VOA文化艺术2023--Remembering Newsmakers Who Died in 2023

Remembering Newsmakers Who Died in 2023

2024 is just hours away. Before the world welcomes a new year, we remember some of the influential¹ people who died in 2023.

Sandra Day O'Connor

We start with U.S. Supreme² Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

O'Connor died on December 1. She made history in 1981 when she became the first woman appointed to the United States' highest court. She served in the position for 25 years.

The judge was considered a centrist, or a moderate, in her court opinions. She was often considered the "swing vote" on major issues such as abortion³, affirmative action and voting rights.

Sandra Day O'Connor was born in El Paso, Texas in 1930. She grew up on a large cow farm there.

The young Sandra was an excellent student and entered Stanford University in California when she was 16, earning a degree in economics. She went on to study law at Stanford. She graduated in the top 10 percent of her class in 1952.

President Ronald Reagan nominated her to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1981. In announcing his choice, he described the judge as "a person for all seasons."

American President Joe Biden spoke⁵ at her funeral. He called her "a daughter of the West" and "a pioneer in her own right." He praised her for seeking, in his words, "equal justice under law her whole life."

O'Connor died from problems linked to the disease dementia and a lung infection. She was 93 years old.

Henry Kissinger

The world also said goodbye to former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who died November 29.

He was 100 years old.

The German-born Jewish refugee served as the U.S. top diplomat⁶ under two presidents, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford⁴. He won praise and severe criticism in the U.S. and around the world.

Kissinger helped restore ties between the United States and China. He also negotiated the U.S. withdrawal⁷ from Vietnam.

Rosalynn Carter

American former first lady Rosalynn Carter died on November 19. She was the closest adviser⁸ to her husband, former President Jimmy Carter.

She served as first lady from 1977 to 1981. She advocated for better mental health care and help for caregivers in millions of American families. Overseas, she fought disease, mass hunger and the abuse of women and girls. She continued humanitarian⁹ work with her husband for 40 years following their time in the White House.

The couple had been married for 77 years when Rosalynn Carter died at the age of 96.

Others from the world of politics who died this year include: former Italian Premier¹⁰ Silvio Berlusconi, former Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf, and former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

Tina Turner

The world also lost cultural leaders in 2023, including the so-called "Queen of Rock ‘n' Roll."

American Singer Tina Turner died in May at the age of 83.

The entertainer teamed up with husband Ike Turner for a series of hit records and live shows in the 1960s and '70s. Ike was abusive and beat Tina. She left the marriage and returned as a solo artist with a best-selling album, Private Dancer, in 1984.

"How do we say farewell to a woman who owned her pain and trauma¹¹ and used it as a means to help change the world?" actor Angela Bassett said in a statement. Bassett played Turner in the 1993 movie What's Love Got to Do With It.

Turner sold more than 150 million records worldwide and won 12 Grammys. The performer was voted along with Ike Turner into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, and individually in 2021. Turner's life story was made into a movie and Broadway musical.

Mick Jagger of the music group The Rolling Stones called Turner "inspiring, warm, funny and generous" in an Instagram post. And he wrote that Turner "helped me so much when I was young, and I will never forget her."

Kenzaburo Oe

Several Nobel Prize winners died this year, including Japanese writer Kenzaburo Oe. The Nobel literature laureate wrote darkly poetic¹² novels based on his childhood memories from Japan's postwar occupation. He also wrote from his experiences as the parent of a disabled son. Oe died on March 3 at the age of 88.

World's oldest person

And the world lost its oldest resident in 2023. French religious worker, or nun¹³, Lucile Rando, died at home in southern France a few weeks before her 119th birthday.

Sister André, as she was known, was born in the town of Alès, southern France, in 1904. The Gerontology Research Group, which confirms details about people thought to be 110 or older, listed her as the oldest known person in the world after the death of Japan's Kane Tanaka, aged¹⁴ 119, in 2022.

Sister André was also one of the world's oldest survivors¹⁵ of COVID-19.

She tested positive for the coronavirus in January 2021, shortly before her 117th birthday. She showed so few signs of the virus that she did not even realize she was infected. News media around the world reported her survival.

In April last year, she was asked about her exceptional longevity¹⁶ through two world wars. Sister André told French media, "Working...makes you live. I worked until I was 108."

She was also known to enjoy a daily glass of wine and chocolate.

Words in This Story

swing vote –n. a person whose vote could go to either side in a dispute, providing a majority with their decision

advocate for –v. (phrasal) to support or argue for a cause or a person

trauma –n. an injury to the body or mind

inspiring –adj. something that gives hope to others

generous –adj. giving time or possessions freely

longevity –n. the condition of living a long time

1 influential   

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。

2 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

3 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

4 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

5 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。

6 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

7 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

8 adviser   

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。

9 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

10 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

11 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

12 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

13 nun   

n.修女，尼姑

参考例句：

• I can't believe that the famous singer has become a nun.我无法相信那个著名的歌星已做了修女。
• She shaved her head and became a nun.她削发为尼。

14 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

15 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

16 longevity   

n.长命；长寿

参考例句：

• Good habits promote longevity.良好的习惯能增长寿命。
• Human longevity runs in families.人类的长寿具有家族遗传性。