VOA慢速英语2010年-PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Milton Hershey

BARBARA KLEIN: I’m Barbara Klein.

STEVE EMBER: And I’m Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Today we tell about Milton Hershey. He built one of the sweetest towns in the United States.

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BARBARA KLEIN: Milton Snavely Hershey was born in eighteen fifty-seven in central Pennsylvania. His mother was a member of the Mennonite Church. The religious group valued self-denial and community service. His father worked at many different jobs.

The Hershey family moved several times during Milton’s childhood. His parents did not have a happy marriage. They lived separately for much of their lives. Missus Hershey finally rejected her husband after a daughter died in eighteen sixty-seven.

STEVE EMBER: Milton Hershey stopped attending school when he was twelve years old. He first went to work as an assistant for a man who published a German language newspaper. Milton did not like the job. He was dismissed¹ after dropping his hat into a machine.

Milton then got a job with a candy and ice cream maker² in the town of Lancaster. There, he learned³ how to mix sugar and water to make candy products. At the time, American candy makers⁴ used chocolate mainly to cover candies. Reports say it was bitter tasting and not at all like the taste of chocolate today.

BARBARA KLEIN: Milton moved to the city of Philadelphia when he was eighteen years old. He had already learned all he could about candy production. His mother and her family offered to help him set up a candy store. But the business failed after six years.

Milton decided⁵ to join his father in the western state of Colorado. The younger Hershey found a job with a candy maker in Denver. There, he worked with a kind of sticky⁶ candy: caramel. He also learned the importance of using fresh milk in making good caramel.

Milton later attempted candy businesses in Chicago and New York City. But like before, each business failed.

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Milton Hershey

STEVE EMBER: Milton returned to Lancaster. Most family members considered him a failure. But he continued to receive help from his mother’s sister and a man who had worked at the Philadelphia store. Milton began making caramels his own way – with fresh milk. His caramels were softer than others being sold and less sticky. One day, an English importer tasted Hershey’s caramels and placed a large order. Soon the Lancaster Candy Company was a success. Hershey became one of Pennsylvania’s top businessmen. He was selling his candies all across the United States and Europe.

BARBARA KLEIN: Things began changing for Hershey after he visited the Chicago World’s Fair in eighteen ninety-three. At the World’s Fair, he saw chocolate-making machines from Germany. He decided that chocolate was the future of the candy business, and bought the machines. He had them moved to Pennsylvania, and sold the Lancaster Candy Company. He was developing an unusual plan -- to build a large chocolate factory and a town to support it.

Milton Hershey and wife.

STEVE EMBER: Michael D’Antonio wrote a book about Milton Hershey. It says Hershey got the idea for his town from the Cadbury family in Britain. The Cadburys made chocolates. They also built a factory surrounded by a town. The book says Hershey decided to do the same. He paid for many buildings in his town. He wanted to create a place where his factory’s workers could own their own houses. In this way, he prevented Hershey, Pennsylvania from becoming a factory town in which the workers were forced to pay their employers⁷ for a place to live. Hershey’s town was modern. It had nice houses, large public buildings, and an electric railway system for easy transportation. Nearby farms provided⁸ the chocolate factory with fresh milk for its products.

BARBARA KLEIN: Milton Hershey and his company found a way to make large amounts of milk chocolate. The secret was using fat free milk with the seeds of cacao trees and heating⁹ them slowly. The Hershey Candy Company was on its way to success.

Most of the company’s workers loved Milton Hershey. He made it possible for them to earn good wages and live well. The book “Hershey” says he sometimes shared the company’s financial success with them. Yet Milton Hershey was not always fair. Writer Michael D’Antonio says not everyone was happy living in a place where one man and his company attempted to control so much.

STEVE EMBER: Milton Hershey did not marry until he was over forty years old. He surprised his family when he married Catherine Sweeney in eighteen ninety-eight. Some members of his family did not approve of her. She was a Roman Catholic¹⁰ from New York State. Milton called her Kitty. The Hersheys first lived in Lancaster. They later moved to a large house near the factory. The land around the house was known for its many flowers and plants. Catherine Hershey was sick for much of her married life. She died in nineteen fifteen at the age of forty-two.

BARBARA KLEIN: The Hersheys were unable to have children, so they decided to help needy¹¹ children by creating a school for them. Milton Hershey said the school had been his wife’s idea. She reportedly wanted to provide a safe place for those in need of a good home and a better chance in life.

In nineteen-oh-nine, the Hersheys created the Hershey Industrial School for boys who had lost one or both parents. They established a special legal agreement, or trust, to provide money for the school. They gave nearly two hundred hectares of farmland to the trust.

At first, ten white boys attended the school. But more and more boys attended as time went on. The school provided the boys with a good education and farming skills.

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STEVE EMBER: After his wife died, Milton Hershey gave shares of Hershey Chocolate Company stock¹² worth sixty million dollars to the trust. This money made it possible for the school to expand. After Hershey died, the name of the school was changed to the Milton Hershey School. Later, the school opened its doors to boys and girls of all races and religions.

Roller coaster ride at Hersheypark.

Today, the school serves children in financial and social need. It provides education, housing¹³, food, clothing, medical care and recreation to about one thousand eight hundred students. The students are between the ages of four and eighteen. They live in more than one hundred fifty student homes. Each home has the latest technological¹⁴ equipment, including computers. A married couple lives in each home. They serve as parents to between eight and thirteen students.

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BARBARA KLEIN: Many Americans experienced¹⁵ economic hardship during the Great Depression of the nineteen thirties. But Milton Hershey put many people to work in the town by building a large hotel and a sports center.

He also created a not-for-profit organization to provide education and culture to the local townspeople. This organization continues to support the Hershey Theater and other cultural centers in the area.

In the early nineteen sixties, the Milton S. Hershey Foundation¹⁶ gave money and land to the Pennsylvania State University for a medical center. The Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center opened in nineteen sixty-seven. Today it is a medical school, teaching¹⁷ hospital and research center.

STEVE EMBER: Milton Hershey died in nineteen forty-five. He left behind the company, the town, the school and the trust that supports it. At the time of his death, the company he built was said to have produced about ninety percent of all the milk chocolate made in the United States.

Today, Hershey, Pennsylvania is unlike any other town in the United States. For example, the streetlights are shaped like the candy called Hershey’s Kisses. The air often smells like chocolate. Millions of people visit every year. They learn how chocolate is made at Hershey’s Chocolate World. They stay at the Hotel Hershey.

They enjoy Hersheypark, an amusement park with more than sixty rides. They can also visit the Hershey museum and Hershey gardens. This special town calls itself “The Sweetest Place on Earth.”

BARBARA KLEIN: This program was written by Nancy Steinbach. Lawan Davis was our producer. I’m Barbara Klein.

STEVE EMBER: And I’m Steve Ember. Our programs are online with transcripts¹⁸ and MP3 files at voaspecialenglish.com. And you can find us on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube at VOA Learning¹⁹ English. Join us again next week for PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English.

1 dismissed   

v.解雇( dismiss的过去式和过去分词 )；（使击球员或球队）退场；使退去；驳回

参考例句：

• Vegetarians are no longer dismissed as cranks. 素食者不再被视为有怪癖的人。
• He was dismissed for incompetence. 他因不称职而被解雇。

2 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

3 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。

4 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 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 sticky   

adj.粘的，闷热的，困难的，令人不满意的

参考例句：

• This paste is not sticky enough.这糨糊不黏。
• Here is a sticky business!这事真难办！

7 employers   

雇主( employer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Employers must consider all candidates impartially and without bias. 雇主必须公平而毫无成见地考虑所有求职者。
• The onus is on employers to follow health and safety laws. 雇主有义务遵行健康安全法。

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 heating   

n.加热，供暖，暖气装置；adj.加热的，供暖的

参考例句：

• They will install a heating and lighting system in our house.他们将在我们家装上供热供电系统。
• If the pressure is too low,the heating system will act up.如果压力太低，供暖系统就会出毛病。

10 catholic   

adj.天主教的；n.天主教徒

参考例句：

• The Pope is the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church.教皇是罗马天主教的最高领袖。
• She was a devoutly Catholic.她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。

11 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

12 stock   

n.存货，储备；树干；血统；股份；家畜；adj.存货的；平凡的，惯用的；股票的；畜牧的；vt.进货，采购；储存；供给；vi.出新芽；进货

参考例句：

• The shop takes stock every week on Friday mornings.这家商店每星期五早晨盘点存货。
• Experts have forecast an upturn in the stock market.专家已预测股票市场价格有上升趋势。

13 housing   

n.房屋，住宅；住房建筑；外壳，外罩

参考例句：

• Do you think our housing sales will turn around during this year?你认为今年我们的住宅销路会好转吗？
• The housing sales have been turning down since the summer.入夏以来，房屋的销售量日趋减少。

14 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

15 experienced   

adj.有经验的；经验丰富的，熟练的

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather.有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• Perhaps you and I had better change over;you are more experienced.也许我们的工作还是对换一下好，你比我更有经验。

16 foundation   

n.[pl.]地基；基础；基金会；建立，创办

参考例句：

• The foundation of the university took place 600 years ago.这所大学是600年前创办的。
• The Foundation gives money to help artists.那家基金会捐款帮助艺术家。

17 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

18 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句

19 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。