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VOA慢速英语2012 People in America - Stephen Vincent Benet, 1898-1943: One of America’s Most Popular Writers of the 1900s

时间:2012-02-06 06:30:25

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People in America - Stephen Vincent Benet, 1898-1943: One of America’s Most Popular Writers of the 1900s

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: People in America -- a program in Special English by the Voice of America.
Each week at this time, we bring you a story about people who were important in the history of the United States. Today, Doug Johnson and Larry West begin the story of Stephen Vincent Benet.
He was one of the most popular American writers of the first part of the nineteen-hundreds.
(MUSIC)
LARRY WEST: A young woman once asked Stephen Vincent Benet for his advice on writing. This is what he said:
"I spent my childhood on a series of army bases. If I were writing stories about that, I would have to explain a few things about the army. I would have to give you a sense of being in a world of your own that children have. I would have to show you that it is as natural for an army child to move to a different base every few years, as for a civilian1 child to grow up in one town."
It was natural for Benet to talk about writing -- and his childhood -- at the same time. For his family and early surroundings2 shaped his life as a writer perhaps more than usual.
DOUG JOHNSON: Stephen Vincent Benet was born in eighteen-ninety-eight in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He was named in memory of his grandfather, who had been a general in the United States army.
General Benet attended the military academy3 at west point and was an expert on military law. He served in the army before, during and after the civil war. Stephen's father also was an army officer. Colonel4 James Benet worked on questions of military supply and artillery5. Stephen was born while his father was on duty at the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, iron factory.
LARRY WEST: Stephen Vincent Benet was born into a world of history, poetry and laughter. His parents loved to read. So did his brother and sister, who were much older than he.
The Benet house was filled with books. Stephen's mother and brother wrote poems. His sister supervised6 his studies. And his father talked to him about history, philosophy and literature.
Colonel Benet always could find a kind word to say or a joke to tell. Many years later, Stephen wrote:
My father was interested in everything. And he was the finest critic of poetry I have ever known. He taught me many things about writing....and understanding of others...and independence...and the desire to know things.
(MUSIC)
DOUG JOHNSON: Stephen's childhood was almost completely happy. He had suffered an illness when he was very young and this left him with a weak heart. But he played tennis and football, and loved to take long walks. His family members were his team players and close friends. Colonel Benet earned enough money to provide the family with everything they needed.
By the time Stephen was eight years old, his brother and sister were studying at universities. They introduced Stephen to their friends, some of whom would become famous writers and artists. These young people took an interest in Stephen, for he was an intelligent boy who spoke7 well. They began to send him things to
Read: books, and some of their own writings.
LARRY WEST: Colonel Benet's work took him to different places. So while Stephen was still a boy, he lived in the states of Pennsylvania, New York, California and Georgia. He was happy to be able to see some of the places he had read about...places that were famous in American history. In the west, there were the mountains, rivers and towns with Spanish names. In the north and south, there were the battlefields of the civil war.
DOUG JOHNSON: Stephen especially liked the army base in Georgia where he and his parents lived. The base was almost two-hundred years old. All around the buildings, inside and out, were the cannons8 and other equipment of past battles.
Best of all, Stephen was able to visit the great farms and small towns where little had changed since the civil war had ended in eighteen-sixty-five. He listened to the talk of old southern women who remembered very clearly the years before the war. More than forty years had passed. But the old women and the others made the past come alive for the boy. He thought about writing history.
(MUSIC)
LARRY WEST: By the time Stephen was fifteen, he was writing almost every day. The summer before he entered Yale University, at the age of seventeen, he published his first book of poems. The poems were political and philosophical9. They expressed his thoughts on democracy10 and freedom.
At Yale, Stephen made loyal11 friends. He was truly interested in people. He was a quiet young man with little color in his face. He wore round eyeglasses and did not care much about his clothing. His friends tried to improve his appearance. And they tried to show him things that interested wealthy young men at that time. But Stephen liked simple things, and did not change.
DOUG JOHNSON: Stephen worked hard at the university. He became editor of the Yale literary12 magazine, which the students published. The literary magazine was popular with students and writers at other schools, too. Stephen wrote poems and articles for the magazine, and for a number of other publications13. He did this in addition to his school work.
Stephen learned14 to write very quickly. Often, he would write while attending classes or sitting in noisy coffee houses. This method did not always produce the best writing. But it made it possible for Stephen to produce a great deal of writing. Before he finished his four years of study at Yale, many people had read his poems and stories.
LARRY WEST: Stephen was almost twenty-one years old when he left Yale. He no longer wanted to take money from his father, who would soon retire with a wife and daughter to support. Stephens' brother, William, was a successful writer and editor. Yet he did not earn much money. So Stephen went to New York City. In the next two years, he worked briefly15 in an office. Then he returned to Yale.
The university helped him win an award of money to travel and write. The money gave him the chance to write whatever he wanted...wherever he wanted. Stephen decided16 to go to Paris.
(MUSIC)
DOUG JOHNSON: In those years -- the early nineteen-twenties -- many young American writers lived in Paris. Among them were Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Stephen fell in love with the city, and with an American woman he met there. The woman was Rosemary Carr. She was a writer for a newspaper in the American city of Chicago. Stephen and Rosemary returned to Chicago to be married.
The Benets decided to make their home in New York. Stephen had written two books and a great many poems when he was in Paris.
He would spend the next five years writing stories for popular magazines. The stories were not about serious people or ideas. They were stories of the moment...not meant to be remembered.
LARRY WEST: Stephen often took long walks through the streets of New York. He did not like the life he saw there. He did not like the politics. He did not like the methods people used to succeed. And he did not like what he saw in many of the people's faces: a sense of hopelessness and need.
Stephen began to think back to his childhood...to the way he saw America as a boy. He thought about the history of America, and about its heroes. He decided to stop writing foolish things. He wanted to use his stories and poems to show Americans what was good and valuable in their culture. He wanted to give them something to believe in.
(MUSIC)
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: You have been listening to the Special English program People in America. Your narrators were Doug Johnson and Larry West. Our program was written by Barbara Dash. The Voice of America invites you to listen again next week at this same time when we will complete our story of the life of writer Stephen Vincent Benet.
For VOA Special English, this is Shirley Griffith.


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1 civilian uqbzl     
adj.平民的,民用的,民众的
参考例句:
  • There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
  • He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。
2 surroundings qrwwa     
n.周围的事物(或情况),环境
参考例句:
  • She is not very well tuned into her surroundings. 她不太适应周围的环境。
  • The rich man lives in luxurious surroundings.这位富人生活在奢侈的环境中。
3 academy FIxyW     
n.(高等)专科院校;学术社团,协会,研究院
参考例句:
  • This is an academy of music.这是一所音乐专科学院。
  • I visited Chinese Academy of Sciences yesterday.我昨天去访问了中国科学院。
4 colonel iWUyO     
n.(英国陆军、美国陆空军及海军陆战队)上校
参考例句:
  • It's a pity we didn't mend our fences with the colonel.可惜我们还没有和上校先生调整好关系。
  • An army major ranks between a captain and a colonel.陆军少校的军阶在上尉与中校之间。
5 artillery 5vmzA     
n.(军)火炮,大炮;炮兵(部队)
参考例句:
  • This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
  • The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。
6 supervised cec2158311659e4fa817f25aad310c2f     
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
7 spoke XryyC     
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。
8 cannons dd76967b79afecfefcc8e2d9452b380f     
n.加农炮,大炮,火炮( cannon的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Cannons bombarded enemy lines. 大炮轰击了敌军阵地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • One company had been furnished with six cannons. 某连队装备了六门大炮。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 philosophical rN5xh     
adj.哲学家的,哲学上的,达观的
参考例句:
  • The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
  • She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。
10 democracy mmCzf     
n.民主政治,民主制度;民主精神,民主作风
参考例句:
  • Democracy is based on good will and mutual understanding.民主建立在善意和相互理解的基础上。
  • Did democracy have its beginnings in Athens? 民主制度是创始于雅典吗?
11 loyal VAtxw     
adj.忠诚的,忠心的
参考例句:
  • He is a loyal friend.他是一位忠诚的朋友。
  • I judge him to be loyal.我认为他很忠诚。
12 literary v8uzu     
adj.文学(上)的
参考例句:
  • Literary works of this kind are well received by the masses.这样的文学作品很受群众欢迎。
  • The book was favourably noticed in literary magazines.这本书在文学杂志上得到好评。
13 publications dcdcd05e30ebb5bb3dfb91bcf11ebe26     
n.发表( publication的名词复数 );公布;出版;出版物
参考例句:
  • The related publications are far too numerous to list individually. 相关出版物太多,没法一一列举。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • A detailed list of our publications is available on request. 我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。 来自《简明英汉词典》
14 learned m1oxn     
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。
15 briefly 9Styo     
adv.简单地,简短地
参考例句:
  • I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
  • He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。
16 decided lvqzZd     
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。

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