VOA常速英语2007-Spy Secrets Revealed

By George Dwyer
Washington
11 October 2007
 

The International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. has become one the city's most popular tourist attractions. Three and a half million visitors have passed through its doors since it opened in 2002. Exhibits here feature poison pens, umbrella guns, high tech surveillance gear, and other tools of the spy trade. VOA's George Dwyer reports on one of the world's most intriguing¹ museums - an institution that cautions visitors:  "All is not as it seems." Bill Rodgers narrates².

It is no secret - Washington, D.C.'s International Spy Museum has become one of the city's most popular tourist attractions.

"We are, as far as we know, the only International Spy Museum in the world," says Peter Earnest, the founding executive director of the Museum and a 35-year veteran of the CIA. [U.S. Central Intelligence Agency]. "We have actually exceeded our own expectations. And I think you can attribute that to a couple of things. One, people inherently like to learn secrets, things that have been secrets and now are uncovered."

The Museum features the largest collection of espionage³ artifacts ever publicly displayed, including miniaturized surveillance devices, or "bugs," designed to avoid detection.

"So this is a museum about secrets. It is very story-driven. We tell the stories of people who have been in espionage, what they did, what they sacrificed; try and give a sense of what they gained. Was it worth what they did? "  

The historic roots of the spy trade are traced back as far as a copy of "The Art of War," a Chinese military text written 2,500 years ago. Items that were once top secret are now available for public inspection⁴. And while none of today's top secrets are shared here, the museum does still strive to remain contemporary. 

"And so this is what this experience really is all about. You know you walk through here and you pick up bits and pieces of intelligence," says museum historian Thomas Boghardt. He describes the challenges posed to visitors in an interactive⁵ exhibit called 'Operation Spy,' where they will a track a stolen nuclear device at a model CIA 'front' operation. Boghardt adds, "And the better you are the more information you will get and, as I said, that is really what 'Operation Spy' is all about. You gather information as you go and then you determine, 'What action can I take?'"

Of course, then there is also the issue of counter-espionage.

Earnest says, "As you know one person's patriot⁶ may be another person's traitor⁷, but what really was the motivation, what was the ideology⁸?  And so trying to find out secrets and the stories behind them is part of what drives people here."

Searching for secrets through espionage continues today.  And according to the Spy Museum, more spies are now at work in Washington, D.C. than in any other city in the world.

1 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 narrates   

v.故事( narrate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• It narrates the unconstitutional acts of James II. 它历数了詹姆斯二世的违法行为。 来自辞典例句
• Chapter three narrates the economy activity which Jew return the Occident. 第三章讲述了犹太人重返西欧后的经济活动。 来自互联网

3 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。

4 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

5 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。

6 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

7 traitor   

n.叛徒，卖国贼

参考例句：

• The traitor was finally found out and put in prison.那个卖国贼终于被人发现并被监禁了起来。
• He was sold out by a traitor and arrested.他被叛徒出卖而被捕了。

8 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。