VOA慢速英语 2008 0224

VOICE ONE: 

I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Barbara Klein with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English program. Today we report about Annie Oakley, a woman who became famous for her ability to shoot a gun and hit very small objects.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE: 
Annie Oakley

There are hundreds of stories about Annie Oakley. Many of the stories involve her adventures in the American Wild West. Others tell about her travels with Native American tribes¹. However, most of the stories are not true. She did not grow up in the Wild West, nor did she fight in any battles. Annie Oakley was a performer in a traveling Wild West show. She used her skill at shooting a gun to become one of the most famous sharp shooters in American history.

VOICE TWO:

Annie Oakley was born in eighteen sixty in Darke County², Ohio. Her real name was Phoebe Ann Mosey. When she was six years old, her father died of pneumonia³. Her family was very poor. She did not attend school.  When she was nine years old, Annie went to live with another family on a farm. Then she became a servant for still another family. She later said that this new family abused⁴ her.

When Annie returned to live with her own family, she decided⁵ to help them earn money. She taught herself how to shoot her grandfather's gun and began hunting animals for food. She could shoot the animals without ruining the important parts of the meat.

She sold the animals to the people in her town. When she was fifteen years old, she had made enough money to pay for her family’s farm. 

VOICE ONE:

 
 
Soon her ability to shoot a gun became well known in her town. When she was sixteen years old, she was invited to a shooting contest with a famous marksman named Frank⁶ Butler.  Frank Butler claimed that he could shoot better than anyone else. Annie surprised everyone when she won the competition.  She shot all twenty-five targets, while Frank Butler was only able to shoot twenty-four of them. Perhaps their shooting abilities attracted them to one another, because Annie and Frank married in eighteen seventy-six.

VOICE TWO:

In eighteen eighty-two, Annie took the name Oakley. She and Frank Butler started putting on shows together, demonstrating⁷ their abilities to shoot a gun.  Frank Butler was the star of the show and Annie Oakley was his assistant. However, sometimes she did her own shooting.  Two years later, Annie Oakley met the famous Native American chief, Sitting Bull⁸, at a performance. The chief liked her skill in shooting and also her personality. They became friends. He gave her the name “Little Sure Shot‿because of her shooting ability and because she was only one and one-half meters tall.

(MUSIC: "Colonel⁹ Buffalo¹⁰ Bill")

VOICE ONE:

 
Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill
In eighteen eighty-five, Annie Oakley and Frank Butler joined another traveling show. It was called “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West.‿nbsp; William Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill, ran the show.  For sixteen years, Annie Oakley was the star of the show while Frank Butler was her assistant. Posters for the show called her a “Champion Markswoman.‿nbsp;

The Wild West show became very famous all over the United States. All of the performers demonstrated¹¹ their skills.  Many of the performers had fought in real gun battles while settling the western part of the United States.  They wanted to bring the excitement and mystery of the Wild West to a show that people would like to watch.

VOICE TWO:

Annie Oakley did tricks that showed off how good she was at aiming and shooting a gun. She could shoot a small metal coin thrown in the air from twenty-seven meters away. She could shoot the thin edge of a playing card and then shoot it six more times as it fell to the ground.  She could shoot the ashes off of a cigarette her husband Frank Butler held in his mouth.

In eighteen eighty-seven, Buffalo Bill took the whole Wild West show to Europe. They traveled to many countries and gave many performances. They performed in England for Queen Victoria.  Annie Oakley received a lot of attention. The newspapers wrote stories about her and she took part in many shooting contests.

VOICE ONE:

The Wild West show returned to Europe two years later. By this time, Annie Oakley had become even more famous. The Wild West show performed in Paris, France, for six months. Then the performers traveled to Germany, Italy and Spain. In Germany, the Crown¹² Prince asked Oakley to shoot the ashes off of a cigarette that he held in his mouth, as she famously had done with her husband.  She asked the Prince to hold the cigarette in his hand instead and did the trick easily.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

When the Wild West show returned to the United States, Buffalo Bill decided to change it to include scenes from the life and culture of the Wild West.  These scenes included train robberies¹³, gunfights and conflicts with Native American Indians.

In nineteen-oh-one, Annie Oakley was in a train crash that badly injured her back. She had five operations.  Annie and Frank wanted to stop traveling so much and have their own home. So they left the Wild West show. They built a home in Cambridge, Maryland. They liked this area because it had a nice community and there were many places they could go hunting. Annie Oakley and Frank Butler took part in community activities.  Oakley gave shooting lessons and demonstrations¹⁴ at the local county fair.

VOICE ONE:

Annie Oakley wrote a book about her life that was published in nineteen fourteen.   It was called “Powders I Have Used.‿She also wrote many stories about hunting and fishing. Some of these articles tried to get other women to begin hunting. She also tried to get women to learn how to shoot a gun so that they could defend themselves.

During World War One, Annie Oakley offered to help the military. She proposed¹⁵ to train a group of women volunteers who would become solders¹⁶ in the war. However, the United States did not accept this offer. She also offered to give the American troops shooting lessons. She traveled across the country and visited many training camps. She gave shooting demonstrations and raised money for medicine and supplies.

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen twenty-five, Annie Oakley and Frank Butler moved back to Ohio to be near her family. They continued to give performances. But Annie Oakley was sick. She died on November third, nineteen twenty-six. Her husband Frank Butler died eighteen days later.

 
 
Annie Oakley has been remembered in many ways. People have written movies, songs, plays, books and television shows about her. One of the most famous examples is the Broadway musical play called “Annie Get Your Gun.‿nbsp; Irving Berlin wrote it in nineteen forty-six. In one of the famous songs from the musical, Annie Oakley and Frank Butler sing "Anything You Can Do." The singers are Ethel Merman and Bruce Yarnell. 

(MUSIC: "Anything You Can Do")

VOICE ONE:

The musical is still being performed today to remember a woman with an unusual skill. She showed that women could be just as good, if not better, than men.  We leave you with "There's No Business Like Show Business" from "Annie Get Your Gun."

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Erin Braswell and produced by Lawan Davis. I’m Barbara Klein.

VOICE ONE:

And I’m Steve Ember. You can learn more about famous Americans on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.  Join us again next week for PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English.

 

1 tribes   

n.部落( tribe的名词复数 )；（动、植物的）族；（一）帮；大群

参考例句：

• tribes living in remote areas of the Amazonian rainforest 居住在亚马孙河雨林偏远地区的部落
• In Africa the snake is still sacred with many tribes. 非洲许多部落仍认为蛇是不可冒犯的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 county   

n.县，郡

参考例句：

• When the good news reached there,the whole county rejoiced.喜讯传到那里时，全县的人都欢欣鼓舞起来。
• In that year county after county fell to the enemy.那一年一个又一个的县城沦入敌人手中。

3 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

4 abused   

v.妄用( abuse的过去式和过去分词 )；虐待；辱骂

参考例句：

• All the children had been physically and emotionally abused. 所有这些儿童的身心都受到了摧残。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This rule was brought into being because the old law was abused. 由于旧的法律遭到滥用，这条规则便应运而生。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 frank   

adj.坦白的，直率的，真诚的

参考例句：

• A frank discussion can help to clear the air.坦率的谈论有助于消除隔阂。
• She is frank and outgoing.她很爽朗。

7 demonstrating   

举行示威游行（或集会）( demonstrate的现在分词 )； 示范。展示； 显示； 论证

参考例句：

• The reactionary police made a baton charge on the demonstrating crowd. 反动警察用警棍驱散示威的人群。
• I'm having a hell of a wild time demonstrating this car. 为展示这种车子，把我搞得狼狈不堪。

8 bull   

n.公牛，买进证券投机图利者，看涨的人

参考例句：

• It's only a hair off a bull's back to them.这对他们来说，不过九牛一毛。
• Many dogs closed around the bull.很多狗渐渐地把那只牛围了起来。

9 colonel   

n.(英国陆军、美国陆空军及海军陆战队)上校

参考例句：

• It's a pity we didn't mend our fences with the colonel.可惜我们还没有和上校先生调整好关系。
• An army major ranks between a captain and a colonel.陆军少校的军阶在上尉与中校之间。

10 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

11 demonstrated   

举行示威游行（或集会）( demonstrate的过去式和过去分词 )； 示范。展示； 显示； 论证

参考例句：

• All of those demonstrated the correctness of his analysis. 这一切都证明了他分析的正确性。
• The fireman demonstrated great courage in saving the child. 那位消防队员在抢救孩子的过程中，表现了极大的勇气。

12 crown   

n.王冠，王权，顶点；v.使...成王，加冕，居...之顶

参考例句：

• He won the crown in 1973.他荣获1973年冠军称号。
• They wanted to crown Caesar king.他们想立凯撒为王。

13 robberies   

n.抢劫案( robbery的名词复数 )；明抢；敲竹杠；明目张胆地索取高价

参考例句：

• He said he teamed up with Miller in a number of robberies. 他说他和米勒合作搞了一系列的抢劫。 来自辞典例句
• He was arrested in connection with a series of armed bank robberies. 因受一系列武装抢劫银行案的牵连，他被捕了。 来自辞典例句

14 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

15 proposed   

被提议的

参考例句：

• There is widespread discontent among the staff at the proposed changes to pay and conditions. 员工对改变工资和工作环境的建议普遍不满。
• an outcry over the proposed change 对拟议的改革所发出的强烈抗议

16 solders   

n.焊料，焊锡( solder的名词复数 )v.（使）焊接，焊合( solder的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• We fused the pipes with solders. 我们用焊锡熔接管子。 来自辞典例句
• Solders ate a great number of potatoes during World War II. 第二次世界大战期间的士兵吃了很多的土豆。 来自互联网