美国国家公共电台 NPR A New Spy Museum That Tackles Torture And Other Tough Questions

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Washington, D.C., has a lot of museums, and we like to let you know when something new is happening. And the International Spy Museum has just gotten a major upgrade. NPR's Greg Myre got a sneak¹ peek².

GREG MYRE, BYLINE³: The new International Spy Museum doesn't shy away from controversy⁴. One exhibit room has yellow stencil⁵ on a stark⁶ cinderblock wall that reads, what is torture? A video features Jose Rodriguez, an ex-CIA official who was deeply involved in the waterboarding program of terror suspects after the 2001 al-Qaida attacks.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JOSE RODRIGUEZ: protect the program and save American lives.

MYRE: Malcolm Nance⁷, who served in Naval⁸ Intelligence, offers a counterpoint.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MALCOLM NANCE: This is not who we are. We do not torture. We just shouldn't do it.

NANCE: Visitors can vote yes or no - would you support the torture of suspected terrorists? The room also has a replica⁹ of a water-board and an actual waterboarding tool kit¹⁰ donated by Nance. He used it to train Navy personnel on what to expect if they were subjected to it. Chris Costa is the museum's executive director.

CHRIS COSTA: We want to be provocative¹¹, but we don't want to tell people what to think.

MYRE: Just a couple blocks off the National Mall, the sleek¹² glass and steel building replaces a much smaller version of the museum established 17 years ago and about a mile away. In the lobby, a red and white drone hangs from the ceiling. And parked in one corner is a silver Aston Martin from the James Bond movie "Goldfinger." There are many examples of intelligence triumphs and a hard look at the disasters, says Costa.

COSTA: We juxtapose Pearl Harbor with 9/11. And that could be a Ph.D. class. We talk about failures as well as successes.

MYRE: There are some remarkable¹³ artifacts.

H KEITH MELTON: And this is the ice axe¹⁴ that killed Leon Trotsky.

MYRE: Board member and collector H. Keith Melton spent years tracking down the weapon used to assassinate¹⁵ Trotsky, the Russian revolutionary who went into exile after a falling out with Soviet¹⁶ dictator Joseph Stalin. A Soviet agent killed Trotsky in Mexico in 1940. Melton purchased the axe there for a hefty sum in 2008. Melton has been a relentless¹⁷ collector for decades. When the Soviet Union collapsed¹⁸, he turned up at KGB headquarters in Moscow within a month and asked what was for sale. He's now donated his 7,000-piece collection to the museum. Which one is his favorite?

MELTON: Well, I love them all, so - it's like picking from your children.

MYRE: A preview tour included special guests who brought exhibits to life, like Francis Gary Powers Jr. standing¹⁹ next to the exhibit of his late father, Francis Gary Powers, a CIA pilot whose U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960. He was held for nearly two years in one of the great spy dramas of the Cold War.

FRANCIS GARY POWERS JR: In 1960, it was controversial. Was he a hero or a traitor²⁰? Did he defect? Did he land the plane? Was he working for the Soviets²¹? That misinformation, the fake news of the time, went around.

MYRE: The son traveled to the crash site in the Ural Mountains just over a year ago.

POWERS JR: I was able to meet people that were kids who remember the explosion and seeing the parachute come down.

MYRE: The museum is the vision of 89-year-old philanthropist Milton Maltz, who served during the Korean War.

MILTON MALTZ: And that's where I was attached to the National Security Agency.

MYRE: Maltz went on to make a fortune with television and radio stations and helped build the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

MALTZ: And that was the first time I really got knee-deep into a museum was the Rock Hall. But then I thought, gee²² whiz, there's more to life than just rock 'n' roll.

MYRE: Like espionage²³. The museum opens Sunday. Greg Myre, NPR News, Washington.

1 sneak   

vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行

参考例句：

• He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
• I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。

2 peek   

vi.偷看，窥视；n.偷偷的一看，一瞥

参考例句：

• Larry takes a peek out of the window.赖瑞往窗外偷看了一下。
• Cover your eyes and don't peek.捂上眼睛，别偷看。

3 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。

4 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。

5 stencil   

v.用模版印刷；n.模版；复写纸，蜡纸

参考例句：

• He then stencilled the ceiling with a moon and stars motif.他随后用模版在天花板上印上了月亮和繁星图案。
• Serveral of commonly used methods are photoprinting,photoengraving,mechnical engraving,and stencil.通常所采用的几种储存方法是：影印法、照相蚀刻、机械雕刻和模板。

6 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

7 nance   

n.娘娘腔的男人，男同性恋者

参考例句：

• I think he's an awful nance.我觉得他这个人太娘娘腔了。
• He doesn't like to be called a nance.他不喜欢被叫做娘娘腔。

8 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• 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。

9 replica   

n.复制品

参考例句：

• The original conservatory has been rebuilt in replica.温室已按原样重建。
• The young artist made a replica of the famous painting.这位年轻的画家临摹了这幅著名的作品。

10 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

11 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

12 sleek   

adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢

参考例句：

• Women preferred sleek,shiny hair with little decoration.女士们更喜欢略加修饰的光滑闪亮型秀发。
• The horse's coat was sleek and glossy.这匹马全身润泽有光。

13 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

14 axe   

n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减

参考例句：

• Be careful with that sharp axe.那把斧子很锋利，你要当心。
• The edge of this axe has turned.这把斧子卷了刃了。

15 assassinate   

vt.暗杀，行刺，中伤

参考例句：

• The police exposed a criminal plot to assassinate the president.警方侦破了一个行刺总统的阴谋。
• A plot to assassinate the banker has been uncovered by the police.暗杀银行家的密谋被警方侦破了。

16 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• 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。

17 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

18 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

19 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

20 traitor   

n.叛徒，卖国贼

参考例句：

• The traitor was finally found out and put in prison.那个卖国贼终于被人发现并被监禁了起来。
• He was sold out by a traitor and arrested.他被叛徒出卖而被捕了。

21 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

22 gee   

n.马；int.向右！前进！，惊讶时所发声音；v.向右转

参考例句：

• Their success last week will gee the team up.上星期的胜利将激励这支队伍继续前进。
• Gee,We're going to make a lot of money.哇！我们会赚好多钱啦！

23 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。