-
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
By Richard Thorman
25 Sep 2004, 20:22 UTC
Broadcast: September 26, 2004
(THEME)
VOICE ONE:
I'm Shirley Griffith.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program, PEOPLE IN AMERICA.
Today we tell about the life of Nineteenth Century philosopher1 and writer
Ralph Waldo Emerson.
VOICE ONE:
The United States had won its independence from Britain just twenty-two years
before Ralph Waldo Emerson was born. But it had yet to win its cultural
independence. It still took its traditions from other countries, mostly from
western Europe.
What the American Revolution did for the nation's politics, Emerson did for
its culture.
When he began writing and speaking in the eighteen thirties, conservatives2
saw him as radical3 -- wild and dangerous. But to the young, he spoke4 words of
self-dependence -- a new language of freedom. He was the first to bring them
a truly American spirit.
He told America to demand its own laws and churches and works5. It is through
his own works that we shall look at Ralph Waldo Emerson.
VOICE TWO:
Ralph Waldo Emerson's life was not as exciting as the lives of some other
American writers -- Herman Melville, Mark Twain or Ernest Hemingway. Emerson
traveled to Europe several times. And he made speeches at a number of places
in the United States. But, except for those trips, he lived all his life in
the small town of Concord6, Massachusetts.
He once said that the shortest books are those about the lives of people with
great minds. Emerson was not speaking about himself. Yet his own life proves
the thought.
VOICE ONE:
Emerson was born in the northeastern city of Boston, Massachusetts, in
eighteen oh three. Boston was then the capital of learning7 in the United
States.
Emerson's father, like many of the men in his family, was a minister of a
Christian8 church. When Emerson was eleven years old, his father died. Missus
Emerson was left with very little money to raise her five sons.
After several more years in Boston, the family moved to the nearby town of
Concord. There they joined Emerson's aunt, Mary Moody9 Emerson.
VOICE TWO:
Emerson seemed to accept the life his mother and aunt wanted for him. As a
boy, he attended Boston Latin10 School. Then he studied at Harvard University.
For a few years, he taught in a girls' school started by one of his brothers.
But he did not enjoy this kind of teaching11. For a time, he wondered what he
should do with his life. Finally, like his father, he became a religious
minister. But he had questions about his beliefs and the purpose of his life.
VOICE ONE:
In eighteen thirty-one, Ralph Waldo Emerson resigned as the minister of his
church because of a minor12 religious issue. What really troubled him was
something else.
It was his growing belief that a person could find God without the help of an
organized church. He believed that God is not found in systems and words, but
in the minds of people. He said that God in us worships13 God.
Emerson traveled to Europe the following year. He talked about his ideas with
the best-known European writers and thinkers of his time. When he returned to
the United States, he married and settled in Concord. Then he began his life
as a writer and speaker.
VOICE TWO:
Ralph Waldo Emerson published his first book, Nature, in Eighteen thirty-six.
It made conservatives see him as a revolutionary. But students at Harvard
University liked the book and invited him to speak to them.
His speech, "The American Scholar," created great excitement among the
students. They heard his words as a new declaration14 of independence -- a
declaration of the independence of the mind.
VOICE ONE:
"Give me an understanding of today's world," he told them, "and you may have
the worlds of the past and the future. Show me where God is hidden...as
always...in nature. What is near explains what is far. A drop of water is a
small ocean. Each of us is a part of all of nature."
Emerson said a sign of the times was the new importance given to each person.
"The world," he said, "is nothing. The person is all. In yourself is the law
of all nature."
Emerson urged students to learn directly from life. He told them, "Life is
our dictionary."
25 Sep 2004, 20:22 UTC
Broadcast: September 26, 2004
(THEME)
VOICE ONE:
I'm Shirley Griffith.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program, PEOPLE IN AMERICA.
Today we tell about the life of Nineteenth Century philosopher1 and writer
Ralph Waldo Emerson.
VOICE ONE:
The United States had won its independence from Britain just twenty-two years
before Ralph Waldo Emerson was born. But it had yet to win its cultural
independence. It still took its traditions from other countries, mostly from
western Europe.
What the American Revolution did for the nation's politics, Emerson did for
its culture.
When he began writing and speaking in the eighteen thirties, conservatives2
saw him as radical3 -- wild and dangerous. But to the young, he spoke4 words of
self-dependence -- a new language of freedom. He was the first to bring them
a truly American spirit.
He told America to demand its own laws and churches and works5. It is through
his own works that we shall look at Ralph Waldo Emerson.
VOICE TWO:
Ralph Waldo Emerson's life was not as exciting as the lives of some other
American writers -- Herman Melville, Mark Twain or Ernest Hemingway. Emerson
traveled to Europe several times. And he made speeches at a number of places
in the United States. But, except for those trips, he lived all his life in
the small town of Concord6, Massachusetts.
He once said that the shortest books are those about the lives of people with
great minds. Emerson was not speaking about himself. Yet his own life proves
the thought.
VOICE ONE:
Emerson was born in the northeastern city of Boston, Massachusetts, in
eighteen oh three. Boston was then the capital of learning7 in the United
States.
Emerson's father, like many of the men in his family, was a minister of a
Christian8 church. When Emerson was eleven years old, his father died. Missus
Emerson was left with very little money to raise her five sons.
After several more years in Boston, the family moved to the nearby town of
Concord. There they joined Emerson's aunt, Mary Moody9 Emerson.
VOICE TWO:
Emerson seemed to accept the life his mother and aunt wanted for him. As a
boy, he attended Boston Latin10 School. Then he studied at Harvard University.
For a few years, he taught in a girls' school started by one of his brothers.
But he did not enjoy this kind of teaching11. For a time, he wondered what he
should do with his life. Finally, like his father, he became a religious
minister. But he had questions about his beliefs and the purpose of his life.
VOICE ONE:
In eighteen thirty-one, Ralph Waldo Emerson resigned as the minister of his
church because of a minor12 religious issue. What really troubled him was
something else.
It was his growing belief that a person could find God without the help of an
organized church. He believed that God is not found in systems and words, but
in the minds of people. He said that God in us worships13 God.
Emerson traveled to Europe the following year. He talked about his ideas with
the best-known European writers and thinkers of his time. When he returned to
the United States, he married and settled in Concord. Then he began his life
as a writer and speaker.
VOICE TWO:
Ralph Waldo Emerson published his first book, Nature, in Eighteen thirty-six.
It made conservatives see him as a revolutionary. But students at Harvard
University liked the book and invited him to speak to them.
His speech, "The American Scholar," created great excitement among the
students. They heard his words as a new declaration14 of independence -- a
declaration of the independence of the mind.
VOICE ONE:
"Give me an understanding of today's world," he told them, "and you may have
the worlds of the past and the future. Show me where God is hidden...as
always...in nature. What is near explains what is far. A drop of water is a
small ocean. Each of us is a part of all of nature."
Emerson said a sign of the times was the new importance given to each person.
"The world," he said, "is nothing. The person is all. In yourself is the law
of all nature."
Emerson urged students to learn directly from life. He told them, "Life is
our dictionary."
点击收听单词发音
1 philosopher | |
n.哲学家,哲人 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 conservatives | |
保守的人( conservative的名词复数 ); (英国)保守党党员,保守党支持者 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 radical | |
n.激进份子,原子团,根号;adj.根本的,激进的,彻底的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 works | |
n.作品,著作;工厂,活动部件,机件 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 concord | |
n.和谐;协调 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 learning | |
n.学问,学识,学习;动词learn的现在分词 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 moody | |
adj.心情不稳的,易怒的,喜怒无常的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 Latin | |
adj.拉丁的,拉丁语的,拉丁人的;n.拉丁语 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 teaching | |
n.教学,执教,任教,讲授;(复数)教诲 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 minor | |
adj.较小(少)的,较次要的;n.辅修学科;vi.辅修 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 worships | |
n.(对治安官或市长的尊称)阁下( worship的名词复数 )v.崇拜,尊崇( worship的第三人称单数 );做礼拜;热爱;爱慕 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 declaration | |
n.宣布,宣告,宣言,声明(书),申报 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 moral | |
adj.道德(上)的,有道德的;n.品行,寓意,道德 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16 mister | |
n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17 restricts | |
v.(以法规)限制( restrict的第三人称单数 );约束;束缚 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18 Negro | |
n./adj.黑人;黑人的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19 condemned | |
adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20 dispute | |
n.争端,分歧;v.争论,争吵,辩论,辩驳 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21 disputes | |
n.辩论( dispute的名词复数 );争端;(劳资)纠纷;罢工v.辩论,争论( dispute的第三人称单数 );争夺;阻止;就…进行辩论 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22 intense | |
adj.认真的,专注的;强烈的;紧张的;热情的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23 runaway | |
n.逃走的人,逃亡,亡命者;adj.逃亡的,逃走的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
24 pneumonia | |
n.肺炎 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
25 graves | |
n.(法国)格拉芙葡萄酒;坟墓( grave的名词复数 );死亡;钝重音符;沉音符v.坟墓( grave的第三人称单数 );死亡;钝重音符;沉音符 | |
参考例句: |
|
|