VOA文化艺术2022--游客永远看不到的秘密博物馆

Secret Museum That Visitors Will Never See

The capital city of Washington, D.C. is home to many famous museums in the United States. But there is one museum in the city that visitors will never get to see: the U.S. Secret Service Museum.

Placed inside the agency's headquarters, the one-room museum shows objects from the agency's history. It also honors the 40 men and women of the service who have died while performing their duty.

Mike Sampson is a historian and archivist at the U.S. Secret Service. He said the museum is only open to agency workers, their families, and some special guests. He added that concerns about security and lack of resources are the reasons the museum is closed to other visitors.

The Secret Service is probably best known for protecting U.S. presidents. But its first mission was to fight financial crime.

Jason Kendrick is another historian and archivist at the U.S. Secret Service. He said that on April 14, 1865, the treasury¹ secretary at the time, Hugh McCulloch, suggested to U.S. President Abraham Lincoln to create an agency to fight counterfeit², or fake money.

"At the time, one-third of all the currency in the U.S. during and post-Civil War was counterfeit," said Kendrick. So, on the same day that Lincoln approved the creation of the Secret Service, he was killed a few hours later at Ford³'s Theatre in Washington, D.C.

It was not until 1901, after the assassination⁴ of President William McKinley, that the Secret Service added the job of protecting the president. But the service's work had expanded before then to fighting other kinds of crime. One reason is that other agencies, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation⁵ and the Central Intelligence Agency, did not yet exist.

The Secret Service fought against activities such as illegal trade, crimes relating to land ownership, and spying. Kendrick explained that beginning in 1868, the Secret Service was permitted to fight any crime against the federal government.

Some exhibits in the museum show examples of counterfeiting⁶. Others show the dangers of presidential life, such as the gun used during the 1975 assassination attempt on President Gerald Ford in San Francisco, California.

Now, the service also protects candidates for president, visiting heads of state, important foreign visitors, and special events related to national security. It also continues to fight financial crime and fight against school violence and other attacks.

Working those duties sometimes comes at a price for Secret Service members.

On display at the museum are objects from terrorist attacks in which Secret Service members were killed. These include the bombing of a government building on April 19, 1995, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center in New York City. Sampson says this part of the museum is a way to respectfully honor those Service members.

The museum, Sampson said, "gives us an opportunity to reflect on the history of our agency, and also to show what we're doing these days."

Words in This Story

museum -n. a building where objects of historical, artistic⁷, or interesting value are kept and displayed

archivist -n. a person whose job it is to collect, organize, and take care of historical objects and records

assassination -n. the murder of an individual, usually political, by surprise attack

display -n. the showing of objects, such as in a museum, or the showing of skill, such as in a performance

opportunity -n. an occasion or possibility for doing something

reflect on -v. to think deeply about something

1 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

2 counterfeit   

vt.伪造，仿造；adj.伪造的，假冒的

参考例句：

• It is a crime to counterfeit money.伪造货币是犯罪行为。
• The painting looked old but was a recent counterfeit.这幅画看上去年代久远，实际是最近的一幅赝品。

3 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

4 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

6 counterfeiting   

n.伪造v.仿制，造假( counterfeit的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was sent to prison for counterfeiting five-dollar bills. 他因伪造5美元的钞票被捕入狱。 来自辞典例句
• National bureau released securities, certificates with security anti-counterfeiting paper technical standards. 国家质量技术监督局发布了证券、证件用安全性防伪纸张技术标准。 来自互联网

7 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。