Alan Johnston, BBC News

媒体英语会带大家一起学习 BBC 撰稿人在报道世界大事时常用到的单词和短语。

Background: 世界上最名贵的小提琴是意大利提琴制造家， 史特拉第瓦里(Stradivari)所制的提琴。这些古董琴以完美的音质著称，其中一把珍藏提琴去年创下了近1千万英镑的成交纪录。但在美国近期的一次试验中，结果显示名贵古董提琴未必比现代提琴好。这一结论引起了位于北意大利史特拉第瓦里故乡的不满。

For generations lovers of classical music have believed that when it comes to the violin, there is nothing finer than the sound of a Stradivarius. But research in America has challenged the mystiquesurrounding the famous old instruments.

Tests involving more than 20 professional violinists were conducted in a hotel in Indiana. The violinists were made to wear goggles that blinded them.

They couldn't tell whether they were playing an antique Stradivarius, or a brand new instrument. And most of the musicians decided that they liked the new ones best.

But they've been unimpressed by this in a place called Cremona, the home town of the Stradivarius violin. At the instrument museum there, a spokesman said the American survey was no more than "media hype".

He said that for hundreds of years the world of music had recognised the quality of the Stradivarius.

• research [ri´sə:tʃ]   n.&vi.调查；探究；研究   (初中英语单词)
• professional [prə´feʃənəl]   a.职业的 n.自由职业   (初中英语单词)
• instrument [´instrumənt]   n.仪器；手段；乐器   (初中英语单词)
• survey [´sə:vei]   vt.&n.俯瞰；审视；测量   (初中英语单词)
• surrounding [sə´raundiŋ]   n.周围的事物   (高中英语单词)
• indiana [,indi´ænə]   n.印第安纳(州)   (高中英语单词)
• decided [di´saidid]   a.明显的；决定的   (高中英语单词)
• classical [´klæsikəl]   a.经典的；传统的   (英语四级单词)
• violin [,vaiə´lin]   n.(小)提琴   (英语四级单词)
• antique [æn´ti:k]   a.古代的 n.古物(董)   (英语四级单词)
• spokesman [´spəuksmən]   n.发言人   (英语六级单词)