語言愛好者的勝地

周華南

美國華盛頓特區(qū)有一家世界文字博物館，該博物館通過運(yùn)用科技提供了多種沉浸式的體驗(yàn)，啟動(dòng)觀眾的多種感官，激發(fā)他們的學(xué)習(xí)興趣。

1When visitors enter Planet Word， a museum in Washing?ton， D.C.， they will see Speaking Willow， a tall art piece repre?senting a tree. As they pass under the artwork， they can hearrecordings of speech in hundreds of languages comingfrom the tree， most of which sound foreign to the listeners.The different voices also speak at the same time. The resultingnoise is similar to that made in a crowded theater before a show begins.

2This is a specially?made work for the museum. It is the first of many immersive expe?riences for visitors at Planet Word， a museum all about words and language. The exhibitsplayfully explore the large and complex subject of language.

3In one room， a video plays， showing babies saying their first words. Another room，called“Where Do Words Come From”， teaches the history of some common English words.The space includes a 22?foot?tall“Wall of Words”， where visitors speak into devices andlearn about the roots of the English language. That exhibit took two years to build.

4An interactive room invites listeners to speak and learn about different languages. Na?tive speakers of 28 languages and two sign languages teach people sayings in those lan?guages. They also explain how language shapes their understanding of the world and howwords cannot be separated from culture.

5Other rooms explore the different ways language is used—from humor and songwrit?ing， to public speaking and advertising. Visitors can sing karaoke while learning aboutsongwriting， record a famous speech， play a joke?telling game， and teach a computer how tomake cartoons. Almost every exhibit is interactive and most ask visitors to speak aloud.

6One exhibit room is all about books. It is designed to look like an old， rich library.Books line the shelves. When a book is placed on the table， a recorded reading begins andpictures appear， which can leave a deep impression on visitors.

7Planet Word is housed in Washington， D.C.’s historic Franklin School. Its founderFriedman is a former reading and writing teacher. She wanted to create a museum to buildinterest in writing and language. The museum is designed mainly for teenagers， but mostadults can also learn from and enjoy a visit to Planet Word. Friedman hopes people willleave the museum with a better understanding of the words they use every day and theworld of languages around them.

Reading Check

Detail

1. What can we know about Speaking Willow in paragraph 1？

A. It is able to do translation work.

B. It presents the origins of languages.

C. It shows various languages to visitors.

D. It is used to predict a show in a theater.

Detail

2. What is unique to the exhibit room on books？

A. It is arranged on a website.

B. It is designed for history lovers.

C. It can provide service in sign languages.

D. It can show recorded readings and pictures.

Detail

3. Why was Planet Word set up according to the text？

A. To help teenagers deal with language barriers.

B. To stress the importance of languages in our life.

C. To arouse peoples interest in writing and language.

D. To provide good ways for people to learn languages.

Inference

4. Where is the text most likely from？

A. A diary.

B. A newspaper.

C. A novel.

D. A magazine.

Ⅰ. Difficult sentence in the text

As they pass under the artwork， they can hear recordings of speech in hundreds of lan?guages coming from the tree， most of which sound foreign to the listeners. 當(dāng)他們從這個(gè)藝術(shù)品下面經(jīng)過時(shí)，他們可以聽到來自這棵樹的數(shù)百種語言的講話錄音，其中大多數(shù)聽起來都很陌生。

【點(diǎn)石成金】本句中的As they pass under the artwork為as引導(dǎo)的時(shí)間狀語從句;coming from the tree為修飾languages的后置定語;most of which sound foreign to the lis?teners為定語從句，修飾recordings。

Ⅱ. Text?centered chunks

be similar to 與……相似

be separated from 與……分離

leave a deep impression on 給……留下深刻的印象

be designed for 為……而設(shè)計(jì)

with a better understanding of 對……有更好的理解