VOA慢速英语2014 海岸警卫队和美国之音的合作

 

AS IT IS 2014-07-01 Coast Guard Honors Partnership¹ with VOA 海岸警卫队和美国之音的合作

Most Americans may have never heard about a Coast Guard ship called the USS Courier.  The Courier also may be unfamiliar² to people in Eastern Europe or the former Soviet³ Union.  But between 1952 and 1964, the ship floated near the Greek island of Rhodes.  During that period, it broadcast thousands of hours of Voice of America programs to the Soviet Union and its allies⁴. 

Since then, people who served on the ship have held anniversary reunions to celebrate their work.  Recently, they gathered at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut.  The Academy has an exhibit honoring the Courier.

“In the battle against Communism, the Courier, a ship without guns, goes into battle armed with the greatest weapon on all: truth!”

Cold War newsreel reports about the partnership between VOA and the Coast Guard sound dated to some people.  But the struggle between the Soviet Union and Western countries was very real.  Bob Marriott was part of the USS Courier’s Coast Guard crew.

“We were real proud of our job.  We got through to people that couldn’t hear the truth and we kept working to get that message across and it made us feel good to know that they got the truth from somewhere, that in their native countries was censored⁵.”

In addition to news, listeners could enjoy VOA’s cultural and music programs.

Music great Louis Armstrong made this station identification⁶ on VOA’s Jazz Hour program with Willis Conover.

“This is the Voice of America, Washington, D.C.”

The USS Courier had broadcast equipment that was more powerful than land-based radio stations at the time.

The Soviet Union worked hard to “jam” or interfere⁷ with the broadcasts.  Bob Marriott says making sure VOA had a clear signal was, in his words, like playing a game of “cat and mouse.”

“We were matching our wits against the guy in Russia that was trying to jam us.  And we took pride in having a couple extra frequencies available so that when he lined up on our frequency, on that particular receiver, we clicked him off and got another one and kept the program going.  We were the tip of the bayonet.  It felt real good.”

Unlike most military ships, the Courier did not carry heavy weaponry.  Navy ships would come to its aid if there was a need.

Maria Lowther was born in Greece.  She moved to Rhodes as a refugee⁸ and later married a member of the US Coast Guard.  She says the Courier, its VOA crews and their money were important to the economy of the island. 

“We did not have enough money to have food on the table.  And all of a sudden, the ship appears, and the money started flowing.  But above all, it was the dignity of the people that was saved.  The American spirit was absolutely unbelievable.”

The families of Coast Guard and VOA employees lived on Rhodes, and became friends with the islanders. 

The father of Denise Clemens served as an engineer on the Courier.  She remembers growing up on the island and getting a lot of attention from a young Greek man.

“I had a boy who was crazy about me and that was because of those VOA broadcasts because he wanted a ticket to America.  And he decided⁹ I was his ticket.  And so every time I would walk anywhere, he’d be riding his bicycle around and around singing, ‘You Are My Destiny,’ by Paul Anka, at the top of his lungs.  He might not know any other English, but he knew those words.”

That boy never did marry Denise Clemens.

For their part, the U.S. Coast Guardsmen and their families consider themselves winners many times over.  Many of them truly enjoy the Coast Guard Academy exhibit about the Courier.  As one former officer said of the show: “It almost makes you cry.  We made lifelong friends and comrades, and we helped win the Cold War without firing a shot.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.”

1 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

2 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。

3 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

4 allies   

联盟国，同盟者； 同盟国，同盟者( ally的名词复数 )； 支持者； 盟军

参考例句：

• The allies would fear that they were pawns in a superpower condominium. 这个联盟担心他们会成为超级大国共管的牺牲品。
• A number of the United States' allies had urged him not to take a hasty decision. 美国的一些盟友已力劝他不要急于作决定。

5 censored   

受审查的，被删剪的

参考例句：

• The news reports had been heavily censored . 这些新闻报道已被大幅删剪。
• The military-backed government has heavily censored the news. 有军方撑腰的政府对新闻进行了严格审查。

6 identification   

n.视为同一，证明同一，确认

参考例句：

• He's made a formal identification of the body.他正式确认了死者身份。
• We should have identification card on the person when we go out.我们外出时应随身携带身份证。

7 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

8 refugee   

n.难民，流亡者

参考例句：

• The refugee was condemned to a life of wandering.这个难民注定要过流浪的生活。
• The refugee is suffering for want of food and medical supplies.难民苦于缺少食物和医药用品。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。