【习惯性GRE】1006G阅读--速度【VOA】2-8

lghscuUID: 2552043

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方法名称：一分钟VOA快速阅读
工具准备：秒表，电脑
方法使用：
0 从“以下开始计时”开始掐秒表
1以最快的速度完成浏览、扫描，争取60s解决战斗
2 不回视，不停顿，不过多思考，一口气跑到终点
3 详细记录每一篇阅读时间(每一次共五篇)，请不要自欺欺人
4 根据时间不断调整阅读速度，力求60s以内完成
5 坚持完成本期所有阅读
【习惯性GRE】1006G阅读--速度【VOA】汇总贴
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For A Limited Time, Visitors Can See the Hope Diamond in all its Natural Beauty

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HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.
(MUSIC)
I'm Bob Doughty.
This week on our program... we play new music from singer/songwriter Mike Doughty ...
And, answer a question about names of American towns, cities and states.
But first, some news about one of the most famous jewels in the world.
(MUSIC)
HOST:
The Hope Diamond is one of the largest and most famous jewels in the world. For fifty years, it has been in the collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. To mark this anniversary, the museum is showing the forty-five carat blue diamond for the first time without its usual setting. Visitors can now see the Hope Diamond in all its natural beauty. Barbara Klein has more.
BARBARA KLEIN:
The Hope Diamond has a long and rich history. It was formed over a billion years ago far beneath the Earth's surface. Its rare blue color comes from small amounts of the element boron. The stone was discovered in a mine in India during the seventeenth century. It was more than one hundred carats in weight. In sixteen sixty-eight, the stone was sold to the ruler of France, King Louis the Fourteenth.
A few years later, the king's jeweler recut the stone to a weight of about sixty-seven carats. The stone was later lost during the French Revolution. A recut version of this blue diamond later reappeared in England.
Different families and jewelry experts have owned the stone over the years. The diamond received its name from one of its nineteenth century owners, Henry Phillip Hope. A wealthy American woman named Evalyn Walsh McLean bought the Hope Diamond in nineteen eleven. During her ownership the stone was placed in a setting surrounded by sixteen small white diamonds on a long diamond chain.
Last month, the Smithsonian removed the Hope Diamond from this setting. Visitors can see the diamond all by itself, in all its sparkling blue glory. In April, the Hope Diamond will temporarily be placed in a new necklace before returning to its original setting. Also in April, the Smithsonian will release a new movie about the diamond's history.
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The Hope Diamond is one of the most visited objects in the museum. Museum organizers say they wanted people to be able to see the famous stone in a new way.
Jeffrey Post is the curator of the museum's gem and mineral collection. He says seeing the Hope Diamond out of its setting also allows experts to study the rare stone. He said studying this jewel will help scientists learn more about diamonds in general.
(MUSIC)
Our question this week comes from China. Li Wei wants to know why some American cities and states have the same name. For example, there is a New York City and a New York State.  The same is true of the West Coast state of Washington and the East Coast city of Washington, D.C. And, there are more than ten other cities named Washington. They include those in Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
It is quite common for cities to have the same names as states.  For example, there is a California, Maryland and an Iowa, Louisiana. There is a Florida, New York and a Kansas, Alabama.
Many names of American states and cities are based on Native American languages.
For example, the state of Alabama was named after a local Indian tribe called the the Alibamu. The word means "thicket clearers" or "herb gatherers." The state of Illinois comes from the Algonquian tribal word Illiniwek.  It means "tribe of superior men."  The states of North and South Dakota were both named for a group of Sioux Indians called Dakota. The word means "allies" or "friends."
Many American states are named after historic people. Georgia is the feminine Latin form of George and is named after King George the Second of Great Britain. Maryland was named after Queen Henrietta Maria, the wife of King Charles the First of England. And Louisiana is named in honor of King Louis the Fourteenth of France.
But some names of cities and towns are unusual.  Like Big Ugly, West Virginia and Idiotville, Oregon. Also, Sweet Lips, Tennessee and Kissimmee, Florida. There is Celebration in Florida and Sa