VOA常速英语2016--知识竞猜节目展现学生多面风采

知识竞猜节目展现学生多面风采

It's a Saturday morning, and the high school TV quiz show It's Academic is on the air, as it hasbeen for the past 50 years. Students from schools across the Washington area are answeringquestions on history, literature, math, science, religion, politics and sports. Producer SusanAltman says the show is a lot of fun. It's a great age group to work with. They're fun, they'reenthusiastic. They say funny things without even meaning to half the time. Altman's mother,Sophie, a TV producer in the 1950s, started It's Academic at the request of local schoolofficials to showcase outstanding students. At that time, it was 1961. The United States ofcourse was going through a lot of upheaval¹ with school integration², and they wanted things tohelp out, to make the schools look good and to show that integration could work and workwell. And so this is what she came up with. Mac McGarry has hosted It's Academic since itdebuted. He's now 84. Every time I look up, I see people who are just 17 years old, andsomehow I think, 'Well I must not be getting older at all.' Their enthusiasm is contagious³, noquestion about it. And you really have to rev⁴ yourself up to keep up with them. McGarry haschallenged more than 20,000 contestants⁵, asked more than 200,000 questions and gottenmore than a few funny answers. "We had a question one time: 'Who defeated Napoleon atWaterloo?' and the young fellow answered, 'Duke Ellington.' Another time, we had a question of'Who along with Frederick Engel wrote the Communist Manifesto⁶?' ‘Groucho Marx’. The correctanswers, of course, are the Duke of Wellington and Karl Marx. Kelly Reeder knows that. Shecaptained the Rockville High School It's Academic team last year. The suburban⁷ Washingtonschool has won the show's championship several times. Me and all the other people on theteam. We've put in a lot of effort over the years and a lot of time to be where we are. So… AndI mean it's a really huge honor to end up on the A team. But she admits, it's a little nerdy. Myfriends who are on It's Academic think it's cool that I'm the captain of the A Team, but myfriends who are not on It's Academic think it's kind of funny. Reeder and her teammatesreflected the diversity now common on It's Academic. That wasn't the case in show's earlyyears. It's a reflection of the great diversity of our country now, but they do too well. Whenwe first started, the young people from various countries were not evident so much. But now,each program presents young people from all over the world, at least descendents from peopleall over the world. So this is a microcosm of the way America is today. Several well-knownAmericans, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former astronaut Timothy Creamer,appeared on the show when they were teenagers. Perhaps one of these students from It'sAcademic will also rise to prominence⁸.

又是一个周六，一档已经有50年历史的高中电视竞猜节目《It's Academic》如约播出。在该档节目中，来自华盛顿不同地方的高中生回答关于历史、文学、数学、科学、宗教、政治和体育等方面的不同问题。制作人苏珊称，这档节目趣味性很强。跟这个年龄段的孩子们合作很有意思。他们有趣又热情。他们不经意就能讲出让人捧腹的话。

奥特曼的母亲名叫索菲，是上世纪50年代的电视制作人。索菲创立这档节目是应当地教育官员展现出色学生风采的要求。那时候是1961年。那时候美国正经历学校重组的变动，他们希望有一些事情能助力学校重组，让这些重组后的学校看起来焕然一新、脱胎换骨、运作良好。而这档节目就是索菲想出来的妙招。马克自这档节目开播以来一直担任主持人。如今马克84岁了。每一次我看向答题选手，我看到的都是17岁的面庞，不知不觉，我会觉得“嗯，我也变年轻了”。他们的热情十分具有感染力，这一点是毫无疑问的。而且你必须高速运转大脑以跟上他们的节奏。在节目中，麦克曾接触过2万多名选手，问过不下20多万个问题，过程中经历过一些有趣的答案。 “有一次，有这样一个问题‘谁在滑铁卢打败了拿破仑？’然后回答问题的选手喊道，‘艾灵顿公爵’”。还有一次问题是“谁和恩格尔一起写了《共产党宣言》？” “格劳乔 马克思”。正确答案当然是“惠灵顿公爵和卡尔马克思”。凯利也知道这样的情况。去年，凯利曾在这档节目中担任罗克维尔高中队的队长。该校曾数次获得总冠军。我和我的队友们都在过去的几年中付出了艰辛的努力和时间才走到今天这一步。所以……我的意思是，能获得冠军真的是巨大的荣誉。但凯利承认，可能有些书呆子的感觉。也参加过这档节目的朋友们都觉得当队长蛮好的，反之，其他朋友们就会觉得很滑稽。凯利和她的队友们也崭新了这档节目的多面性。这不像早年时候的电视节目了。这档节目能反映出我国学生的多样性，而他们确实做得很好。节目开播初期，来自不同国家的孩子们表现并没那样明显。而今，每次节目都有来自全球的年轻人、不同族裔的后人参加。这是今日美国的缩影。如今的一些知名人士在年轻时也曾参加过这档节目，如美国国务卿希拉里和与蒂莫西。也许今天我们看到的孩子们中，也有人会在今后一举成名。

1 upheaval   

n.胀起，(地壳)的隆起；剧变，动乱

参考例句：

• It was faced with the greatest social upheaval since World War Ⅱ.它面临第二次世界大战以来最大的社会动乱。
• The country has been thrown into an upheaval.这个国家已经陷入动乱之中。

2 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

3 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。

4 rev   

v.发动机旋转，加快速度

参考例句：

• It's his job to rev up the audience before the show starts.他要负责在表演开始前鼓动观众的热情。
• Don't rev the engine so hard.别让发动机转得太快。

5 contestants   

n.竞争者，参赛者( contestant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The competition attracted over 500 contestants representing 8 different countries. 这次比赛吸引了代表8个不同国家的500多名参赛者。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency. 两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 manifesto   

n.宣言，声明

参考例句：

• I was involved in the preparation of Labour's manifesto.我参与了工党宣言的起草工作。
• His manifesto promised measures to protect them.他在宣言里保证要为他们采取保护措施。

7 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

8 prominence   

n.突出；显著；杰出；重要

参考例句：

• He came to prominence during the World Cup in Italy.他在意大利的世界杯赛中声名鹊起。
• This young fashion designer is rising to prominence.这位年轻的时装设计师的声望越来越高。