VOA标准英语2010-Visiting Washington This Summer?

You won't need a hand fan or cool towelettes if you check out President Washington's home

Ted¹ Landphair | Washington, D.C. 12 April 2010
 

George Washington's plantation² home lies about 20 kilometers south of Washington, on the Potomac River. But tourists have no trouble finding it.

It's Spring — prime tourist season in the Washington, D.C., area.  But sweltering summer weather will soon arrive along the Potomac River, and America's most famous farmhouse³ is ready.  Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington, the nation's first president, is air-conditioned.

What's so special about that?

The owners of historic properties wrestle⁴ with a basic question: Should we preserve our treasure as close as possible to its condition when famous people lived or worked here?  After all, we do things like scraping through layers of paint just to find and restore authentic⁵ colors from a century or two ago.

Here's Mount Vernon's banquet hall in 1902. Still no a/c units.
Or should we bend our preservationist principles and make the place comfortable for visitors and staff?

The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association — the nation's first preservationist organization that once saved Washington's estate from ruin after the U.S. Civil War — struggled mightily⁶ with this dilemma⁷.  For years many members opposed any climate-control measures, noting that George and Martha Washington certainly never flipped⁸ on an air-conditioning switch.  They also worried that the installation of a/c would damage plaster and wallpaper and wood.

Alexander Robertson's painting of Mount Vernon was created in London in 1800 - the very year that Congress first met in the new national capital. We don't see a window air conditioner anywhere.

When the Mount Vernon Ladies decided⁹ to go ahead and put in the cooling system a few years ago, two key staff members resigned in protest.  One called the move unethical.  But renovation¹⁰ forces won out.  Air conditioning would help preserve valuable furniture and musical instruments that heat and humidity were degrading, they argued.  And contractors¹¹ convinced them that vents¹² and ducts and such would be barely noticeable. 

So even though Mount Vernon is 211 years old, it's cool.

Literally¹³.
 

1 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

2 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。

3 farmhouse   

n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房）

参考例句：

• We fell for the farmhouse as soon as we saw it.我们对那所农舍一见倾心。
• We put up for the night at a farmhouse.我们在一间农舍投宿了一夜。

4 wrestle   

vi.摔跤，角力；搏斗；全力对付

参考例句：

• He taught his little brother how to wrestle.他教他小弟弟如何摔跤。
• We have to wrestle with difficulties.我们必须同困难作斗争。

5 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

6 mightily   

ad.强烈地；非常地

参考例句：

• He hit the peg mightily on the top with a mallet. 他用木槌猛敲木栓顶。
• This seemed mightily to relieve him. 干完这件事后，他似乎轻松了许多。

7 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

8 flipped   

轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。

9 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。

10 renovation   

n.革新，整修

参考例句：

• The cinema will reopen next week after the renovation.电影院修缮后，将于下星期开业。
• The building has undergone major renovation.这座大楼已进行大整修。

11 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 vents   

（气体、液体等进出的）孔、口( vent的名词复数 )； （鸟、鱼、爬行动物或小哺乳动物的）肛门； 大衣等的)衩口； 开衩

参考例句：

• He always vents his anger on the dog. 他总是拿狗出气。
• The Dandelion Patch is the least developed of the four active vents. “蒲公英区”在这四个活裂口中是发育最差的一个。

13 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。