VOA常速英语2008年-Gun Ownership Has Long History in America
时间：2019-01-07 作者：英语课 分类：VOA常速英语2008年（二月）
Washington, DC
07 February 2008
Forty kilometers west of Washington - in the southeastern U.S. state of Virginia - sits the headquarters of the National Rifle Association, or NRA. It is a non-profit research and advocacy group dedicated 1 to promoting the interests of America's gun owners. Collecting and preserving firearms - and keeping track of significant events in the history of their development - are considered essential components 2 of the NRA's mission. So the organization has established the National Firearms Museum. As VOA's George Dwyer reports, the objects on display there tell the story of America from a powerful and distinctive 3 perspective. Jim Bertel narrates 4.
The National Firearms Museum was established to collect, preserve and display guns, rifles, and other artifacts from the 800-year long history of firearms.
"What we do in the National Firearms Museum is basically to tell the story of Americans and their guns," says Doug Wicklund, who is Senior Curator at the museum, and an expert on the design technology, industrial production, and cultural history of guns.
"You could say that the museum is in some ways a library [and] the guns are [like] books," Wicklund said. "We are basically showing what the American firearm represents in our society. We are showing how they are used in hunting and competitive shooting; for folks that do a little bit of collecting, we are showing antique pieces that date back centuries as well as modern guns that that can be used in the national matches or in the Olympics."
Included among the more than 2,000 firearms on display here are many notable for their intricate engineering and masterful ornamentation - products of the craft still known as gunsmithing.
"When you look at a firearm you are seeing an artifact that is very, very well designed," Wicklund said.
The gunsmith's art once included the production of miniaturized guns, some mere 5 centimeters in length.
"The miniatures that we have today are truly marvels 6 of craftsmanship 7 and they are also historical reminders 8 of that past time when, in order to become a gunsmith you had to make a miniature," he added.
Mounted in their glass display cases, these weapons do not threaten - in fact they can even inspire.
- He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
- His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。
- the components of a machine 机器部件
- Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。
- She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
- This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。
- 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
- That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
- It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
- The doctor's treatment has worked marvels : the patient has recovered completely. 该医生妙手回春，病人已完全康复。 来自辞典例句
- Nevertheless he revels in a catalogue of marvels. 可他还是兴致勃勃地罗列了一堆怪诞不经的事物。 来自辞典例句
- The whole house is a monument to her craftsmanship. 那整座房子是她技艺的一座丰碑。
- We admired the superb craftsmanship of the furniture. 我们很欣赏这个家具的一流工艺。