VOA常速英语2018--巴西国家博物馆突现大火 珍贵历史文物一去不复返

Firefighters battled throughout the night to extinguish the fire that began after the museum closed to the public on Sunday night. The 200-year-old institution which is part of Rio de Janeiro’s Federal University contained 20 million items including some brought to Brazil by Portuguese¹ rulers at the beginning of the 19th century.

消防人员连夜奋战，以扑灭大火。火势是在周日晚上博物馆对外关闭后起来的。这家博物馆已有200年的历史，隶属于里约热内卢的联邦大学，里面有2000件珍品，其中一些是葡萄牙统治者19世纪初带往巴西的。

It’s our history that was stored here, our scientific history, our academic history, the heritage from the imperial period. It’s an irreparable loss.

这里储藏的是我们的历史，有科学方面的历史，有学术方面的历史，也有帝国时期的文物。这种损失是不可挽回的。

The museum was also home to a 12,000 year old human skeleton, the oldest found on the continent, as well as dinosaur² skeletons fossils and meteorite³ found in 1784. A local fire chief said experts will be brought in as soon as possible to salvage⁴ what they can from the ashes.

该博物馆里还有1.2万副人类骨架，其中还有这片大陆上最古老的人类骨架，以及1784年发现的恐龙骨架化石和陨石。当地某消防队长表示，专家会尽快赶往现场，在废墟中尽可能做补救工作。

We’re going to have the participation⁵ of museum employees. It will be a slow process, so that we can, who knows, recover fragments, something that could still have historic value.

我们还会动员博物馆的工作人员。这个过程会很漫长，但没准能修复部分有历史价值的珍宝。

A museum curator was allowed to enter Monday to collect what remained of the museum’s meteorite exhibits. So the artifacts would not be confused with the charred⁶ remains⁷ of the building.

博物馆某管理员受允周一进入馆内，收集博物馆展出陨石的残留品。这样工艺品就不会跟博物馆内已经烧黑的物品混杂在一起。

They let me enter because I could recognize the pieces. I knew where they were and I could recover some of them from the ashes.

他们之所以与允许我入内是因为我认得出支离破碎的珍品。我能找到幸免于难的珍品，并从废墟中将它们解救出来。

Some of the collections were stored in another building, but most of those archived in the museum are believed to have been destroyed.

一些收藏品是储藏在另一座大楼里的，但博物馆归档的大多数珍品都遭到了毁坏。

It’s a tragedy. Yes it is. We have to go through a period of mourning, but we have to think what now. It doesn’t help just to cry.

这是一场悲剧，无疑了。哀悼是免不了的，但我们必须要思考现在怎么办。哭也无济于事。

Museum director Alexander Kellner said, the federal government’s help is needed to aid in recovery efforts.

博物馆馆长亚历山大 科尔纳(Alexander Kellner)表示，博物馆需要联邦政府的帮助来协助修复工作。

Brazil can’t lose its history.

巴西不能失去自己的历史。

Many Brazilians blame the government for failing to secure funds needed to maintain the museum and they came out Monday to express their anger. The devastating⁸ fire hit one of Latin America’s oldest and largest museums, as Brazil battles economic recession, high unemployment and violent crime.

很多巴西民众责怪巴西政府没能提供必要的资金来维护博物馆。周一的时候，民众走上街头表达自己的愤怒。这次大火重创了拉丁美洲最古老、最大型的博物馆之一，与此同时，巴西还要抗击经济衰退、居高不下的失业率与暴力犯罪。

1 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

2 dinosaur   

n.恐龙

参考例句：

• Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？
• He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。

3 meteorite   

n.陨石；流星

参考例句：

• The meteorite in Jilin Exhibition Hall is believed to be the largest in the world.吉林展览馆的陨石被认为是世界上最大的。
• The famous Murchison meteorite smashed into the Australian ground in 1969.1969年著名的默奇森陨石轰然坠落在澳大利亚。

4 salvage   

v.救助，营救，援救；n.救助，营救

参考例句：

• All attempts to salvage the wrecked ship failed.抢救失事船只的一切努力都失败了。
• The salvage was piled upon the pier.抢救出的财产被堆放在码头上。

5 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

6 charred   

v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦

参考例句：

• the charred remains of a burnt-out car 被烧焦的轿车残骸
• The intensity of the explosion is recorded on the charred tree trunks. 那些烧焦的树干表明爆炸的强烈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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。

8 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。