VOA慢速英语2014 AS IT IS 2014-01-09 Burma Saves a Synagogue 缅甸保存了一栋犹太教会堂

 

AS IT IS 2014-01-09 Burma Saves a Synagogue 缅甸保存了一栋犹太教会堂

Hello and welcome back.  I’m Jim Tedder¹ in Washington.  Today we travel to Burma to hear how people are trying to save the past.  Then we will talk about climate change and forest fires.  They were a big problem for many parts of the world last year.  Stay with us for “As It Is” …a way to learn and improve your American English …from VOA.

Changes in Burma’s political life are giving Rangoon's historic area a new appearance. Very tall modern buildings are fast replacing buildings from colonial times.  But business groups, historians and one of the country's last Jewish families are joining to preserve a 100-year-old synagogue. They want to keep the religious center as a historic part of the past of Burma, also known as Myanmar.

The Mesmuah Yeshua synagogue is in a neighborhood that was very common in colonial Rangoon.  Mosques, Hindu temples, churches, and Buddhist² pagodas³ share streets with markets, outdoor salesmen and hardware stores.  The protected historic building dates back to 1896.  A member of the Samuels family has cared for it over many years. 

For the past 35 years, Moses Samuels has been the trustee --- the guardian⁴ -- of the synagogue.   He inherited the responsibility from his father -- who followed his own father in the work.  He looks forward to the time when his son takes the responsibility for the synagogue.  Moses Samuels is hopeful about the future of the community.

Sammy Samuels is Moses Samuels’ son.  The younger Mr. Samuels recently returned to Myanmar after studying at a Jewish university in New York.  He has celebrated⁶ all his major life events in the synagogue.

“It is the main reason we stick here.  We could have closed.  We could have moved to other countries. But it’s very important to us.  I used to play around here, I had my bar mitzvah here, I had my Shabbat dinner here, I had my wedding here.”

For years, the building fell into disrepair.  And, it lost its roof during a cyclone⁷ in 2008.  The U.S. ASEAN Business Council donated money to keep the synagogue standing⁸.  But now the Samuels family is taking it over.

Mr. Samuels says tourism has increased in the country, helping⁹ the family's travel business, Myanmar Shalom. The business permits them to pay the cost of repairs.

Writer and historian Thant Myint-U heads the Yangon Heritage Trust.  The organization has promised to save Rangoon’s historic buildings.  He says the synagogue's preservation¹⁰ effort involves more than just the building.  Thant Myint-U says it means to recover Burma's past.  The goal is to help people understand the city's rich history of differing ethnic¹¹ groups.

“It’s also about revitalizing old Rangoon and old Yangon and revitalizing this in a way that helps all the people in this city, poor people, working class people, as well as middle class and other people, and help them both appreciate the multiculturalism¹² here, but also help to engender¹³ and enable a new cosmopolitan¹⁴ Yangon to emerge in the 21st century as well.” 

Moses Samuels agrees that having many different religious communities is important.  He says he makes a point of having close personal relationships with other religious leaders in the city.

To show support of religious unity⁵, Burma's government sent Aung Min to the event.  He is the main peace negotiator for the ceasefires with armed groups in border areas.

“This is part of my intention to celebrate the culture and heritage of the Jewish community in Myanmar.   We have longstanding Jewish culture and heritage here but we have less and less which is a sad thing to see so I came here in effort to celebrate that heritage. “

As part of the synagogue's preservation plan, officials are planning to move the nearby Jewish cemetery¹⁵.  It has 700 burial places.

Rangoon's last rabbi left in the 1960’s. Since then, no regular religious services have been held at the synagogue.  But it remains¹⁶ open to the public.

Wildfires Are Deadly and Costly¹⁷

Australia, Indonesia, Russia, Greece, and the United States …those are just a few places where huge wildfires have been a problem in recent years. In the American West, for example, three wildfires caused major damage in 2013. Fire experts say most of these fires are a result of climate change, land use, and human actions.  Steve Ember joins us with details.

June 2013: The Black Forest Fire destroys more than 500 homes in Colorado. Weeks later in Arizona, the Yarnell Hill fire kills 19 members of the Granite¹⁸ Mountain Hotshots -- a group known for its firefighting expertise¹⁹. Then, in California, the Rim²⁰ Fire becomes the third largest fire in state history. 

Bill Kaage directs wildland fire operations for the United States Park Service at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. He says huge, costly wildfires were once rare.

“In the western United States, we have larger fires that occur over a larger period of time…”

Mr. Kaage says this change is forcing fire officials to change their methods. 

United Nations officials and fire experts say long periods of dry weather are one reason for the fires. They suspect the lack of rainfall results from climate change.

Another suspected cause is land use, including years of protecting new communities in areas where fires were likely. The idea is to aggressively put out all wildfires. That policy is called suppression.

But Stephen Pyne of Arizona State University does not believe the suppression method is successful. He says it has failed in every country likely to have wildfires.

“(When) the smoke is on the horizon, and the TV cameras are out, it seems like an easy solution to call in the troops, bring in the airplanes and the helicopters, bomb it away, and then the problem is gone.  All we’ve done is put it off.” 

 “Turn on your emergency lights…”

Stephen Pyne says suppression is a temporary measure that creates more dangerous fires later. It enables smaller trees and plants to build up. This vegetation acts as fuel that can carry fire to taller treetops. 

 “We have a burn-out going on the south side…”

Oregon forester Marc Barnes says that when fires burned at low intensity²¹ in the past, it would clean the forest. Now, he says, fires are burning at high intensity and destroying all the trees and the forest.

He says money for fire-fighting should be spent on preventive measures like fuel reduction.

“Otherwise, we’re just going to keep having bigger and bigger fires.  We’re going to spend more and more and a lot less is going to get done by those agencies.” 

He adds that “so much of their budgets are getting eclipsed by the budgets for fire suppression.”

Bill Kaage says the federal deficit²² has forced agencies like his to cut their budgets for fuel reduction.

“There’s a choice we’ve had to make to make sure we have the engines and the crews available to us for a response.” 

The United States Congress has demanded a national plan of action to fight wildfires. Stephen Pyne says the move is, in his words “bold but underfunded.” 

It is meant to help government, landowners and others fight dangerous problems that seem to get worse year by year.

1 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网

2 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

3 pagodas   

塔，宝塔( pagoda的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A dream is more romantic than scarlet pagodas by a silver sea. 梦中的风光比银白海洋旁边绯红的宝塔更加旖旎艳丽。
• Tabinshwehti placed new spires on the chief Mon pagodas. 莽瑞体在孟人的主要佛塔上加建了新的塔顶。

4 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

5 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

6 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

7 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

8 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。

9 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。

10 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

11 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

12 multiculturalism   

n.多元文化

参考例句：

• Switzerland is well known for cheese fondue, penguin parades and its multiculturalism. 瑞士一向以芝士火锅，企鹅游行和多元文化等特色闻名于世。
• That may be one reason why multiculturalism came easily to it. 这也是多元文化容易适应发展的原因之一。

13 engender   

v.产生，引起

参考例句：

• A policy like that tends to engender a sense of acceptance,and the research literature suggests this leads to greater innovation.一个能够使员工产生认同感的政策，研究表明这会走向更伟大的创新。
• The sense of injustice they engender is a threat to economic and political security.它们造成的不公平感是对经济和政治安全的威胁。

14 cosmopolitan   

adj.世界性的，全世界的，四海为家的，全球的

参考例句：

• New York is a highly cosmopolitan city.纽约是一个高度世界性的城市。
• She has a very cosmopolitan outlook on life.她有四海一家的人生观。

15 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

16 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。

17 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

18 granite   

adj.花岗岩，花岗石

参考例句：

• They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
• The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。

19 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

20 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

21 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

22 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。