英语听力：自然百科 伊斯坦堡

 This city of 12 million seemed to be a good place to see how a National Geographic¹ Magazine story is put together. Istanbul, a metropolis² poised³ on both the European and Asian continents, lies right on the fault line that could rupture⁴ anytime. This city began sometime around 657 B.C. and has reinvented itself over and over throughout the centuries.

 

A team from National Geographic Magazine came to Istanbul with ideas for stories, but being on the ground, those ideas can unfold freely. With their Turkish-speaking guy leading the way, the team spends the time wandering, talking, documenting, watching, experiencing and listening for songs and voices that could tell a story. Slowly, the city began to reveal itself.

 

Yesterday when we were in the rug, with a rug merchant, a carpet, a carpet will speak to you or doesn't speak to you. There are some places I go. There are just some that don't speak to me. And this one, from the instant I saw it, spoke⁵ to me.

 

The group wandered into Armutlu, a gecekondu community. Gecekondu means built overnight in Turkish, and refers to the small houses hastily built from bricks and cardboard. The shoddy construction in most of these communities won't survive an earthquake, and one is likely in the next few decades. The houses are built on state-owned land without the appropriate permits. The women at this village feel the effects of the economic crisis. From their front doors, they gaze at the technology corridor of Istanbul, and dream of working there one day. The group stayed for over an hour outside, talking about those visions, discussing their jobless husbands, playing with their children, comparing pictures, and of course, having tea.

1 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

2 metropolis   

n.首府；大城市

参考例句：

• Shanghai is a metropolis in China.上海是中国的大都市。
• He was dazzled by the gaiety and splendour of the metropolis.大都市的花花世界使他感到眼花缭乱。

3 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

4 rupture   

n.破裂；(关系的)决裂；v.(使)破裂

参考例句：

• I can rupture a rule for a friend.我可以为朋友破一次例。
• The rupture of a blood vessel usually cause the mark of a bruise.血管的突然破裂往往会造成外伤的痕迹。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。