VOA新闻杂志2025--Pearl S. Buck: The First American Woman to Win a Nobel Prize in Literature

The year was 1931. The top selling book in the United States was The Good Earth by Pearl¹ S. Buck².

The following year, Buck won the Pulitzer Prize for the best novel by an American writer.

In 1938, Buck became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. She wrote more than one hundred books. She also wrote short stories, poetry, plays, essays, and children's books. But most people remember Pearl Buck for her novels about China. She knew the country and its people very well. For nearly 40 years, China was her home.

Early life

Pearl's parents were Caroline and Absalom Sydenstricker. They were religious workers in China.

Pearl's education began at home. Her mother taught her many of the things she would have learned³ in an American school. A Chinese teacher taught Pearl other subjects.

In 1910, Pearl went back to the United States to study philosophy at Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia. After graduation, she returned to China. Three years later, she met John Lossing Buck. He was a religious worker who studied agriculture. They were married and moved to a small village in the north of China. Their life among the poorest people provided⁴ the subject matter for many of the books she later wrote.

The Good Earth

The Good Earth is the story of a poor Chinese man named Wang Lung. His wife is O-Lan. They work very hard together and finally make enough money to buy some land for a farm.

After a time, they grow enough crops to feed their family well, with some left over to sell. Their lives get much better, and they are happy. But the good times do not last.

Pearl Buck wrote her first books about China at a time when most people in the world knew almost nothing about the Chinese way of life.

After almost 40 years in China, the writer moved back to the United States. She bought Green Hills Farm in eastern Pennsylvania. She began to write articles for newspapers and magazines. She expressed her opinions on war, politics, religion, equal rights for all people and many other subjects.

She also gave many speeches. Buck talked to young people about the importance of a good education. She also told them they needed to know more about other people around the world.

Pearl Buck died in 1973 at the age of 80.

I'm John Russell.

Jim Tedder⁵ wrote this story for VOA Learning⁶ English. John Russell adapted it.

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Words in This Story

novel - n. an invented narrative⁷ that is usually complex and deals with the human experience

graduation - n. the award or acceptance⁸ of an academic degree

article -n. a relatively short piece of writing that appears in newspapers or magazines

1 pearl   

n.珍珠，珍珠母

参考例句：

• He bought his girlfriend a pearl necklace.他给他女朋友买了一条珍珠项链。
• The crane and the mother-of-pearl fight to death.鹬蚌相争。

2 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

3 learned   

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。

4 provided   

conj.假如，若是；adj.预备好的，由...供给的

参考例句：

• Provided it's fine we will have a pleasant holiday.如果天气良好，我们的假日将过得非常愉快。
• I will come provided that it's not raining tomorrow.如果明天不下雨，我就来。

5 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网

6 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

7 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

8 acceptance   

n.接受，接收，验收，接纳；承认，认可

参考例句：

• The new laws gained widespread acceptance.新法令受到广泛赞同。
• It took years for Einstein's theory to gain acceptance.爱因斯坦的理论经过多年才被人们接受。