EXPLORATIONS - International Spy Museum

EXPLORATIONS -August 7, 2002: International Spy Museum

VOICE ONE:
This is Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program EXPLORATIONS. Today we tell about
a

museum that has just opened in Washington D -C. This unusual museum is becoming very popular, very quickly.

It is the International Spy Museum.

(SPY MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The International Spy Museum opened on Friday, July nineteenth. The next day a crowd of
people waited in the summer heat for as long as two hours to enter.

After they got in the museum, they learned¹ about famous spies. They saw unusual
communications equipment, special weapons and other items. They also saw many objects that
used to be secret, including different cameras used by spies. Some of the cameras can see

through walls.

The museum has a huge collection of pictures of spies. It provides information about what it is like to be a spy.
And, it has shows what happens to some spies when they are caught.

Some of its information about spies is history. Other information is new, some only a few months old. Among the
stories the museum tells is about two American men who were found guilty in recent years of spying. Aldrich
Ames and Robert Hanssen are spending the rest of their lives in prison.

VOICE TWO:

Information is extremely useful to a government and its leaders. Almost all governments employ people who
collect information.

National leaders use this information to make the best possible decisions when their country is involved in a
crisis² or other difficult situation. The correct information can help a leader prevent war. It can save lives, improve
the economy and protect the citizens of a nation.

Valuable information does not have to be secret. It can be found in newspapers, magazines and books. However,
some people collect information that a government considers secret. These people are spies.

((MUSIC BRIDGE))

VOICE ONE:

History experts say that spies have always existed. The International Spy Museum says the
first known document about spies is almost four-thousand years old. It is a small piece of Germany, 1949: a
pottery³ made of clay that was found in Syria. camera in a

wristwatch.

The information written in the clay tells about the capture⁴ of several spies. It does not say what happened to
them.

The museum has a copy of a military book written two-thousand-five hundred years ago. Chinese military expert


General Sun Tzu wrote the book, “The Art of War.
”
It is still read today in military schools. In the book, Sun
Tzu explains spies should be used and can find good information almost anywhere.

The International Spy Museum says the first known successful group of spies may have worked in Britain. The
Museum says Sir Francis Walsingham was the Secretary of State for Britain’s Queen Elizabeth the First. He
became her Secretary of State in fifteen-seventy-three.

Mister⁵ Walsingham controlled a large group of spies who gathered information about people in Britain. Experts
say there may have been one-thousand-five-hundred spies in this group.

Mister Walsingham also collected information about foreign governments. However, he was more interested in
anyone who might be a threat to Queen Elizabeth and her rule. History experts judge these efforts to have been
successful because he was able to protect the queen from several enemies who tried to overthrow⁶ her
government.

VOICE TWO:

American military commanders used spies against the British during the American Revolution. George
Washington’s letter about the use of spies is in the International Spy Museum. There also is material from spies
on both sides of the American Civil War and from spies from countries that took part in World War One.

The museum has a large collection of material about World War Two. Spies did very useful work for both sides
during the war. They gathered information about enemy plans and caused problems for the enemy deep in
occupied lands.

The Museum also explains how almost every government has used spies to gather secret information during
peacetime. It tells how the secrets for making the atomic⁷ bomb were stolen.

The work of spying is not just history. It continues today. The International Spy Museum says more spies are
working now in Washington D-C, than in any other city in the world.

((MUSIC BRIDGE))

VOICE ONE:

If you were going to build a museum that cost more than forty-million dollars to tell the story of spies, how
would you do it? The company that owns the International Spy Museum asked the advice of a long list of experts.

Several are retired⁸ members of the United States Central Intelligence Agency⁹. Two members of this group are
Admiral Stansfield Turner and William Webster. Both are former heads of the C-I-A. The museum’s experts
also include General Oleg Kalugin. He once was the head of the former Soviet¹⁰ Union’s intelligence service, the
K-G-B. General Kalugin says he worked with the museum so all sides of the spy story could be represented.

The International Spy Museum attempts to represent the work that spies do. It is not trying to present a political
idea, or the story of one country or government. The museum makes it clear that a person considered a dangerous
spy in one country can be considered a hero in another country.

VOICE TWO:

The International Spy Museum is in a group of older buildings near the center of Washington D-C. Inside, the
museum is extremely modern. It uses the newest electronic technology to tell the story of spying.

Visitors are surrounded by steel and glass walls. On one wall is the warning, “All is not as it seems.
”
Many of
the walls hold television equipment that shows information as the visitors walk through an area.

On many of these television sets, different pictures appear telling the same story. The museum also includes
several small theaters that show films about spies and spying. A visitor soon realizes there is a lot to see and a lot
to learn.


((MUSIC BRIDGE))

VOICE ONE:

Visitors to the new museum say the information provided¹¹ is very interesting. They especially like the objects
used by spies.

Many of these items are unusual. They look like common items, but they are not. Some are extremely small. For
example, a button on a man’s coat is really the lens¹² on a camera. Another camera looks like a wristwatch.

A small, brown suitcase is really a radio used by allied¹³ spies working in German occupied France during World
War Two. The suitcase radio was used to send and receive messages from the spy ’s headquarters¹⁴ in Britain.

The museum also has many different weapons that are difficult to recognize. One looks like the round lipstick¹⁵
tube a woman uses to place red color on her lips. It is really a small gun that can fire one bullet¹⁶. Another gun
looks like a large ring. It can fire five very small bullets¹⁷.

VOICE TWO:

The International Spy Museum is too small to have an airplane inside it. Yet airplanes are very important to the
story of spying.

The museum has pictures of spy planes and the photographs they have taken. One interesting camera was used by

a bird. This happened before the invention of airplanes. A special small camera was attached to the bird’s chest.
The bird flew into the air and the camera began taking photographs. The result was not always useful, but
provided some information.

Many years later, the United States used the fastest aircraft ever built to gather photographic intelligence. It was
called the S-R-Seventy-One Blackbird. It could travel at three times the speed of sound. The Blackbird’s
powerful cameras could take photographs of objects as small as a child’s ball from as high as twenty-sixthousand
meters.

VOICE ONE:

The International Spy Museum is owned by a company that plans to build museums for profit. An adult has to
pay eleven dollars to enter the International Spy Museum. A child must pay eight dollars. The museum also
includes a large gift shop and two places to eat.

Some critics say eleven dollars is too much to charge. Yet, the people who must wait in long lines to enter the
museum do not seem to mind paying that amount.

Oh.
we almost forgot to tell you. If you visit the spy museum, be careful what you say while you are there. As
you pass through the museum’s twenty-four rooms, hidden devices¹⁸ are recording¹⁹ what you say.

As you finish your visit, you can listen to these recordings²⁰ of visitors’
comments. In the International Spy
Museum, nothing is as it seems.

((THEME))

VOICE TWO:

This Special English program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced by Cynthia Kirk. Our studio
engineer was Holly²¹ Capehart. This is Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And this is Mary Tillotson. Join us again next week for another EXPLORATIONS program on the Voice of
America.


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1 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

2 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

3 pottery   

n.陶器，陶器场

参考例句：

• My sister likes to learn art pottery in her spare time.我妹妹喜欢在空余时间学习陶艺。
• The pottery was left to bake in the hot sun.陶器放在外面让炎热的太阳烘晒焙干。

4 capture   

vt.捕获，俘获；占领，夺得；n.抓住，捕获

参考例句：

• The company is out to capture the European market.这家公司希望占据欧洲市场。
• With the capture of the escaped tiger,everyone felt relieved.逃出来的老虎被捕获后，大家都松了一口气。

5 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

6 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

7 atomic   

adj.(关于)原子的；原子能(武器)的

参考例句：

• The atomic theory is important.原子理论很重要。
• We should take part in the peaceful uses of atomic energy.我们应该参与原子能的和平应用。

8 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

9 agency   

n.经办；代理；代理处

参考例句：

• This disease is spread through the agency of insects.这种疾病是通过昆虫媒介传播的。
• He spoke in the person of Xinhua News Agency.他代表新华社讲话。

10 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。

11 provided   

conj.假如，若是；adj.预备好的，由...供给的

参考例句：

• Provided it's fine we will have a pleasant holiday.如果天气良好，我们的假日将过得非常愉快。
• I will come provided that it's not raining tomorrow.如果明天不下雨，我就来。

12 lens   

n.透镜，镜片；镜头

参考例句：

• The lens of a camera forms images.照相机的镜头使图像形成。
• You should screen the lens of your camera from direct sunlight.你应该使照相机的镜头不直接照射到阳光。

13 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

14 headquarters   

n.司令部，指挥部；总部，总店

参考例句：

• Several great guns from the headquarters are coming to see us today.总部的几个大人物今天要来看我们。
• The bank has its headquarters in Pairs.这家银行的总行在巴黎。

15 lipstick   

n.口红，唇膏

参考例句：

• Taking out her lipstick,she began to paint her lips.她拿出口红，开始往嘴唇上抹。
• Lipstick and hair conditioner are cosmetics.口红和护发素都是化妆品。

16 bullet   

n.枪弹，子弹

参考例句：

• The bullet wound in his shoulder was opened up for treatment.切开他肩上的枪伤进行治疗。
• The bullet missed me by a hair's s breadth.那颗子弹差一点就打中了我。

17 bullets   

n.弹药；军火

参考例句：

• The bodies of the hostages were found riddled with bullets. 在人质的尸体上发现了很多弹孔。
• The bullets and cannon-balls were flying in all directions. 子弹和炮弹到处乱飞。

18 devices   

n.设备；装置( device的名词复数 )；花招；（为实现某种目的的）计划；手段

参考例句：

• electrical labour-saving devices around the home 节省劳力的各种家用电器
• modern labour-saving devices such as washing machines and dishwashers 诸如洗衣机和洗碗机之类的现代化省力设备

19 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

20 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

21 holly   

n.[植]冬青属灌木

参考例句：

• I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
• People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。