美国国家公共电台 NPR The Site Of The Berlin Airlift Now Serves As Refugee Shelter And Big Open Park

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

NPR's Martin Kaste spent a few weeks this summer reporting from Berlin. While he was there, he discovered the city's retired¹ airport Tempelhof field - now a public park. Martin sent us this audio postcard from a place he calls the most engaging historical site in Germany.

MARTIN KASTE, BYLINE²: If you go to Tempelhof, you need a bike because - remember - this used to be an airport. And if you're plodding³ along on foot, you're just going to feel stupid. The beauty of Tempelhof is its wide-open hugeness. The runways especially are best experienced on wheels.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I like going really fast, so I can feel like an airplane.

KASTE: Kids get this right away. Any wheels will do - bikes, skateboard, the guy on rollerblades pulled by the giant kite. And besides the simple thrill of rolling down these runways, there's the history to consider.

(SOUNDBITE OF AIRPLANE PROPELLERS)

KASTE: These runways were part of the Berlin Airlift, a desperate effort to 1948 and '49 to keep West Berlin fed and supplied during the Soviet⁴ blockade.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUCER: For 10 whole months, a ceaseless stream of allied⁵ aircraft landed in Berlin, where Germans, supervised by British Army personnel, eagerly unloaded the vital supplies.

KASTE: History comes in layers here. There's the airport buildings, still recognizably Nazi⁶ in their stone pseudo-Roman style - the sight of a forced-labor camp during the war. Decades earlier, Germans launched airships here. And if you go way back to the 13th century, this was the home of the local Knights⁷ Templar - hence the name Tempelhof. And German history is still being made here.

SHAVIZADA PARWIZ: I am Shavizada Parwiz from Afghanistan. Since October 2015, I come Tempelhof.

KASTE: One corner of Tempelhof is now a temporary home for refugees. Shavisada was in one of the earliest groups. They stayed in the hangars. Now, there are rows of modular houses for more recent arrivals.

SHAVIZADA: For family, it's nice for people. It have two small rooms and one kitchen. It's better than hangars.

KASTE: It's a strange sight - people rollerblading past the modular homes' front yards, where kids from Africa and the Middle East play and shout at each other in German - this while aromas⁸ of distinctly non-German cooking flowed out of their kitchens. These unexpected juxtapositions⁹ are what today's Tempelhof is all about.

SHAVIZADA: (Speaking German).

KASTE: Shavisada has a part-time job at an information desk here, orienting visitors to the array of pastimes available at Tempelhof. There's the circus school, the giant kite flying, some kind of sport called jugger, involving padded medieval weapons. And then there's mini-golf.

SHAVIZADA: Mini-golf - it's not mini-golf. It's really hard golf.

KASTE: It's hard golf (laughter).

SHAVIZADA: They make some things that's not possible to play - small hole, like high. I say to the people it's not mini-golf. It's impossible golf.

KASTE: But it's ok, he says - to each his own. And that's the thing about Tempelhof.

SHAVIZADA: No politics, no problems, only for enjoying - everybody come from everywhere. It's really my favorite place in Berlin.

KASTE: Unlike the rest of the city, unlike the rest of the world right now, at Tempelhof nobody seems put out by what somebody else is doing. There's room for anything and anybody. Martin Kaste, NPR News, Berlin.

1 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

2 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。

3 plodding   

a.proceeding in a slow or dull way

参考例句：

• They're still plodding along with their investigation. 他们仍然在不厌其烦地进行调查。
• He is plodding on with negotiations. 他正缓慢艰难地进行着谈判。

4 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

5 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

6 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

7 knights   

骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。

8 aromas   

n.芳香( aroma的名词复数 )；气味；风味；韵味

参考例句：

• Intoxicating earth aromas induced lassitude and ethereal calm. 泥土的醉人的芳香叫人懒洋洋的，感到一种远离尘世的宁静。 来自辞典例句
• Nose and elegant nose with attractive fruity, floral and citrus fruit aromas. 芳香：优雅、馥郁、迷人的柑橘属水果的果香及花的清香。 来自互联网

9 juxtapositions   

n.并置，并列( juxtaposition的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Their early films tried to convey revolutionary propaganda through shocking juxtapositions, and circus tricks. 他们早期的电影试图通过令人震惊的对比和马戏技巧来进行革命宣传。 来自辞典例句
• His richly coloured lyrical paintings depict objects and people in unusual juxtapositions, often floating in space. 他的色彩斑斓的抒情油画将人物和事物不同寻常地加以并置，并经常漂浮在空中。 来自互联网