精美英文欣赏:手语 Sign Language(下)

The priest¹ who made up the finger alphabet² also founded the first school for the deaf in Paris in 1760. Teachers and doctors who wanted to help deaf people went to Paris and learnt Abbe de l'Epee's system. Then they taught it to their students and patients. Soon there were schools for the deaf in many countries.

组成手势语的牧师1760年在巴黎也建立了第一个聋哑学校。教师和医生们想帮助失聪的人，于是去了巴黎，学会阿贝德l'Epee的系统。然后他们教学生和病人。很快许多国家都有了聋哑学校。

Today in the United³ States, there are special TV news programs for deaf people. The newsreader tells the new in sign language. At the same time, the words appear on the TV screen.

在今天的美国，有很多特别的为聋哑人做的节目。新闻广播员用手语传达信息。同时，演说词也出现在电视屏幕上。

There is also a National Theater of the Deaf. Most of the actors in this group are deaf. They travel from city to city and do plays, readings⁴, poems and dances in sign language and pantomime. Two members tell the story or speak the lines during the performance.

还有一个聋哑人的国家剧院。多数演员都是聋子。他们在不同城市间穿梭，用手语和哑剧演出、阅读、做诗歌和舞蹈。演出中，两名聋哑人可以说故事或者读台词。

The actors in the Theater of the Deaf do not finger spell every word. Sometimes they use hand signs. When they put two hands together, it means⁵ "sandwich". They can make a roof⁶ with their hands over their heads when they want to show "house". One finger in front of an actor's mouth means "quiet". With sign language, you can talk to people who are behind windows that are closed. And when you go swimming with your friends, you can have a conversation under water!

聋哑剧院的演员们并不用手指拼每个字。有时候他们用手语。当他们把两只手在一起，它的意思是“三明治”。他们可以把双手在他们的头上表示一个房子。一个手指放在嘴前表示“安静”。通用手语，你可以隔着窗户和人说话。当你和朋友们一起游泳，你们可以在水中对话！

1 priest   

n.神父，牧师，司铎，司祭，领导者，神甫；vt.使成为神职人员

参考例句：

• He confessed to a priest that he had sinned.他向神父忏悔他犯了罪。
• The priest visited all the old people in the parish.牧师探望了教区里的所有老人。

2 alphabet   

n.字母表，符号系统

参考例句：

• There are 26 letters in the English alphabet.英语字母表中有26个字母。
• The last letter of the alphabet is Z.字母表的最后一个字母是Z。

3 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

4 readings   

n.阅读( reading的名词复数 )；读书；读物；读数

参考例句：

• As part of the celebrations they staged a big,open-air multimedia event,with music,videos,poetry readings,dance and improvisations. 在庆典中，他们举行了大型的露天多媒体活动，其中有音乐、录像、诗朗诵、舞蹈和即兴表演。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They have compiled a collection of Elementary Readings on the Natural Scieces to help young people in their studies. 为了便于青少年学习，他们编了一套《自然科学小丛书》。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

6 roof   

n.屋顶；v.给...覆以屋顶，覆盖

参考例句：

• A cat is on the roof.一只小猫在屋顶上。
• Move back! The roof is falling!往后退，屋顶要塌了！