VOA慢速英语 2007 0430b

VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA. I’m Barbara Klein.

 

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. Next month is the four hundredth anniversary of Britain's first permanent settlement in America. Today, we tell the story of Jamestown.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

 
Artist's rendering¹ of James Fort
In sixteen-oh-seven, three ships loaded with explorers and supplies crossed the Atlantic Ocean to the New World. On May fourteenth the men landed at a small island at the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay.

In all, there were one hundred four men and boys. They immediately began work on a settlement on the shores of the James River. They named it Jamestown.

King James the First in England had agreed to let the explorers from the Virginia Company establish a settlement in North America. They were told to find gold and a way to sail to the Orient.

The four hundredth anniversary of Jamestown is being honored with eighteen months of cultural and educational programs around Virginia. They began in May of last year and are meant to show how a struggle for survival changed the world. Many parts of the Jamestown story are being retold to mark what the organizers call "America's 400th Anniversary."

VOICE TWO:

The Jamestown Settlement that people visit today is a re-creation of the colony and a nearby Powhatan Indian village. The state of Virginia built the Jamestown Settlement in nineteen fifty-seven to celebrate the three hundred fiftieth anniversary.

Visitors can stop at the Jamestown Settlement, or drive down the road to a place called Historic Jamestowne on Jamestown Island. The National Park Service and a Virginia historical group jointly² operate the island.

 
Archeological discovery of James Fort
Historic Jamestowne is where the English built their colony. But fifty years ago there was not much to see.

VOICE ONE:

Several months after arriving in America, the colonists⁴ built a three-sided fort along the edge of the island. For years, researchers believed that the structure had worn away into the James River.

But in nineteen ninety-four, archeologists began a project called Jamestown Rediscovery. They discovered part of the fort. Since then, they have located the positions of all three sides, along with several deep wells.

More than one million objects dating back to the first colonists have come out of the ground. These include tobacco seeds and plant remains⁵. Many of the artifacts can be seen in a new museum called the Archaearium on the grounds of Historic Jamestowne.

VOICE TWO:

 
Jamestown Church in Historic Jamestowne
Past where the fort was built is the old colonial church on Jamestown Island. The first representative legislature in America met at the Jamestown Church in sixteen nineteen. During this meeting, a plan of self-government was established for all future colonies in America.

The colonists built the church out of wood in sixteen seventeen. Then, in sixteen thirty-nine, they replaced it with a church made of stone.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Britain's Queen Elizabeth the Second came to Jamestown for the three hundred fiftieth anniversary in nineteen fifty-seven. It was her first visit to the United States as queen.

A memorial cross was raised on the eastern coast of Jamestown Island. It marked the difficult first few years of life at Jamestown. The colonists did not have enough food. They suffered from diseases. They also fought with the Native Americans who lived in the area.

VOICE TWO:

 
Archaearium at Historic Jamestowne
Now, fifty years later, Queen Elizabeth will return to the former colony to observe the four hundredth anniversary of Jamestown.

Kevin Crossett works for a Virginia agency that is helping⁶ organize Jamestown events with local, state and national groups. He says officials have taken special care to include all the cultures involved in the earliest years of the settlement.

Past anniversaries at Jamestown have mainly centered on the European experience. But with this anniversary, Kevin Crossett says, each culture gets to tell its own story in its own words.

American Indian groups are involved in the anniversary events. But, as Kevin Crossett notes, they do not consider the observance a celebration. After all, the Native Americans lost land and people when the English arrived.

The idea of a "celebration" might not appeal much to black Americans either. The first black people to arrive in Jamestown were slaves from Africa.

VOICE ONE:

 
Artifacts seen in the Archaearium at Historic Jamestowne
The Jamestown observance began last May when a copy of the ship Godspeed sailed up the East Coast. This is a modern version of one of the three ships that carried the first settlers to Jamestown Island. The other two, which have also been re-created, were the Susan Constant and the Discovery.

Last week, a historical re-creation called "Journey Up the James" began at Virginia Beach. When the three ships first arrived in America, they landed at Virginia Beach before heading farther up the James River.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Queen Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, plan to be in Virginia on May third and fourth. This will be the queen's first visit to the United States in sixteen years.

But the main event of the Jamestown observance, a three-day anniversary weekend, begins Friday, May eleventh. Organizers have invited President Bush to speak. The honorary chairwoman for the events is former Supreme⁷ Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

The weekend will include music and cultural performances. Artists will demonstrate glass-making from the seventeenth century.

Earlier events for the Jamestown anniversary have included Indian and African-American cultural programs. There was also an educational program called "Jamestown Live." This was a one-hour Internet broadcast in November involving history experts and others. Organizers say more than one million students around the world took part in the program.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The first settlers at Jamestown imagined that it would become a great city. In fact, after less than a century, it burned to the ground in a rebellion led by a colonist³ named Nathaniel Bacon. The colony never recovered and the capital of Virginia at that time moved to Williamsburg. Still, England had established a permanent presence in North America.

VOICE TWO:

As part of the Jamestown observance, a special program will take place in September in Williamsburg. The gathering⁸ will examine the role of democracy in world politics. Leaders and students from around the world have been invited to discuss the future of democracy in the developing world.

VOICE ONE:

Our program was written by Jill Moss⁹ and produced by Caty Weaver¹⁰. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. For a link to the Jamestown anniversary Web site, go to voaspecialenglish.com. You can also find transcripts¹¹ and audio archives of our programs. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

1 rendering   

n.表现，描写

参考例句：

• She gave a splendid rendering of Beethoven's piano sonata.她精彩地演奏了贝多芬的钢琴奏鸣曲。
• His narrative is a super rendering of dialect speech and idiom.他的叙述是方言和土语最成功的运用。

2 jointly   

ad.联合地，共同地

参考例句：

• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。
• She owns the house jointly with her husband. 她和丈夫共同拥有这所房子。

3 colonist   

n.殖民者，移民

参考例句：

• The indians often attacked the settlements of the colonist.印地安人经常袭击殖民者的定居点。
• In the seventeenth century, the colonist here thatched their roofs with reeds and straw,just as they did in england.在17世纪，殖民者在这里用茅草盖屋，就像他们在英国做的一样。

4 colonists   

n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Colonists from Europe populated many parts of the Americas. 欧洲的殖民者移居到了美洲的许多地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some of the early colonists were cruel to the native population. 有些早期移居殖民地的人对当地居民很残忍。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

8 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。

9 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

10 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• 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。

11 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• 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