英语专业晨读美文-人物篇 14 Benjamin Franklin

[00:01.72]Benjamin Franklin
[00:07.17]Franklin's life is full of charming stories
[00:11.27]which all young men should know—
[00:13.04]how he peddled¹ ballads³ in Boston, and stood,
[00:16.22]the guest of kings in Europe;
[00:18.15]how he worked his passage as a stowaway⁴ to Philadelphia,
[00:21.80]and rode in the queen's own litter in France;
[00:24.92]how he walked the streets of Philadelphia,
[00:28.07]homeless and unknown, with three penny rolls for his breakfast,
[00:32.28]and dined at the tables of princesses,
[00:34.95]and received his friends in a palace;
[00:37.34]how he raised a kite from a cow shed,
[00:40.31]and was showered with all the high degrees
[00:43.66]the colleges of the world could give;
[00:45.50]how he was duped by a false friend as a boy,
[00:48.50]and became the friend of all humanity as a man;
[00:51.60]how he was made Major General Franklin,
[00:54.98]only to resign because, as he said,
[00:58.19]he was no soldier, and yet helped to
[01:01.30]organize the army that stood
[01:03.07]before the trained troops of England.
[01:05.48]This poor Boston boy, with scarcely a day's schooling⁵,
[01:09.37]became master of six languages
[01:11.69]and never stopped studying;
[01:13.41]this neglected apprentice⁶ tamed the lightning,
[01:16.62]made his name famous, received degrees and diplomas
[01:20.46]from colleges in both hemispheres,
[01:22.30]and became forever remembered as “Doctor Franklin”,
[01:25.86]Philosopher, patriot⁷, scientist,
[01:29.50]philanthropist and statesman.
[01:31.54]Self-made, self-taught, self-reared,
[01:34.72]the candle maker's son gave light to all the world;
[01:37.60]the street ballad² seller set all men singing of liberty;
[01:41.73]the runaway⁸ apprentice became the most sought-after
[01:44.56]man of two continents, and brought his native land
[01:47.99]to praise and honour him.
[01:49.59]He built America—for what our Republic is today
[01:52.89]is largely due to the prudence⁹, the forethought,
[01:56.31]the statesmanship, the enterprise, the wisdom,
[01:59.43]and the ability of Benjamin Franklin.
[02:01.97]He belongs to the world, but especially
[02:04.86]does he belong to America.
[02:06.41]As the nations honoured him while living,
[02:08.91]so the Republic glorifies¹⁰ him when dead,
[02:11.97]and has enshrined him in the choicest of it's niches—
[02:15.42]the one he regarded as the loftiest—
[02:17.97]the hearts of the common people,
[02:19.82]from whom he had sprung and in their hearts Franklin will live forever.

 

1 peddled   

（沿街）叫卖( peddle的过去式和过去分词 )； 兜售； 宣传； 散播

参考例句：

• He has peddled the myth that he is supporting the local population. 他散布说他支持当地群众。
• The farmer peddled his fruit from house to house. 那个农民挨家挨户兜售他的水果。

2 ballad   

n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲

参考例句：

• This poem has the distinctive flavour of a ballad.这首诗有民歌风味。
• This is a romantic ballad that is pure corn.这是一首极为伤感的浪漫小曲。

3 ballads   

民歌，民谣，特别指叙述故事的歌( ballad的名词复数 )； 讴

参考例句：

• She belted out ballads and hillbilly songs one after another all evening. 她整晚一个接一个地大唱民谣和乡村小调。
• She taught him to read and even to sing two or three little ballads,accompanying him on her old piano. 她教他读书，还教他唱两三首民谣，弹着她的旧钢琴为他伴奏。

4 stowaway   

n.（藏于轮船，飞机中的）偷乘者

参考例句：

• The stowaway masqueraded as a crew member.偷渡者假扮成乘务员。
• The crew discovered the stowaway about two days into their voyage.船员在开船约两天后发现了那名偷乘者。

5 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

6 apprentice   

n.学徒，徒弟

参考例句：

• My son is an apprentice in a furniture maker's workshop.我的儿子在一家家具厂做学徒。
• The apprentice is not yet out of his time.这徒工还没有出徒。

7 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

8 runaway   

n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的

参考例句：

• The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
• He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。

9 prudence   

n.谨慎，精明，节俭

参考例句：

• A lack of prudence may lead to financial problems.不够谨慎可能会导致财政上出现问题。
• The happy impute all their success to prudence or merit.幸运者都把他们的成功归因于谨慎或功德。

10 glorifies   

赞美( glorify的第三人称单数 )； 颂扬； 美化； 使光荣

参考例句：

• He denies that the movie glorifies violence. 他否认这部影片美化暴力。
• This magazine in no way glorifies gangs. 这本杂志绝对没有美化混混们。