VOA常速英语2008年-Persian Works On Display in US

By Ward¹ Ana
Washington, DC
14 February 2008
 

The U.S. Library of Congress is the world's largest library with more than 130 million items. Among its works is the largest collection of Persian language materials outside Iran. Recently, VOA's Ana Ward was on hand as the library, in partnership² with the Washington Friends of the International Society for Iranian Studies, opened its doors for an event dedicated³ to the Persian language treasures in its archives. Jim Bertel narrates⁴.

The Persian language collection at the Library of Congress includes over 50,000 volumes in Persian including manuscripts⁵, maps, music and Persian movies. The collection covers not only the country of Iran, but also the surrounding area where the language is spoken.

Mona Khademi is the president of the Washington chapter of the International Society for Iranian Studies and says she was surprised at the broad interest in Iranian culture. "After meeting with members of the Library of Congress in Washington I thought we could use this opportunity to show the public the Persian historical books and other collections. There are a lot of Iranians here and also people from other countries interested in Persian culture and this is a great opportunity for them to learn more."

The exhibition featured a tour of the reading rooms, Persian books and a presentation of the online collection available on the Library of Congress website. The Persian digital collection includes rare photographs, maps, manuscripts and lithographic books.

Babak is an Iranian-American from the Washington area. He is impressed by how much information about Iranian culture is available at the Library of Congress. He says, "There are a lot of books and resources on Persian culture here. The benefit of this library is that we actually have access to all the documents from home through the Internet and therefore we can save time."

The Library of Congress is constantly adding to its Persian language collection. Some of the materials come from Iran, some from Afghanistan and others from the Iranian-American community in the United States.

1 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

2 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。

3 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

4 narrates   

v.故事( narrate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• It narrates the unconstitutional acts of James II. 它历数了詹姆斯二世的违法行为。 来自辞典例句
• Chapter three narrates the economy activity which Jew return the Occident. 第三章讲述了犹太人重返西欧后的经济活动。 来自互联网

5 manuscripts   

手稿( manuscript的名词复数 )； 原稿； 底稿； 手写本

参考例句：

• The old librarian illuminated some old books and manuscripts. 这个老图书馆员把一些古书和旧抄稿加上各种装饰。
• At his death he left a great mass of undigested manuscripts. 他去世时留下大量尚未整理的文稿。