时间胶囊
Time capsules
Hello, I'm Rob. Welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm joined today, at the start of a brand new year, by Neil.
大家好,欢迎收听六分钟英语节目。我是主持人Rob。新年第一讲开始啦,本期嘉宾是Neil。
Hello, Rob! I'm really looking forward to 2015, but I have to say that last year was great.
Rob,你好~ 新年确实值得期待,不过过去的一年我必须承认过得很棒。
So great I'm thinking about creating my own time capsule.
所以我正在构思做我自己的时间胶囊。
Really? A time capsule? You mean a kind of box or container where you can store objects and information so that people in the future -
真的么?时间胶囊?就是用盒子或者容器将某些物品保存好,以便将来的人,
yourself included - will know how we lived at this particular time?
也包括你自己,知道这个时期的生活。
That's it! And I'm already collecting items. My old mobile phone which I don't use anymore.
就是这个!我已经在收集物品了,比如我不会再用的旧手机,
And a woolly jumper with a snowman on it my granny gave me that I never wear…
还有一件奶奶送给我却从没穿过的织着雪人的羊毛套衫。
You never wear?
从没穿过?
It's a pretty silly jumper, Rob. She said it's to remind me of how much she loves me.
恩这个针织套衫有点傻,奶奶说是为了让我想起她对我浓浓的爱。
Remind, which means, makes me remember -
remind意思是让我们记起。
but all it makes me think of is that she still treats me like a child!
但其实我看到这件针织衫只会觉得奶奶仍然把我当孩子,
I'll include the Christmas card which came with it!
我要把针织衫一起的圣诞贺卡也一起放在时间胶囊里。
Well, you've got to choose the items you wish to keep as a memory of our time very carefully.
好吧,你要仔细挑选一下物品,毕竟是作为这个时代的纪念。
It's a historical record - that usually means a piece of writing or a narrative of events at a particular time.
这是一种时代的回忆,意思是它能描述出特定时代的生活或者事件。
Well, let's discuss time capsules and vocabulary related to memory.
好的,这期节目就是关于时间胶囊,并且会介绍关于回忆的词语。
But first, a question to test your knowledge of time capsules.
节目开始先回答一个问题看看你对时间胶囊了解多少。
The International Time Capsule Society is based at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, in the US, and it studies these artefacts.
国际时间胶囊协会总部设立在美国亚特兰大的奥格尔普索大学,他们研究了一些时间胶囊。
According to this organisation, how many time capsules are estimated to exist in the world today? Is it:
根据这项研究,世界上现存的时间胶囊有多少个?选项有:
a)up to 15,000
a)多达1万5千个
b)up to 150,000 or
b)多达15万个
c)up to 1,500,000
c)多达150万个
I'm gonna go for (a) 15,000.
那我选a)多达1万5千个。
OK, up to 15,000.
好的,你的答案是一万五千个。
That's the one.
没错。
OK. Well, as usual, you'll have the answer to that question at the end of the programme.
好的,和平时一样,答案将在本期节目结束之前揭晓。
Right, now, let's talk more about time capsules.
现在,一起来聊聊时间胶囊吧。
One of them was in the news in the last couple of weeks. A capsule was found in a public building in Boston.
首先是一则发生在前几周的新闻,在波士顿一栋公共建筑中人们发现了时间胶囊。
Ah, I've heard about this. Historians believe it was put there by Samuel Adams and Paul Revere,
我听到过这个新闻,历史学家认为是由Samuel Adams和Paul Revere
and other American revolutionaries in the 18th century!
以及一些18世纪的美国革命家一起放置的。
OK. Let's listen to BBC reporter Rajini Vaidyanathan. Can you tell me exactly where this time capsule was hidden?
好的,来听一下BBC记者Rajini Vaidyanathan怎么说的吧,这个时间胶囊到底藏在哪里了呢?
【Rajini Vaidyanathan, BBC reporter in Washington】
【Rajini Vaidyanathan,BBC驻华盛顿记者】
It was during repair work at the Massachusetts State House in Boston that the time capsule was discovered hidden in the cornerstone.
在波士顿的马萨诸塞州州议会大楼,这里当时正在进行修复工作,然后在大楼基石里发现了时间胶囊。
It’s thought the time capsule was first placed there in the 1795, when the building was constructed.
因此推测时间胶囊的放置时间为1795年,也就是这座大楼的建造时间。
Officials believe it contains old coins and newspapers which could have deteriorated over time.
工作人员认为其中应该有当时的硬币或者报纸这类的在经过一段时间后腐化消失的物品。
Ah, the time capsule was hidden in the cornerstone,
啊,原来时间胶囊是藏在基石里的。
which is a stone representing the starting place in the construction of a monumental building. Usually it has the date carved on it.
基石也就是建筑建设地点的标志性石头,上面通常刻有建造日期。
Yes the time capsule's items date from over 200 years ago, so the historians are concerned about opening it.
是的,这个时间胶囊是200多年前的,所以历史学家很想打开。
The newspapers particularly might have deteriorated, decayed or decomposed over time.
报纸很有可能会随着时间的推移而腐化分解消失。
Paper doesn't last long. But my old mobile phone - the one I'm going to put in my own time capsule -
是啊,纸质物品很容易消失,但是我打算在放时间胶囊里的旧手机
will be eternal, it means it will exist forever!
应该是可以一直保存的,eternal意思是长久存在。
And the historians of the future will be grateful!
是的,未来的历史学家一定会开心的。
Well, if you want to make the historians happy, put things which are current in your life and things you actually use in your time capsule.
好吧,如果你想让未来的历史学家高兴,应该放些你生活里必备常用的东西在时间胶囊里。
There are famous capsules to be opened: the American company Westinghouse created two of them.
在著名的时间胶囊里,将要打开的有两个来自于美国西屋公司。
One for the 1939 New York World's Fair and the other for the same event in 1964.
一个是1939年纽约世界博览会,一个是1964年的纽约世界博览会。
And when are they going to open it?
什么时候打开呢?
In the 25th century!
在25世纪!
Wow! Well, that's it, Rob. I'm going home and I'm going to start working on my own time capsule!
哇!好吧,Rob,我要回家收拾我自己的时间胶囊啦。
Good. I'm glad to see you're so enthusiastic, Neil.
好啊,看到你这么亢奋我很开心。
But be careful not to make the mistake these guys in the Writtle Junior School here in England made.
但是要小心,不要再犯错误,像英国Writtle初中学校的那些人一样。
They put their items in a box 25 years ago and they buried the capsule in the garden.
他们在25年前把他们的物品放入时间胶囊,埋在公园里。
And what happened to it? It isn't centuries later but it must be interesting for these people who are now adults to see what's inside.
然后呢?在几十年后,他们已经成年后,打开这个时间胶囊多有趣!
Well, it would have been interesting. But it didn't happen.
是啊,本该是非常有意义的。可惜他们并没有达成这个愿望。
Listen to Headteacher Nick Taylor and tell me why they didn't open their time capsule.
来听听校长Nick Taylor怎么说,为什么他们没能打开自己的时间胶囊呢?
【Nick Taylor, Writtle School Headteacher】
【Nick Taylor,Writtle学校的校长】
There were letters in it, coins, various things so we called in Writtle Heritage and they had a good explore around the garden with their metal detectors,
时间胶囊里有信件、硬币和各种各样的东西,我们称之为Writtle遗产。他们用金属探测器在花园里寻扎,
and they couldn't find any evidence of it.
却根本探测不到任何信息。
I think we’ve dug about three holes around our school garden but we had to stop because we were slowly destroying it.
我们已经在学校花园里挖了三个洞,再挖下去花园就没了。
They forgot where they buried it!
他们忘记了埋在哪里!
Yes. And they used metal detectors - electronic devices which can find metallic objects underground -
是的,他们使用了金属探测器,就是一种可以找到地下金属物品的点子装置,
and even so they couldn't find their time capsule!
却仍然一无所获,找不到时间胶囊。
And before I forget, let's go back to the question I asked at the beginning of the programme.
好吧,在我忘记问题之前,我们来揭晓答案吧。
You asked how many time capsules are estimated to exist in the world today.
你问我当今世界上有多少个时间胶囊。
Yes, and the options were up to 15,000, up to 150,000 or up to 1,500,000. And you said...
是的,选项是一万五千个,十五万个和一百五十万个。
Yes, I said up to 15,000.
我选了一万五千个。
And this is the right answer!
你答对了!
Hurrah!
太棒啦!
Well done! Yes, the International Time Capsule Society has set up a registry of time capsules, and it estimates there are 10,000 to 15,000 time capsules worldwide.
是啊,根据国际时间胶囊协会成立的时间胶囊登记估算出全世界的时间胶囊应该有一万到一万五千个。
And the organisation believes that more than 80% of all time capsules are lost and will not be opened on their intended date.
并且协会认为80%的时间胶囊都找不到埋藏地点,无法在预估时间打开。
Well, I will remember where I kept mine. That's for sure.
好的,我一定会记住的我的埋在哪儿了。
Good for you. Well, that's it from us for the moment.
是啊,记住比较好,现在时间到了。
We've been talking about time and... we've run out of it. But let's just remember some of the words used today.
这期节目我们探讨了时间,啊我们已经超时了。来回顾一下今天所学的词语吧。
time capsule, remind, historical record, cornerstone, deteriorated, eternal, metal detectors
时间胶囊,记起,历史记录,基础,恶化,永恒的,金属探测器
That's it for today. Do log on to bbclearningenglish.com to find more 6 Minute English programmes. And we wish you all a Happy New Year! Bye bye!
今天节目就到这里了,下期再会。
Bye!
再见