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VOA慢速英语 2007 0912b

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(单词翻译)

VOICE ONE:

This is Gwen Outen.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Bob Doughty1 with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today we tell about the San Francisco Maritime2 National Historical Park.  This unusual national park celebrates the great harbor3 of San Francisco, California.  It also celebrates the men and women who sailed the ships that made this harbor famous.

(MUSIC) 

VOICE ONE:

Our story begins long ago in October, seventeen sixty-nine.  A group of Spanish 
Gaspar de Portola
explorers have come north from Mexico.  They are moving slowly up the coast of the territory of California. The governor4 of California, Gaspar de Portola, leads the group.

The men and horses are tired.  It has been a long trip.  Governor de Portola decides to rest for a few days.  But he still wants to explore the area.  He orders a young man to take some soldiers and search to the north for a few kilometers.  The young man is Jose Francisco Ortega. 

VOICE TWO:

On the morning of November second, seventeen sixty-nine, Ortega leads his small group of soldiers up a hill.  What they see from the top of the hill makes them stop.  There, below them, is a body of water.  They are looking at a huge bay.  Its waters seem to stretch for many kilometers to the north, south and east.  The waters are very calm.

When the small group of soldiers reports to Governor de Portola, they are excited.   They tell him of a huge natural harbor.  A Spanish religious worker reports the harbor is so large it could hold all of the ships of Europe.

VOICE ONE:

Six years after the huge bay was discovered, the Spanish ship San Carlos is sailing north along the coast of California. Juan Manuel de Ayala commands the ship.  As the little ship sails along the coast, one of the crew reports to de Ayala.  He says there is a huge opening in the landmass several kilometers wide.

De Ayala orders the San Carlos to sail carefully into the opening.  A crewmember reports the water in the opening is more than one hundred twenty meters deep.   Slowly the little ship enters the huge natural harbor.

For more than a month, de Ayala and his crew will sail their little ship around the huge bay.  They make maps and study the area. They discover the bay is more than eighty kilometers long and from three to nineteen kilometers wide.   On September eighteenth, seventeen seventy-five, the San Carlos leaves the great bay.  The San Carlos was the first ship to enter what would become San Francisco Bay.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The Spanish exploration was the beginning of the history of San Francisco harbor.  That long history is celebrated5 at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.

The park’s main visitor center and museum is only a few hundred meters from the waters of the great harbor.  The main building and the surrounding area are part of the history of the city and its link with the Pacific Ocean.  It is a memorial to the great ships and those who sailed them. 

The Maritime National Park was designed to tell the story of the huge harbor.  It also tells of the importance of the bay to the city of San Francisco, the state of California and the United States.

VOICE ONE:

The visitor center holds many objects linked to the past of the great harbor.  There are small ships, ship equipment, and hundreds of beautiful old photographs.  Many of the photographs from about eighteen forty-nine show thousands of sailing ships surrounding the city of San Francisco.  This is when gold was discovered in California.  Thousands of people came looking for gold and wealth.

Many visitors also stop to look at a large painting of a huge sailing ship.  The painting shows the ship fighting against an angry ocean.  Blue and green waters break against the side of the ship.  Men high up in the ship’s masts6 are trying to control the sails.    It is a painting of a ship named the “Balclutha." The ship was built in Scotland7 in eighteen eighty-six.

Visitors learn that the Balclutha fought storms around the tip of South America on its first trip.   It reached the harbor of San Francisco after one hundred forty days at sea.  It carried a cargo8 of coal from Britain.

 
The Balclutha
Visitors who look at the painting can go out the front door of the visitor center and see the real Balclutha.  The Balclutha is the largest of almost one hundred ships and boats that are part of the Maritime National Park.

VOICE TWO:

People walking near Fisherman’s Wharf9 often do not believe their eyes when they first see the Balclutha.  Almost everyone stops and looks at the huge ship.  Many people take photographs.

The Balclutha is more than ninety-one meters long.  The three tall masts that once carried its sails reach forty-four meters into the sky.  It seems to be an object from the past that has arrived in modern San Francisco.

The great ship looks almost new.  Several years ago, more than one million dollars was spent to repair and paint the Balclutha.  Now, more than two hundred thousand people a year visit the ship.  The visitors learn how the Balclutha once traveled the world carrying cargo.  They can see a photograph of the first crew of the Balclutha.  That crew sailed it into San Francisco harbor with a cargo of coal more than one hundred years ago.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The Balclutha is perhaps the most popular ship with visitors to the Maritime Park.  However they can also visit several others ships.  These are also very important to the history of the great harbor.  But not all of these ships are open to the public.  One that is open is a small steam-powered workboat that was built in nineteen-oh-seven.

 
The Hercules
This small boat is named the Hercules.  The Hercules is a tugboat.   Until nineteen twenty-four it pulled ships around the harbor.  It pulled huge amounts of wood from trees from the city of Seattle, Washington in the north all the way to Panama.  And it moved cargo from place to place within San Francisco harbor.

VOICE TWO:

Another boat popular with visitors is the Eureka.  It was built in eighteen ninety.  It is the largest wooden ship still floating today.  The Eureka was a ferryboat.  It carried people and cars across San Francisco bay.  It did this until the Golden Gate Bridge and the Oakland Bay Bridge were built.

The C.A. Thayer is another sailing ship.  It was built in eighteen ninety-five.   It carried wood from trees along the Pacific Coast from the state of Washington to California. Later it was used as a fishing boat.  It is one of only two West Coast lumber10 ships in existence.  A few years ago, it was badly in need of repair.  The park decided11 to rebuild the ship using traditional materials. 

The work began in two thousand three. The C.A. Thayer returned to its home in the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park in April two thousand seven.  The superintendent12 of the park, Kate Richardson, said the project "preserved an important piece of history and culture."

VOICE ONE:

A much smaller sailing ship is called the Alma.  Sailors called this kind of ship a scow.  It usually had only two crewmembers and perhaps a boy who was learning13 how to work on a boat. The Alma was the kind of small ship used during the California Gold Rush.  It delivered cargo across the great harbor and up rivers.  Ships like the Alma carried almost everything -- bricks14, salt, lumber, grain, food.  The little ships could carry as much cargo as a large modern truck.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park also has a very unusual looking museum.  It is a large building that almost looks like a ship.  The museum is filled with interesting equipment.  One room has been made to look like a ship’s radio room. 

Radio operators15 show visitors how the equipment was used. One of the most interesting objects in the museum is a small sailboat only large enough for one person.  It is only five-and-one-half meters long.  The little boat is named Mermaid16.   In nineteen sixty-two, Japanese sailor Kenichi Horie sailed the Mermaid alone across the Pacific Ocean from Japan to San Francisco.  No one had ever done such a thing before.

VOICE ONE:

From the top of the building, visitors can watch the ships of the world sail in and out of the great harbor.   Visitors to the San Francisco Maritime National Park learn that the history of the harbor is important to the past.  And the work of San Francisco harbor continues into the future. 

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Paul Thompson.  It was produced by Mario Ritter.  This is Bob Doughty.

VOICE ONE:

And this is Gwen Outen.  Join us again next week for another EXPLORATIONS program in VOA Special English.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 doughty Jk5zg     
adj.勇猛的,坚强的
参考例句:
  • Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质:脾气倔强,性格刚强。
  • The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。
2 maritime 62yyA     
adj.海的,海事的,航海的,近海的,沿海的
参考例句:
  • Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
  • The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。
3 harbor tlVyP     
n.海港,港口;vt.庇护,藏匿;心怀(怨恨等)
参考例句:
  • The harbor lies to the south of the city.港口在城市的南边。
  • At that time,our ship was tied up at this harbor.当时我们的船停靠在这个港口。
4 governor 1f8xe     
n.统治者,地方长官(如省长,州长,总督等)
参考例句:
  • The governor was an expert at fencing with reporters.这位州长是搪塞新闻记者的能手。
  • He was elected governor of the state of California.他当选为加州州长。
5 celebrated iwLzpz     
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的
参考例句:
  • He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
  • The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。
6 masts 057ed762a50e5883b0338ebfdd2d903f     
船桅( mast的名词复数 ); 桅杆; 旗杆; 天线塔
参考例句:
  • Her masts leveled with the spires of churches. 船的桅杆和教堂的塔尖一样高。
  • First the sails and then the masts went. 先是帆坏了,随后桅杆也断了。
7 Scotland CjtzPw     
n.苏格兰
参考例句:
  • He has been hiking round Scotland for a month.他围着苏格兰徒步旅行了一个月。
  • Scotland is to the north of England.苏格兰在英格兰之北。
8 cargo 6TcyG     
n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物
参考例句:
  • The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
  • A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。
9 wharf RMGzd     
n.码头,停泊处
参考例句:
  • We fetch up at the wharf exactly on time.我们准时到达码头。
  • We reached the wharf gasping for breath.我们气喘吁吁地抵达了码头。
10 lumber a8Jz6     
n.木材,木料;v.以破旧东西堆满;伐木;笨重移动
参考例句:
  • The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
  • They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。
11 decided lvqzZd     
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。
12 superintendent vsTwV     
n.监督人,主管,总监;(英国)警务长
参考例句:
  • He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
  • He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。
13 learning wpSzFe     
n.学问,学识,学习;动词learn的现在分词
参考例句:
  • When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时,常会从车上掉下来。
  • Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。
14 bricks ecfd485b7a182bfae368098672fd35c8     
n.砖( brick的名词复数 );砖块;积木;可靠的朋友
参考例句:
  • He compounded water, sand and soil and formed bricks. 他用水拌和沙和泥土做成砖块。
  • The United Auto Workers hit the bricks against General Motors. 联合汽车工人工会举行罢工,反对通用汽车公司。
15 operators 0997fb356c249146ffe97cce96f88459     
n.(某企业的)经营者( operator的名词复数 );(机器、设备等的)操作员;电话接线员;投机取巧者
参考例句:
  • A plethora of new operators will be allowed to enter the market. 大批新的运营商将获准进入该市场。 来自辞典例句
  • Green house operators have considerable opportunity for precise manipulation of nutrients. 温室管理员有很多机会来准确控制养分。 来自辞典例句
16 mermaid pCbxH     
n.美人鱼
参考例句:
  • How popular would that girl be with the only mermaid mom!和人鱼妈妈在一起,那个女孩会有多受欢迎!
  • The little mermaid wasn't happy because she didn't want to wait.小美人鱼不太高兴,因为她等不及了。

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