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VOA慢速英语2013 Famous New York Train Station Turns 100

时间:2013-05-27 09:20:32

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Famous New York Train Station Turns 100

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC1 in VOA Special English.

I’m June Simms.

Today, we play new music from the twin sister band, Tegan and Sara.

We also get to know a teenager from Maryland who was a guest at the State of the Union gathering2 at the United States Capitol Tuesday.

But first, we visit a famous New York City train station that is 100 years old this month.

Grand Central Terminal Turns 100

A famous building in New York City is turning 100 years old this month. A year-long celebration is planned for Grand Central Terminal, which is usually called Grand Central station. 

Christopher Cruise tells us more about the sixth most-visited place in the world.

The huge building has not changed much since it opened in February, 1913.

About 750,000 people pass through Grand Central every day. Some just come to look at it, others to visit the stores. But most are there to catch the trains that enter and leave from the station. It is the largest train station in the world. There are 67 train tracks, all of them underground.

The main part of the building has large, arched windows, a jeweled four-sided clock and ticket windows. Grand Central has been seen in many movies through the years. Dan Brucker is with the New York Transit3 Authority, which operates the station.

“Grand Central is the kind of temple, cathedral, that testifies to the magnificence of rail transportation, the kind that God would have built if he’d had the money.”

Dan Brucker has worked for the transit authority at Grand Central for 30 years. In all those years, he has not lost his interest in the building.

“This is the beginning of 20th century architecture. And as people come through this terminal, they don’t even realize that the magnificent celestial4 ceiling above them, the very roof of heaven, is exactly wrong, is exactly opposite. It’s a mirror image.”

Justin Ferate, a historian, has been giving tours of Grand Central Station for 30 years. He says the station was designed to make travel a pleasure. 

“You know that you’re a traveler, you’re going off on a great adventure, you’re going to follow your stars and find your dream. You’re also going to find your train where it’s supposed to be -- which is one of the brilliant parts of the design of the building.”

Justin Ferate likes to show how the building was designed for large numbers of people.

“Why people don't run into each other in Grand Central is simple: each block of stone in Grand Central is the length of your leg. Each block of stone in Grand Central is the length of your arm. Each block of stone is a different color, so it’s a checkerboard, based on you.”

A ten-year-long fight against plans to build a huge office building over Grand Central in 1968 helped create the modern preservation5 movement. Now, no one would think of changing the beauty of the station.

Teenage Cancer Researcher

American lawmakers filled the Capitol building earlier this week for President Obama’s State of the Union message. 16 -year-old Jack6 Andraka of Maryland was in the crowd. In fact, he sat in the same box as the president’s wife Michelle. Kelly Jean Kelly tells us why he was invited to the speech.

Jack Andraka won the grand prize at the 2012 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. It is the largest high school science competition in the world.

The Maryland teenager is the youngest winner of the $75 thousand award. He was chosen from among 1,500 students in 70 countries.

Jack Andraka invented a test for pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest forms of cancer. He learned that after losing a close family friend to the disease.

“I went on the Internet and I found that 85 percent of all pancreatic cancers are diagnosed late, when someone has less than a two percent chance of survival,” he says,” and I was thinking, ‘That’s not right. We should be able to do something.’”

He learned people with pancreatic cancer have higher than normal levels of a protein called mesothelin in their blood. He also found that early discovery is important to increasing the chances of surviving the disease.

The Maryland teenager requested and received permission to work in a laboratory at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. There he developed a simple paper test, which can identify the protein in a single drop of blood. His test has proven correct 90 percent of the time. It also is 100 times more sensitive than other tests.

“It costs three cents per test, and then also it takes only five minutes to run.”

Jack’s success would not have been possible without Anirban Maitra, a professor at Johns Hopkins. He was the only person among the 200 researchers Jack contacted who showed interest in his project.

“I have to admit initially8 I was very surprised that this was a 15-year old who was writing this. I wanted to meet this obviously gifted young man and see what he wanted to talk about and so I called him over for an interview. He’s very impressive.”

Jack worked in Professor Maitra’s laboratory, completing his project in seven months. The government has given the Maryland teenager patent rights to the pancreatic cancer test. He is now talking with companies about developing the test into a simple over-the-counter product.

Whatever happens, the professor believes Jack Andraka’s name is one we will be hearing again over the next 10 to 20 years.

“If he has done what he’s done at 15, who knows what he’ll do when he’s 25 or 35.”

Tegan and Sarah “Heartthrob”

The twin sister band “Tegan and Sara” released a seventh album in January. With “Heartthrob,” Tegan and Sara Quin move fully9 into the electronic-pop sound. Some critics love it. Others hope the change is not permanent. Listen and decide for yourself.

The popular single “Closer” demonstrates Tegan and Sara’s electronic pop edge.

Compare “Closer” to “Nineteen,” a song from the group’s 2007 album “The Con7.”

That album helped grow a decidedly folk rock following for the sisters.

Tegan and Sara spoke10 to “Rolling Stone” magazine recently. They said changes in their music come from growing older and becoming increasingly at ease with their career. Sara Quin said they will face criticism whether they stay the same or change. She said it is more satisfying to take risks.

The Quin sisters said they got into a fight about what to name this latest album. They had a list of about 100 possible titles. They said they both realized that “Heartthrob” best captured the main idea of the album: the hopeful, electrifying11 and crushing power of love. The song “Love They Say,” suggests these feelings.

Tegan and Sara talked to Rolling Stone about their very different personalities12. Sara likes to explore new things. Tegan is the less adventurous13 one. Tegan said they were “like yin and yang.” But in her words, “we really balance each other that way.”

We leave you with Tegan and Sara performing “Now I’m All Messed Up” from their new album “Heartthrob.”


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 mosaic CEExS     
n./adj.镶嵌细工的,镶嵌工艺品的,嵌花式的
参考例句:
  • The sky this morning is a mosaic of blue and white.今天早上的天空是幅蓝白相间的画面。
  • The image mosaic is a troublesome work.图象镶嵌是个麻烦的工作。
2 gathering ChmxZ     
n.集会,聚会,聚集
参考例句:
  • He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
  • He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。
3 transit MglzVT     
n.经过,运输;vt.穿越,旋转;vi.越过
参考例句:
  • His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
  • The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。
4 celestial 4rUz8     
adj.天体的;天上的
参考例句:
  • The rosy light yet beamed like a celestial dawn.玫瑰色的红光依然象天上的朝霞一样绚丽。
  • Gravity governs the motions of celestial bodies.万有引力控制着天体的运动。
5 preservation glnzYU     
n.保护,维护,保存,保留,保持
参考例句:
  • The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
  • The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。
6 jack 53Hxp     
n.插座,千斤顶,男人;v.抬起,提醒,扛举;n.(Jake)杰克
参考例句:
  • I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
  • He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。
7 con WXpyR     
n.反对的观点,反对者,反对票,肺病;vt.精读,学习,默记;adv.反对地,从反面;adj.欺诈的
参考例句:
  • We must be fair and consider the reason pro and con.我们必须公平考虑赞成和反对的理由。
  • The motion is adopted non con.因无人投反对票,协议被通过。
8 initially 273xZ     
adv.最初,开始
参考例句:
  • The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
  • Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。
9 fully Gfuzd     
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。
10 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
11 electrifying f2081dbc620a5b326b713cef8349d30e     
v.使电气化( electrify的现在分词 );使兴奋
参考例句:
  • The dancers gave an electrifying performance. 舞蹈演员们的表演激动人心。
  • The national orchestra gave an electrifying performance of classic music. 国家交响乐团举行了一次古典音乐的震撼性演出。 来自辞典例句
12 personalities ylOzsg     
n. 诽谤,(对某人容貌、性格等所进行的)人身攻击; 人身攻击;人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
  • Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。
13 adventurous LKryn     
adj.爱冒险的;惊心动魄的,惊险的,刺激的 
参考例句:
  • I was filled with envy at their adventurous lifestyle.我很羨慕他们敢于冒险的生活方式。
  • He was predestined to lead an adventurous life.他注定要过冒险的生活。

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