - Early Class = Sleepy Teens (Duh!)

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Surveys of American teenagers find that about half of them do not get

enough sleep on school nights. They get an average of sixty to ninety minutes less

than experts say they need.

One reason for this deficit is biology. Experts say teens are biologically

programmed to go to sleep later and wake up later than other age groups. Yet

many schools start class as early as ven in the morning.

As a result, many students go to class feeling like sixteen-year-old Danny. He

plays two sports, lacros(曲棍球) and football. He is an active teen -- except in the

morning.

DANNY: "Getting up in the morning is pretty terrible. I'm just very out of it and

tired. And then going to school I'm out of it, and through first and cond period I

can barely stay awake."

Michael Breus is a clinical psychologist with a specialty in sleep disorders.

MICHAEL BREUS: "The aren't a bunch of lazy kids -- although, you know,

teenagers can of cour be lazy. The are children who biological rhythms,

more times than not, are off."

Teens, he says, need to sleep eight to nine hours or even nine to ten hours a

night. He says sleepy teens can experience a form of depression that could have

big effects on their general well-being. It can affect not just their ability in the

classroom but also on the sports field and on the road.

Michael Breus says any tired driver is dangerous, but especially a teenager

with a lack of experience.

So what can schools do about sleepy students? The psychologist says one

thing they can do is start class later in the morning. He points to studies showing

that students can improve by a full letter grade in their first- and cond-period

class.

Eric Peterson is the head of St. George's School in the northeastern state of

Rhode Island. He wanted to e if a thirty-minute delay would make a difference. It

did.

He says visits to the health center by tired students decread by half. Late

arrivals to first period fell by a third. And students reported that they were less

sleepy during the day.

Eric Peterson knows that changing start times is easier at a small, private

boarding school like his. But he is hopeful that other schools will find a way.

ERIC PETERSON: "In the end, schools ought to do what's the right thing for

their students, first and foremost."

Patricia Moss, an assistant dean at St. George's School, says students were not

the only ones reporting better results.

PATRICIA MOSS: "I can say that, anecdotally, virtually all the teachers noticed

immediately much more alertness in class, definitely more positive mood. Kids

were happier to be there at eight-thirty than they were at eight."

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report. You can read, listen and

comment on our programs at . We're also on Facebook and Twitter

at VOA Learning English. I'm Bob Doughty.

___

Reporting by Julie Taboh, adapted by Lawan Davis

Special English.

WORDS AND THEIR STORIES - Words and Their Stories: Nicknames for

Chicago

Broadcast date: 1-10-2010 / Written by Carl Sandburg

From /voanews/specialenglish/

Now, the VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.

A nickname is a shortened version of a person's name. A nickname also can

describe a person, place or thing. Many American cities have interesting

nicknames. The can help establish an identity, spread pride among citizens and

build unity.

(MUSIC: "Chicago")

Chicago, Illinois was once the cond largest city in the United States. So, one

of its nicknames is The Second City. Over the years, the population of Chicago has

decread. Today it is the third largest American city.

However, another nickname for Chicago is still true today. It is The Windy City.

Chicago sits next to Lake Michigan, one of North America's Great Lakes. Language

expert Barry Popick says on his website that Chicago was called a "windy city"

becau of the wind that blows off of Lake Michigan. In the eighteen sixties and

venties, Chicago was advertid as an ideal place to visit in the summer becau

of this cool wind.

But anyone who has ever lived in Chicago knows how cold that wind can be in

winter. The wind travels down the streets between tall buildings in the center of

the city.

Barry Popick says other cities in the central United States called Chicago a

"windy city." This meant that people in Chicago liked to brag or talk about how

great their city was. They were full of wind or full of hot air. He says newspapers in

Cincinnati, Ohio ud this expression in the eighteen venties.

Chicago was an important agricultural, industrial and transportation center for

the country.

In nineteen sixteen, the city gained two more nicknames from a poem called

"Chicago," written by Carl Sandburg. Here is the first part of the poem:

Hog Butcher for the World,

Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,

Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;

Stormy, husky, brawling,

City of the Big Shoulders.

Chicago was called Hog Butcher for the World becau of its huge

meat-processing industry. And, it was called The City of the Big Shoulders or City

of Broad Shoulders becau of its importance to the nation.

There are veral songs about Chicago. "My Kind of Town" was made popular

by Frank Sinatra in nineteen sixty-four.

(MUSIC)

This program was written by Shelley Gollust. I'm Faith Lapidus.

Qs: How many nicknames does Chicago have?

The Second city, windy city, hog butcher and the city of the big shoulder.

Contrary to popular belief, Sam Walton (the founder of Wal-Mart) was not

from Arkansas. He was actually born in Kingfisher, Oklahoma on March 29, 1918.

He was raid in Missouri where he worked in his father's store while attending

school. This was his first retailing experience and he really enjoyed it. After

graduating from the University of Missouri in 1940, he began his own career as a

retail merchant when he opened the first of veral franchis of the Ben Franklin

five-and-dime franchis in Arkansas.

This would lead to bigger and better things and he soon opened his first

Wal-Mart store in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas. Wal-Mart specialized in name-brands

at low prices and Sam Walton was surprid at the success. Soon a chain of

Wal-Mart stores sprang up across rural America.

Walton's management style was popular with employees and he founded

some of the basic concepts of management that are still in u today. After taking

the company public in 1970, Walton introduced his "profit sharing plan". The profit

sharing plan was a plan for Wal-Mart employees to improve their income

dependent on the profitability of the store. Sam Walton believed that "individuals

don't win, teams do". Employees at Wal-Mart stores were offered stock options

and store discounts. The benefits are commonplace today, but Walton was

among the first to implement them. Walton believed that a happy employee

meant happy customers and more sales. Walton believed that by giving

employees a part of the company and making their success dependent on the

company's success, they would care about the company.

By the 1980s, Wal-Mart had sales of over one billion dollars and over three

hundred stores across North America. Wal-Mart's unique decentralized

distribution system, also Walton's idea, created the edge needed to further spur

growth in the 1980s amidst growing complaints that the "superstore" was

squelching smaller, traditional Mom and Pop stores. By 1991, Wal-Mart was the

largest U.S. retailer with 1,700 stores. Walton remained active in managing the

company, as president and CEO until 1988 and chairman until his death. He was

awarded the Medal of Freedom shortly before his death.

Walton died in 1992, being the world's cond richest man, behind Bill Gates.

He pasd his company down to his three sons, daughter and wife. Wal-Mart

Stores Incorporated (located in Bentonville, Arkansas) is also in charge of "Sams

Club". Wal-Mart stores now operate in Mexico, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, South

Korea, China and Puerto Rico. Sam Walton's visions were indeed successful.

Will Computers Replace Human Beings?

We are in the computer age today. The computers are working all kinds of

wonders now. They are very uful in automatic control and data processing. At

the same time, computers are finding their way into the home. They em to be so

clever and can solve such complicated problems that some people think sooner or

later they will replace us.

But I do not think that there is such a possibility. My reason is very simple:

computers are machines, not humans. And our tasks are far too various and

complicated for any one single kind of machine to perform.

Probably the greatest difference between man and computer is that the

former can do things of his own while the latter can do nothing without being

programmed. In my opinion, computers will remain nothing but an extension of

our human brains, no matter how clever and complicated they may become.

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