VOA慢速英语2021--在线活动拯救纽约剧院和商业

New York City's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood is filled with restaurants and other businesses that are now closed. Nearby, Broadway theaters are also dark because of COVID-19 suspensions¹.

The coronavirus crisis² caused great economic difficulties for all these businesses. But some well-loved areas have received financial support to help them survive the difficulties. People are continuing fundraising campaigns online and on other media.

Tom and Michael D'Angora are theater producers who live in Hell's Kitchen. They opened a GoFundMe campaign last month to raise money for the West Bank Cafe and Laurie Beechman Theater. GoFundMe is an online fundraising service.

The GoFundMe project raised more than $340,000 in just weeks. The campaign included a telethon, a live online event, in which many theater actors and singers performed in support of West Bank Cafe.

Andre De Shields³ was among those who appeared on the telethon. The famous Broadway performer is the winner of three Tony Awards, the highest honor⁴ in American theater. He is also a big fan of the West Bank Cafe.

"I've spent some of my most delicious, my most insouciant⁵, my most important times right here," De Shields said in his appearance. "We don't want this lovely piece of heaven on earth to ever go away, he added.

Then he presented a large donation⁶ to Steve Olsen, owner of the West Bank Cafe and founder⁷ of its Laurie Beechman Theater.

"We were a couple weeks from really running out of money, and going out of business," Olsen said before the campaign started.

But now, he says he is hopeful that the business he opened in 1978 can survive until the restaurant and live theater reopens.

The GoFundMe project continues to raise money for the West Bank Cafe and Laurie Beechman Theater. But, at the same time, the D'Angoras have started another such campaign for Birdland, a site for jazz music shows. That GoFundMe has already collected more than $180,000.

Gianni Valenti owns Birdland. He now believes it also will survive the coronavirus closures.

It's "very heartwarming to see the response we've had," Valenti said of the donors⁸, adding, "I just love the fact that they care about Birdland, about the music and about what it means to New York that we all keep it going and hopefully down the road we're back to normal."

Words in This Story

fundraising – n. a social event held to collect money for a political party, charity or school

insouciance⁹ – n. a relaxed and calm state : a feeling of not worrying about anything

heaven – n. something or some place that is very pleasant or good

response – n. something that is said or written as a reply to something

1 suspensions   

n.悬( suspension的名词复数 )；悬架；暂停；悬浮液

参考例句：

• The two players are appealing against their suspensions. 这两名运动员请求取消对他们的停赛处罚。
• In 1972, International Harvester, Ford, Chrysler, General Motors and Volvo applied for suspensions. 1972年，国际收割机械公司、福特汽车公司、克莱斯勒汽车公司、通用汽车公司和沃尔沃汽车公司都申请了缓期。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

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 shields   

n.盾( shield的名词复数 )；护罩；盾形奖牌；保护人v.掩护( shield的第三人称单数 )；庇护；给…加防护罩

参考例句：

• Spears hurtled against shields. 矛猛击在盾上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Radiation shields are commonly used to reduce radiation errors. 辐射屏蔽罩一般用于降低辐射误差。 来自辞典例句

4 honor   

n.光荣；敬意；荣幸；vt.给…以荣誉；尊敬

参考例句：

• I take your visit as a great honor.您的来访是我莫大的光荣。
• It is a great honor to receive that prize.能拿到那个奖是无上的光荣。

5 insouciant   

adj.不在意的

参考例句：

• But not all central bankers are so insouciant.然而，不是所有的央行人士都对此高枕无忧。
• Americans are remarkably insouciant about this development.美国人对这个数字漫无关心。

6 donation   

n.捐赠，捐献，捐助；捐赠物

参考例句：

• She made a personal donation to the fund.她以个人名义向基金会捐款。
• Then next big donation of musical instruments came from Germany.第二笔音乐乐器的大型捐助来自德国。

7 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

8 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 insouciance   

n.漠不关心

参考例句：

• He replied with characteristic insouciance:"So what?"他以一贯的漫不经心回答道：“那又怎样？”
• What explains this apparent insouciance?用什么能够解释这种视而不见呢？