VOA慢速英语2019--乔治亚州大脚怪博物馆

Georgia Museum Devoted¹ to Bigfoot

A wooden building stands next to a highway in the mountains of northern Georgia.

Once it was a restaurant. Now it serves a less ordinary purpose.

Welcome to Expedition: Bigfoot! The Sasquatch Museum. Bigfoot or Sasquatch are said to be ape-like creatures that live in the wilderness².

The owner of this strange place is David Bakara. Bakara is a longtime member of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization.

He also served in the Navy, drove trucks and worked at a bar before he and his wife, Malinda, opened the museum in 2016.

“I wanted to take what I know about Bigfoot as an active researcher and investigator³, but I’m also a huge Disney World fan,” the 57-year-old Bakara says. “I was thinking, ‘Maybe I can make this thing like a family attraction.’”

Sherry Gaskinn and her husband, Phillip Blevins, decided⁴ to stop at the museum. “I can remember my great-grandmother talking about having a cabin in the woods, and she saw Sasquatch,” Gaskinn says.

Blevins is less interested.

“If it was up to me,” he says, “I’d already be on down the road.”

The museum has a large display of Bigfoot attacking a cabin, with a mannequin trying to keep the door closed.

The museum has maps, statues and videos. It also has statements from those who claim to have seen a Bigfoot.

“The reason I didn’t shoot it is, it was just too human,” a hunter says in one statement. “I couldn’t pull the trigger⁵ because something told me this ain’t right.”

There is even a glass container that reportedly holds feces collected from a Sasquatch in Oregon.

People provide additional evidence to the museum’s large collection often. Recently, two casts of footprints supposedly made by a foreign Bigfoot arrived in the mail.

Bakara is quick to point out that Bigfoot is a worldwide phenomenon.

In Australia, the reported creature is known as Yowie. In the Himalayas, people call it the Yeti. Its name in Russia is Alma.

In the United States, there is the Florida Skunk⁶ Ape, the Georgia Booger and the Missouri Momo.

“There are several subspecies of these things,” Bakara says. “Some have short hair. Others have long, red flowing hair. Some are multicolored…Some of them have a very human-like face. They just run the gamut⁸.”

Bakara says he has seen two of the beasts, himself.

He knows he will never persuade all people — probably not even most people — of Bigfoot’s existence. He is fine with that.

“Does everybody need to know everything you know?” Bakara asks. “No. It’s best they don’t know.′

There are doubters, of course.

One person signed the guestbook as “Bigfoot,” listing his home as the “Woods.”

But Bakara says most visitors treat the museum with respect, at least while they are there.

“I’m just curious,” says Angie Langellier, who stopped in with her family recently. She added that she had seen nothing that made her believe in Bigfoot’s existence.

“But obviously, a lot of people have seen a lot of things that have convinced them.”

I’m John Russell.

Words in This Story

highway – n. : a main road that connects cities, towns, etc.

museum – n. a building in which interesting and valuable things (such as paintings and sculptures or scientific or historical objects) are collected and shown to the public

bar – n. a building or room where alcoholic⁹ drinks and sometimes food are served

attraction – n. something interesting or enjoyable that people want to visit, see, or do

cabin – n. a small, simple house made of wood

display – n. an arrangement of objects intended to decorate, advertise, entertain, or inform people about something

mannequin – n. a figure shaped like a human body that is used for making or displaying clothes

ain’t – short for “am not.” Ain't is common in the informal speech of some people and it is also used in informal and humorous phrases.

feces – n. solid waste that is released from the body

phenomenon – n. as an interesting fact or event) that can be observed and studied and that typically is unusual or difficult to understand or explain fully¹⁰

subspecies – n. a group of related plants or animals that is smaller than a species⁷ : a division of a species

run the gamut – expression experience or display a range or series of related things

doubter – n. a person who doubts

curious – adj. having a desire to learn or know more about something or someone

obviously – adv. used to emphasize that you are talking about something that is easy to see, understand, or recognize

convince – v. to cause (someone) to believe that something is true

1 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

2 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

3 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 trigger   

n.触发器，板机，制滑机；v.触发（事件）

参考例句：

• His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again.他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。
• He pulled the trigger but the gun didn't go off.他打了一枪，没有发火。

6 skunk   

n.臭鼬，黄鼠狼；v.使惨败，使得零分；烂醉如泥

参考例句：

• That was a rotten thing to do, you skunk!那种事做得太缺德了，你这卑鄙的家伙！
• The skunk gives off an unpleasant smell when attacked.受到攻击时臭鼬会发出一种难闻的气味。

7 species   

n.物种，种群

参考例句：

• Are we the only thinking species in the whole of creation?我们是万物中惟一有思想的物种吗？
• This species of bird now exists only in Africa.这种鸟现在只存在于非洲。

8 gamut   

n.全音阶，(一领域的)全部知识

参考例句：

• The exhibition runs the whole gamut of artistic styles.这次展览包括了所有艺术风格的作品。
• This poem runs the gamut of emotions from despair to joy.这首诗展现了从绝望到喜悦的感情历程。

9 alcoholic   

adj.（含）酒精的，由酒精引起的；n.酗酒者

参考例句：

• The alcoholic strength of brandy far exceeds that of wine.白兰地的酒精浓度远远超过葡萄酒。
• Alcoholic drinks act as a poison to a child.酒精饮料对小孩犹如毒药。

10 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。