【英语趣味课堂】有名的美国人-Famous Americans

Nick: Obviously¹ from Seattle, there's many famous people.

 

Cheryl: Ah, yes, from Seattle. We have Jimmy Hendrix.

 

Nick: Jimmy Hendrix. Wow! I love Jimmy Hendrix.

 

Cheryl: Yeah, he is a very famous musician, and we have his statues on the street in Seattle and he's quite the star in Seattle. But he's no longer around unfortunately.

 

Nick: I know. Really unfortunate. What an unfortunate death.

 

Cheryl: Yes.

 

Nick: Any other famous Americans?

 

Cheryl: Well, there is plenty of famous Americans. Somebody in America who recently won the Nobel Peace Prize, and his name as most of everybody listening probably already knows is Barack Obama.

 

Nick: Oh, really, I heard that. I read that in the newspaper this morning.

 

Cheryl: Oh did you?

 

Nick: Yeah.

 

Cheryl: Yeah, it's pretty amazing. Some people think that he won it too early, too prematurely³ because he's only been in office. He's the President of the United States. He's been so only for nine months I believe, so it's quite early to give the Nobel Peace Prize for not really having done anything yet, his detractors say. But his supporters are really, really happy. It's a big prize. It's also a lot of pressure for one man in America to hold, and he's already President of the United States of America so that's a bigger burden on him. He has to hold up to the pressure.

 

Nick: Is there any famous sports people? Like, I don't know.

 

Cheryl: Hmm, sports people? Well, one person I can think of that's very famous in America recently is Michael Phelps. He is a twenty … a young twenty-something guy who is probably the best swimmer in history.

 

Nick: Oh, Ian Thorpe is.

 

Cheryl: He recently won many, many gold medals in the 2000 Beijing Olympics. He probably won the most I think. He broke the record for having won the most. I believe it was eight medals. Eight gold medals for a swimming competition.

 

Nick: I think Ian Thorpe only won six in one Olympics. Michael Phelps takes it out.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the Lesson

no longer around

 

But he's no longer around unfortunately.

 

When someone is no longer around, that means they are not there or not present any more. In the example above, the speaker says "he is no longer around" to politely refer that the person is dead. Here are a few more examples:

 

That man is no longer around. I don't know what happened to him.

Sadly he is no longer with us. He passed away.

prematurely

 

He won it prematurely.

 

When something is premature², that means it happened too early. Things that are premature often need a little more time before they are ready. Notice the following:

 

The baby was born prematurely at seven months but survived.

The man spoke⁴ prematurely and told the woman information she did not need to know.

detractors

 

 

His detractors say he has not done very much.

 

A detractor is a person who is critical of someone and often not a fan or supporter of them. Detractors like to point out negative things about people. Notice the following:

 

Every politician has his or her detractors.

Leaders often use war to quiet their detractors.

big burden

 

Being president is a big burden.

 

A burden is a responsibility one has to take because of their position. Any leader has the burden of taking care of the people below them. Notice the following:

 

Parenthood is a joy, but also a big burden.

After winning the lottery⁵, he didn't like the burden of having to manage his money.

hold up

 

He has to hold up to the pressure.

 

When we hold someone up to pressure that means we hold them up so everyone can see them or watch what they do. In order to hold up to pressure, one needs to succeed and not fail. Notice the following:

 

Some athletes cannot hold up to the pressure of playing in a big game.

She help up to the pressure of being the first woman CEO.

1 obviously   

adv.显然；明白地

参考例句：

• Obviously they were putting him to a severe test.显然他们是在给他以严峻的考验。
• Obviously he was lying.显然他是在撒谎。

2 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

3 prematurely   

adv.过早地，贸然地

参考例句：

• She was born prematurely with poorly developed lungs. 她早产，肺部未发育健全。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His hair was prematurely white, but his busy eyebrows were still jet-black. 他的头发已经白了，不过两道浓眉还是乌黑乌黑的。 来自辞典例句

4 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。

5 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。