VOA慢速英语2015 新技术让我们听到19世纪80年代著名的声音

AS IT IS 2015-03-11 New Technology Lets Us Hear Famous Voice from 1880s 新技术让我们听到19世纪80年代著名的声音

Today, March 10th, is the anniversary of the first successful telephone call. Alexander Graham Bell was one of the inventors of the telephone. He completed that first call 139 years ago. He also played an important part in creating sound recordings². The National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. recently opened an exhibition that plays sounds recorded by Mr. Bell in the 1880s. 

“This record has been made by Alexander Graham Bell…”

That is the only confirmed audio recording¹ of Alexander Graham Bell's voice. He says: “This record has been made by Alexander Graham Bell…”

The wax and cardboard disc recording was made in 1885. It captured the inventor’s words as he recited numbers for about four minutes. This is how he ended the recording:

“…in witness whereof, hear my voice, Alexander Graham Bell.”

Carlene Stephens is the curator of the exhibit, which is called “Hear My Voice.”

“We had a paper transcript³ signed by him with what was on the recording. When we finally heard the voice, it was quite thrilling.”

The experimental recordings were made using different techniques and materials. The materials include wax discs and glass discs.

Peter Alyea is a digital conversion⁴ specialist at the Library of Congress. He and two other scientists discovered the recordings about two years ago. He used a special device to play the sound from a disc or a cylinder⁵ record. It does so without touching⁶ the surface.  

“The imaging system takes a picture of the surface of the media.  These images are pictures of grooves⁷ that move in certain ways, and that motion contains the sound. That digital image can then be processed by a piece of software and turns them into sound.”

Carlene Stephens says the Smithsonian hopes to use the system to play sounds from its collection of 500 early recordings. She believes the next generation of inventors will be inspired by them.

Words in This Story

disc – n. a flat, thin, round object that is used to store information

exhibition – n. a public show of something, such as a work of art

recite – v. to say or describe a series or list of things

1 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。

2 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

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 conversion   

n.转化，转换，转变

参考例句：

• He underwent quite a conversion.他彻底变了。
• Waste conversion is a part of the production process.废物处理是生产过程的一个组成部分。

5 cylinder   

n.圆筒，柱(面)，汽缸

参考例句：

• What's the volume of this cylinder?这个圆筒的体积有多少？
• The cylinder is getting too much gas and not enough air.汽缸里汽油太多而空气不足。

6 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

7 grooves   

n.沟( groove的名词复数 )；槽；老一套；（某种）音乐节奏v.沟( groove的第三人称单数 )；槽；老一套；（某种）音乐节奏

参考例句：

• Wheels leave grooves in a dirt road. 车轮在泥路上留下了凹痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Sliding doors move in grooves. 滑动门在槽沟中移动。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》