(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
I'm Steve Ember. And I'm Gwen Outen with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English. Today we tell about a woman who became famous for her activities in government, the media and the arts. She was a member of Congress and an ambassador. She was a news reporter and magazine editor. And she wrote plays. Her name was Clare Boothe Luce.
Clare Boothe Luce was one of the most influential women in modern American history. Yet she came from simple roots. She was born in New York City in nineteen-oh-three. Clare's father was a musician and businessman. Her mother had been a dancer. While Clare was a girl, her parents ended their marriage. She and her brother stayed with their mother. Their mother did not have a lot of money. Yet she was able to send Clare to very good schools. Her mother then married a doctor from Connecticut. Clare's stepfather, Albert Austin, later served in the United States House of Representatives.
As a young woman, Clare Boothe was known for her intelligence and good looks. She met her first husband through a family friend. George Tuttle Brokaw was a wealthy man. He also was more than twenty years older than Clare. They were married in nineteen twenty-three and had one child – a daughter. However, her husband had a problem with alcoholic drinks. Their marriage ended after only six years. Clare developed a serious interest in writing. In nineteen thirty, a friend, the magazine publisher Conde Nast, offered her a job. She wrote comments for pictures published in Vogue, a magazine for women about clothes and fashion. A short time later, she accepted a job at another magazine, Vanity Fair. She wrote reports about social events and famous people in New York. Later these reports were published in a book.
Clare Boothe became a top editor at Vanity Fair. She worked there until nineteen thirty-four. By then, she was also writing plays. One play was called "Abide with Me." It was about a man who mistreats his wife. "Abide with Me" opened in a theater on Broadway in New York City in nineteen thirty-five. Critics hated it. Two days after the show opened, Clare Boothe married Henry Robinson Luce. He was a famous and important magazine publisher. He published Time and Fortune magazines. She had first met Henry Luce at a party in New York. At the time, he was married and had two children. He and Clare were married a short time after a court order canceled his first marriage. They would stay together for more than thirty years.
Clare Boothe Luce returned to writing plays. Her second play, "The Women," made fun of rich women. It opened on Broadway in nineteen thirty-six. The show was very popular. It was later made into a movie. Another play, "Kiss the Boys Goodbye," also was a success. So was her next play, "Margin for Error." All three plays were noted for their use of sharp language and making fun of human failings. Clare Boothe Luce was known for expressing her opinions. Her most famous saying was: "No good deed goes unpunished." She often spoke about the problems of women trying to succeed in a world mainly controlled by men. She said: "Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, ‘She doesn't have what it takes.' They will say, ‘Women don't have what it takes.'" She made these comments in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
"We women are supposed to be a minority. I've never understood that myself since we outnumber the men in actual numbers, and we live five years longer. So I've never felt like a minority because, as you know, minorities are never supposed to say anything unkind about one another." In nineteen forty, Clare Boothe Luce traveled to Europe as a reporter for Life magazine, which was published by her husband. She visited a number of countries and later wrote reports about how people were dealing with World War Two. She wrote a book about this called "Europe in Spring." In the book, she noted that people were living in "a world where men have decided to die together because they are unable to find a way to live together." She also reported from Africa, China, India and Burma for Life magazine.
In nineteen forty-two, her stepfather, Albert Austin, died. Mrs. Luce agreed to be the Republican Party candidate for his seat in the House of Representatives from Connecticut. She was elected and entered Congress in January, nineteen forty-three. Mrs. Luce was a political conservative. She spoke against the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. She criticized the Roosevelt administration's foreign policy. She said it failed to supervise the war effort.
A tragic event affected Clare Boothe Luce in nineteen forty-four. Her nineteen-year-old daughter Ann was killed in an automobile accident. Mrs. Luce experienced severe emotional problems. She sought help from a number of people, including a Roman Catholic clergyman, the Reverend Fulton J. Sheen. At the time, he was becoming known for his radio broadcasts. Mrs. Luce demanded to know why God had taken her daughter. Reverend Sheen said the young woman had died so that her mother could learn about the meaning of life. Mrs. Luce recovered and returned to Congress. She remained popular among the voters of Connecticut and was re-elected to a second term in office. However, she did not seek re-election in nineteen forty-six. Mrs. Luce said she wanted to spend more time with her husband. She also became a member of the Roman Catholic Church.
Mrs. Luce returned to writing. She also edited a book about people considered holy by the Roman Catholic Church.Clare Boothe Luce criticized the spread of communism after World War Two. In nineteen fifty-two, she supported the Republican Party's candidate for president, former General Dwight Eisenhower. He won the election and appointed Mrs. Luce as ambassador to Italy. She became one of the first American women to serve in a major diplomatic position. Mrs. Luce served as the ambassador until nineteen fifty-six. She left Rome after becoming sick with arsenic poisoning caused by paint particles in her bedroom. Three years later, President Eisenhower nominated Mrs. Luce as ambassador to Brazil. Most members of the United States Senate supported her nomination. However, some senators were opposed. Among them was Wayne Morse, a Democrat from Oregon.
The Senate approved Mrs. Luce as the new ambassador. After the debate, she said that Senator Morse's actions were the result of him being "kicked in the head by a horse." Many Democrats criticized her comment. A few days later she resigned as ambassador.Mrs. Luce remained active in politics. In nineteen sixty-four, she supported Senator Barry Goldwater as the Republican Party's candidate for president. She also announced plans to be the Conservative Party candidate for the Senate from New York. However, Republican leaders disapproved and she withdrew from the race. Clare Boothe Luce retired from public life. She and her husband moved to Phoenix, Arizona. Henry Luce died there in nineteen sixty-seven. He was sixty-eight years old. Mrs. Luce moved to Honolulu, Hawaii. She lived there until the early nineteen eighties. During that period, she served as an advisor to three presidents. She was a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. Then Mrs. Luce moved to Washington, D.C. In nineteen eighty-three, President Ronald Reagan awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. That is the highest honor a president can give to an American citizen.
Clare Boothe Luce had a long battle with cancer. She died at her home in nineteen eighty-seven. She was eighty-four years old. She was buried near the remains of her husband in the state of South Carolina. Experts said Clare Boothe Luce had enough important jobs in government, the media and the arts to satisfy several women. She was often on the list of the ten most important and admired women in the world.
重点解析
1.ambassador 大使
The ambassador refused to all interviews.
该大使拒绝了所有记者对他的采访。
2.offer 提供
He has offered seats at the conference table to the Russian leader and the president of Kazakhstan.
他已给俄罗斯领导人和哈萨克斯坦总统提供了大会席位。
3.mistreat 虐待
She has been mistreated by men in the past.
过去她受过男人的虐待。
4.make fun of 取笑
Don't make fun of me
不要取笑我。
5.express 表达
He expressed grave concern at American attitudes.
他对美国的态度表达了严肃关注。
6.be supposed to 应该；被期望
I'm supposed to have handed in a first draft of my dissertation
我本该把论文的初稿交上去了。
参考译文
我是史蒂夫·恩贝尔。我是格温·奥坦恩。这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。今天我们要讲述的这位女士因她在政府、媒体和艺术节的活动而知名。她是议会成员，也是一名大使。她是一名新闻记者，也是杂志编辑，她还创作戏剧，她就是克莱尔·布思·卢斯。克莱尔·布思·卢斯是美国现代史上最具影响力的女性之一，但她的原生家庭很简单。
1903年，她在纽约市出生。克莱尔的父亲是一名音乐家兼商人，她的母亲是一位舞者。在克莱尔小时候，她的父母便离婚了。她和哥哥与母亲住一起，他们的母亲没什么钱。但她可以送克莱尔去一间非常好的学校。之后她的母亲和来自康乃迪克州的一名医生结婚了。克莱尔的继父艾伯特·奥斯丁之后在美国众议院工作。年轻时的克莱尔·布思以才智和美貌出名。她和第一任丈夫是通过家族朋友认识的。乔治·塔特尔·布罗考是一位富有的男人。他还比克莱尔大二十多岁。他们在1923年结婚了，并有了一个女儿。但她的丈夫有酗酒的问题。他们的婚姻在6年后终止了。
克莱尔对写作有浓厚的兴趣。1930年，一位朋友—杂志出版人康泰·纳仕给了她一份工作。她为刊登在《Vogue》上的图片写点评，这是一本关于时装潮流的女性杂志。不久后，她接受了另一份杂志《名利场》的工作。她写一些关于纽约社会事件和名人的报道。之后这些报道被出版成书籍。克莱尔·布思成为了《名利场》的首席编辑。她一直在那里工作，直到1934年离职。那时，她还在写戏剧。一部戏剧名为《与主同行》，讲述的是一位男士虐待妻子的故事。1935年《与主同行》在纽约市百老汇的一家剧院上演。评论家讨厌这部剧。该剧上演两天后，克莱尔·布思和亨利·卢斯结婚了。他是一位著名的重要杂志出版人。他出版了《时代》和《福布斯》两本杂志。她和亨利·卢斯第一次见面是在纽约的一次聚会上。那时，他已婚并且有两个孩子。法院判他离婚后不久，他就和克莱尔结婚了。他们在一起三十多年。
克莱尔·布思·卢斯回来继续创作戏剧。她的第二部剧《女人们》是拿有钱的女人开玩笑。1936年在百老汇上演。这部剧非常成功。之后被拍成了电影。另一部剧《Kiss the Boys Goodbye》也很成功。她的下一部剧《Margin for Error》也一样。所有三部剧因其犀利的语言和拿人性缺点开玩笑而出名。克莱尔·布思·卢斯以敢于表达自己的观点而出名。她最有名的一句话是：“善无善报。” 她经常谈论女性在男权世界想要成功的问题。她说：“因为我是女人，我必须做出非凡的努力才能成功。如果我失败了，没人会说，‘她不具备成功的条件。’他们会说，‘女人没有成功的条件。’”她在华盛顿全国新闻俱乐部的演讲中做出此番评论。“我们女性被认为是少数群体。我之前从不理解，因为我们在数量上多于男性，我们寿命更长。所以我从未觉得自己是少数，因为少数群体绝不会说另一个群体的坏话。”
1940年，克莱尔·布思·卢斯以《生活》杂志记者身份来到欧洲，这个杂志也是她丈夫发行的。她去了很多国家，之后写了关于人们如何对待二战的报道。她写了一本关于此的书《Europe in Spring》。在书中，她写到，人们生活在这样一个世界中，‘这个世界中的男人们决定一起死，因为他们找不到共存的生路。”她还在非洲、中国、印度和缅甸为《生活》杂志进行报道。1942年，她的继父艾伯特·奥斯丁去世了。卢斯太太同意接任她的继父成为共和党候选人竞选众议院席位。
1943年1月她入选国会。卢斯太太是政治保守派。她公开反对富兰克林·罗斯福总统的政府。她批评罗斯福政府的外交政策。她说政府没有对战争时期的努力进行监管。1944年一场悲剧影响了克莱尔·布思·卢斯。她19岁的女儿安在车祸中去世。卢斯太太患上了严重的情绪问题。她向很多人寻求帮助，保罗罗马天主牧师富尔顿·若望·申。那时，他因做无线电广播而出名。卢斯太太要求知道为什么上帝要带走她的女儿。申牧师说年轻女性的离去是为了让她的母亲可以了解生命的意义。卢斯太太病愈并回到了国会。她在康乃迪克州的选民中仍很受欢迎并连任该职位。但1946年，她没有寻求连任。卢斯太太表示她想多陪陪她的丈夫。她还成为了罗马天主教会的成员。
卢斯太太又开始创作。她还编辑了一本关于被罗马天主教会视为圣人的书籍。二战后，克莱尔·布思·卢斯批评共产主义的传播。1952年，她支持共和党总统候选人，前将领德怀特·艾森豪威尔。他赢得了选举并任命卢斯太太成为驻意大利大使。她成为了首位任职重要外交职位的女性之一。卢斯太太任职大使直到1956年。她房间的油漆微粒导致她砷中毒，之后她便离开了罗马。三年后，艾森豪威尔总统提名卢斯太太为驻巴西大使。美国参议员大部分成员都支持。但有一些参议员反对。其中就有来自俄勒冈州的民主党人韦恩·莫尔斯。参议院通过了卢斯太太成为大使的提名。经过一场辩论后，她说参议员莫尔斯的行为是由于“他的脑袋被马踢了。”很多民主党人批评了她的言论。几天后，她辞任大使一职。
卢斯太太仍活跃在政坛上。1964年，她支持参议员巴里·戈德华特成为共和党总统候选人。她还宣布了竞选参议院保守党纽约候选人的计划。但民主党领导人不赞成，她便退出了竞选。克莱尔·布思·卢斯从公众生活中退出。她和她的丈夫搬到了亚利桑那州凤凰城。亨利·卢斯在1967年去世，年68岁。卢斯太太搬到了夏威夷檀香山。她一直居住在那，直到20世纪80年代。那段时期，她担任了三位总统的顾问。她是总统外国情报顾问委员会的成员。然后卢斯太太搬到了华盛顿。1983年，罗纳德·里根总统授予她总统自由勋章。那是总统可以授予美国市民的最高荣誉。克莱尔·布思·卢斯一直都在与癌症斗争。1987年，她在家中去世，年84岁。她被埋葬在南卡罗来纳州，埋葬在她丈夫的旁边。专家称克莱尔·布思·卢斯在政府、媒体和艺术中的重要角色足以满足若干女性。她经常出现在全球前10位最重要最令人钦佩女性名单中。
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