美国国家公共电台 NPR One Way To Bridge The Political Divide: Read The Book That's Not For You

One Way To Bridge The Political Divide: Read The Book That's Not For You

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Book lovers will be gathering² in New York on Wednesday for the National Book Awards. This is the first year that Lisa Lucas will be presiding over the ceremony. She is the new head of the foundation that gives out the awards, and as you might expect for someone in her job, she is a passionate³ advocate for books and reading. Here's NPR's Lynn Neary.

LYNN NEARY, BYLINE⁴: The National Book Award ceremony is often described as the Oscars of the book world. Of course, it's not watched by millions, but for those attending the event, it's just as important. Some writers, like Justin Spring, who was nominated for nonfiction in 2010, are amazed by the sheer glamour⁵ of the event.

JUSTIN SPRING: It's electric. You know, you work for nine or 10 years in a basement writing a book. Nobody seems to understand you. You can't explain what you're doing to anyone. And here tonight everybody is greeting me as if I'm somebody. It's wonderful.

NEARY: It's just that kind of electric energy that Lisa Lucas wants to use to ignite a renewed passion for books and reading, especially among the young.

LISA LUCAS: We do want young people to feel like this is cool, like this is glamorous⁶, like this is actually as important as music or theater or dance or film.

NEARY: When the National Book Foundation was looking for a new executive director, board member Morgan Entrekin says they wanted someone who could build on some of the changes they made in recent years. Entrekin says as soon as the board met Lucas, they knew they'd found the right person.

MORGAN ENTREKIN: She is one of the most dynamic, charismatic, energetic young people in any field I've ever met.

NEARY: Lucas is also African-American, and Entrekin says that's important in an industry that's known for being overwhelmingly white.

ENTREKIN: Those of us who are kind of controlling or influencing the flow of information and discourse⁷ in society, we need to really have a diversity of voices contributing to the decisions. And honestly we weren't. Our agenda wasn't a diverse candidate, and it just happened that she is this brilliant woman - well, brilliant and happens to be a woman and happens to be African-American.

NEARY: Lucas says her most important job going forward will be choosing the judges who decide which books will be nominated and ultimately win the National Book Award. Diversity is important in that decision, says Lucas, and she's comfortable talking about the issue because she understands it from the inside out.

LUCAS: Just being black, being me, makes me recognize that that's important. It's just - I don't have to stretch. I don't have to do, you know, a committee on diversity to think about other communities. I don't have to think about who's excluded because I've been excluded.

NEARY: But Lucas' larger goal is to get people back into the habit of reading for pleasure. And she insists we do have time for it.

LUCAS: We're fitting things in. We go to yoga. We meditate⁸. You know, we go see plays. We're watching 12 hours in one sitting of great television shows. We have room. I think it's just about reminding people that this is exciting. Reading has always been fun. We don't need to make it fun again so much as we need to remind people that it is fun.

NEARY: Lucas wants people to read across the boundaries they've drawn⁹ around their lives. She sees that as a way to heal the divisions that were exposed by the bitter presidential race.

LUCAS: I think that it's a great connector. It creates empathy. It creates understanding. It allows you to live in someone else's shoes in a way that nothing else for me does. And I think that that creates these connections between human beings that are changing, that are profoundly transformative.

NEARY: On Wednesday, Lisa Lucas will be hosting the biggest party of her life, and she's ready to have some fun. Lynn Neary, NPR News, Washington.

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

3 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 glamour   

n.魔力，魅力；vt.迷住

参考例句：

• Foreign travel has lost its glamour for her.到国外旅行对她已失去吸引力了。
• The moonlight cast a glamour over the scene.月光给景色增添了魅力。

6 glamorous   

adj.富有魅力的；美丽动人的；令人向往的

参考例句：

• The south coast is less glamorous but full of clean and attractive hotels.南海岸魅力稍逊，但却有很多干净漂亮的宾馆。
• It is hard work and not a glamorous job as portrayed by the media.这是份苦差，并非像媒体描绘的那般令人向往。

7 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。

8 meditate   

v.想，考虑，（尤指宗教上的）沉思，冥想

参考例句：

• It is important to meditate on the meaning of life.思考人生的意义很重要。
• I was meditating,and reached a higher state of consciousness.我在冥想，并进入了一个更高的意识境界。

9 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。