美国国家公共电台 NPR Wisdom From Young Adult Authors: Tamora Pierce

Wisdom From Young Adult Authors: Tamora Pierce

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Throughout August, we'll bring you stories and some advice from authors who've written for young people about the crucial moment when they've left home and set out in the world on their own. It's a series we call Next Chapter. Our first author is a fantasy writer, Tamora Pierce. Her books are full of knights¹ and mythical² creatures, but if you haven't read her work before, she says she wants to know that...

TAMORA PIERCE: First, last, foremost and always in my books girls kick butt³.

SIMON: She brings us back to 1972, the summer before she left for college. She lived in Uniontown, Pa.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

PIERCE: My mother, my two sisters and I lived in one room in a residential⁴ hotel. We were on welfare. I wore proper girl dresses of the early 1970s. My hemlines were about an inch above my knee. I had black framed glasses because that was all welfare would pay for. I was cute, not pretty, until I opened my mouth and then a lot of people decided⁵ I was smart and a snob⁶.

I did not talk about where I lived. I did not talk about being on welfare. I was bitterly ashamed of it. I was tired of being poor. I was tired of shopping on food stamps and getting the fisheye from the women who rang up the groceries. I was tired of it all. And college was my gateway⁷ to freedom.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TRIAL BY FIRE")

JEFFERSON AIRPLANE: (Singing) Going to move out on the highway, make this moment last.

PIERCE: You always dream of something, and then reality always dumps you on your butt. There were still those cliques⁸, the pretty girls who were interested in toenail polish and the fashionable sandals. We found that there were our own bills to pay, meals to worry about. You were struggling for grade point averages, you were worried if your boyfriend was going to get drafted.

But the cultural experiences were as mind-widening as the classroom experiences. And in the summer following my junior year, I sold my first short story. You can do, you can be anything you want. You may have to work very, very hard. You have to be willing to give things up.

That's why your parents turn green when you tell them you want to be an artist or a rock star or a writer because they'd like you to have those things like regular meals. So I advise people get a job in systems engineering, computer design, secretarial work. I found secretarial work paid the bills but left my brain clear to compose for writing.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HAVE YOU SEEN THE STARS TONITE")

JEFFERSON STARSHIP: (Singing) Have you seen the stars tonight?

SIMON: Tamora Pierce, author of the "Song Of The Lioness" series. And we've been hearing music by Paul Kantner and Jefferson Airplane, which she chose. Tamora Pierce is part of our series Next Chapter.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HAVE YOU SEEN THE STARS TONITE")

JEFFERSON STARSHIP: (Singing) Would you like to go up for a stroll and keep me company?

1 knights   

骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。

2 mythical   

adj.神话的；虚构的；想像的

参考例句：

• Undeniably,he is a man of mythical status.不可否认，他是一个神话般的人物。
• Their wealth is merely mythical.他们的财富完全是虚构的。

3 butt   

n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶

参考例句：

• The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
• He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。

4 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 snob   

n.势利小人，自以为高雅、有学问的人

参考例句：

• Going to a private school had made her a snob.上私立学校后，她变得很势利。
• If you think that way, you are a snob already.如果你那样想的话，你已经是势利小人了。

7 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。

8 cliques   

n.小集团，小圈子，派系( clique的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All traitorous persons and cliques came to no good end. 所有的叛徒及叛徒集团都没好下场。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They formed cliques and carried arms expansion and war preparations. 他们拉帮结派，扩军备战。 来自互联网