美国国家公共电台 NPR--Chautauqua Institution re-examines security after Salman Rushdie attack

Chautauqua Institution re-examines security after Salman Rushdie attack

Transcript¹

Visiting the storied Chautauqua Institution in western New York, with its narrow streets winding² past gingerbread-trimmed Victorian houses, can sometimes feel like taking a journey into a quieter, gentler past.

It's a friendly, earnest place for serious conversation and quiet contemplation, where crime is practically non-existent and the realities of the outside world can seem a long way off.

But on the morning of Aug. 12, reality came crashing in.

Author Salman Rushdie was brutally³ stabbed in an attack of extremist violence as he was preparing to give a talk at the Chautauqua amphitheater. A New Jersey⁴ man has been charged in the attack.

"It was all over in, you know, 20 or 30 seconds. I couldn't see a knife from where I was sitting but I could see the attacker pummeling the victim over and over again with his fist," said Rich Lewis, a retired⁵ teacher who attended the talk.

The attack on Rushdie, who has long been the target of a fatwa, first by the Iranian government, for his depiction⁶ of Muhammed in The Satanic Verses, has forced Chautauqua to reconsider how open it wants to be.

Chautauqua has long placed a premium⁷ on intellectual curiosity, offering its visitors a daily schedule packed with concerts, classes and religious services.

The list of famous people who've spoken at Chautauqua is long and impressive, including Booker T. Washington, Margaret Mead⁹, and Susan B. Anthony. In 1936, President Franklin Roosevelt gave a major address at Chautauqua on the impending¹⁰ war in Europe, which became known as his "I hate war" speech.

Artists who've performed at Chautauqua include Duke Ellington, Yo-Yo Ma, Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross, as well as the Dance Theater of Harlem and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir¹¹. Chautauqua has its own symphony orchestra.

"It's a place that restores our souls because of the music and the dancing and the lectures. It just enriches our lives everyday," said Kim Hartney, of New Albany, Ohio, whose family members are longtime visitors.

Visitors are free to spend their time as they wish, swimming, boating or just lounging on their porches. But most people take advantage of the daily activities.

"I max out at about nine a day. If I go to the morning service and end up at the amp at night, it's from 9:00 in the morning 'til about 10 at night. You're exhausted¹² when you go to bed," said Liz Kolken, a full-time¹³ resident.

Chautauqua was started in 1874, by a Methodist bishop¹⁴ and an inventor, and soon became a popular vacation spot for Protestant families. It was an abstemious¹⁵ place, where alcohol was banned and dress was on the formal side.

"Our founders¹⁶ imagined that, as this idea of leisure time was emerging for the middle class, that they wanted to find a way for people to make purposeful use of that time," said Chautauqua senior vice⁸ president and chief brand officer Emily Morris.

Over the next few decades, Chautauqua sparked a movement, with hundreds of imitators springing up, bringing arts and culture to rural Americans.

Most have gradually closed, but the original Chautauqua survives, hosting thousands of guests each year.

Today, alcohol is no longer banned, and all faiths are welcome. Renting a private home on the grounds can be expensive, which may be one reason why the clientele skews older. Gray hair is common at Chautauqua.

In the wake of the Rushdie attack, Chautauqua has temporarily stepped up its security measures. Visitors to the amphitheater where Rushdie was stabbed now have to pass through metal detectors¹⁷, for example.

But officials are still struggling to decide how open Chautauqua should be long-term.

"Chautauqua would not be Chautauqua if it turned into what looked like a police state. It would rip at the very fabric¹⁸ of who we are and what we believe about the world," said Michael Hill, Chautauqua's president.

Barbara Cassetta has been coming to Chautauqua off and on for years. As a young single mother, she loved the fact that she could let her children roam the grounds unsupervised, without having to worry about them.

She views the Rushdie attack as "an aberration¹⁹. I don't think that it's something I would expect. But, then, in America today you don't know what to expect."

Chautauqua remains²⁰ a very safe place, she said. But it can't always prevent the chaos²¹ and controversy²² of the outside world from seeping²³ in.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

3 brutally   

adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地

参考例句：

• The uprising was brutally put down.起义被残酷地镇压下去了。
• A pro-democracy uprising was brutally suppressed.一场争取民主的起义被残酷镇压了。

4 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

5 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

6 depiction   

n.描述

参考例句：

• Double rhythms, resounding through the lyric depiction and connecting with each other, indicate the thespian place of mankind and the cognition of the writer to this thespian place. 这双重旋律互为表里，表明了人类的某种悲剧性处境以及作家对这种悲剧性处境的感受和认识。
• A realistic depiction of scenes from everyday domestic life. 日常家居生活的写实画。

7 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。

8 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• 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。

9 mead   

n.蜂蜜酒

参考例句：

• He gave me a cup of mead.他给我倒了杯蜂蜜酒。
• He drank some mead at supper.晚饭时他喝了一些蜂蜜酒。

10 impending   

a.imminent, about to come or happen

参考例句：

• Against a background of impending famine, heavy fighting took place. 即将发生饥荒之时，严重的战乱爆发了。
• The king convoke parliament to cope with the impending danger. 国王召开国会以应付迫近眉睫的危险。

11 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

12 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

13 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

14 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

15 abstemious   

adj.有节制的，节俭的

参考例句：

• He is abstemious in eating and drinking.他在饮食方面是很有节制的。
• Mr.Hall was naturally an abstemious man indifferent to luxury.霍尔先生天生是个饮食有度，不爱奢侈的人。

16 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

17 detectors   

探测器( detector的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The report advocated that all buildings be fitted with smoke detectors. 报告主张所有的建筑物都应安装烟火探测器。
• This is heady wine for experimenters using these neutrino detectors. 对于使用中微子探测器的实验工作者，这是令人兴奋的美酒。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技

18 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

19 aberration   

n.离开正路，脱离常规，色差

参考例句：

• The removal of the chromatic aberration is then of primary importance.这时消除色差具有头等重要性。
• Owing to a strange mental aberration he forgot his own name.由于一种莫名的精神错乱，他把自己的名字忘了。

20 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

21 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

22 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

23 seeping   

v.（液体）渗( seep的现在分词 )；渗透；渗出；漏出

参考例句：

• Water had been slowly seeping away from the pond. 池塘里的水一直在慢慢渗漏。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Chueh-hui could feel the cold seeping into his bones. 觉慧开始觉得寒气透过衣服浸到身上来了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）