美国英语听力80篇3 Lesson53

[00:05.96]Philtis Wheattey's first major work was "An Elegiac Poem on the Death of the Celebrated¹ Divine²."
[00:14.52]It waspublished in 1770.
[00:17.53]Phillis wrote the long poem to honor³ a famous clergyman who had died.
[00:22.96]Phillis wrote mostly about religion and morals⁵.
[00:27.85]Many of her poems were created at the request of someone to honor a family member who had died.
[00:34.80]Her poems are representative of the times.
[00:38.58]They expressed common reactions to personal events such as deaths or marriages.
[00:44.98]Or they honored⁶ public events such as battles.
[00:48.51]Phillis had an unusual life fora slave.
[00:52.48]Mrs.Wheatley had stopped having Phillis do house cleaning jobs.
[00:56.95]She made sure Phillis had time to study and to visit the family friends.
[01:03.50]But Phillis was not permitted to make friends with other uneducated slaves.
[01:09.43]So she remained separate from both white and black worlds.
[01:15.31]While she was considered above the other black slaves, she was never considered an equal of white slave owners.
[01:24.48]One time she was invited to dinner in the home of one of Mrs.Wheatley's relations.
[01:30.70]The servants said that it was the first time they ever carried food to a woman with skin their color.
[01:38.69]But Phillis usually sat at a table separate from the white people at a dinner party.
[01:44.88]Phillis Wheatley became famous in Europe as well as in America.
[01:50.55]She travelled to London in 1773 and gave poetry readings there.
[01:57.00]She was twenty years old.
[01:59.67]The writings of the young slave from Africa surprised everyone.
[02:04.68]During her visit in London,she was to have been presented to King George the third.
[02:10.53]But she received urgent⁷ news from America.
[02:14.19]Mrs. Wheatley was very sick and had asked that Phillis return to Boston.
[02:19.05]Phillis returned home quickly.
[02:21.45]That meant she missed the publication⁸ in London of her book poems on various subjects, religious and moral⁴.
[02:29.73]It contained thirty-eight of her poems.
[02:33.44]It was the first published book written by a black person in America.
[02:37.86]And it was only the second book written by an American woman.
[02:42.32]Newspapers in London highly⁹ praised her poems.
[02:46.74]Her book sold very well there and later in America.
[02:51.47]Phillis Wheatley had one more brief period of being famous.
[02:57.01]In 1775, she wrote a poem about George Washington.
[03:03.56]He had become commander of the colonial¹⁰ forces in the American Revolution.
[03:10.04]The poem was called "His Excellency General Washington."
[03:15.27]It called Washington "first in peace and honors¹¹."
[03:20.72]She sent her poem to him.
[03:23.10]Some time later,she was invited to visit George Washington in his headquarters¹².
[03:30.02]It was an unusual visit between a black woman poet and a military commander.
[03:37.03]Phillis took care of Susannah during her Iong final sickness.
[03:42.15]When Mrs. Wheatley died in March, 1774, Phillis wrote that she had lost a friend and parent.
[03:50.09]After Susannah's death, Phillis was freed by the Wheatley family.
[03:54.66]But her life became more difficult.
[03:57.61]She married John Peters, a free black man.
[04:01.14]He failed in many business attempts.
[04:04.24]Their three children died at a very young age.
[04:07.69]Phillis tried to publish another book of her poems.
[04:11.74]But now that she was free, she had lost her appeal as a slave poet.
[04:17.12]Phillis Wheatley died poor and alone in 1784.

1 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

2 divine   

adj.神的，上帝的，神圣的，如神的，非凡的

参考例句：

• Jesus is believed by Christians to have been divine.基督教徒们相信耶稣是神。
• The despot claimed to be the chosen instrument of divine providence.专制者声称自己是上天选定的统治工具。

3 honor   

n.光荣；敬意；荣幸；vt.给…以荣誉；尊敬

参考例句：

• I take your visit as a great honor.您的来访是我莫大的光荣。
• It is a great honor to receive that prize.能拿到那个奖是无上的光荣。

4 moral   

adj.道德(上)的，有道德的；n.品行，寓意，道德

参考例句：

• Moral beauty ought to be ranked above all other beauty.品德之美应列于其他美之上。
• He deceived us into believing that he could give us moral support.他骗得我们相信他能给我们道义上的支持。

5 morals   

n. 道德; 名词moral的复数形式

参考例句：

• a self-appointed custodian of public morals 自封的公共道德的卫道士
• We must arm the people against the lowering of our morals. 我们必须武装人们的头脑，以防我们的道德标准降低。

6 honored   

adj.光荣的：荣幸的v.尊敬，给以荣誉( honor的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I hope to be honored with further orders. 如蒙惠顾，不胜荣幸。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This is a time-honored custom. 这是一个古老的习俗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 urgent   

a.紧急的，急迫的，紧要的

参考例句：

• He asked to see the manager for something urgent. 他有急事求见经理。
• A part of this urgent task was allotted to us. 这项紧急任务的一部分分给了我们。

8 publication   

n.出版，发行；出版；公布，发表

参考例句：

• They don't think this article is suitable for publication.他们认为这篇文章不宜发表。
• The government has delayed publication of the trade figures.政府已将贸易统计数字延后公布。

9 highly   

adv.高度地，极，非常；非常赞许地

参考例句：

• It is highly important to provide for the future.预先做好准备非常重要。
• The teacher speaks very highly of the boy's behaviour.老师称赞这个男孩的表现。

10 colonial   

adj.殖民地的，关于殖民的；n.殖民地，居民

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• The people of Africa have successfully fought against colonial rule.非洲人民成功地反抗了殖民统治。

11 honors   

n.礼仪；荣典；礼节； 大学荣誉学位；大学优等成绩；尊敬( honor的名词复数 )；敬意；荣誉；光荣

参考例句：

• He aims at honors. 他力求名誉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We did the last honors to his remains. 我们向他的遗体告别。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 headquarters   

n.司令部，指挥部；总部，总店

参考例句：

• Several great guns from the headquarters are coming to see us today.总部的几个大人物今天要来看我们。
• The bank has its headquarters in Pairs.这家银行的总行在巴黎。