VOA慢速英语 2008 0421b

VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Barbara Klein. This week on our program, we take a look at Washington's newly opened museum of news, the Newseum.

(SOUND)

"There's a big story breaking at the circus but nobody seems to know what's going on. [Animal sounds.] O.K., rookie, it's your job to get the story and scoop¹ the competition. We know what happened, when and where. You need to find out who did it, how and why. Ask questions, get the facts and file the story with this P.D.A. as soon as you can. Now get going."

VOICE ONE:
　

The Newseum in Washington DC opened in April 2008

So begins one of the many interactive² games at the Newseum in Washington. This game, "Be a Reporter," is played on a small screen in the Interactive Newsroom and Ethics³ Center.

This area of the Newseum also includes an activity called "Be a TV Reporter." For an extra eight dollars, visitors can read the news in front of a camera. Afterward⁴, they receive a picture of themselves and instructions about how to download a video of their performance.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The Newseum opened on Pennsylvania Avenue, next to the Canadian Embassy, on April eleventh. It was formerly⁵ located across the Potomac River from Washington. The Newseum opened in Arlington, Virginia, in nineteen ninety-seven. But it closed in two thousand two after a decision to move to a bigger space.

The newly built museum has fourteen galleries, fifteen theaters and sixteen zillion video screens.

VOICE ONE:
　

Pieces of the Berlin Wall that separated East and West Berlin during the Cold War

One of the galleries is the Berlin Wall Gallery. It tells the story of the four meter high concrete wall built in nineteen sixty-one. Communist East Germany built the wall to separate itself from democratic West Germany. The wall was torn down, and the two Germanies reunited, in nineteen eighty-nine.

The gallery contains eight pieces of the Berlin Wall. It also includes a watch tower that stood not far from the "Checkpoint Charlie" crossing between east and west Berlin.

Three large screens in the gallery show three different movies about the history of news reporting on the Berlin Wall.

VOICE TWO:

Another gallery tells the story of the al-Qaida terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on September eleventh, two thousand one.

The nine-eleven gallery explores how the media covered the story of the attacks that killed almost three thousand people.

(SOUND)

"The building is falling right now. People are running through the streets. Smoke is everywhere. People are filling all of Broadway."

VOICE ONE:

The Twin Towers, New York's tallest buildings, collapsed⁶ after being struck by hijacked⁷ passenger planes.
　

Twisted broadcast antenna8 that stood on the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City

In the center of the gallery is a burned and twisted part of the broadcast antenna that stood on the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

Also in the gallery is a damaged piece of the Pentagon, the Defense⁹ Department headquarters, which was also struck by a plane. And there is a piece of the fourth plane used in the attacks. Investigators¹⁰ found that the hijackers of United Flight Ninety-three crashed the plane in a Pennsylvania field after passengers revolted.

VOICE TWO:

The gallery also has items from news photographer William Biggart. He was covering the attacks in New York City when the second tower collapsed and he was killed.

On the wall of the gallery are front pages from one hundred twenty-seven newspapers reporting the attacks. The newspapers are from across the United States and thirty-four other nations.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The Newseum has a newspaper gallery that changes daily. Copies of front pages are received electronically from more than five hundred newspapers around the world. Eighty are printed for display. The others can be seen on touch screens.

A nearby gallery displays thousands of historic publications. The oldest is a clay brick from more than three thousand years ago. The brick has cuneiform writing on it. The symbols tell about the building of a chapel¹¹ in a temple of a Sumerian king.

VOICE TWO:

Also in the Early News Gallery are reports on the Battle of Agincourt and the Salem witch trials. The battle took place in France in fourteen fifteen; the handwritten news report appeared the following year. The Salem witch trials took place in Massachusetts in sixteen ninety-two.

The gallery describes the many ways news traveled before and after the arrival of the printing press in the fifteenth century. Included in the collection is a nineteenth century West African harp¹². It was played by musicians who sang about current events and spread gossip.

VOICE ONE:

Among the displays about the history of news is one called "Can the Press Be Trusted?" It has examples of stories that were invented by reporters or told only one side of an issue. The display also deals with the use of unidentified sources, and the risk of mistakes when reporters try to be first with a story.

VOICE TWO:
　

Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs at the Newseum

Another gallery at the Newseum presents photographs that have won Pulitzer Prizes. The display also includes recorded comments from some of the prize-winning photographers.

And the Newseum has a gallery to honor journalists who were killed doing their jobs. Glass panels in the Memorial Gallery list more than one thousand eight hundred names.

VOICE ONE:

An independent group, the Freedom Forum¹³, operates the Newseum. The group spent one hundred million dollars to buy the land and four hundred fifty million dollars to build the new museum.

The Freedom Forum teaches people about the importance of free speech and a free press. On the outside of the Newseum are the words of the First Amendment¹⁴ to the United States Constitution.

READER: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging¹⁵ the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress¹⁶ of grievances¹⁷."

VOICE TWO:

Inside the Newseum, a huge screen presents political and religious leaders, entertainers and reporters talking about those freedoms. Here is civil rights leader Martin Luther King Junior:

MARTIN LUTHER KING: "But somewhere I read… of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read… of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read… of the freedom of the press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for rights."

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Reporters received a media tour of the Newseum before opening day. One reporter called newspapers a dying industry and asked the chief executive officer, Charles Overby, why the Newseum gives them so much attention. The C.E.O. said the Newseum is about news and the changing delivery systems for reporting it.

The Newseum has a large gallery dealing¹⁸ with news in the digital age, including blogging and social networking sites. But the Internet, TV and Radio Gallery also presents broadcasts from the past.

VOICE TWO:

One area of the gallery explores "instant news reporting," sometimes called citizen journalism¹⁹. The display includes comments from Virginia Tech graduate student Jamal Albarghouti. With his cell phone camera, he recorded nearby sounds of gunfire as a student killed thirty-two people last April sixteenth.

JAMAL ALBARGHOUTI: "I had no idea what the reaction would be when I downloaded this to CNN. I was just hoping no one would get very angry seeing it, and thank God that was the case and many people came to me and telling me thanks a lot. I didn't think I was in a great danger. If I was in such a situation once again, probably I'll do the same thing."

VOICE ONE:

Concerns about instant news are also discussed at the Newseum. Here are comments from a newspaper editor at the Roanoke Times in Virginia:

EDITOR: "We are trained professional journalists and we are going to be very cautious about what we put online because once it's in the paper you can't take it back. Ya know bloggers, maybe sometimes they don't realize that, that little thought that just pops into their head, and they post it, and millions of people can see it online, and it can damage somebody's reputation. It can say somebody, ya know, he's the guy, he's the shooter, ah, you can't take that back."

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The newly opened Newseum in Washington, D.C., charges as much as twenty dollars for admission. Children six and younger are free. The nearby Smithsonian museums and the National Gallery of Art are free to all visitors. But Newseum officials note that those museums are publicly supported.

Almost eleven thousand people toured the Newseum on opening day when admission was free. The Newseum calls itself the world's most interactive museum. But some people wondered how a pricey museum will succeed, especially in difficult economic times, in a city with so many free attractions.

VOICE ONE:

The president of the Newseum, Peter Pritchard, says the hunger for news and information has never been greater around the world.

Chief executive Charles Overby says the Freedom Forum believes the Newseum is where it belongs, among monuments to freedom. During the media tour, he was asked how this museum of news will compete with the Smithsonian museums. "We're not out to harm the Smithsonian," he said. "We just want a bit of people's time."

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Our program was written by Nancy Steinbach and produced by Caty Weaver²⁰. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Steve Ember. Transcripts²¹, MP3s and podcasts of our programs are at voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

1 scoop   

n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出

参考例句：

• In the morning he must get his boy to scoop it out.早上一定得叫佣人把它剜出来。
• Uh,one scoop of coffee and one scoop of chocolate for me.我要一勺咖啡的和一勺巧克力的。

2 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。

3 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

4 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

5 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

6 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

7 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

8 antenna   

n.触角，触须；天线

参考例句：

• The workman fixed the antenna to the roof of the house.工人把天线固定在房顶上。
• In our village, there is an antenna on every roof for receiving TV signals.在我们村里，每家房顶上都有天线接收电视信号。

9 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

10 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

12 harp   

n.竖琴；天琴座

参考例句：

• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。
• He played an Irish melody on the harp.他用竖琴演奏了一首爱尔兰曲调。

13 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

14 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

15 abridging   

节略( abridge的现在分词 )； 减少； 缩短； 剥夺（某人的）权利（或特权等）

参考例句：

• He's currently abridging his book. 他正在对他的书进行删节。
• First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech." （美国宪法）第一修正案规定议会不应该通过减损（公民）言论自由的法律。

16 redress   

n.赔偿，救济，矫正；v.纠正，匡正，革除

参考例句：

• He did all that he possibly could to redress the wrongs.他尽了一切努力革除弊端。
• Any man deserves redress if he has been injured unfairly.任何人若蒙受不公平的损害都应获得赔偿。

17 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

19 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

20 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

21 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句