听力文本

An inlet from the Bosporus cuts into Istanbul in the shape of a horn. It is called the Golden Horn, and across the entrance a great chain used to be stretched to keep out ships which the Sultan did not wish to enter. Across the Golden Horn is a bridge called Galata. I have told you of some of the most famous bridges in the World: Brooklyn Bridge, London Bridge, the Rialto and the Ponte Veechio. Galata bridge is one of the oldest and most famous bridges of the World. All day and all night people of every nationality, every color, every dress, and every language pass in an unending stream. Every one on one side seems to want to get to the other side, which makes me think of the old riddle, “Why does a chicken cross the road?”

Turkish writing looks something like shorthand and is very hard to read and to write. But because it is so difficult and so different from the letters of Europe, Turkey began to use an alphabet like ours, and every one under forty years of age is now required to learn the new writing.

In fact, Turkey has been made over into a new Turkey. The old ruler of Turkey, the Sultan, ruled alone and whatever he said had to be done whether it was right or wrong. Turkey now has a ruler who rules not alone but with others chosen by the people to rule with him. The women used to think it immodest to go out on the street with their faces uncovered, so they wore veils. Now, however, they wear hats and dresses as Christian women do. The Turks used to have many wives, and every house had a separate apartment, called the harem, where all the wives lived together.

You may wonder why the bird we eat at Thanksgiving and Christmas is called a turkey. Turkey was first brought to our country from Mexico, but people thought it had come from Turkey, so they called it a Turkey bird.

参考译文

有一个牛角形状的小水湾，从博斯普鲁斯海切入到伊斯坦布尔，叫做“金角湾”。过去在入口处拉了一条很大的链子拦住那些苏丹王禁止进入的船只。现在一座叫“加拉塔桥”的大桥横跨金角湾。我已经将世界上最有名的一些桥告诉你了：布鲁克林桥、伦敦桥、里阿尔托桥和维奇奥桥。加拉塔桥是世界上最古老和最著名的大桥之一。日日夜夜，各种国籍、各种肤色、各种穿着和说各种语言的人从桥上走过，人来人往川流不息。似乎在桥一边的每个人都想到桥另一边去。看到此情此景，我想起一个古老的谜语，“为什么小鸡要过马路？”

土耳其文字看起来有点像速记，非常难认，也难写。因为它很难学，与欧洲语言的字母文字又差别很大，土耳其开始使用一种类似英语字母的文字符号。土耳其要求所有40岁以下的人都要学习这种新的文字。
事实上，土耳其已经改变成一个全新的土耳其了。土耳其以前的统治者，苏丹王，独自一人统治土耳其，因此拥有至高无上的权力，凡是他说的话，无论对错，人们都得执行。土耳其现在也有一位元首，但不是一个人统治，而是与土耳其人推选出来的其他人一起统治。土耳其女人从前认为自己外出上街不遮住脸，是不正派的，所以她们都戴面纱。然而，现在，她们像基督教国家的女人一样穿着打扮了。土耳其男人以前可以娶好几个妻子，每户房屋里有独立的房间叫“哈来姆”，专门给妻子住。

你也许很好奇，为什么我们在感恩节和圣诞节的时候吃的火鸡叫“土耳其”？火鸡最初是从墨西哥传入美国的，但是人们认为它产自土耳其，所以就把它叫做“土耳其鸟”。