2007年NPR美国国家公共电台一月-Learning to Make the Best of Life -- and

Time again for StoryCorps. This project has been recording¹ conversations between Americans across the country. Today we are listening to Johnnie Tyson and her niece Sandra Fleming. The two of them sat down together during a StoryCorps stop in Little Rock, Arkansas. Johnnie Tyson who is 82 explains to her niece what was like to grow up obese².

"I was a 13-pound baby at birth. By the time I was 6 years old, I was weighing over 100 pounds. When I was 9, I weighed 250 pounds. When I was 15, I weighed 329 pounds. And the only place I could weigh would be to go to the Old Baptist Hospital and then weigh on those freight³ scales. And I didn’t know how to work the scales I always had to get somebody help, and they go and rush to tell everybody come and look, you know. It was a sight when you see a 300-pound teenager, ah.. particularly when I came along, because I am a child of great depression."

"How do you think your size affected⁴ your personality, too?"

"Oh, yes. It's hard to describe how you feel. You feel so insecure. Everybody, for most part, is laughing. And then I tried to grin⁵ and bear. But it was just such a painful experience .And in the elementary grades, I don't think I had a thing that teaches but I could truthfully say was just unkind⁶ but you could tell how they felt when there were little things to be done like ..maybe going to another teacher’s room or getting a glass of water, you were just kind of left alone. And you have to be extremely heavy before you understand what a painful situation it is. And I really believe it helps me to establish an empathy with most any problem that people have, that keeps them from being able to accept themselves as they’d like to.

"Well, can I ask you what are you most proud of in your life?"

"Let me put it like this. If you are wise, you accept life whatever it presents and make the best of it unless you want to go nuts. I accepted it whatever came. Some of it was pleasant, some of it was not. But I think the fact that I was able to accept it and move on and do as well as I did is the thing that I’m proudest of."

Johnnie Tyson went on to work as an educator for nearly 3 decades. She was interviewed by her niece, Sandra Fleming. These StoryCorp conversations are all archived at the Library of Congress⁷. Learn how to record your story at npr.org.

1 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

2 obese   

adj.过度肥胖的，肥大的

参考例句：

• The old man is really obese,it can't be healthy.那位老人确实过于肥胖了，不能算是健康。
• Being obese and lazy is dangerous to health.又胖又懒危害健康。

3 freight   

n.货物，货运；vt.运送（货物）看，装货于

参考例句：

• Tons of freight were flown into this airport every day.每天有许多吨货物被空运到这个机场。
• There is ten yuan in the bill for freight.发票中包括运费十元。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 grin   

n./vi.露齿而笑，咧嘴一笑

参考例句：

• I know she is joking because she has a big grin on her face.我知道她是在开玩笑。因为她满脸笑容。
• She came out of his office with a big grin on her face.她笑容满面地走出他的办公室。

6 unkind   

adj.不仁慈的，不和善的

参考例句：

• He was never unkind to her.他从未亏待过她。
• Unkindness often reacts on the unkind person.恶人有恶报。

7 Congress   

n.(代表)大会；(C-:美国等国的)国会，议会

参考例句：

• There were some days to wait before the Congress.大会的召开还有几天时间。
• After 18 years in Congress,he intented to return to private life.在国会供职18年后，他打算告老还乡。