美国国家公共电台 NPR Gulliver's Gate: The Miniature World In The Middle Of New York City

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

New York's Times Square has been called the crossroads of the world. A new tourist attraction there displays much of the world under one roof. Models of Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas populated by tiny model humans, moving cars, trains, planes and boats make up a new exhibition called Gulliver's Gate. Reporter Jon Kalish had to check it out.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I want to see the...

JON KALISH, BYLINE¹: On opening day, sixth graders from Brooklyn Middle School 51 were among the first visitors.

BRIANNA JORDAN: On top of the Brooklyn Bridge, you can see, like, a little Spider-Man right at the edge.

KALISH: That bridge-climbing Spider-Man that caught the eyes of Brianna Jordan is less than an inch tall. Her classmate Adelle Ho got a kick out of the United Kingdom display, which has wee versions of Buckingham Palace, the Tower Bridge and a movie theater filled with animals.

ADELLE HO: There are actually penguins² inside the theater watching "Happy Feet."

KALISH: New York City is here, too. And while it's not completely accurate, it still impressed 12-year-old Kate Flannick, who walked through Times Square to get to Gulliver's Gate.

KATE FLANNICK: It's really cool when you first enter. I saw New York, Times Square. And it was really beautiful. Everything in Times Square, you would know, like, this is what it was, you know?

KALISH: This New York City was made by Brooklyn model makers³ who couldn't resist etching images of themselves on the front of the New York Stock Exchange. The rest of the models were made abroad, says Eiran Gazit, the CEO of the for-profit exhibition.

EIRAN GAZIT: We said, let's build every area that is displayed in that area - so Europe from the view of a European, Russia from the view of a Russian, South America, Latin America from the view of an Argentinian.

KALISH: Model makers on different continents used different technologies.

(SOUNDBITE OF RUNNING WATER)

KALISH: Those in Argentina used actual water for the recreation of their country's Iguazu Falls. H2O is also flowing in the Panama Canal, which has working locks.

(SOUNDBITE OF PANAMA CANAL DISPLAY)

KALISH: Danish technology is used to control the hordes⁴ of mini vehicles that traverse the streets and countrysides. A system similar to one used for lighting⁵ Broadway shows controls thousands of LEDs in an exhibition that spans four different rooms. Altogether it's nearly 50,000 square feet.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Oh, my God.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I don't know if I can handle it.

KALISH: The models sit on platforms three to four feet off the ground, and there are low-to-the-floor benches for kids to stand on for a better view. Matthew Cote is the exhibition's chief technology officer.

MATTHEW COTE: In places, we want them to see the computers that live under the tables. We want them to see the blinking lights because that's part of the fun. That's part of what makes nerds like me go, wow, how did they do that?

KALISH: For a few extra bucks⁶, visitors can step into a 3-D scanner and have a tiny plastic replica⁷ of themselves printed out and placed in the exhibition. But there are also homeless people portrayed⁸ because artistic⁹ director Tim Gilman-Sevcik says he wants to show urban life as it really is.

TIM GILMAN-SEVCIK: You get to see this kind of juxtaposition¹⁰ that we have here of somebody being loaded onto an ambulance. And then on the rooftop just overhead, there's a party going on. So it's showing that the city has innumerable stories running in parallel all the time.

KALISH: But it wasn't necessarily the stories that got 12-year-old Nicholas Kawasaki jazzed.

NICHOLAS KAWASAKI: Under the British Isles¹¹, there's a yellow submarine. Oh, man, this place is awesome¹².

KALISH: For NPR News, I'm John Kalish in New York.

(SOUNDBITE OF POOLSIDE SONG, "EVERYTHING GOES")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 penguins   

n.企鹅( penguin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why can penguins live in cold environment? 为什么企鹅能生活在寒冷的环境中？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Whales, seals, penguins, and turtles have flippers. 鲸、海豹，企鹅和海龟均有鳍形肢。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 hordes   

n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 )；部落

参考例句：

• There are always hordes of tourists here in the summer. 夏天这里总有成群结队的游客。
• Hordes of journalists jostled for position outside the conference hall. 大群记者在会堂外争抢位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

6 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 replica   

n.复制品

参考例句：

• The original conservatory has been rebuilt in replica.温室已按原样重建。
• The young artist made a replica of the famous painting.这位年轻的画家临摹了这幅著名的作品。

8 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

10 juxtaposition   

n.毗邻，并置，并列

参考例句：

• The juxtaposition of these two remarks was startling.这两句话连在一起使人听了震惊。
• It is the result of the juxtaposition of contrasting colors.这是并列对比色的结果。

11 isles   

岛( isle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the geology of the British Isles 不列颠群岛的地质
• The boat left for the isles. 小船驶向那些小岛。

12 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.