PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Remembering Six Important People

PEOPLE IN AMERICA – December 29, 2002: Remembering Six Important People

By Jill Moss¹

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

I’m Mary Tillotson.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Program, People in America. Today we tell about six
important Americans who died during the past year.

VOICE ONE:

Remembering the many famous and important Americans who died during the year is difficult because there are
so many worth discussing. There is not enough time to remember everyone. However, we will tell about several
Americans whose involvement in society was important and valuable.

We begin with the person likely to be missed most by young Americans. Millie Benson wrote books for young
people. The main character in each of her books is a sixteen-year-old girl named Nancy Drew who solved
mysteries. These books were extremely popular for many years. They gave teenage girls the idea that they could
do anything that boys could do. This was especially important at a time when women were struggling for equality
with men.

VOICE TWO:

Millie Benson began writing the "Nancy Drew" books in nineteen-thirty. She wrote twenty-
three of the first twenty-five stories in the series under a false name, Carolyn Keene. This was
because Mizz Benson signed an agreement with her publisher promising² never to make public
her identity. For more than fifty years, she was never officially recognized for writing the
books.

This changed in nineteen-eighty during a court case against the publisher. Mizz Benson was
permitted to tell the world she was the true writer of the Nancy Drew series. The Nancy Drew
mysteries have sold more than two-hundred-million books in seventeen languages.

Millie Benson was also one of the first female newspaper reporters. She wrote for newspapers for more than sixty
years. She was also a pilot and an adventurer. She made many trips to the jungles of Mexico and Central America
to study archeology. Millie Benson was ninety-six years old when she died.

VOICE ONE:

Stephen Jay Gould was an important American scientist. He worked as an evolutionary⁴ biologist at Harvard
University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mister Gould studied fossils, the ancient remains⁵ of animals that lived
during earlier periods in history. This permitted him to better understand how different animal groups, or species,
developed over time.

Mister Gould was a strong supporter of the evolutionary theory developed by Charles
Darwin in the eighteen-hundreds. Mister Darwin argued that fossils could prove that plants
and animals developed slowly over time from their earlier ancestors. Mister Gould
supported this theory. However, he and another scientist, Niles Eldredge, believed that
evolution was not a slow, peaceful process. In nineteen-seventy-two, the two men
developed a new theory called “punctuated⁶ equilibrium⁷.
”
They argued that evolution of
species happened during short, fast bursts of change during longer periods of no change.


During his more than thirty years at Harvard University, Mister Gould wrote more than
twenty popular books. He also wrote three-hundred monthly commentaries published in
the magazine Natural History. Many Americans will remember him because he tried to
make science popular and easy to understand. Stephen Jay Gould died at the age of sixty.

VOICE TWO:

The next American we remember is Justin Dart⁸, a longtime activist⁹ for the rights of
disabled people. Such people are unable to see, hear or walk because of accident or
disease. Many use special chairs with wheels to move around. Diseases like multiple
sclerosis, muscular dystrophy or polio can leave people disabled. In fact, Justin Dart lost
the use of his legs when he became infected with polio at age eighteen. He used a
wheelchair for the rest of his life.

Mister Dart worked for more than fifty years to establish government policies to
guarantee civil rights and health care for disabled people. He was considered one of the
fathers of the Americans with Disabilities Act which became law in nineteen-ninety. This
historic civil rights law has improved the treatment of disabled people across the country.
It requires that all public buildings, transportation and other services be built or
modernized¹⁰ so that disabled people can use them.

Justin Dart received a great honor when President Bill Clinton awarded him the
Presidential Medal of Freedom in nineteen-ninety-eight. This is the highest honor given
to civilians¹¹ in the United States. Justin Dart died at the age of seventy-one.

VOICE ONE:

The next American was perhaps the greatest hitter in the history of professional baseball.

From his early days in school, Ted³ Williams wanted to be a baseball player. He started
playing in the American minor¹² leagues in nineteen-thirty-seven. Three years later, he began playing for the
Boston Red Sox in the major leagues. He played for nineteen years with the Red Sox.

(Photo - Random¹³
House)
Words of Martin Luther
King Jr.: 'Injustice¹⁴
Anywhere Is a Threat
to Justice
Everywhere.'
(Photo - mwcil.org)
During his time as a baseball player, Ted Williams had one of the highest batting averages
in baseball history. A batting average is based on the number of hits a player gets divided
by the number of times he comes up to bat. Ted Williams is best remembered for his
season batting average of four-hundred-six in nineteen-forty-one. No other professional
baseball player has reached this goal.

Ted Williams had to interrupt his baseball playing two times when he was called to serve
as a Marine¹⁵ fighter pilot during World War Two and the Korean War. Ted Williams
retired¹⁶ from baseball in nineteen-sixty. He then went on to supervise the Washington
Senators baseball team for three years.

He also managed the team the first year it moved to Texas and became the Texas Rangers¹⁷. President Bush is a
former part owner of the Texas Rangers. When Ted Williams died in July, Mister Bush said “America has lost a
baseball star who will be greatly missed.” Ted Williams was eighty-three years old.

VOICE TWO:

Theresa Bernstein was an artist. When she died this year she was believed to be about one-hundred-eleven years
old. Mizz Bernstein gained recognition in the early nineteen-hundreds as one of the first women to paint in the
Realist style. These artists painted realistic pictures of the lives of the common people. They were members of
what was called the Ash Can School of realistic painting.

Theresa Bernstein painted people and places in New York City. She was both praised and
criticized for “painting like a man.” Some experts said she saw the city from a woman’s
point of view and painted activities in women’s lives. For example, her paintings showed
women at the New York Public Library, traveling to work on public transportation and
making clothing in factories. Other experts said she was just a great painter.

Theresa Bernstein continued to paint for more than eighty years. Her paintings are in the


1920: 'Self Portrait
with Hat'
(Image - jo-an.com)
permanent collections of many major museums. In recent years, her paintings sold for as
much as one-hundred-thousand dollars.

VOICE ONE:

The last American we remember this year is musician and songwriter Ray Conniff. Mister
Conniff got his start in music during the big band period of the nineteen-thirties and forties.
He moved to New York City as a young man and worked with such famous musicians as
Artie Shaw and Harry¹⁸ James.

In nineteen-sixty-six, Mister Conniff won a Grammy award for
his recording¹⁹ of the song “Somewhere My Love.” This was
also known as “Lara’s Theme” in the popular film “Doctor Zhivago.
”

Mister Conniff was one of the first songwriters to mix wordless singing with
musical instruments. He often combined female voices with trumpets²⁰ or clarinets
and male voices with trombones or saxophones.

Ray Conniff worked in the music business for more than sixty years. During that
time, he recorded more than one-hundred albums. He produced more than twenty-
five albums that were on the record industry’s “Top Forty” albums list. He sold more than seventy-million
records around the world. Ray Conniff was eighty-five years old when he died. We leave you now with his most
popular song, “Somewhere My Love.
”

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This Special English Program was written by Jill Moss. It was produced by Paul Thompson. I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I’m Mary Tillotson. Join us again next week for another People in America Program on the VOICE OF
AMERICA.

Email this article to a friend
Printer Friendly Version

1 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

2 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

3 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

4 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 punctuated   

v.（在文字中）加标点符号，加标点( punctuate的过去式和过去分词 )；不时打断某事物

参考例句：

• Her speech was punctuated by bursts of applause. 她的讲演不时被阵阵掌声打断。
• The audience punctuated his speech by outbursts of applause. 听众不时以阵阵掌声打断他的讲话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 equilibrium   

n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静

参考例句：

• Change in the world around us disturbs our inner equilibrium.我们周围世界的变化扰乱了我们内心的平静。
• This is best expressed in the form of an equilibrium constant.这最好用平衡常数的形式来表示。

8 dart   

v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲

参考例句：

• The child made a sudden dart across the road.那小孩突然冲过马路。
• Markov died after being struck by a poison dart.马尔科夫身中毒镖而亡。

9 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

10 modernized   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的过去式和过去分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• By 1985 the entire railway network will have been modernized. 等到1985年整个铁路网就实现现代化了。
• He set about rebuilding France, and made it into a brilliant-looking modernized imperialism. 他试图重建法国，使它成为一项表面华丽的现代化帝业。

11 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

12 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

13 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

14 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

15 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

16 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

17 rangers   

护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员

参考例句：

• Do you know where the Rangers Stadium is? 你知道Rangers体育场在哪吗？ 来自超越目标英语 第3册
• Now I'm a Rangers' fan, so I like to be near the stadium. 现在我是Rangers的爱好者，所以我想离体育场近一点。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

18 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

19 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。

20 trumpets   

喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 )； 小号； 喇叭形物； （尤指）绽开的水仙花

参考例句：

• A wreath was laid on the monument to a fanfare of trumpets. 在响亮的号角声中花圈被献在纪念碑前。
• A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King. 嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。