VOA慢速英语-THIS IS AMERICA - America's 'Lost Colony': A Story W

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

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. Roanoke Island is off the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States, in North Carolina. In fifteen eighty-seven, more than one hundred people arrived from England to live on the island. Three years later, they were gone. Today we revisit the mystery of whatever happened to America's "Lost Colony."

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VOICE ONE:

Britain's first settlement of families in America was supposed to be along the Chesapeake Bay. The colonists¹, however, settled on Roanoke Island instead of sailing farther north. No one knows why.

Roanoke is a low, narrow island between the mainland and the islands of the Outer Banks. The island has thick wetlands, tall oak trees and a lot of wildlife. Today it appears much as it did when the colonists arrived.

VOICE TWO:
　
United States stamp of 1937 honoring Virginia Dare, the first English child born in an American colony

The one hundred seventeen men, women and children were not the first white people to try to live on the island. A group of more than one hundred Englishmen had arrived two years earlier, in fifteen eighty-five. But they arrived too late in the year to plant crops, and their supplies nearly ran out. They also fought with Indians. The Englishmen returned home the following year.

Then came the families of what would become the Lost Colony. Governor John White led this group to the New World. Soon, he recognized that the settlers would need more supplies and weapons to survive. So, after only a few months, he decided² to return to England.

Ten days before he sailed, his daughter Eleanor Dare had a baby girl. Virginia Dare became the first English child born in America.

John White would never know his granddaughter. The last time the governor saw his family was just before he returned to England.

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VOICE ONE:

When he arrived in England, John White found himself trapped by the situation there. Britain had declared war with Spain in fifteen eighty. All the ships were sent to battle.

Finally, in fifteen ninety, Governor White returned to Roanoke Island.

But he did not find the small settlement busy and growing. Instead, it was empty. Where could the people have gone? The only evidence was cut into a tree and a fence: the letters C-R-O and the word Croatoan, C-R-O-A-T-O-A-N.

VOICE TWO:
　
1584 map of Chesapeake Bay to Cape³ Lookout⁴ by John White

John White thought the colonists had gone to live with the Croatoan Indians south of Roanoke. He was ready to investigate. But a great storm damaged some equipment on his ships. He was forced to return again to England.

The governor tried several more times to go back to America. He never succeeded. John White never knew what happened to the colony or his family.

VOICE ONE:

Historians have theories. Native Americans may have killed the colonists. Or the British could have been killed by Spanish troops who came up from what is now Florida. Or perhaps the settlers went farther inland. There, they might have met friendly Indians and married into their tribes.

VOICE TWO:

The most interesting theory about the Lost Colony started with a rock found in nineteen thirty-seven. The rock was discovered less than one hundred kilometers from Roanoke Island. It was covered with writing. Many people thought it was a message from Eleanor Dare to her father, telling him the colonists fled the island after an Indian attack.

Almost forty other rocks were discovered over the next three years. Together, they told a story of how the colonists traveled, and how Eleanor Dare died in fifteen ninety-nine.

Many historians did not believe the story. But many reporters did. In time, however, an investigative reporter discovered that the whole story was a lie.

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VOICE ONE:

As time passed, the settlement itself disappeared. Trees and bushes started to cover the buildings.

In about sixteen fifty-three, a trader named John Farrar and three friends landed on the island from Virginia. Some historians say the group found objects from the Lost Colony and left with them.

In the eighteen sixties, during the American Civil War, Union soldiers won a battle on Roanoke Island. While there, the soldiers apparently⁵ dug for evidence of colonial life.

In the nineteen forties, professional archeologists started to investigate the island. But little has been found in recent years.

VOICE TWO:

The Institute for International Maritime⁶ Research, based in North Carolina, is looking for more objects from the colonial period. But its director, Gordon Watts⁷, is not digging for the artifacts. Instead, the archeologist is diving for them. The research is part of a project to search on land and in the water for remains⁸ of the Lost Colony.

A North Carolina lawyer named Phil Evans organized a group called the First Colony Foundation to raise money for this purpose.

In the nineteen eighties, Mister Evans worked at the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. During that time, he found what was left of an old well from colonial days. He made this discovery in Roanoke Sound.

VOICE ONE:

Gordon Watts says the sea, over time, may have worn away areas of land. As a result, he says other objects from colonial life may be under the waters of the Roanoke Sound.

Some other experts reject this erosion theory. But National Park Service archeologists did underwater research in two thousand. They found more than two hundred places that might contain historical objects.

Mister Watts and his team have begun work on the northeast side of Roanoke Island. In October of two thousand five, the divers⁹ explored an area close to shore. So far, their findings have included pieces of a brick that could be from building materials used in colonial times.

VOICE TWO:

Visitors to Roanoke Island can learn more about the Lost Colony. At the northern end of the island is the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. This park was developed on the same land used by the colonists.

Objects from the colonial period include an Indian smoking pipe. There are pieces of iron farming equipment. And there are metal counting devices used for keeping financial records.

A model fort is the only structure in the park built in the exact place as the first building. The model was designed to look the same as when those first Englishmen arrived. The fort was mainly a square building with pointed¹⁰ structures called bastions. A bastion is a secure position used for defense¹¹ against attack.

VOICE ONE:
　
Sir Walter Raleigh

Inside the visitors center at the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site is the Elizabethan Room. It has wooden walls and a stone fireplace. The fireplace is from a sixteenth-century British home. The Elizabethan Room is similar to rooms in the home of Sir Walter Raleigh. He was a wealthy British investor¹² who supported the settlement of Roanoke Island.

Outside the visitors center are the Elizabethan Gardens, created by the Garden Club of North Carolina. Beautiful paths lead visitors among flowers and plants. People visiting the Elizabethan Gardens can enter through a sixteenth-century garden house.

VOICE TWO:

During summer nights, visitors to the island can see a play called "The Lost Colony." The Roanoke Island Historical Association has been performing this play since nineteen thirty-seven.

Music and dance tell the mysterious story of the colonists. The show is performed in a historic outdoor theater near the Elizabethan Gardens.

VOICE ONE:

Questions about Eleanor Dare and the other lost colonists continually bring historians and other researchers to Roanoke Island. They hope to discover new evidence about what happened to the young mother and her baby. For now, the mystery of America's Lost Colony is a story whose ending remains to be written.

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VOICE TWO:

Internet users can read and listen to our programs at voaspecialenglish.com. Visitors can also find a link to the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, with information about a free electronic field trip for students. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Steve Ember. Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and Jill Moss¹³. It was produced by Caty Weaver¹⁴. Please join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

 

1 colonists   

n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Colonists from Europe populated many parts of the Americas. 欧洲的殖民者移居到了美洲的许多地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some of the early colonists were cruel to the native population. 有些早期移居殖民地的人对当地居民很残忍。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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。

3 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

4 lookout   

n.注意，前途，瞭望台

参考例句：

• You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
• It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来，公司的前景可就不妙了。

5 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

6 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

7 watts   

（电力计量单位）瓦，瓦特( watt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• My lamp uses 60 watts; my toaster uses 600 watts. 我的灯用60瓦，我的烤面包器用600瓦。
• My lamp uses 40 watts. 我的灯40瓦。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

10 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

11 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。

12 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

13 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

14 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。