BBC 6分钟英语 是什么造就了一个伟大的图书馆

6 min English from BBC learning english dot com.

Hello, this is minute English from BBC Learning English.

I'm Neil, and I'm Beth. Quiet, please.

I'm trying to read here. Beth.

Oh, excuse me, I didn't know this was a

library. Well, what exactly is a library?

Have you ever thought about that?

Well, somewhere, I with lots of books, I suppose, where you go to read or study, a symbol of knowledge and learning, A place to keep warm in the winter, or somewhere to murder victims in a crime novel.

Libraries' can be all of these things and more.

In this program, will be looking into the hidden life of the library, including one of the most famous, the Great Library of Alexandera, founded in ancient Egypt in around 280, 500 B-C-E.

And, as usual, well be learning some useful new vocabulary, and doing it all in a whisper, so as not a distant anyone glad to hear it.

But before we get out our library cards, I have a question for you.

Bet Founded in 1973 and central London, the British Library is one of the largest libraries in the world, containing around 200 million books.

But which of the following can be found on its shelves?

Is it A the earliest known printing of the Bible?

B the 1st edition of The Times newspaper from 1788.

See the original manuscripts of the Harry Potter books.

I'll guess it's the 1st edition of the famous British newspaper, the Times.

Okay, beth, I'll reveal the answer at the end of the program.

Libraries mean different things to different people.

So who better to ask than someone who has written the book on it?

Literally. Professor Andrew Pedigree is the author of a new book, A Fragile History of the Library.

Here, he explains what a library means to him on BBC Radio three programme art and ideas Well.

In my view, a library is any collection of books which is deliberately put together by its owner or patron.

So in the 15th century, a library can be 30 manuscripts painfully put together during the course of a lifetime, or it can be two shells of paperbacks in your home.

Andrew defines the library as any collection of books someone has intentionally built up.

This could be as simple as a few paperbacks, cheap books with a cover made of thick paper.

Today, books are available everywhere, from supermarkets to train stations, but back in history, that wasn't the case.

In earlier centuries, printed books or manuscripts were rare and may have been painfully collected over many years.

Andrew uses the adverb painfully or painstakingly to describe something which took a lot of care and effort to do.

But paperback books and private collections are only part of the story.

You may not believe it that libraries are places of power.

To find out why, we have to go back in time to the ancient Egyptian port of Alexandria.

In the 3rd century B-C-E, the Great Library of Alexandria held the largest collection of books in the ancient world.

Founded in the city built by Alexander the Great, the library's mission was to bring together a copy of every book then in existence.

According to history professor Islam Issa, there were two reasons why the Great Library made Alexandria so powerful.

as he explained to BBC radio program Art and ideas.

The 1st is being in a location at the section of the continents, and bringing it a diverse set of people together to live in harmony, or relative harmony, can bring about economic prosperity.

And the 2nd is quite simply that knowledge equals power.

And so the library is a form of soft power.

It's a way of saying the Alexandria is an important center of knowledge, a regional capital.

By being the guardians of knowledge, alexandria was the meeting point of different cultures, where different ideas and philosophies were exchanged.

This atmosphere encouraged people to live in harmony, peacefully and cooperatively with each other.

But the main reason for the great libraries importance is that knowledge equals power, as saying, meaning that the more someone knows, the more they will be able to control events.

Alexandria became the capital of soft power, the use of political and cultural knowledge, rather than military power, to influence events.

Now, maybe it's time to reveal the answer to your question.

Neil Sure. I asked you which famous text could be found in the British library.

I guessed it was the 1st edition of the Times newspaper.

So was I right? That was the correct

answer? In the British library, you'll find the 1st copy of the Times, along with the 1st editions of many famous books.

OK, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned in this program, starting with sh

an exclamation, used to ask someone to be quiet.

A paperback is a type of book with a cover made of thick paper and sold relatively cheaply.

Doing something painstakingly or painfully means doing it in a way showing that lots of care and effort has been taken.

Harmony is a situation where people cooperate peacefully with the other.

According to the expression, knowledge equals power.

The more you know, the more you're able to control events.

And finally, soft power involves using political or cultural means rather than the military power, to get what you want.

Once again, our 6 min are up good and now good bye.

6 min English from BBC learning English dot com.

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