VOA标准英语2010年-Alcatraz was Home to America's Toughes

Probably only one or two Americans in a hundred could tell you the name of the nation's toughest, seemingly most escape-proof prison.

It's the Marion federal penitentiary¹ in Illinois.

But for the better part of three decades, from the mid-1930s to 1963, just about everyone could name the nation's most secure prison, because it was featured in all sorts of books, crime movies, and radio shows.

It's the place they called The Rock: Alcatraz Prison in San Francisco Bay.

 
Carol M. Highsmith
Inside, this Alcatraz cellblock looks just as inhospitable a place to live as it’s depicted² in gangster³ movies.
 

Beginning with the American Civil War of the 1860s, tiny, cold, usually windswept Alcatraz Island was a military fort, ringed with cannons⁴. Then it was a military prison.

Finally, the newly created Department of Justice turned Alcatraz into a penitentiary for federal convicts deemed to be the worst of the worst.  They included bank robber George Machine Gun Kelly and Chicago crime boss Al Capone.

Prisoner privileges were minimal⁵. A tiny cell. No roommate. No radio, no candy bars, no chewing gum, no soft drinks, no newspapers. No communication with the outside world, except for rare visits from relatives. The very toughest convicts were allowed out for a walk in the prison yard just one hour a WEEK.

Thirty-six men tried to escape from Alcatraz in 14 different attempts.  Most were shot or captured. But in 1962, three men successfully tunneled out of their cells, made it to the water, and escaped in rafts that they had patiently made out of rubber raincoats.

 
Carol M. Highsmith
Alcatraz Island looms⁶ beyond Coit Tower in San Francisco in the 'Golden Gate,' which is not a bridge but the cold and rapid strait that the bridge crosses nearby.
 

It's doubtful that they ever made it across the cold Bay waters, which were flowing toward the open ocean. If they did, they'd be in their 90s now. And they never gave themselves away.

Alcatraz is now a tourist attraction, reached by ferry. Visitors get a memorable⁷ tour and come home with cheap souvenirs like tin cups and fake prisoner caps -- and the satisfaction of being able to say, I made it off the ROCK!

1 penitentiary   

n.感化院；监狱

参考例句：

• He worked as a warden at the state penitentiary.他在这所州监狱任看守长。
• While he was in the penitentiary her father died and the family broke up.他坐牢的时候，她的父亲死了，家庭就拆散了。

2 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

3 gangster   

n.匪徒，歹徒，暴徒

参考例句：

• The gangster's friends bought off the police witness.那匪徒的朋友买通了警察方面的证人。
• He is obviously a gangster,but he pretends to be a saint.分明是强盗，却要装圣贤。

4 cannons   

n.加农炮，大炮，火炮( cannon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cannons bombarded enemy lines. 大炮轰击了敌军阵地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• One company had been furnished with six cannons. 某连队装备了六门大炮。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

6 looms   

n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• All were busily engaged,men at their ploughs,women at their looms. 大家都很忙，男的耕田，女的织布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The factory has twenty-five looms. 那家工厂有25台织布机。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 memorable   

adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的

参考例句：

• This was indeed the most memorable day of my life.这的确是我一生中最值得怀念的日子。
• The veteran soldier has fought many memorable battles.这个老兵参加过许多难忘的战斗。