VOA慢速英语2009年-THIS IS AMERICA - Secret to Avoiding Summe
时间：2018-12-15 作者：英语课 分类：VOA慢速英语2009年（九）月
VOICE ONE:
Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Barbara Klein. Visitors to Washington, D.C., in the summer often want to stay inside air-conditioned museums. The cooler days of fall are a good time to explore the outdoors in and around the nation's capital.
VOICE ONE:
Autumn in Washington is our subject this week.
(MUSIC)
The US Capitol and the fall leaves of a Yoshino cherry tree
Imagine that the calendar says it is fall and you have just arrived on a visit to Washington. The leaves on many of the trees have already begun to change color as they prepare to drop to the ground. Soon they will be gold and orange and red.
The summer crowds of visitors have thinned. Children are back in school, parents are back at work. Points of interest will be easier to photograph. There are fewer people to walk in front of your camera.
The weather should be more cooperative 1, too. Washington can get very hot and sticky in summertime. July and August are usually the warmest months. By October, you may need to wear a light jacket, especially after sunset.
VOICE TWO:
There are tour companies that will take you around the city. Or you can ride public transportation, or rent a car or take taxis. There is a plenty you can see just by walking around.
One place that might interest world travelers is the area of the city called Embassy 2 Row. Washington has more than one hundred seventy diplomatic 3 and consular 4 offices. About one-third of them occupy Embassy Row. This area is between two streets named for states in New England: Massachusetts Avenue and Connecticut Avenue.
VOICE ONE:
An embassy usually has two parts. The ambassador 5 lives in the residence while embassy business takes place in the chancery.
Some of the finest embassies 6 are along the part of Embassy Row near Dupont Circle. Six roads come together at the circle. A number of hotels and restaurants are also in this area.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
Many diplomatic buildings in the capital once were the houses of wealthy Americans. A building that houses the Embassy of Indonesia, for example, was known for many years as the Walsh mansion 7.
Thomas Walsh had it built more than one hundred years ago as a home for his family. The architect designed the mansion similar to a style popular at the time in Paris.
Thomas Walsh was born in Ireland. He came to the United States at the age of nineteen. He made a lot of money in the state of Colorado. There, he developed and owned one of the richest gold mines in the world.
VOICE ONE:
Walsh's daughter, Evalyn Walsh McLean, owned the Hope Diamond. She wore the huge jewel even though she had received warnings that it caused terrible things to happen. Some people saw proof of that in the fact that two of her children and her husband died before her.
Many big parties took place among the costly 8 furnishings of the Walsh mansion. Wealthy and famous people visited the beautifully lighted house.
VOICE TWO:
It was a center of Washington society until the nineteen thirties. The house stood unoccupied for a while, then government agencies used it for offices.
During World War Two, the Red Cross made bandages in the house and also used the space to treat soldiers wounded overseas.
In the nineteen fifties, Ali Sastroamidjojo bought the building for Indonesia. He served as the country's first ambassador to the United States. About thirty years later, the old mansion was connected to a modern building that was added.
Today, some people attend Friday prayers at the Indonesian embassy. The embassy also offers educational courses.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Traveling along Embassy Row, we pass a number of other embassies. One of the largest is the British Embassy. The grounds include two chancery buildings and a residence. The ambassador's home looks like an English country house.
On the embassy grounds a bronze statue of Winston Churchill welcomes visitors and people passing by on the street.
VOICE TWO:
Winston Churchill was Britain's prime minister during World War Two. His statue shows him making a V-for-victory sign with one hand. The other hand holds a cane 9 and a cigar.
Churchill stands with one foot on British land at the embassy and the other foot in Washington. This placement calls attention to the fact that his father was British and his mother was American. It also calls attention to the honorary United States citizenship 10 that he was given.
VOICE ONE:
Close to the British Embassy is the United States Naval 11 Observatory 12. Astronomers 13 use the observatory to study the positions and movements of the Earth, sun, moon and other objects in space.
The people who work at the Naval Observatory must also find time for another responsibility. They keep the Master Clock for the United States.
We see an electronic sign with red numbers near Massachusetts Avenue. The numbers change by the second. What time is it? Time to continue our tour.
VOICE TWO:
Public tours of the Naval Observatory are available but they are limited.
There are several main buildings on the grounds on the Naval Observatory. One of these is a big white house. No, not the house where the president lives. This is the official home of the vice 14 president.
VOICE ONE:
Next, we leave Embassy Row and head for Washington's historic 15 Georgetown neighborhood along the Potomac River. In Georgetown we stop at a mansion that holds the Dumbarton Oaks 16 Research Library and Collection. Dumbarton Oaks is another fine place for an outdoor visit.
In nineteen forty-four, delegates 17 from the United States, Britain, the Soviet 18 Union and China met at Dumbarton Oaks. World War Two was nearing its end. The purpose of the Dumbarton Oaks Conference was to talk about ways to secure a just and lasting 19 peace in the world.
VOICE TWO:
Meetings took place between August and October of nineteen forty-four. The delegates talked about proposals for an international organization. Those talks led to the United Nations, which was established in nineteen forty-five.
Today, however, it is not the history but the beauty of the gardens at Dumbarton Oaks that captures our attention.
VOICE ONE:
The gardens offer peace in the middle of a busy city. There are flowers and trees along with pools and fountains of water. Something always seems to be in bloom here. Visitors have even seen roses in full flower in December at the start of winter.
Almost all of the sculptures in the garden were made from limestone 20 from the state of Indiana in the Midwest.
Greenery and flowering bushes surround the Ornamental 21 Pool in the gardens. A visitor has to resist the urge to jump in for a swim.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
Washington Monument
Washington has many outdoor memorials and monuments around the National Mall area and throughout the city. But if a road trip out into the country interests you, then here is an idea.
One place to enjoy the beauty of nature in autumn is along Skyline Drive in Virginia. The road is about one hundred forty kilometers from Washington, on the other side of the Potomac River. You can rent a car to get there, or go on a tour bus.
The trees are pretty even if they have not yet reached their full colors in the fall. Visitors may see deer walking in the road. Drivers have to be careful not to hit them. There is another reason not to drive too fast. The road is not very wide.
VOICE ONE:
Skyline Drive is in Shenandoah National Park. The park is in the Virginia part of the Blue Ridge 22 Mountains. In turn, the Blue Ridge Mountains are part of the Appalachian Mountains. The drive is along the top of the mountains.
Skyline Drive is the only road through Shenandoah. It passes through about one hundred seven kilometers of the park.
The park has about eighty overlooks 23 where you can pull your car off the road and enjoy a view of nature in all its autumn beauty.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Caty Weaver 24. I'm Barbara Klein.
VOICE ONE:
And I'm Steve Ember. For more programs about American life, go to voaspecialenglish.com, where you can download transcripts 25 and MP3 files. We will also have links if you would like to take a picture tour of the gardens at Dumbarton Oaks or see what the Indonesian embassy looks like. And we hope you can join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.
- The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
- We decided to set up a cooperative.我们决定开办一家合作社。
- Large crowd demonstrated outside the British Embassy.很多群众在英国大使馆外面示威。
- He's a U.S. diplomat assigned to the embassy in London.他是美国驻伦敦大使馆的一名外交官。
- There are certain forms that must be followed in diplomatic circles.在外交界有一些礼节是必须遵守的。
- You must be more diplomatic in handling the situation.你在处理这一情况时，必须圆滑。
- He has rounded out twenty years in the consular service. 他在领事馆工作已整整20年了。
- Consular invoices are declarations made at the consulate of the importing country. 领事发票是进口国领事馆签发的一种申报书。
- He took up office as an ambassador for ten years continuously.他连任十年大使。
- The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。
- The representatives of other countries have their embassies there. 许多国家都在此设有大使馆。 来自英语晨读30分（高二）
- Demonstrators protested outside the country's embassies all over Europe. 该国驻欧洲各国的大使馆外都有群众进行示威抗议。 来自辞典例句
- The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
- The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。
- It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
- This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。
- This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
- English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。
- He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
- Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。
- He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
- The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。
- Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
- Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。
- Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings. 天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
- They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。
- This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
- We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。
- Oaks may fall when reeds stand the storm. 芦苇耐风暴，橡树却会倒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Great oaks from little acorns grow. 万丈高楼平地起。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The conference was attended by delegates from 56 countries. 此次会议有来自56个国家的代表出席。
- Delegates expressed strong opposition to the plans. 代表强烈反对这些计划。
- Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
- Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。
- The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
- We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。
- Limestone is often used in building construction.石灰岩常用于建筑。
- Cement is made from limestone.水泥是由石灰石制成的。
- The stream was dammed up to form ornamental lakes.溪流用水坝拦挡起来,形成了装饰性的湖泊。
- The ornamental ironwork lends a touch of elegance to the house.铁艺饰件为房子略添雅致。
- We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
- The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。
- The parlor overlooks the street. 这客厅可俯瞰街道。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
- There are plenty of overlooks and trails. 有许多可供俯瞰之处和小径。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
- She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
- The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。
- Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
- You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句