Radio Part I

Radio's history - Part I     audio        www.inglesvip.xpg.com.br

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1. I’m Barbara Klein. And I’m Steve Ember with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English. Today, we will tell aboutseveral men who influenced the development of radio.

2. BARBARA KLEIN:  Some people say radio was invented by Guglielmo Marconi of Italy. Marconi sent the first radio communication signals through the air in eighteen ninety-five. In fact, no one person can be called the inventor of radio. Many people, including several Americans, helped to develop radio. You may not know their names. However, their work affected many people. 

3. Over the years, radio has become one of the most important forms of communication. It can be used for two- way communication, such as between a ship and land. Scientists even use radio to communicate into space. And radiobroadcasts let people send words, music and information to any part of the world. 

4. STEVE EMBER:  The first experimental radio broadcasts in the United States were made in the early nineteen hundreds. One of the first broadcasts came from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City in nineteen ten. It included music by the great singer Enrico Caruso. An American inventor, Lee De Forest, produced that broadcast. 

5. Only a few people could hear the broadcast. Some were people in the New York area who had built radio receivers. Some ships at sea and military radio stations received the broadcast. Many newspapers of the day reported on the event. The name of Lee De Forest became part of broadcasting history. 

6. BARBARA KLEIN: De Forest developed some of the technology used in early radio. During his lifetime, he invented hundreds of devices that were used in telephones, shortwave radio broadcasts, and similar technology.

7. His most famous invention was the vacuum tube, or electron tube. In nineteen-oh-six, the electron tube was considered the single most important development in electronics. The device made it possible to strengthen radio signals and to send them over long distances. It was a major reason for the fast growth of the electronics and communications industries in the early part of the twentieth century.

8. STEVE EMBER: Edwin Armstrong was another American inventor who was important in the development of electronics and radio communication. Armstrong developed technology that helped to improve radio reception. He discovered ways to limit unwanted radio signals.

9. Edwin Armstrong also was a leader in using radio to reproduce sounds clearly. This process became known as frequency modulation, or FM radio. FM radioprovided better sound reproduction and less noise or interference than traditional AM radio. Armstrong also developed radio receivers that became widely used.

10. BARBARA KLEIN:  Many experts say station KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was the first American radio station. It broadcast results of the American presidential election in November, nineteen twenty. That is generally considered the start of professional radio broadcasting in the United States.

10. Soon, radio stations began to appear in other areas. In nineteen twenty-two, two stations in New York State joined together to broadcast the championship game of American baseball. The stations were connected by telephone lines. This permitted them to share the same program. It was one of the first examples of a radionetwork.

11. STEVE EMBER:  By the middle of the nineteen-twenties, there were two main radio networks in the United States. The National Broadcasting Corporation, NBC, was formed by the Radio Corporation of America. NBC became the first permanent national network. The other network was the Columbia Broadcasting System, called CBS. The networks provided programs to radio stations across the country. Local stations created very few programs. What listeners heard in New York was oftenheard in Los Angeles, California and other cities. 

12. BARBARA KLEIN:  David Sarnoff was the man responsible for NBC. As a young man, Sarnoff had taught himself Morse code. He got a job with the MarconiWireless Telegraph Company where he worked as a telegraph operator.

13. He was on duty when the passenger ship Titanic sank in the Atlantic Ocean in nineteen twelve. Sarnoff helped the rescue effort by informing other ships about the accident. He understood that someone using radio could affect many lives.

14. By nineteen twenty-one, Sarnoff was an official of the Radio Corporation of America. He pushed RCA to enter broadcasting. The company soon earned huge profits. Five years later, David Sarnoff helped create NBC. David Sarnoff developed the theory of broadcasting.

15.This was very different from the communication between two people speaking to each other on a telephone. Radio meant that someone could speak to millions of people.

Vocabulary

1. also = também
2. began = começaram
3. broadcasts = transmissões
4. championship = campeonato
5. could hear = podiam escutar
6. developed = desenvolveu
7. development = desenvolvimento
8. devices = mecanismos, dispositivos
9. During = durante
10. early = primitivo
11. earned huge profits = ganhou imensos lucros
12. even = até mesmo
13. experts = especialistas
14. few = poucos(as)
15. had built = tinham construído
16. had taught = tinha ensinado
17. has become = tornou-se
18. heard = ouviam
19. However = contudo
20. improve = melhorar
21. In fact = na verdade
22. joined together = juntaram-se
23. known as = conhecido como
24. land = terra
25. less noise = menos barulho
26. let = permite
27. lifetime = tempo de vida
28. listeners = ouvintes
29. lives = vidas
30. made it possible = tornou possível
31. main = principal
32. may not know = pode não sabe
33. meant = significava
34. Morse code = código Morse
35. network = rede
36. newspapers = jornais
37. often = frequentemente
38. on duty = no trabalho
39. Over = ao longo de
40. provided = fornecia
41. pushed = pressionou, incentivou
42. receivers = receptores
43. rescue effort = esforço de resgate
44. same = mesmo
45. sank = afundou
46. sent = enviou
47. several = vários
48. share = compartilhar
49. shortwave = de ondas curtas
50. signals = sinais
51. single = único
52. Soon = logo
53. start = início
54. strengthen = 
55. fortalecersuch as = tais como
56. through = através
57. to each other = um com o outro
58. understood = entendeu
59. unwanted = indesejável
60. vacuum tube = tubo a vácuo
61. very few = muito poucos
62. ways = formas
63. widely = amplamente
64. Wireless = sem fio