英语单词大师：Broadway

 AA:   I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster: a track from the original Broadway cast recording 1 of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

RS:   The show is a musical satire 2 of spelling competitions and the pressure to go to Washington 鈥?where, in real life, the best young spellers compete in the National Spelling Bee. VOICE:   Ms. Peretti. Please spell syzygy.
RONA:   S-y-z-y-g-y. Syzygy?
VOICE:   We have a winner!
RONA:   Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
CHIP:   At the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling BeeMy parents keep on telling meJust being here is winning.
AlthoughI know it isn't so.
RONA:   But it's a very niceVery, very nice ...
RONA, CHIP:   Very, very niceVery nice beginning.
RONA:   Our winner here last year: Chip Tolentino.
SCHWARZY:   Ms. Peretti!
RONA:   And our youngest competitor, Logainne Schwarzandgrubeniere.
CONEYBEAR:   At the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling game -- Bee!
I'll stand when they announce my name:
RONA:   Leaf Coneybear.
CONEYBEAR:   And try and keep from shaking.
SCHWARZY:   AlasHis shaking will not passCONEYBEAR/CHIP/RONA/SCHWARZY: 'Cause it's a very big, Very fraught 3 Simple but it's notIt's a very big undertaking 4.
RONA:   Returning after last year's tragic 5 setback 6, William Barfee.
BARFEE:   It's pronounced Barfee, there's an accent egue.
RONA:   I'm not sure who this girl is.
MARCY:   Marcy Park. Recent transfer.
SCHWARZY:   Winner's destination: Washington, D.C.
CHIP/SCHWARZY:   Plasma 7 TVIn a fancy hotel.
MARCY/CHIP/SCHWARZY:   Where they treat you well.
ALL:   All because you love to spell.
We spell.
RONA:   It's a marvelous memoryIf you win the spelling bee.
One's life improves from A to ZThe minute you are crowned here.
I see a trophy 8 held by me!
And when I wonDid I swell 9?
Oh the stories I could tell!
But braggarts don't do wellAround here.
OLIVE:   Hi, I'm Olive Ostrovsky. Do you know where I check in?
BARFEE:   Shut up!
CONEYBEAR:   At the 25th AnnualWe memorize the manual ...
ALL:   About how to spell these words.
Words that require thought.
People think we're automatons 10. But that is exactly what we're not.
MARCY:   We hear the word.
SCHWARZY:   We breathe.
CONEYBEAR:   We wait.
ALL:   Unlike idiots we ideate.
RONA:   To ideate is to form an image or idea, to thinkCONEYBEAR:   At the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee ...
SCHWARZY:   We feel no animosity.
SCHWARZY/OLIVE:   And yet our heads are spinning.
BARFEE:   We areThe slightest bit bizarre.
MARCY:   But since the time is now ...
CONEYBEAR:   Holy cow!
SCHWARZY:   We shall make a solemn vowTo concentrate on winning.
ALL:   We concentrate on winning.
At the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling BeeWe speak so damn convincingly.
RONA:   They're nervous but they're grinning.
GIRLS:   It seemsWe're living out our dreams.
BOYS:   Which is a very niceVery nice, very very very niceALL:   Very nice, very niceVery very very niceVery niceBeginningRONA:   25th AnnualSPELLERS:   25th AnnualALL:   Putnam County Spelling Bee!
RS:   The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is on stage in New York and San Francisco.  A national tour is scheduled to begin later this year.
AA:   And that's Wordmaster for this week -- online at voanews.com/wordmaster.  Our e-mail address is word@voanews.com.  With Rosanne Skirble, I'm Avi Arditti.