VOA慢速英语2010年-PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Lady Bird Johnson,

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: I’m Shirley Griffith.

STEVE EMBER: And I’m Steve Ember with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English. Today we tell about Lady Bird Johnson. She is best known for being the wife of President Lyndon Baines Johnson who led the nation during the nineteen sixties. But Mrs. Johnson was also an influential¹ environmental activist², tireless campaigner and successful businesswoman.

She showed great strength and heroism³ during a tense period in American history. Her work to make America beautiful can still be seen today in flowering fields, roads, and parks across the country.

(MUSIC)

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Lady Bird Johnson was born Claudia Alta Taylor in nineteen twelve. The Taylor family lived in the small town of Karnack, Texas. Claudia’s father, Thomas Jefferson Taylor, owned two stores as well as thousands of hectares for cotton production. Her mother, Minnie Taylor, died when Claudia was only five years old. A woman who worked for the Taylor family gave Claudia her nickname⁴. Alice Tittle said the small child was “as purty as a lady bird.”

Lynda Bird Johnson, Luci Baines Johnson, President Lyndon B. Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson

STEVE EMBER: Claudia had two older brothers who went away to school. She spent many hours by herself exploring the natural beauty of the fields and forests near her home. She said she grew up listening to the wind in the pine trees of the East Texas woods. She said her heart found its home in the beauty, mystery, order and disorder⁵ of the flowering earth.

Claudia attended public schools and worked hard at her studies. But she was very shy and did not like attention. When she graduated from high school, she had the third highest grades in the class. She reportedly made sure she finished third to avoid giving the graduation speech required by the top two students in the class.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: In nineteen thirty-four Lady Bird graduated from the University of Texas in Austin with degrees in history and journalism⁶. She planned to teach or work as a theater critic. But then she met an energetic congressional assistant named Lyndon Baines Johnson. The young politician from Texas asked her to marry him on their first date. After weeks of pressure from Mr. Johnson, Lady Bird accepted his marriage proposal. Here is Mrs. Johnson talking about her first meeting with her future husband:

Claudia "Lady Bird" Taylor in the early 1930s

LADY BIRD JOHNSON: “We had a breakfast date, but we wound up by spending the whole day together, riding and talking. Well, he really let me know before the day was over that he wanted to marry me. And I thought this impossible. But on the other hand, there was one thing I knew I just couldn’t bear to have happen and that was to say goodbye, goodbye period.”

STEVE EMBER: Lyndon Johnson was busy planning his political career. Within three years, he ran for a seat in the United States Congress and won. Lady Bird Johnson had given him ten thousand dollars to get his campaign started.

When Japanese planes attacked American ships at Pearl⁷ Harbor, Hawaii in nineteen forty-one, Mr. Johnson joined the navy to fight in World War Two. Mrs. Johnson stayed in Washington, D.C. and supervised⁸ his congressional office during the eight months he was away. Her excellent organizational skills and smart political sense made her perfect for the job.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: After Mr. Johnson returned, Lady Bird Johnson soon found a new project. She used about seventeen thousand dollars of family money to buy a small radio station in Austin, Texas. The radio station was in debt and had a small broadcast range. Mrs. Johnson used her husband’s connections with the Federal Communications Commission⁹ to increase the radio station’s power and range.

Her work to make America beautiful can still be seen today.

Soon, the station started making money and the company expanded into television as well. Mrs. Johnson was president of the family company, LBJ Company. She traveled from Washington to Austin every week to take care of business.

During this time the Johnson family started to grow. Lady Bird had a daughter, Lynda Bird, in nineteen forty-four. A second daughter, Luci Baines, was born three years later. Lyndon Johnson’s power in politics also continued to grow. In nineteen forty-eight he was elected to the United States Senate.

(MUSIC)

STEVE EMBER: In nineteen sixty, John F. Kennedy ran for president of the United States with Lyndon Johnson as vice¹⁰ president. Mrs. Kennedy was unable to travel and campaign for the candidates because of her pregnancy¹¹. Mrs. Johnson bravely accepted the job. She visited eleven states to help express the goals of the candidates. They won the election.

Mrs. Johnson was also at her husband’s side when he visited Texas with President and Mrs. Kennedy on November twenty-second, nineteen sixty-three.

After the tragic¹² shooting of President Kennedy in Dallas, security officials led the Johnsons to the presidential plane to fly back to Washington. During the flight, Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Kennedy watched as Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as President of the United States.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: In the weeks after this national tragedy Lyndon Johnson worked hard to show Americans that he could be a strong president. With his strong support, he got Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of nineteen sixty-four. This law banned discrimination based on "race, color, religion, or national origin” in public places and federal programs. But the law was not popular with many white voters in the southern part of the country.

Once again, Lady Bird Johnson came to the rescue. As part of Lyndon Johnson’s nineteen sixty-four campaign for president she became a spokesman¹³ for the law. Lady Bird Johnson visited important southern states although Democratic governors feared for her safety. She traveled through poor areas talking to angry crowds who were against her husband’s civil rights policies. Lady Bird Johnson knew how to give a powerful and expressive¹⁴ speech.

She won over the loud crowds with her gentle manner and calming southern accent. She told them that it was time to end the South’s racist¹⁵ past and move into the modern world. The media later wrote that she stood as a fearless moral representative of her husband. And, her work paid off. Lyndon Johnson won the election.

(MUSIC)

She said her heart found its home in the beauty, mystery, order and disorder of the flowering earth.

STEVE EMBER: The historian¹⁶ Lewis Gould has said Mrs. Johnson and her press secretary Liz Carpenter were the first to establish the job of the modern first lady. Mrs. Johnson realized that the wife of the president needed to have her own team of workers. She made sure she had a director of employees as well as a social director. Lady Bird Johnson’s business experience and sense of organization helped create a very effective system for future first ladies and their causes.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: As first lady, Mrs. Johnson became an energetic activist for educational and environmental issues. She helped support Head Start, a public program aimed at giving educational and health services to young children from poor families.

She started the Society for a More Beautiful National Capitol. Its aim was to improve the beauty of Washington by planting trees and flowers in public areas and parks. Mrs. Johnson understood that these improvements were also linked to important issues such as pollution, public transportation, mental health, and crime rates.

STEVE EMBER: But she is most well known for helping¹⁷ to create The Beautification Act of nineteen sixty-five. It aimed to protect America’s natural beauty by limiting advertising¹⁸ signs and cleaning up waste areas on the country’s roads and highways. The law also supported the planting of local flowers and trees. Here is Mrs. Johnson talking about her environmental efforts:

LADY BIRD JOHNSON: “Clean water, clean up the rivers, wilderness¹⁹ areas, more national parks, all of that was a part of our aim and thrust and what we tried to do. I’ve had a life long love affair with nature, a particular accent on wildflowers, native plants for the whole broad face of America. I hope everybody could enjoy their little piece of America as much as I have enjoyed mine.”

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Lyndon Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson had a difficult four-year term. The president faced strong opposition²⁰ about the United States involvement in the war in Vietnam. In nineteen sixty-eight, President Johnson surprised the nation by announcing that he would not seek reelection as president. The Johnsons left politics and returned home to Texas. Mr. Johnson died of a heart attack in nineteen seventy-three.

STEVE EMBER: Lady Bird Johnson continued her tireless work to improve the country’s natural environment. She created the National Wildflower Research Center in nineteen eighty-two. The center helps to educate people about the environmental importance and value of native plants. Mrs. Johnson died in two thousand seven at the age of ninety-four. Her memory lives in the many fields of wildflowers that color the roads of America.

(MUSIC)

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: This program was written and produced by Dana Demange. I’m Shirley Griffith.

STEVE EMBER: And I’m Steve Ember. You can download scripts and audio of our programs at voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English
 

1 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

2 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。

3 heroism   

n.大无畏精神，英勇

参考例句：

• He received a medal for his heroism.他由于英勇而获得一枚奖章。
• Stories of his heroism resounded through the country.他的英雄故事传遍全国。

4 nickname   

n.绰号，昵称；v.给...取绰号，叫错名字

参考例句：

• She called me by my nickname.她叫我的外号。
• Why do you fasten such a nickname on her?你为什么给她取这样一个绰号？

5 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

6 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

7 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。

8 supervised   

v.监督，管理( supervise的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The architect supervised the building of the house. 建筑工程师监督房子的施工。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He supervised and trained more than 400 volunteers. 他指导和培训了400多名志愿者。 来自辞典例句

9 commission   

n.委托，授权，委员会，拥金，回扣，委任状

参考例句：

• The salesman can get commission on everything he sells.这个售货员能得到所售每件货物的佣金。
• The commission is made up of five people,including two women.委员会由五人组成，其中包括两名妇女。

10 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

11 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

12 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

13 spokesman   

n.发言人，代言人

参考例句：

• The government spokesman gave a quick briefing to the reporters.政府发言人向记者们作了情况简介。
• They drew lots to decide who should be their spokesman.他们抽签决定谁是他们的发言人。

14 expressive   

adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的

参考例句：

• Black English can be more expressive than standard English.黑人所使用的英语可能比正式英语更有表现力。
• He had a mobile,expressive,animated face.他有一张多变的，富于表情的，生动活泼的脸。

15 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

16 historian   

n.历史学家，编史家

参考例句：

• As a historian,he was most typical of the times in which he lived.作为历史学家，他是他所处时代最有代表性的人物。
• He calls himself a historian,but his books are a mere journalism.他自称为历史学家，但是他的书都是些肤浅的通俗作品。

17 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

18 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

19 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

20 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。