2007年VOA标准英语-Island Keeps Memory of Slave Trade Alive

By Kari Barber
Goree Island, Senegal
21 August 2007
 

Through 300 years of slavery in the West, millions of Africans passed through transit¹ posts where they were divided from their families and sold to work as slaves in Europe and the Americas.  One of these posts was the tiny island of Goree, off the coast of the West African nation of Senegal.  Kari Barber traveled to Goree Island and reports that many tourists from the West are going there to reclaim² a part of their identity.

Tourist travel by ferry to Goree Island

Each week thousands of Europeans, Americans, Africans and other tourists from around the world travel by ferry to Goree Island.

Africans hope this tiny, tranquil³ island will be a reminder⁴ of the suffering that slavery caused, with the aftereffects still affecting societies today.

Abdoulaye Ndiaye is known on the island as "Colonel." He was born on Goree and works as a tour guide. "At school they never teach you the real history, maybe just the dates. The tradition here in Africa was oral."

Abdoulaye Ndiaye, also known as Colonel, is an island tourguide

Today Colonel is giving a tour to Trisha Townsend and Darlene Ledsinger, two flight attendants from the United States.

He explains that from the balconies of slave houses, traders would call out prices and bargain on men, women and children.

The slaves were often kept in small holding cells downstairs from where the traders slept.

Tourist Darlene Ledsinger says, "Just the thought that they were in those holding cells for up to three months.  Even a week or even a day would be too much.  It is just horrifying⁵."

Goree Island's Door of No Return

This doorway⁶ leading out of the House of Slaves is known as the Door of No Return.  Wooden ships once docked here to load their human cargo⁷.

Colonel adds, "Once a slave was there, it means 'goodbye Africa'."

Townsend says it was hard not to feel unsettled by all that she saw. "I was taken aback at how human beings treat human beings.  I thought it was pretty disgusting and I made a comment that we basically still do the same things to each other today, and it's sad."

Ledsinger says part of taking the trip for her was to learn more about her own heritage.

Like many African Americans, she says she has not yet been able to trace where her family comes from.  She says without that she feels like something is missing. "I just came from a reunion and I am in the process of taking a genealogy⁸ course just to find out where I came from and my roots, really."

After a few hours, it was time for the two women to load back onto the ferry with the other tourists and say goodbye to the island.

Colonel says he hopes what they saw at Goree will keep them talking about slavery.  In this way he hopes history may never repeat itself.

1 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

2 reclaim   

v.要求归还，收回；开垦

参考例句：

• I have tried to reclaim my money without success.我没能把钱取回来。
• You must present this ticket when you reclaim your luggage.当你要取回行李时，必须出示这张票子。

3 tranquil   

adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的

参考例句：

• The boy disturbed the tranquil surface of the pond with a stick. 那男孩用棍子打破了平静的池面。
• The tranquil beauty of the village scenery is unique. 这乡村景色的宁静是绝无仅有的。

4 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

5 horrifying   

a.令人震惊的，使人毛骨悚然的

参考例句：

• He went to great pains to show how horrifying the war was. 他极力指出战争是多么的恐怖。
• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate. 战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。

6 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

7 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

8 genealogy   

n.家系，宗谱

参考例句：

• He had sat and repeated his family's genealogy to her,twenty minutes of nonstop names.他坐下又给她细数了一遍他家族的家谱，20分钟内说出了一连串的名字。
• He was proficient in all questions of genealogy.他非常精通所有家谱的问题。