VOA慢速英语2019 老式打字机再次"复活"（在线收听）

Will Typewriters Become Popular Again?

For many people, the sounds of a typewriter are but memories from 30 or more years ago, or something now heard only in movies.

对许多人来说，打字机的声音只存在于30多年前的记忆中了，或者如今只会出现在电影中的古董。

The United States has only a few typewriter repair shops operating today. Yet these stores are doing good business. A new generation is discovering the joy of the feel and sound of old typewriters. And an old generation is showing that it never fell out of love with the machines.

如今，美国尚在营业的打字机维修店屈指可数。然而，这些商店却生意兴隆。新一代人正在领略老式打字机的触感与声音的乐趣。而老一代人正在表明，他们对打字机的热爱从未消减。

Eighty-year-old Paul Schweitzer is the owner of the Gramercy Typewriter Company in New York City. His father founded the company in 1932. Schweitzer now works at the business with his son, Jay Schweitzer and grandson, Jake.

80岁的保罗·施韦泽（Paul Schweitzer）是纽约市Gramercy打字机公司的老板。他父亲于1932年创办了这家公司。施维泽现在与儿子杰伊·施韦泽（Jay Schweitzer）)和孙子杰克（Jake）共同经营这家公司。

He said, “What’s surprising to me is that the younger generation is taking a liking to typewriters again.”

他说：“令我惊讶的是，年轻人又开始喜欢打字机了。”

Schweitzer says he receives old typewriters needing repair from around the country. Demand is so great that early this year, the family moved to new office space.

施韦泽表示，他从全国各地网罗需要修理的旧打字机。市场需求太大，以至于今年年初，这家人搬到了新的办公地点。

Other repair shops include Berkeley Typewriter and California Typewriter, both in Berkeley, California. They were also founded in the 1930s.

其他维修店包括“伯克利打字机店”和“加州打字机店”，它们均位于加州伯克利市。两家店也都成立于20世纪30年代。

Two recent documentaries have helped make typewriters popular among young people. They are “The Typewriter (In The 21st Century)” and “California Typewriter.”

最近的两部纪录片使打字机在年轻人中愈加流行。分别是《21世纪的打字机》和《加州打字机》。

Typewriters and American museums

打字机和美国博物馆

The American Writers Museum, in Chicago, Illinois, has a popular area with seven manual typewriters and an electric typewriter that visitors can try out.

位于伊利诺伊州芝加哥市的“美国作家博物馆”有一处颇受欢迎的展区，那里有7台手动打字机和一台电动打字机供游客体验。

Carey Cranston is the president of the museum. It is now showing typewriters used by famous writers like Jack London, Ernest Hemingway and Maya Angelou. It even has one from singer John Lennon.

凯里·克兰斯顿（Carey Cranston）是该博物馆馆长。如今展示的是著名作家杰克·伦敦、欧内斯特·海明威（Ernest Hemingway）和玛雅·安杰洛（Maya Angelou）用过的打字机。甚至还有歌手约翰·列侬（John Lennon）的打字机。

“Typing for the first time is exciting, especially for younger people,” Cranston said.

克兰斯顿说：“第一次接触打字机很刺激，尤其是对年轻人来说”。

With pencils or other writing instruments, “you can distract yourself by doodling, and of course on a computer it’s easy to find distractions. But a typewriter was invented specifically for writing. There are no distractions. It’s just you” and the piece of paper, he added.

有了铅笔或其他书写工具，“你可以通过涂鸦来分散注意力，当然，在电脑上很容易就能找到让你分心的东西。但是，打字机是专门为写作而发明的。没有任何干扰因素。有的只有你和那张纸，”他补充道。

Ellen Lupton is a senior curator in contemporary design at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York. Her museum has many typewriters in its collection.

艾伦·卢普顿（Ellen Lupton）是纽约“库珀·休伊特史密森尼设计博物馆”现代风格设计的高级策展人。她的博物馆收藏了许多打字机。

Lupton explained that working on a typewriter gives “a satisfying sound, a feeling of authentic authorship. No one can spy on you and there are no distractions.”

卢普顿解释说，使用打字机能带来“一种令人愉悦的声音，一种作者的真实感”。没有人会监视你，也没有事物让你分心。”

She noted that the lasting influence of typewriters can be seen in the look of keyboards on smart phones and personal computers.

她指出，打字机的持久影响从智能手机和个人电脑的键盘外观可见一斑。

Lupton said, “We’re still stuck with the … keyboard — even on phones — which was supposedly designed to prevent keys from sticking together when someone is typing quickly.”

卢普顿称，“我们仍然坚持使用……键盘——甚至是手机键盘——据说是为了防止有人快速打字时键盘粘连。”

Words in This Story

museum – n. a building or space in which objects of historical, scientists or cultural interest are shown to the public

manual – adj. operated or controlled with the hands or by a person

distract - v. to cause (someone) to stop thinking about or paying attention to someone or something and to think about something else instead

doodle – v. to create an image of something without thinking about what you are doing

curator – n. a keeper of a museum collection

authentic - adj. real; not copied or false

keyboard – n. an area that controls keys on a typewriter or computer