VOA慢速英语20061022a

PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Richard Rodgers Wrote Musical Plays That Often Dealt with Social IssuesBy Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Sunday, October 22, 2006

VOICE ONE:

I'm Mary Tillotson.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Shirley Griffith with the VOA Special English Program, People in America.

(MUSIC: Victory¹ at Sea)

VOICE ONE:


Richard Rogers

That is music from the television show Victory At Sea written in nineteen fifty-two. The man who composed² that beautiful music is known³ mainly as a writer of show songs. He wrote more than one thousand songs that helped tell stories in theaters, on television and in the movies. His music has been heard in more than two hundred movies and two thousand television shows.

Some experts say his music created more happiness than that of any other American popular composer⁴. His name was Richard Rodgers. Today, we tell his story.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Richard Charles Rodgers was born in New York City on June twenty-eighth, nineteen-oh-two. Both his parents enjoyed singing and playing the piano. His grandparents loved opera and took their grandson to many productions. Richard attended many Broadway shows as a child.

Richard Rodgers began playing the piano by the age of three. At the age of fifteen, he decided⁵ that he would work in the musical theater. That same year, he wrote the music for a stage show presented by a local group of young people. Then, he wrote music for a production by students at Columbia University.

Other future show business leaders were also involved in the Columbia productions. Two of these men would be very important in Richard Rodgers' life-- Oscar Hammerstein and Lorenz Hart.

VOICE ONE:

Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart worked as a songwriting team for more than twenty years. Their first hit song was in the musical The Garrick Gaities produced in nineteen twenty-five. The song is still performed today. Here is Mickey Rooney singing Manhattan.

(MUSIC)

Rodgers wrote the music first, then Hart put words to the music. They also wrote songs for the movies. One of their most widely known songs comes from a movie, Blue Moon. Many singers have recorded it since it was written in nineteen thirty-four. It was even a rock and roll hit for the Marcels in the nineteen sixties.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart stopped working together in the early nineteen forties. Hart was an unhappy man. He was in poor health as a result of a serious drinking problem. It was increasingly⁶ difficult for Rodgers to work with him. Richard Rodgers turned to another old friend -- Oscar Hammerstein.

Rodgers and Hammerstein worked differently than did Rodgers and Hart. Oscar Hammerstein would write the words and give them to Rodgers. Rodgers then would write music to go with the words.

Their first show together was the historic⁷ Oklahoma! It opened in nineteen forty-three. Critics⁸ have called it a revolution⁹ in American theater. Rodgers and Hammerstein were praised for writing songs that developed the show and helped tell the story.

Oklahoma! still is performed on Broadway and in other theaters around the world. Here is the famous title song from the first Broadway production.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote the songs for nine musical plays, including The King And I, Flower Drum Song, and The Sound of Music. Their musical plays were also made as movies.

Their songs expressed love and pain and told about social problems. One example is this song from the musical South Pacific that opened in nineteen forty-nine. One of the men in the musical is in love with a woman of a different race. He sings a song expressing the conflict¹⁰ between his racial¹¹ feelings and his love. The song is called You've Got to be Carefully Taught. Listen to William Tabbert who sang it first on Broadway.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Richard Rodgers wrote both the words and the music for Broadway shows following Oscar Hammerstein's death in nineteen sixty. Critics say the best of these is No Strings¹². It explored a romance¹³ between a black woman and a white man. The main song is The Sweetest Sounds. Richard Kiley and Diahann Carroll sang it on Broadway.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Richard Rodgers and his wife Dorothy had two daughters and six grandchildren¹⁴. One daughter and two grandsons also write music. Richard Rogers died in nineteen seventy-nine. He was seventy-seven years old. Books written about his life describe him as a cold man who was often depressed¹⁵. Family members say he was only able to express himself through music.

Richard Rodgers once said the show he liked the best was Carousel¹⁶, the second musical he wrote with Oscar Hammerstein. It is a sad story about a young girl who marries a thief. One of the songs in the show now is considered to have a religious¹⁷ influence. Here is the song, You'll Never Walk Alone.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Music experts say that a Richard Rodgers show is always playing somewhere in the world -- on Broadway, in theaters in different countries, in local school productions. And people all over the world still enjoy the movies linked to Richard Rodgers. Movies with wonderful music such as State Fair, South Pacific, Pal¹⁸ Joey, The Sound of Music, Oklahoma and Carousel.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This VOA Special English program was written by Nancy Steinbach and produced by Caty Weaver¹⁹. I'm Mary Tillotson.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program on the Voice of America.

(MUSIC: Carousel Waltz)

1 victory   

n.胜利，成功

参考例句：

• Victory will never come if we only wait for it.如果我们光是等待，胜利永远不会到来。
• It can't be questioned that we will win the final victory.我们将最终取得胜利，这是确定无疑的。

2 composed   

adj.镇静的，沉着的v.组成( compose的过去式和过去分词 )；调解；[印刷]排（字）；使安定

参考例句：

• The committee is composed mainly of lawyers. 委员会主要由律师组成。
• Though badly frightened, she remained outwardly composed. 她虽然非常害怕，但表面上依然很镇静。

3 known   

adj.大家知道的；知名的，已知的

参考例句：

• He is a known artist.他是一个知名的艺术家。
• He is known both as a painter and as a statesman.他是知名的画家及政治家。

4 composer   

n.作曲家，作家，设计者

参考例句：

• Brooks is an excellent composer.布鲁克斯是一位杰出的作曲家。
• The composer expresses his sorrow in his music.这位作曲家用音乐表达他的悲伤。

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 increasingly   

adv.逐渐地，日益地，逐渐增加地

参考例句：

• Rivers are being increasingly made use of by man. 河流正在日益为人类所利用。
• I find it increasingly difficult to live within my income.我发现靠收入过日子越来越难了。

7 historic   

adj.历史上著名的，具有历史意义的

参考例句：

• This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
• We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。

8 critics   

n.批评家( critic的名词复数 )；评论员；批评者；挑剔的人

参考例句：

• He felt no animosity towards his critics. 他对批评他的人并不心怀怨恨。
• The move was widely seen as an attempt to appease critics of the regime. 普遍认为，这一举措是试图安抚批评政权的人。

9 revolution   

n.革命，大变革；旋转；周期，循环

参考例句：

• The earth makes a yearly revolution around the sun.地球每年绕太阳一周。
• This volume records the history of the country's revolution.这卷书记载了这个国家的革命历史。

10 conflict   

n.冲突，矛盾，争执；vi.争执，撞斗，冲突，抵触

参考例句：

• Your statement is in conflict with the rest of the evidence.你的陈述同其余证据有矛盾。
• The conflict between them seems ceaseless.他们之间冲突似乎没个止息。

11 racial   

adj.种族的；种族间的；由种族引起的

参考例句：

• We should have racial pride.我们应该有种族优越感。
• He spoke out against racial discrimination.他声言反对种族歧视。

12 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

13 romance   

n.恋爱关系，浪漫气氛，爱情小说，传奇

参考例句：

• She wrote a romance about an artist's life in Tokyo.她写了一个关于一位艺术家在东京生活的浪漫故事。
• They tried to rekindle the flames of romance.他们试图重燃爱火。

14 grandchildren   

n.孙子；孙（女），外孙（女）( grandchild的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He left a bequest to each of his grandchildren. 他给他的孙辈每人留下一笔遗产。
• His grandchildren afforded him his greatest pleasure in his old age. 他的孙子和孙女们在晚年的时候给了他最大的欢乐。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

16 carousel   

n.旋转式行李输送带

参考例句：

• Riding on a carousel makes you feel dizzy.乘旋转木马使你头晕。
• We looked like a bunch of awkward kids riding a slow-moving carousel.我们看起来就像一群骑在旋转木马上的笨拙的孩子。

17 religious   

adj.宗教性的，虔诚的，宗教上的；n.修道士，出家人

参考例句：

• She is very religious person who goes to church every Sunday.她十分虔诚，每个星期天都上教堂。
• It is hard for me to reject religious beliefs.要我抛弃自己的宗教信仰是困难的。

18 pal   

n.朋友，伙伴，同志；vi.结为友

参考例句：

• He is a pal of mine.他是我的一个朋友。
• Listen,pal,I don't want you talking to my sister any more.听着，小子，我不让你再和我妹妹说话了。

19 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。