VOA广播的收听技巧(转载)(三)

7． 怎样处理新闻中的专有名词

　　在收听VOA新闻广播中，听众会遇到大量的专有名词（包括地名、人名、建筑物名、
机构和条约名等），给理解增加了难度。其中地名常表示事件的发生地、消息来源或代
表某国政府；任命是事件的当事者或发言人；机构、条约和建筑物名常用来代表一定的
组织机构和政府。这些专用名词对听众理解新闻起着重要作用。那么初学者在收听过程
中应该怎样处理众多的专有名词呢？我们认为，总的原则是：就大不就小，分清主次，
辨明从属。现分述如下：

　　地名主要指大洲、大洋、海域、河流、岛屿、国家及其首都名，还有历史名城，国
际会议城，各国下属的州、省、邦名等。这些地名在新闻广播中使用的频率较高，可以
说每一个节目中，甚至每一条新闻中都会涉及到几个。例如：

　　Egypt French President Francois Mitterrand says France and western
nations do not want Iran or Iraq to destroy each other in their war. Mr.
Mitterrand told newsmen in Aswan that western nations want to keep a
balance between the two Persian Gulf countries. Iran and Iraq have been at
war for more than two years. (Sp.)

　　这条Special English新闻仅三句话，地名就出现了九次。如果我们不熟悉这些地名
，是很难理解新闻的大意的。因此听众应尽量多记些大的，较重要的地名，以利于提高
对听力材料的理解能力。至于一些较小的地名可暂时不记。但有些小的地名由于与重大
新闻事件有关，如切尔诺贝利（Chelobyle）与苏联1986年4月26日的核电站爆炸时间有
关，是人类瞩目之地，经常在广播节目中出现，听众也应设法熟悉或记住。又如沙特阿
拉伯的麦加（Mecca）也不大，但它是伊斯兰教第一圣地，加上1987年7月31日沙特防暴
警察在该地同前来朝圣的伊朗穆斯林发生冲突，导致重大流血事件，也令全世界关注。
象这样的地名，虽然小但很重要，如果记住并对其有所了解，对理解新闻广播的内容将
会大有好处。

　　人名主要指各国的主要领导人（包括国王、国家元首、政府首脑、外交部长、国防
部长、和各部门的新闻发言人等），各大国际组织的头号人物以及一些重要的新闻人物
（包括在野党首要领导，反对派领导人等）。人名和地名一样，出现频率极高。但是人
名一般都比地名要长，而且有的非英语国家的人名特别难记，有的则和汉语译名的读音
“风马牛不相及”，如日本人的名字，初学者想记住他们是要花大气力的。例如： 　

　　Negotiators in Algiers are still talking to the hijackers of the
Kuwaiti airliner but here are no signs that a settlement is near. Algerian
officials met with gunmen aboard the jumbo jet several times on Sunday. The
hijackers retracted an earlier threat to fly to another country and said
they will give Algeria more time to negotiate.

　　Meantime the Kuwaiti News Agency reported a prominent Arab figure will
go to the Algiers Airport and appeal for an end to the hijacking. Algerian
President talked by telephone Sunday with other Arab Heads of States
including Kuwaiti Emir Sheik Jahmedal Akhmelal Sabar, Saudi King Fahd and
Libyan Leader Muammar Qaddafh. The hijackers are demanding the release of
17 pro-Iranian terrorists jailed in Kuwaiti. The Kuwaiti government
rejected the demand. (St.)

　　这条新闻中连续出现了四个人名。应怎样对待这些人名呢？我们认为，收听新闻能
不能记住人名有时并不十分关键。如果听众记住了足够的国名及其政府，再加上听众知
道一些主要头衔，这样就能比较准确地理解新闻内容了。在VOA广播新闻中，每当提到某
某人时，其格式通常是：国籍+职位或身份+姓名，在这三项中，如果我们能听懂前面两
现，就能基本上把握新闻的意思。当然内由于一些主要国家领导人之间交往频繁，他们
往往在一些重大事件中扮演重要角色，因此，对他们的报道特别经常。对于这些人名，
如果说记得又多又熟，反过来对收听理解的帮助也就会更大。

　　机构名指世界上的各种国际性或区域性的组织或条约以及一些国家的国内组织机构
等。这些机构和条约的名称在节目中出现率也比较高。例如：

　　The United States Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar and several
western nations have expressed regret over the United States’ decision to
withdraw from UNESCO. UNESCO is the United Nation’s Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization. The State Department in Washington
announced the decision to withdraw Thursday. A spokesman said UNESCO has
become too political and has shown hostility toward the free press and the
free market. He said the United States will withdraw from UNESCO at the end
of 1984. Mr. Perez de Cuellar said he hopes a way will be found for the
United States to remain in UNESCO. France and the Netherlands expressed
disappointment over the United States’ decision. Britain said it shared
America’s concerns about UNESCO, but would remain in the organization.
(Sp.) 　

　　在这条新闻中UNESCO这一次出现达六次之多，如果不了解这一机构，是很难理解这
条新闻的。下面介绍一下这些机构在广播节目中的出现格式。

　　一般说来，由于各种组织机构和条约的全称都比较长，所以它们都有自己的缩写形
式。使用缩略词传递信息既简单明了，又节约时间。在VOA广播中，它们第一次大都以全
称的形式出现，而后往往只是以缩写或者是先以缩写形式出现，紧接着介绍其全称。有
些很常用的机构常常只以缩写的形式出现。

　　在词汇学上，缩写词可分为两类，即Acronym和Initialism，它们既有联系又有区别
。VOA在1985年5月25日的Words and Their Stories这一Special English专题节目中专
门进行了介绍。请看下面的文字材料：

　　Every people has its own special words and expressions. And one of the
most interesting kinds of words in the English language is the acronym. An
acronym is a word that is formed from the first letters of several other
words. For example, OPEC is an acronym for the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting countries. And an initialism is like an acronym, but it does not
sound like a real word itself. Instead, it just states the first letters of
other words. USA is an initialism for the United States of America. UN is
an initialism for the United Naiton.

　　Acronym and initialism are like language brothers, and both can be an
easy way to shorten the title or name that has many words. It is easier to
say VOA than to the Voice of America. But the same acronym or initialism
may represent different organizations, groups or names. For example, the
Voice of America is not he only organization with the initialism VOA. The
Volkswagen of America Automobile Company uses the same three letters. So
does the Volunteers of America Organization that helps poor people. This
has been a growing problem for English speakers. Political leaders,
scientists and others have invented thousands of acronyms to describe
everything from tax legislation to Space Vehicles. The great American
writer H. L. Mencken observed correctly that many American feel a strong
desire to reduce comlete names or ideas to the shortest possible form. Most
of the world thinks aht the acronym NATO only means the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization. However, the same acronym also can mean the National
Association of Theaters Owners in the United States. You can not be sure
that the number of the PLO belongs to the Palestine Liberation
Organization. He many really be a member of the Philippine Labor
Organizaion or he may be a scientist, helping to launch a rocket in the
Pacific Ocean as part of the Pacific Launch Operation of the American Space
Program. 　

　　Do not feel bad if you find it difficult to follow so many acronyms and
initialisms. You are not alone. Back in 1960, a group of language experts
made a list of all the acronyms they could find in the English Language.
Their list contained about 12,000. These days, however, the number of the
acronyms on the list has increased more than ten times. There are more than
100,000 different acronyms.
　　So, it is clear that acronyms and initialisms have become a permanent
part of the English language. And the one I like best is MJ. Those letters
do not represent Marine Jet, Master of Journalism or Military Judge. They
are just me, Mas Joyce.

　　通过上面的介绍，或许我们已经发现acronym与initialism的区别，我们还可以The
World Book Dictionary的initialism词条下的词义辨析中找到更为明确的答案：An
initialism differs from an acronym in that it does not form a pronounceable
word. Thus NATO and radar are acronyms, whereas AAAS and vhf are
initialisms.由此可见，它们之间的最大区别在欲acronyms要拼读成单词，而initialis
ms只能按字母一一拼读。

　　这两种缩略词都具有节省时间，新颖生动以及可回避禁忌语的特点，在广播中大有
用悟之地。但我们在收听广播时还应注意以下几点：

　　弄清它们的全称和缩写两种形式，并注意缩写形式大都为大写字母；
　　掌握它们之间的不同发音规则；
　　收听理解时应特别注意，同一个acronym或initialism有时具有不同的含义，表示不
同的组织机构或条约。

　　当然，要记住众多的专有名词不是一朝一夕的事情，这需要我们平时留心，慢慢积
累。比如可做些小卡片，写上一个国家的全称、简称、首都、重要城市及国家元首和政
府首脑的名字或者记上某一国际组织或条约的情况。这样我们就能逐渐熟悉并掌握它们
，从而帮助我们更快地听懂英语广播。


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