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VOA慢速英语2012 PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Stephen Vincent Benet, 1898-1943: Popular Writer of the Early 1900s, Part Two

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PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Stephen Vincent Benet, 1898-1943: Popular Writer of the Early 1900s, Part Two

SARAH LONG: 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 Larry West and Doug Johnson complete the story of writer Stephen Vincent Benet.

(MUSIC)
LARRY WEST: Benet was one of the most popular writers in the United States during the first half of the nineteen-hundreds. By the middle nineteen-twenties, Benet had published five books of his own. He had won national prizes for his writing. Some of his poems were considered part of the American literary1 tradition.
DOUG JOHNSON: Although Benet was famous, most of the money he earned came from the stories he wrote for popular magazines. The stories were not about serious people or ideas. They were light things...meant to be read quickly and forgotten. Sometimes, Benet was not happy with the stories. But he did not have time to make them better. He felt he had no choice but to work in this way. He had a wife and a child to support.
All the while Benet was trying to please the magazine editors, he was thinking about a new direction and a greater purpose for his writing. He wanted to bring to life America's history and heroes. He wanted to show why these things were important and valuable. Most of all, he wanted people to remember the beauty and goodness2 of the America he had seen as a boy. He began to experiment.
LARRY WEST: Benet's new stories were about life in small towns. All kinds of people were in the stories. All of them had helped -- in some way -- to build America.
The voice telling the story was not a modern voice. It did not sound tired of the world ...as did the voices in most stories of that time. Instead, it was the voice of someone who had lived a long time in the small town. The voice sounded wise. And the language was a little like poetry.
In nineteen-twenty-six Benet won an award of two-thousand five-hundred dollars. He would use the money to continue his writing. Five years earlier, he had spent some time in Paris as a writer. He loved the city, and had met his wife there. So he decided3 to return to France. Soon after he and his wife arrived, their second child was born.
DOUG JOHNSON: Benet was living far from America. But America remained central to his work. He began to write a poem about America's Civil War. The war had been fought between northern states and southern states from eighteen sixty-one to eighteen-sixty-five. Benet's poem described common soldiers, battles and the military and political leaders of both sides. It described the two major reasons for the war: saving4 the union of states, and freeing the black slaves. The poem was published in nineteen-twenty-eight. It was as long as a book. It was called ‘John Brown's Body.’ Here is part of the poem.
WARREN SCHEER:
'He must have been a peaceable man, that farmer.
It is said that he died of what he had heard and seen in that one brief moment, although no bullet5 came near him.
He should have known that even minor6 battles are not the place for peaceable men -- but he died, instead, it is said. The general came and the South came and the end came.
And the grass comes and the wind blows...on the grown grass and the wind says long ago, long ago.
(MUSIC)
LARRY WEST: ‘John Brown's Body' was praised for its power and truth. It was so filled with color and details that professors of history used it to teach their students about the Civil War. It was read on American and British radio. The year after it was published, Stephen Vincent Benet received America's Pulitzer prize for poetry.
DOUG JOHNSON: Benet returned to New York from France. He took the money he earned from the sales of ‘John Brown's Body’ and invested7 it in the stock8 market on Wall Street. But that year – nineteen twenty-nine -- was the year the stock market crashed. Investments9 were worth nothing. All of Benet's money was lost.
The next few years were very difficult. Benet's father died, and he had to help support his mother and sister. Another child came. And Benet began to suffer more from the effects of arthritis10.
The pain in his joints11 made it hard for him to work. And a weak heart gave him little energy. Yet he had little choice. He had to earn money the only way he knew how: by writing.
So Benet began writing magazine stories again. He also went to Hollywood, California to write a motion12 picture story about Abraham Lincoln -- America's president during the civil war. And he traveled around the country giving talks on poetry and writing.
LARRY WEST: Times were hard in America in the nineteen-thirties. But as President Franklin Roosevelt began his economic reforms, Benet began to look forward to a brighter future for the country. He and his wife, Rosemary, wrote a book of poems for children. It was called ‘A Book of Americans.’ Many of the poems were humorous. Many were full of hope.
In nineteen thirty-six, Benet published a story called 'The Devil13 and Daniel Webster." It is a story about a farmer who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for ten years of good luck. Ten years go by, and the devil comes to collect the farmer's soul. The farmer begs the great American statesman14, Daniel Webster, to defend him before a jury15 chosen by the devil. Webster agrees. And the power and emotion of the great statesman's voice wins the case for the farmer. The story begins like this:
WARREN SCHEER: "Yes. Dan'l Webster's dead, or at least, they buried him. But every time there's a storm, they say you can hear his rolling voice in the empty places in the sky. And they say that if you go to where he's buried, and speak loud and clear - "Dan'l Webster! Dan'l Webster -- the ground'll begin to shake. And after a while you'll hear a deep voice saying, 'Neighbor! How stands the nation?'
"You see for a while, he was the biggest man in the country. He never got to be president. But he was the biggest man. There were thousands that trusted him right next to God almighty16. And they told stories about him.
"They said when he stood up to speak...stars came right out in the sky. And once he spoke17 against a river....and made it sink into the ground. And the fish would jump right out of the water into his hands...for they knew it was no use putting up a fight against him. And the biggest legal case he argued never got written down in the books...for he argued it against the devil."
(MUSIC)
DOUG JOHNSON: ‘The Devil and Daniel Webster’ was another great success for Stephen Vincent Benet. The story was made into a play, an opera and a motion picture. With that success Benet was able to get guarantees of payment18 for his work. He was able to pay what he owed. Publishers asked him to help choose which new books would be printed. And they asked him to give advice to young writers.
LARRY WEST: Toward19 the end of the nineteen-thirties, Benet became interested in political developments in Europe. He began to write more political pieces. After World War Two began, he put aside his other work and wrote only for the allied20 cause. He wrote for radio broadcasts and documentary21 films. He worked for aid for the French and the Russian people. He wrote a small book called “America” for the United States government. The book began:
"There is a country of hope...there is a country of freedom. It has made mistakes at home, mistakes in its relations with the world. But it looks to the future always."
DOUG JOHNSON: Stephen Vincent Benet's health was not equal to his spirit. He died of a heart attack in New York in March, nineteen-forty-three. He was forty-four years old.
The next year, his collection of poems called, 'Western Star' won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry. And American troops began giving his book "America" to people all over Europe and Asia, as World War Two was coming to an end.
(MUSIC)
SARAH LONG: 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 the same time when we will complete our story of the life of writer Stephen Vincent Benet. For VOA Special English, this is Sarah Long.

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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 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。
2 goodness xfgxm     
n.善良,善行,美德
参考例句:
  • Would you have the goodness to turn off the radio?劳驾,请你把收音机关上好不好?
  • Thank goodness,we've found a cure for the disease.好了,这病有救了!
3 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。
4 saving XjYzGK     
n.节省,节约;[pl.]储蓄金,存款
参考例句:
  • Energy saving is term strategic policy of our country.节约能源是我国长期的战略国策。
  • Old-fashioned housewives were usually very saving.旧时的家庭主妇通常都很节俭。
5 bullet GSUyA     
n.枪弹,子弹
参考例句:
  • The bullet wound in his shoulder was opened up for treatment.切开他肩上的枪伤进行治疗。
  • The bullet missed me by a hair's s breadth.那颗子弹差一点就打中了我。
6 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。
7 invested 9a25ac4ea8d8a9b7bac3a3ed96702a06     
v.投资,花费( invest的过去式和过去分词 );授予;(把资金)投入;投入(时间、精力等)
参考例句:
  • The money will be invested in managed funds. 这笔钱将投资于管理基金。
  • He invested his lawyer with complete power to act for him. 他让律师全权代办。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 stock luiwR     
n.存货,储备;树干;血统;股份;家畜;adj.存货的;平凡的,惯用的;股票的;畜牧的;vt.进货,采购;储存;供给;vi.出新芽;进货
参考例句:
  • The shop takes stock every week on Friday mornings.这家商店每星期五早晨盘点存货。
  • Experts have forecast an upturn in the stock market.专家已预测股票市场价格有上升趋势。
9 investments a6dba6e72f1adaf693af15720bcbf55a     
n.投资( investment的名词复数 );投资额;(时间、精力的)投入;值得买的东西
参考例句:
  • With the markets being so volatile, investments are at great risk. 由于市场那么变化不定,投资冒着很大的风险。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • All their money was tied up in long-term investments. 他们所有的钱都搁死在长线投资上了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
10 arthritis XeyyE     
n.关节炎
参考例句:
  • Rheumatoid arthritis has also been linked with the virus.风湿性关节炎也与这种病毒有关。
  • He spent three months in the hospital with acute rheumatic arthritis.他患急性风湿性关节炎,在医院住了三个月。
11 joints d97dcffd67eca7255ca514e4084b746e     
接头( joint的名词复数 ); 关节; 公共场所(尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所) (非正式); 一块烤肉 (英式英语)
参考例句:
  • Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。
  • Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。
12 motion nEzxY     
n.打手势,示意,移动,动作,提议,大便;v.运动,向...打手势,示意
参考例句:
  • She could feel the rolling motion of the ship under her feet.她能感觉到脚下船在晃动。
  • Don't open the door while the train is in motion.列车运行时,请勿打开车门。
13 devil dlMzu     
n.魔鬼,恶魔
参考例句:
  • It is easier to raise the devil than to lay him.召鬼容易驱鬼难。
  • Susie,you're a determined little devil.苏茜,你真是个坚决的小家伙。
14 statesman Yu6wf     
n.国务活动家,政治家
参考例句:
  • Friends gathered at a memorial for the late statesman.这位已故政治家的生前好友为他举行了纪念仪式。
  • The statesman is much occupied with affairs of state.那个政治家忙于国事。
15 jury g3dxN     
n.陪审团,评委会;adj.临时用的;vt.挑选
参考例句:
  • These twelve men are believed to compose the jury.据信,陪审团是由这12人组成的。
  • The members of the jury were discharged from their duties.陪审员们被解除了职务。
16 almighty dzhz1h     
adj.全能的,万能的;很大的,很强的
参考例句:
  • Those rebels did not really challenge Gods almighty power.这些叛徒没有对上帝的全能力量表示怀疑。
  • It's almighty cold outside.外面冷得要命。
17 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。
18 payment qL4xJ     
n.付款,支付,偿还,偿还,报应
参考例句:
  • I gave ten pounds in payment for the goods I bought.我买那些东西付了10英镑。
  • This last payment will wipe out your debt to me.这最后一笔付款将了结你欠我的债务。
19 toward on6we     
prep.对于,关于,接近,将近,向,朝
参考例句:
  • Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
  • Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了,并跑了过去。
20 allied iLtys     
adj.协约国的;同盟国的
参考例句:
  • Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
  • Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。
21 documentary wsxx5     
adj.文献的;n.纪录片
参考例句:
  • This case lacked documentary proof.本案缺少书面证据。
  • I watched a documentary on the Civil War.我看了一部关于内战的纪录片。

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