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　Capital of Culture

　　Washington, DC has traditionally been an unbalanced city when it comes to the life of the mind. It has great national monuments, from the Smithsonian museums to the Library of Congress. But day-to-day cultural life can be thin. It attracts some of the country's best brains. But far too much of the city's intellectual life is devoted to the minutia of the political process. Dinner table conversation can all too easily turn to budget reconciliation or social security

　　This is changing. On October 1st the Shakespeare Theatre Company opened a 775-seat new theatre in the heart of downtown. Sidney Harman Hall not only provides a new stage for a theatre company that has hitherto had to make do with the 450-seat Lansburgh Theatre around the corner. It will also provide a platform for a large number of smaller arts companies such as the Washington Ballet, the Washington Bach Consort and the CityDance Ensemble.

　　The fact that so many of these outfits are queuing up to perform is testimony to Washington's cultural vitality. The recently-expanded Kennedy Centre is by some measures the busiest performing arts complex in America. But it still has a growing number of arts groups which are desperate for mid-sized space downtown. Michael Kahn, the theatre company's artistic director, jokes that, despite Washington's aversion to keeping secrets, it has made a pretty good job of keeping quiet about its artistic life. The Harman Centre should act as a whistleblower.

　　Washington still bows the knee to New York and Chicago when it comes to culture. But it has a good claim to be America's intellectual capital. It has the greatest collection of think-tanks on the planet, and it regularly sucks in a giant share of the country's best brains. Washington is second only to San Francisco for the proportion of residents 25 years and older with a bachelor's degree or higher.

　　Washington's intellectual life has been supercharged during the Bush years, despite the Decider's aversion to ideas. September 11th, 2001, put questions of global strategy at the centre of the national debate. Most of America's intellectual centres are firmly in the grip of the left-liberal establishment. For all their talk of "diversity" American universities are allergic to a diversity of ideas. Washington is one of the few cities where conservatives regularly do battle with liberals. It is also the centre of a fierce debate about the future direction of conservatism.

　　The danger for Washington is that this intellectual and cultural renaissance will leave the majority of the citizens untouched. The capital remains a city deeply divided between over-educated white itinerants and under-educated black locals. Still, the new Shakespeare theatre is part of job-generating downtown revival. Twenty years ago downtown was a desert of dilapidated buildings and bag people. Today it is bustling with life. If Washington is struggling to fix the world, at least it is making a reasonable job of fixing itself.

　　词汇注解

　　重点单词

　　monument /'mɔnjumənt/

　　【中文释义】n.纪念碑

　　【大纲全义】n.纪念碑，纪念馆，遗迹，不朽的业绩

　　devote /di'vəut/

　　【中文释义】v.投入于

　　【大纲全义】v.(to)，奉献，致力，投入于

　　outfit /'autfit/

　　【中文释义】n.机构

　　【大纲全义】n.用具，机构，全套装配;全套服装 v.配备，(得到)装备

　　testimony /'testiməni/

　　【文中释义】n.证据

　　【大纲全义】n.证据，证词;表明，说明

　　vitality /vai'tæliti/

　　【文中释义】n.生命力，活力

　　【大纲全义】n.生命力，活力，生气;体力

　　desperate /'despərit/

　　【文中释义】adj.不顾一切的

　　【大纲全义】adj.不顾一切的，铤而走险的;绝望的，危急的

　　artistic /ɑ:'tistik /

　　【文中释义】adj.艺术的

　　【大纲全义】adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的;善于艺术创作的

　　bow / bau/

　　【文中释义】v.弯腰

　　【大纲全义】v./n.鞠躬，点头;压弯 n.弓(形);蝴蝶结

　　suck /sʌk/

　　【文中释义】v.吸收

　　【大纲全义】v./n.吸，舐;吸收(取)

　　allergic/ə'lə:dʒik/

　　【文中释义】adj.过敏的

　　【大纲全义】adj.过敏的，患过敏症的;强烈反感的;极讨厌的

　　renaissance /rə'neisəns/

　　【文中释义】n.文艺复兴

　　【大纲全义】n. [the R-]文艺复兴(时期);新生，复兴

　　bustling /'bʌsliŋ/

　　【文中释义】adj. 忙乱的

　　【文中释义】adj. 熙熙攘攘的，忙乱的

　　超纲单词

　　unbalanced adj.不平衡的 minutia n. 细枝末节，细节

　　reconciliation n调和 hitherto adv.到目前为止

　　aversion n.反恶 supercharge v.增加负荷

　　left-liberal n.左冀自由派，激进派 conservatism n.保守主义

　　itinerant n.巡回者 dilapidated adj.荒废的

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