(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
From VOA Learning English, this is the Technology Report.
What is a place where you could find old pictures of camels carrying people to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and also books about ancient Aztecs in Mexico? It is all found in the World Digital Library(WDL). Its collection is available on the Internet.
The library has 8,000 items from whole books to ancient writings, to music and photographs. There are 170 partners in 79 countries sending material to the World Digital Library. Partners include national or university libraries, museums and other cultural organizations.
The librarian of the United States Congress James Billington launched the WDL in 2009. John Van Oudenaren is the director of the library. He says Mr Billington wanted it to include items that are both interesting and important.
"So we are looking for things that from each country, each culture, each civilization. Things that are unique and important and help to tell the story of that place."
Every item is explained in the 6 official languages of the United Nations: English, Arabic, French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian plus Portuguese.
Since 2009, 25 million people have visited the website from 250 places. The greatest number is from Spanish-speaking countries. Mr Van Oudenaren says users include schools, researchers and anyone interested.
"People say this is what the Internet should be about. And that kind warms my heart."
He was especially happy to hear from one teacher in New York City.
"And she said it was really wonderful to have a site where every kid in the class, no matter what country they were from or where their parents were from could search and find something about that country that was interesting and important."
Mussa Maravl is a researcher for the WDL from Sudan. He works with all the materials that are in Arabic. He recently published rare photographs of Mecca from 1885.
"These camels were, you know, lying their heads on the ground, which is very unusual for a camel. It means these camels have travelled so far, so long, and half of those camels were very thin, too, meaning they have exhausted all the fat they have stored there."
Mussa Maravl believes the library provides tools for understanding, especially among Arabs, Muslims and United States. He says the WDL is posting many items about important developments in Arabic and Islamic science.
"The kind of cultural heritage you are promoting is exactly, I believe, what the world need to choose. Basically all these cultures contribute together to promote understanding throughout humanity in general."
Anyone may search the World Digital Library by subject, time period, kind of document or area of the world. The website is www.wdl.org.
And that is the Technology Report from Learning English. I'm Karen Leggett.
译文属可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载
词汇解释
1.exhaust vt. 排出；耗尽；使精疲力尽；彻底探讨
We have exhausted all our material resources.
我们已用完了所有的物资。
2.heritage n. 遗产；传统；继承物；继承权
The historic building is as much part of our heritage as the paintings.
这座历史建筑和这些绘画作品一样也是留给我们的遗产的组成部分。
3.humanity n. 人类；人道；仁慈；人文学科
China ought to make a greater contribution to humanity.
中国应当对人类作出较大贡献。
内容解析
1."The kind of cultural heritage you are promoting is exactly, I believe, what the world need to choose. Basically all these cultures contribute together to promote understanding throughout humanity in general."
contribute to 有助于；捐献
Various factors contributed to his downfall.
多种因素的作用导致了他的倒台。
The three sons also contribute to the family business.
这3个儿子也为家族事业做出了贡献。
Come, I reflected, his father's selfishness may contribute to his comfort.
嗯，我想他父亲的自私倒使他日子还好过些呢。
参考译文
这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。
在什么样的地方可以找到骆驼载人前往沙特麦加的老图片，以及有关墨西哥古阿兹台克人的书籍呢？所有这些都可以在世界数字图书馆(WDL)找到，这些收藏品可以从网上获取。
这座图书馆收藏8000个条目的图书，包括古代著作、音乐和图片。来自79个国家的170个合作伙伴向世界数字图书馆发送资料，合作伙伴包括国家或大学图书馆、博物馆等文化组织。
美国国会图书馆馆长詹姆斯·比林顿2009年创立了WDL，约翰·范奥德纳是该图书馆主任，他说比林顿希望图书馆的收藏既有趣又重要。
“我们正在寻找来自各国、各个文化和每个文明的东西，要唯一的、重要的、能讲述当地故事的东西。”
每个条目都用联合国的6种官方语言加以解释：英语、阿拉伯语、法语、西班牙语、汉语、俄罗斯语和葡萄牙语。
自2009年以来，来自全球250个地区的2500万人访问了该网站，人数最多的是讲西班牙语的国家，范奥德纳说用户包括学校、研究者和任何感兴趣者。
“人们说互联网就应该这样，这让我感到很暖心。”
他很高兴听到一位来自纽约的教师的评价。
“她说班上的每个孩子，无论来自哪个国家，无论父母来自哪里，都能在这里找到有关这个国家的有趣且重要的东西。”
穆萨·玛拉威尔是WDL里来自苏丹的研究员，他研究所有与阿拉伯有关的材料，他最近出版了1885年起一些有关麦加的珍贵图片。
“这些骆驼把头放在地上，这对骆驼来说很不寻常，这说明它们已经走了很远，有一半的骆驼很瘦，这意味着它们消耗完了储藏的全部脂肪。”
玛拉威尔认为这座图书馆有助于相互理解，尤其是阿拉伯、穆斯林和美国。他说WDL正在发布许多有关阿拉伯和伊斯兰科学重要发展的条目。
“我认为我们推广的这种文化遗产是世界必须选择的，基本上所有这些文化共同促进了整个人类的普遍理解。”
任何人都可以根据标题、时间段、文件类型或地区搜索世界数字图书馆。该馆的网址是www.wdl.org。
这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道，我是Karen Leggett。
