VOA慢速英语2010年-PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Pearl S. Buck, 189

FAITH LAPIDUS: I’m Faith Lapidus.
JIM TEDDER¹: And I’m Jim Tedder with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English. Today we tell about the award-winning writer Pearl² S. Buck³.
(MUSIC)FAITH LAPIDUS: The year was nineteen thirty-one. Americans were suffering through the Great Depression. The famous criminal Al Capone was sent to prison for not paying his taxes. “The Star Spangled Banner” officially became America’s national song. The Empire State Building in New York City was completed. And the top selling book in the United States was “The Good Earth” by Pearl S. Buck.
(MUSIC)JIM TEDDER: Pearl Buck won the Pulitzer Prize for the best novel by an American writer. She was the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. She wrote more than one hundred books. She also wrote short stories, poetry, plays, essays and children’s literature. But most people remember Pearl Buck for her novels about China. She knew the country and its people very well. For nearly forty years, China was her home.
FAITH LAPIDUS: Pearl’s parents were Caroline and Absalom Sydenstricker. They were religious workers in China. In eighteen ninety-two they were visiting in the United States when Pearl was born in Hillsboro, West Virginia. Three months after her birth, the family left the United States and moved back to China.
Pearl Buck was the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Pearl and her family lived among the Chinese people. Pearl played with Chinese children and visited their homes. She listened to their ideas and learned⁴ about their culture. From an early age, she spoke⁵ both Chinese and English.
JIM TEDDER: Pearl’s education began at home. Her mother taught her many of the things she would have learned in an American school. A Chinese tutor⁶ taught Pearl other subjects. They included the writings of the famous thinker Confucius and Chinese reading, writing and history. When she was seven, she began reading the works⁷ of British writer Charles Dickens. Many years later, after she had become a famous author, she said that Dickens’ writing style had the greatest influence on her own style.
FAITH LAPIDUS: In nineteen ten, Pearl went back to the United States to study philosophy at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College in Lynchburg, Virginia. After graduation, she returned to China. Three years later, she met John Lossing Buck. He was a religious worker who studied agriculture. They were married and moved to a small village in the north of China. Their life among the poorest people provided⁸ the subject matter for many of the books she later wrote.
(MUSIC)Pearl S. Buck on her 80th birthday. JIM TEDDER: In nineteen twenty, Pearl and John Buck’s first child was born. Her name was Carol. Doctors found that Carol had an unusual disease⁹ called PKU. This caused her to have trouble learning¹⁰. Carol was sent to live at a special school in New Jersey¹¹. Pearl Buck was deeply saddened by having to send her only child to live far away from home. She also learned that she would never be able to give birth again.
But if it had not been for Carol’s health problems, her mother might never have become a famous writer. The reason was money. Pearl Buck needed a lot of it over the years to pay for her daughter’s care. So she tried writing books about the subject she knew best. Her first novel was called “East Wind, West Wind.”
It tells the story of a Chinese girl who learns about the western world. But it was Pearl Buck’s next book that made her famous and brought the money she needed.
PEARL BUCK: “Now when I began to write, not having anything else to write about, I only knew China. And my first very successful book was “The Good Earth.” I used to say to these young people, ‘Why don’t you write about your peasants? They are wonderful people.’ And they would say, ‘Oh nobody would be interested.’ And so I said well I’m gonna write that book then. If none of you will do it, I will write it. So I wrote ‘The Good Earth.’”
FAITH LAPIDUS: “The Good Earth” became the top selling book in the United States in nineteen thirty-one and nineteen thirty-two. Pearl Buck won the Pulitzer Prize. She also received the William Dean¹² Howells Medal from the American Academy¹³ of Arts and Letters. In nineteen thirty-seven, “The Good Earth” became an Oscar-winning motion¹⁴ picture. The next year, Pearl S. Buck was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
JIM TEDDER: “The Good Earth” is the story of a poor Chinese man named Wang Lung. His wife is O-Lan. They work together very hard and finally make enough money to buy some land for a farm.
After a time, they grow enough crops to feed their family well, with some left over to sell. Their lives improve greatly, and they are happy. But the good times do not last.
FAITH LAPIDUS: For a long time it does not rain. The land dries up and no crops will grow. Many people starve to death. Wang sells all he owns, except the land. Once again his family is poor and hungry. They beg on the streets to survive. Wang fears that they will die. But just when it seems that the end is near, good luck arrives.
JIM TEDDER: Poor people attack some rich people, hoping to get food and money. A crowd forces Wang into a rich man’s home. The rich man fears Wang and gives him gold coins. With this new-found wealth, Wang and his family survive. Every chance he gets, he buys more land. After a while he is richer than he ever thought he would be. For the rest of his life, Wang finds happiness in owning land and raising crops. He tells his sons that after he dies, they must never sell their land.
PEARL BUCK: “Now you couldn’t imagine anything less interesting to Americans, you would say, than a book like ‘The Good Earth.’ It came in the midst¹⁵ of depression times. And it was a comfort to the American people to know that there were people worse off than they were.”
FAITH LAPIDUS: In nineteen thirty-two, Pearl Buck wrote a book called “Sons.” It tells about Wang Lung’s family after his death. Three years later, she wrote “A House Divided.” This book is mostly about Wang Lung’s grandson, Wang Yuan, who lives during a time of revolution in China. This book tells how China’s people began to change from their old ways to a more modern way of thinking.
Pearl Buck wrote her first books about China at a time when most people in the world knew almost nothing about the Chinese way of life. She told her stories with honesty. Her readers soon learned that the Chinese were far different from the way they had been shown in Hollywood movies.
(MUSIC)Pearl S. Buck's home, Greenhills Farm, Perkasie, PA. JIM TEDDER: After almost forty years in China, the writer moved back to the United States. She bought Green Hills Farm in eastern Pennsylvania. She began to write articles for newspapers and magazines. She expressed her opinion on war, politics, religion, equal rights for all people and many other subjects.
PEARL BUCK: “One of the sad things about war is ...it’s not so much that you lose the money because you can always make money, somehow. But you lose people that you can’t replace … the people who should lead our country are the best, who die early … the bravest, the most brilliant, the ones with the best leadership … and they are the ones who die, out of proportion¹⁶ to their numbers.”
FAITH LAPIDUS: Pearl Buck’s ideas often brought her criticism¹⁷. But she continued to speak and write about her support for the civil rights of black people in the United States. She also believed in birth control and equal rights for women. She said that there would be world peace only when all races had respect for each other.
PEARL BUCK: “We are one world and if we don’t know it, it’s dangerous. But I think we are beginning to know it more and more, and that does not mean that we give up our nationhood or our differences.”
JIM TEDDER: Pearl Buck gave many speeches in America. She talked to young people about the importance of a good education. She told them they needed to know more about other people around the world.
PEARL BUCK: “I beg of you to pay special attention to your history. Not just the history of the United States, but the history of the countries with which we are involved.”
FAITH LAPIDUS: In nineteen forty-nine, Pearl Buck helped start the Welcome House Adoption¹⁸ Agency¹⁹. She had become very concerned about the children of mixed races around the world. She urged families to adopt these children without concern for the color of their skin or their cultural background. Pearl and her second husband, Richard Walsh, raised seven adopted children. Two of these were of mixed race. They also cared for many other children while they lived at Green Hills Farm.
(MUSIC)JIM TEDDER: Pearl Buck died in nineteen seventy-three. She was eighty years old. She was buried near her house in Pennsylvania. Her memory lives on in the work done by Pearl S. Buck International. This organization provides adoption services and help to adopted people and their families. It also supports cultures around the world and works to end prejudice.
FAITH LAPIDUS: This program was written by Jim Tedder and produced by Dana Demange. I’m Faith Lapidus.
JIM TEDDER: And I’m Jim Tedder. You can learn about other famous Americans at voaspecialenglish.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube at VOA Learning English. Join us again next week for PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English.

1 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网

2 pearl   

n.珍珠，珍珠母

参考例句：

• He bought his girlfriend a pearl necklace.他给他女朋友买了一条珍珠项链。
• The crane and the mother-of-pearl fight to death.鹬蚌相争。

3 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

4 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 tutor   

n.家庭教师，导师，助教，监护人；vt.当…的教师，教，指导，约束

参考例句：

• I think you should get her a tutor.我认为你应该替她请个家教。
• What do you think of your tutor?你觉得你的家庭教师怎么样？

7 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

8 provided   

conj.假如，若是；adj.预备好的，由...供给的

参考例句：

• Provided it's fine we will have a pleasant holiday.如果天气良好，我们的假日将过得非常愉快。
• I will come provided that it's not raining tomorrow.如果明天不下雨，我就来。

9 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

10 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

11 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

12 Dean   

n.(大学)院长，系主任，教务长

参考例句：

• The students much like the new dean.学生们很喜欢这位新系主任。
• Who is the dean of the Foreign Languages Department?外语系主任是谁？

13 academy   

n.(高等)专科院校；学术社团，协会，研究院

参考例句：

• This is an academy of music.这是一所音乐专科学院。
• I visited Chinese Academy of Sciences yesterday.我昨天去访问了中国科学院。

14 motion   

n.打手势，示意，移动，动作，提议，大便；v.运动，向...打手势，示意

参考例句：

• She could feel the rolling motion of the ship under her feet.她能感觉到脚下船在晃动。
• Don't open the door while the train is in motion.列车运行时，请勿打开车门。

15 midst   

n.中部，中间，当中

参考例句：

• The hut is in the midst of the forest.小屋在森林深处。
• There is a thief in our midst.我们当中有小偷。

16 proportion   

n.比率，比例；大小

参考例句：

• His head is out of proportion to the size of his body.他的头部与身体大小不成比例。
• The proportion of imports to exports is worrying the government.进口与出口的比例令政府担忧。

17 criticism   

n.批评，批判，指责；评论，评论文章

参考例句：

• Some youth today do not allow any criticism at all.现在有些年轻人根本指责不得。
• It is wrong to turn a deaf ear to other's criticism.对别人的批评充耳不闻是错误的。

18 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

19 agency   

n.经办；代理；代理处

参考例句：

• This disease is spread through the agency of insects.这种疾病是通过昆虫媒介传播的。
• He spoke in the person of Xinhua News Agency.他代表新华社讲话。