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VOA慢速英语2011-PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Remembering Six Peopl

时间:2011-02-12 02:19:13

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FAITH LAPIDUS: I’m Faith Lapidus.

STEVE EMBER: And I’m Steve Ember with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English. Today we remember six interesting people who died in the past year.

FAITH LAPIDUS: We start with Elizabeth Edwards. She was the wife of former senator John Edwards and served as a political adviser1 during his campaigns.

Mr. Edwards was the Democratic vice-presidential nominee2 in two thousand four. He unsuccessfully competed for the presidential nomination3 in two thousand eight.

Elizabeth Edwards had a successful career as a lawyer long before she became involved with politics. She was also the mother of four children.

She faced several tragedies in her life. The Edwards’ teenage son Wade4 was killed in a car accident in nineteen ninety-six. She was diagnosed with breast cancer at age fifty-five. And, during his last campaign, it became public that John Edwards had had an affair and child with another woman. The Edwards later separated.

For many people Elizabeth Edwards was a hero for her brave and very public battle with cancer. She did not let the disease stop her campaign work and activism. She became a fierce supporter for health care reform and women’s health issues. She also wrote two best-selling books about her life.

Elizabeth Edwards last September as she arrived at a "Stand Up To Cancer" television event at Sony Studios in Culver City, California

Shortly before her death, she posted her last message on Facebook. She said that she had been supported in her life by three saving graces: her family, her friends, and her belief in the power of hope. Elizabeth Edwards died of cancer in December at the age of sixty-one.

(MUSIC)

STEVE EMBER: Paul Miller5 was a lawyer who became a leader in the disability rights movement. In nineteen eighty-six, he graduated at the top of his class from Harvard Law School in Boston, Massachusetts.

Many law firms wanted to hire him. But after meeting him, none would give him a job. Paul Miller was born with a condition called achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism. As an adult, he stood about one hundred thirty-seven centimeters tall.

Later in his career, Paul Miller would work to change such forms of discrimination. He became a member of the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He helped enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act of nineteen ninety. This law protected disabled people in both public and private employment. He served as an advisor6 to President Clinton and President Obama.

Paul Miller

He also worked to create federal laws protecting the privacy of people’s genetic7 information. Employers and insurance agencies cannot use this information in a discriminatory way.

As a child, Paul Miller’s parents took him to meetings of the Little People of America. This group gives support and information to people of short height and their families.

He later said going to these meetings made him want to help others like himself.

Paul Miller died of cancer in October at the age of forty-nine.

(MUSIC)

Dorothy Kamenshek in a photo from the National Baseball Hall of Fame

FAITH LAPIDUS: Dorothy Kamenshek was considered one of the best female players in baseball history. In nineteen forty-three, the owner of the Chicago Cubs8 created the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

At the age of seventeen, Kamenshek was picked to be on the Rockford Peaches team. Known as “Dottie” to her fans, she became a huge success.

She would jump over a meter in the air to catch the ball at the first base position. She was also a great hitter. She had one of the league’s top ten batting averages. Kamenshek played for the All-American Girls League for ten seasons. She was chosen to be on the All-Star team seven times in her career.

Her life influenced the role played by Geena Davis in the nineteen ninety-two movie “A League of Their Own.”

Dorothy Kamenshek was such a skillful player that a men’s minor9 league team from Florida once tried to buy her contract. She refused the offer.

Kamenshek retired10 from baseball in nineteen fifty-three. She earned a degree in physical therapy. She later worked for the Crippled Children’s Services Department in Los Angeles, California.

Dorothy Kamenshek died in May at the age of eighty-four.

(MUSIC)

Leslie Nielsen in 1991

STEVE EMBER: Leslie Nielsen’s was a serious actor in television and movies for many years. But using this seriousness to make people laugh changed his career.

Leslie Nielsen was born in Canada and later became an American citizen. After serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force, he began studying acting11 in Toronto and New York City.

He worked in theater and television before making his first movie in nineteen fifty-six. He had major roles in movies including “Forbidden Planet,” “Tammy and the Bachelor” and “The Poseidon Adventure.”

By the nineteen sixties, Nielsen’s hair had turned white. He was often chosen to play the serious roles of government and military leaders.

In nineteen eighty, he was chosen to be in a very different kind of film. The movie “Airplane!” was very funny. It is about a plane and its crew and passengers in a difficult situation.

LESLIE NIELSEN: "Can you fly this plane and land it?"

ROBERT HAYS: "Surely you can’t be serious."

LESLIE NEILSEN: "I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley."

“Airplane!” changed Leslie Nielsen’s career. He became famous for his roles in the funny “Naked Gun” movies. He played detective Frank Drebin, a man who does everything wrong.

Nielsen spent the rest of his career playing funny parts in movies including “Dracula: Dead and Loving It” and “Spy Hard.” One reporter said his fans loved him because he seemed to be having a good time while making sure the audience had a good time, too.

Leslie Nielsen died in November at the age of eighty-four.

(MUSIC)

A giant spider sculpture by Louise Bourgeois12 during an exhibit in New York's Rockefeller Center in the summer of 2001

FAITH LAPIDUS: Louise Bourgeois was an influential13 artist best known for her large sculptures of metal spiders. Much of her art was fearless, sexual and strange.

Her paintings and sculptures were often shaped by painful experiences. Her anger toward her father for betraying her mother with another woman was one big influence in her work.

She once said that her artwork was a way to battle her tensions and fears and attempt to be a better person.

Louise Bourgeois was born in nineteen eleven in Paris, France. Her parents had a business repairing ancient tapestries14. She used her drawing skills to help with repairs. Louise studied math in college, but later changed her area of study to art.

In nineteen thirty-eight she met art historian Robert Goldwater in Paris. They married and moved to New York City. She continued to work as an artist while raising their three sons.

Bourgeois took part in many gallery and museum shows in New York. But she did not become internationally famous until she was in her sixties. In nineteen eighty-two the Museum of Modern Art organized a show of her work. Major museums around the world later bought her artworks.

She once said she was glad she was discovered later in life. This gave her time to work without interruption at her own speed and in her own way. Louise Bourgeois kept working on her art until her last days.

She died in May at the age of ninety-eight.

(MUSIC)

Jerry Bock in 2006

STEVE EMBER: Jerry Bock was a celebrated15 composer who wrote music for many popular Broadway shows. He worked with the songwriter Sheldon Harnick to create seven musicals. These include “Fiorello” and “She Loves Me.” But their most famous musical was “Fiddler on the Roof.” It first played on Broadway in nineteen sixty-three.

The play tells about Jewish life in a small Russian village during the early nineteen hundreds. The main characters are a milkman named Tevye, his wife and five daughters. Jerry Bock was influenced by the Jewish musical traditions he heard as a child.

“Fiddler on the Roof” became a huge success. It won nine Tony Awards. The show played for eight years, making it Broadway’s longest-running musical at the time. It was also made into a popular movie.

Jerry Bock was born in nineteen twenty-eight and grew up in New York City. At a young age he was able to play complex music on the piano. In high school he wrote his first musical. He wrote his first musical play for Broadway in nineteen fifty-six.

Later in his career, Jerry Bock wrote music for television programs for children. He died in November at the age of eighty-one. We leave you with one of the most popular songs from “Fiddler on the Roof --“If I Were a Rich Man.”

(MUSIC)

FAITH LAPIDUS: This program was written and produced by Dana Demange. Our programs are online with transcripts16 and MP3 files at voaspecialenglish.com I’m Faith Lapidus.

STEVE EMBER: And I’m Steve Ember. Join us again next week for PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 adviser HznziU     
n.劝告者,顾问
参考例句:
  • They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
  • Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。
2 nominee FHLxv     
n.被提名者;被任命者;被推荐者
参考例句:
  • His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
  • Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。
3 nomination BHMxw     
n.提名,任命,提名权
参考例句:
  • John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
  • Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。
4 wade nMgzu     
v.跋涉,涉水;n.跋涉
参考例句:
  • We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
  • We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。
5 miller ZD6xf     
n.磨坊主
参考例句:
  • Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
  • The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。
6 advisor JKByk     
n.顾问,指导老师,劝告者
参考例句:
  • They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
  • The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。
7 genetic PgIxp     
adj.遗传的,遗传学的
参考例句:
  • It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
  • Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。
8 cubs 01d925a0dc25c0b909e51536316e8697     
n.幼小的兽,不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • a lioness guarding her cubs 守护幼崽的母狮
  • Lion cubs depend on their mother to feed them. 狮子的幼仔依靠母狮喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 minor e7fzR     
adj.较小(少)的,较次要的;n.辅修学科;vi.辅修
参考例句:
  • The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
  • I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。
10 retired Njhzyv     
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的
参考例句:
  • The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
  • Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。
11 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
12 bourgeois ERoyR     
adj./n.追求物质享受的(人);中产阶级分子
参考例句:
  • He's accusing them of having a bourgeois and limited vision.他指责他们像中产阶级一样目光狭隘。
  • The French Revolution was inspired by the bourgeois.法国革命受到中产阶级的鼓励。
13 influential l7oxK     
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。
14 tapestries 9af80489e1c419bba24f77c0ec03cf54     
n.挂毯( tapestry的名词复数 );绣帷,织锦v.用挂毯(或绣帷)装饰( tapestry的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • The wall of the banqueting hall were hung with tapestries. 宴会厅的墙上挂有壁毯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The rooms were hung with tapestries. 房间里都装饰着挂毯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
15 celebrated iwLzpz     
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。
16 transcripts 525c0b10bb61e5ddfdd47d7faa92db26     
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

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