《读者文摘》庆祝发刊一千期

Reader's Digest Celebrates 1000th Issue

《读者文摘》庆祝发刊一千期

 

This month Reader's Digest is publishing its 1,000th issue. The magazine boasts a mammoth¹ circulation of 41 million worldwide, reaching 48 countries and is publishing in 19 languages. Recently, it held a gala party in New York City with a futuristic theme.

 

A robot: Welcome to Reader's Digest 1,000th issue anniversary! Welcome to the future.

 

The robot greeting partygoers to Reader's Digest's celebration of the publication of its 1,000th issue is not really high tech, just an actor hiding behind a wall with a microphone. And some of the futuristic trends showcased at this party don't seem all that new. The car of the future is no ingenious hybrid² running on innovative³ fuel, it is a gas-guzzling Mercedes SUV and some of the furniture in the home of the future has a distinctly 1960s look. But then Reader's Digest, an icon⁴ of American culture, has been around for three generations or 83 years to be exact. Its old-fashioned, feel-good formula has made it the most popular publication on the planet. As editor-in-chief Jackie Leo puts it, the magazine is everywhere.

 

Jackie Leo: We're in Indonesia, India, we're in Eastern Europe, Poland, Russia, Romania is our newest. In Latin America we're in Chile, Argentina, Brazil. We don't know what's going on in China at any given minute, but absent that it's hard to avoid us.

 

Reader's Digest founders Dewitt Wallace and his wife Lila launched the magazine in 1922 with a mission: to help new immigrants learn how to become American citizens. They reprinted condensed articles from around the country. Articles that heralded⁵ the individual's triumph over adversity, but in as few words as possible. Professor Don Ranly, head of the magazine department at the University of Missouri's School of Journalism⁶, says brevity was Mr. Wallace's genius.

 

Don Ranly: Dewitt Wallace was clearly ahead of his time. He recognized that people did not have time to read and he came up with this concept of the Digest. He loved things like lists and little boxes and useful information that they could clip out and put on their refrigerators, all those little wonderful things that one friend of mine called chocolate turtles that you could look for and enjoy. He just had a way of getting people into that magazine and keeping them there.

 

Wallace had another agenda, too. After World War II when the Wallaces had Reader's Digests delivered free to soldiers on the front line, making it enormously popular, the magazine became staunchly anti-communist. Later, during the Vietnam War, it played the same patriotic⁷ note. Again, Professor Ranly.

 

Ranly: There is no question Reader's Digest was known as so pro-American and so anti-communist, it is a little difficult to stomach [put up with] that kind of stance all the time. I think one could bypass those kind of articles and still find plenty of articles full of hope and full of inspiration.

 

One thousand issues later, Reader's Digest is not about to abandon a successful formula. Its corporate⁸ headquarters are still housed in the Wallaces' mansion⁹ in a New York town that seems named for Reader's Digest - Pleasantville. Its pages still contain little boxes full of advice and humor. This month's issue contains the heroic story of an American Green Beret who rescued an Afghan girl, and a piece by the actor Matt Dillon, about a friend who died working with Kosovo refugees. But the reporting has a bit more of a skeptical¹⁰ edge, as in a column about billionaire sports team owners using taxpayer¹¹ money to build their stadiums. Most stories are now original, with some running as long as 5,000 words, a length practically unheard of in American magazines. But if there was a time when people could depend on Reader's Digest always taking a conservative stance, editor Leo says that's no longer the case.

 

Leo: We are not ideologues. Our readership is so vast that to take a political point of view would be absolute folly¹². We've done abortion¹³; we've done right to die. We do everything. But it's reported. It's not an op-piece where somebody says from the top of their head, 'I think this is wrong.' We have an investigative unit, which the magazine never had before. We have crackerjack reporters, we have a voice.

 

But some things never change at Reader's Digest. Every month, the back cover illustration serves up an image of America reminiscent of Norman Rockwell, an artist known for his often sentimental¹⁴ portrayal¹⁵ of American life. Although many of the 48 foreign editions contain stories unique to the region and with their own cultural bias¹⁶ or slant¹⁷, it is this upbeat American image that Leo believes makes Reader's Digest so popular around the globe.

 

Leo: I think it's because it celebrates freedom and the individual in a way that is absolutely unique, and at the end of the experience you've been entertained, you've been informed, you've been inspired and you've been driven probably to take some action for yourself or your family or even for your country.

 

That's a lot in one little package, which is why, says editor Jackie Leo, that another name for Reader's Digest might be "America in your pocket."

 

Gini Sikes, VOA news, New York.

 

注释：

mammoth [5mAmEW] adj. 巨大的

circulation [7sE:kju5leiFEn] n. 发行额

gala [5^B:lE] n. 节日

futuristic [fju:tFE5ristik] adj. 未来的

partygoer [5pB:ti9^EuE(r)] n. 社交聚会常客

microphone [5maikrEfEun] n. 扩音器

showcase [5FEukeis] n. （商店或博物馆的玻璃）陈列橱

ingenious [in5dVi:njEs] adj. 有独创性的

hybrid [5haibrid] n. 混合物

innovative [5inEuveitiv] adj. 创新的

condensed [kEn5denst] v. 浓缩

refrigerator [ri5fridVEreitE] n. 电冰箱

staunchly [stC:n(t)Fli] adv. 坚定地

patriotic [7pAtri5Ctik] adj.爱国的

inspiration [7inspE5reiFEn] n. 灵感

mansion [5mAnFEn] n. 大厦

skeptical [5skeptikEl] adj. 怀疑性的

stadium [5steidiEm] n. 露天大型运动场

ideologue [5aidi:EulC^] n. 空想家

folly [5fCli] n. 荒唐事

portrayal [pC:5treiEl] n. 描写

1 mammoth   

n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的

参考例句：

• You can only undertake mammoth changes if the finances are there.资金到位的情况下方可进行重大变革。
• Building the new railroad will be a mammoth job.修建那条新铁路将是一项巨大工程。

2 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

3 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

4 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

5 heralded   

v.预示( herald的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布（好或重要）

参考例句：

• The singing of the birds heralded in the day. 鸟鸣报晓。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King. 嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

7 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

8 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

9 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。

10 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

11 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

12 folly   

n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话

参考例句：

• Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。
• Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。

13 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

14 sentimental   

adj.多愁善感的，感伤的

参考例句：

• She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人，她相信姻缘命中注定。
• We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。

15 portrayal   

n.饰演；描画

参考例句：

• His novel is a vivid portrayal of life in a mining community.他的小说生动地描绘了矿区的生活。
• The portrayal of the characters in the novel is lifelike.该书中的人物写得有血有肉。

16 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

17 slant   

v.倾斜，倾向性地编写或报道；n.斜面，倾向

参考例句：

• The lines are drawn on a slant.这些线条被画成斜线。
• The editorial had an antiunion slant.这篇社论有一种反工会的倾向。