VOA标准英语2011--US Christian Broadcaster Still Believes in Shortwave

US Christian¹ Broadcaster Still Believes in Shortwave

Since the dawn of wireless² communications, international broadcasters, including the Voice of America, have used shortwave radio to communicate with the world. While many broadcasters now are switching to other technology to get their broadcasts out, privately³ funded religious organizations in the United States still are devoted⁴ to shortwave.

Everything is set for a broadcast to the world at Christian radio station KNLS . It goes out in English, Chinese and Russian.

With the rise of the Internet, some news broadcasters, including the Voice of America, are moving away from shortwave radio.

But some religious broadcasters in America still believe in the medium.

"Our view is that there is a great future for shortwave," says Charles Caudil, president of World Christian Broadcasting, which runs KNLS. He says its long-range signal is ideal for reaching rural areas in the developing world.

"Very few people there have the Internet available to them, or satellites. But they do have shortwave receivers. There are about three billion shortwave receivers in the world," he said.

World Christian Broadcasting was founded three decades ago by former Army Lieutenant⁵ Maurice Hall. He helped to set up a shortwave facility for President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Yalta summit with Churchill and Stalin.

It is now one of the biggest Christian shortwave broadcasters in America. From its studio outside Nashville, Tennessee, it mixes cultural programming with the Christian gospel.

And it seems to work. Fan mail arrives, and Bibles are sent to those who want them.

The outlet⁶ is building a relay station in Madagascar, which will open a door the Muslim world.

Egyptian-born Tony Tadros of the new Arabic service and his colleagues at World Christian Broadcasting say they respect Islam. But they argue that Arabs are now ready to embrace religious tolerance⁷.

"Most people in the Middle East, they have misconceptions about Christianity," Tadros said. "They think that the Bible is corrupt⁸ and they have a lot of misconceptions that they just got through the years."

Convincing them otherwise might not be easy. Many Muslim countries ban Christian proselytizing⁹. And some converts have been arrested or faced death threats.

Abdullah Antepli, the Muslim chaplain at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, says authorities in those countries consider those leaving the faith a threat to Islam.

"Not only a threat but an attack, also a violation¹⁰, as they understand [it]," he said.

This American imam condemns¹¹ that view. He says it does not live up to Islam's own ideals.

Spreading the faith is both a Christian and Islamic tenet. And these days, technology makes that possible on many platforms - television, the Internet and even mobile phones. But World Christian Broadcasting still has faith in shortwave radio.

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

3 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

4 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

5 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

6 outlet   

n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄

参考例句：

• The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
• Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。

7 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

8 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

9 proselytizing   

v.（使）改变宗教信仰[政治信仰、意见等]，使变节( proselytize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

10 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

11 condemns   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的第三人称单数 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• Her widowhood condemns her to a lonely old age. 守寡使她不得不过着孤独的晚年生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The public opinion condemns prostitution. 公众舆论遣责卖淫。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》