(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
I'm Faith Lapidus. And I'm Jim Tedder with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English. Today we tell about the award-winning writer Pearl S. Buck.
The year was nineteen thirty-one. Americans were suffering through the Great Depression. The famous criminal Al Capone was sent to prison for not paying his taxes. "The Star Spangled Banner" officially became America's national song. The Empire State Building in New York City was completed. And the top selling book in the United States was "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck.
Pearl Buck won the Pulitzer Prize for the best novel by an American writer. She was 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 literature. But most people remember Pearl Buck for her novels about China. She knew the country and its people very well. For nearly forty years, China was her home.
Pearl's parents were Caroline and Absalom Sydenstricker. They were religious workers in China. In eighteen ninety-two they were visiting in the United States when Pearl was born in Hillsboro, West Virginia.? Three months after her birth, the family left the United States and moved back to China.
Pearl and her family lived among the Chinese people. Pearl played with Chinese children and visited their homes. She listened to their ideas and learned about their culture. From an early age, she spoke both Chinese and English.
Pearl's education began at home. Her mother taught her many of the things she would have learned in an American school. A Chinese tutor taught Pearl other subjects. They included the writings of the famous thinker Confucius and Chinese reading, writing and history. When she was seven, she began reading the works of British writer Charles Dickens. Many years later, after she had become a famous author, she said that Dickens' writing style had the greatest influence on her own style.
In nineteen ten, 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 provided the subject matter for many of the books she later wrote.
In nineteen twenty, Pearl and John Buck's first child was born. Her name was Carol. Doctors found that Carol had an unusual disease called PKU. This caused her to have trouble learning. Carol was sent to live at a special school in New Jersey. Pearl Buck was deeply saddened by having to send her only child to live far away from home. She also learned that she would never be able to give birth again.
But if it had not been for Carol's health problems, her mother might never have become a famous writer. The reason was money. Pearl Buck needed a lot of it over the years to pay for her daughter's care. So she tried writing books about the subject she knew best. Her first novel was called "East Wind, West Wind."
It tells the story of a Chinese girl who learns about the western world. But it was Pearl Buck's next book that made her famous and brought the money she needed.
PEARL BUCK: "Now when I began to write, not having anything else to write about, I only knew China. And my first very successful book was "The Good Earth." I used to say to these young people, 'Why don't you write about your peasants? They are wonderful people.' And they would say, 'Oh nobody would be interested.' And so I said well I'm gonna write that book then. If none of you will do it, I will write it. So I wrote 'The Good Earth.'"
"The Good Earth" became the top selling book in the United States in nineteen thirty-one and nineteen thirty-two. Pearl Buck won the Pulitzer Prize. She also received the William Dean Howells Medal from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In nineteen thirty-seven, "The Good Earth" became an Oscar-winning motion picture. The next year, Pearl S. Buck was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
"The Good Earth" is the story of a poor Chinese man named Wang Lung. His wife is O-Lan. They work together very hard 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 improve greatly, and they are happy. But the good times do not last.
For a long time it does not rain. The land dries up and no crops will grow. Many people starve to death. Wang sells all he owns, except the land. Once again his family is poor and hungry. They beg on the streets to survive. Wang fears that they will die. But just when it seems that the end is near, good luck arrives.
Poor people attack some rich people, hoping to get food and money. A crowd forces Wang into a rich man's home. The rich man fears Wang and gives him gold coins. With this new-found wealth, Wang and his family survive. Every chance he gets, he buys more land. After a while he is richer than he ever thought he would be. For the rest of his life, Wang finds happiness in owning land and raising crops. He tells his sons that after he dies, they must never sell their land.
PEARL BUCK: "Now you couldn't imagine anything less interesting to Americans, you would say, than a book like 'The Good Earth.'? It came in the midst of depression times. And it was a comfort to the American people to know that there were people worse off than they were."
In nineteen thirty-two, Pearl Buck wrote a book called "Sons." It tells about Wang Lung's family after his death. Three years later, she wrote "A House Divided." This book is mostly about Wang Lung's grandson, Wang Yuan, who lives during a time of revolution in China. This book tells how China's people began to change from their old ways to a more modern way of thinking.
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. She told her stories with honesty. Her readers soon learned that the Chinese were far different from the way they had been shown in Hollywood movies.
After almost forty 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 opinion on war, politics, religion, equal rights for all people and many other subjects.
PEARL BUCK: "One of the sad things about war is ...it's not so much that you lose the money because you can always make money, somehow. But you lose people that you can't replace ... the people who should lead our country are the best, who die early ... the bravest, the most brilliant, the ones with the best leadership ... and they are the ones who die, out of proportion to their numbers."
Pearl Buck's ideas often brought her criticism. But she continued to speak and write about her support for the civil rights of black people in the United States. She also believed in birth control and equal rights for women. She said that there would be world peace only when all races had respect for each other.
PEARL BUCK: "We are one world and if we don't know it, it's dangerous. But I think we are beginning to know it more and more, and that does not mean that we give up our nationhood or our differences."
Pearl Buck gave many speeches in America. She talked to young people about the importance of a good education. She told them they needed to know more about other people around the world.
PEARL BUCK: "I beg of you to pay special attention to your history. Not just the history of the United States, but the history of the countries with which we are involved."
In nineteen forty-nine, Pearl Buck helped start the Welcome House Adoption Agency. She had become very concerned about the children of mixed races around the world. She urged families to adopt these children without concern for the color of their skin or their cultural background. Pearl and her second husband, Richard Walsh, raised seven adopted children. Two of these were of mixed race. They also cared for many other children while they lived at Green Hills Farm.
Pearl Buck died in nineteen seventy-three. She was eighty years old. She was buried near her house in Pennsylvania. Her memory lives on in the work done by Pearl S. Buck International. This organization provides adoption services and help to adopted people and their families. It also supports cultures around the world and works to end prejudice.
重点解析
1.be able to能够
Your GP will usually be able to tell from your symptoms if you have sinusitis or not.
你的家庭医生通常会能够告诉从您的症状，如果你有鼻窦炎或没有。
2.once again在…尽头
I asked God to forgive me once again and invited Him back into my life.
我再一次请求上帝原谅我，并且邀请他回到我的生命中来。
3.worse off恶化；情况更坏
But in America, the average person would be worse off.
但是在美国，市民的平均生活水平却在恶化。
4.give up放弃
I vowed that whenever my family needed me, I would give up my everything to go to them .
我发誓说，无论何时，只要我的家人需要我，我会放弃一切回到他们身边。
5.different from不同于
The Crystal Palace was different from all other buildings in the world, for it was made of iron and glass.
这座水晶宫不同于世界上所有的其他建筑，因为它是用钢和玻璃建成的。
6.For a long time很长时间
For a long time we have collaborated with Beckham, and even more now we do it with Milan.
我们与贝克汉姆合作了很长时间，而现在我们将与米兰有更多的合作。
参考译文
我是菲斯·拉皮德斯，我是吉姆·泰德，这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。今天我们讲述获奖作家赛珍珠的故事。
这一年是1931年，美国人正在经历大萧条。著名的罪犯阿尔·卡彭因逃税被送进监狱。《星条旗永不落》正式成为美国国歌。纽约帝国大厦竣工。美国最畅销的书是赛珍珠的《大地》。
赛珍珠获得了普利策最佳小说奖。她是首位获得诺贝尔文学奖的美国女性。她创作了超过100本书。她还写短篇小说、诗歌、戏剧、散文和儿童文学。但是大多数人都记得赛珍珠写的关于中国的小说。她非常了解这个国家和人民。近四十年来，中国一直是她的家。
赛珍珠的父母是卡洛琳和押沙龙·西登斯特里克。他们是中国的宗教工作者。1892年，当赛珍珠出生在西弗吉尼亚州的希尔斯伯勒时，他们正在美国访问。她出生三个月后，一家人离开了美国，搬回了中国。赛珍珠和她的家人生活在中国人周围。赛珍珠和中国的小孩子一块玩耍，参观他们的家。她会聆听他们的想法，学习他们的文化。从小她就会讲中文和英文两种语言。
赛珍珠的教育开始于家里。她的母亲教会了她许多她在美国学校学到的东西。一位中国的老师教授赛珍珠其他学科。包括著名思想家孔子的著作和中文阅读，写作和历史。7岁的时候，她开始读英国作家查尔斯·狄更斯的作品。多年以后，赛珍珠成为一位著名的作家之后，她表示狄更斯的写作风格对她的风格影响最大。
1910年，赛珍珠回到美国，在弗吉尼亚州林奇堡的伦道夫梅肯女子学院学习哲学。毕业后，她回到了中国。三年后，她遇到了约翰·洛辛·布克。他是一名研究农业的宗教工作者。他们结了婚，搬到了中国北方的一个小村庄。他们在最贫穷的人们中间的生活为她后来写作的很多书都提供了主题。
1920年，赛珍珠和约翰·巴克的第一个孩子出生了。她的名字叫卡罗尔。医生发现卡罗尔得了一种叫苯酮尿症的不寻常的疾病。这使她学习有困难。卡罗尔被送到新泽西州的一所特殊学校生活。赛珍珠为不得不把她唯一的孩子送到离家很远的地方而深感悲伤。她也发现自己再也不能生育了。
但是如果不是卡罗尔的健康问题，她母亲可能永远不会成为一为著名的作家。原因就是钱。多年来，赛珍珠需要很多钱来支付女儿的抚养费。所以她开始写作一些她最了解的主题的书。她的第一本小说是《东风西风》。
它讲述了一个中国女孩了解西方世界的故事。但正是赛珍珠的下一本书使她出名，并为她带来了她所需要的钱。
赛珍珠：“当我开始写作的时候，我只了解中国，我写不了关于其他任何事情的作品。我的第一本非常成功的书是《大地》。我过去常常对这些年轻人说，“为什么不写写关于你们的农民的作品呢？他们是非常棒的人。”他们就会说，“没人会对这个感兴趣的。”所以我说，我要写作关于农民的书。如果你们之中没人愿意写的话，我来写。所以我就写了《大地》这本书。”
《大地》在1931年和1932年成为美国最畅销的书。赛珍珠获得了普利策奖。她还获得了美国艺术与文学学院颁发的威廉·迪安·豪厄尔斯奖章。1937年，《大地》成为奥斯卡获奖影片。第二年，赛珍珠获得了诺贝尔文学奖。
《大地》讲述的是一个名叫王龙的中国穷人的故事。他的妻子是阿兰。他们一起努力工作，终于挣到足够的钱买了一些土地建农场。
过了一段时间，他们种了足够的庄稼来养活他们的家人，剩下的一些可以卖掉。他们的生活改善了很多。他们很开心。但是好景不长。
很长的时间都没有下雨。土地干涸，庄稼不再生长。很多人都饿死了。王龙把他拥有的一切都卖了，除了自己的土地。他的家庭再一次陷入了贫穷和饥饿。为了生存他们去到街上乞讨。王龙担心他们会死掉。但是就在末日将要来临的时候，好运降临了。
穷人开始攻击一些富人，希望得到食物和钱。一群人强迫王龙进入一个富人的家里。富人害怕王龙，就给了他金币。有了这些新发现的财富，王和他的家人得以生存。他一有机会就买更多的地。过了一段时间，他比他想象的要富有。在他的余生中，王在拥有土地和种植庄稼中找到了幸福。他告诉他的儿子们，在他死后，他们永远不能卖掉他们的土地。
赛珍珠：“你会说，你无法想象还有什么比《大地》这样的书更让美国人不感兴趣的了。它发生在经济萧条时期。让美国人民感到安慰的是，有些人的境况比他们现在更糟。
”1932年，赛珍珠写作了一本叫做《儿子们》。它讲述了王龙死后他的家人的故事。三年后，她写了《分家》。这本书主要讲的是王龙的孙子王源的故事，他生活在中国革命时期。这本书讲述了中国人民如何开始从旧的思维方式向更现代的思维方式转变。
赛珍珠写她的第一本关于中国的书时，世界上大多数人对中国的生活方式几乎一无所知。她诚实地讲她的故事。她的读者很快就了解到，中国人与好莱坞电影中的中国人大相径庭。
在中国生活了将近40年后，赛珍珠搬回了美国。她买下了宾夕法尼亚州东部的格林希尔农场。她开始为报纸和杂志写文章。她表达了她对战争、政治、宗教、所有人的平等权利和许多其他问题的看法。
赛珍珠：“关于战争，最悲伤的事情之一就是...你损失的钱并不多，因为你总能以某种方式赚钱。但是你失去了你不能替代的人...他们是最棒的，最勇敢，最杰出的人，他们有最好的领导力，却过早地去世了。这与他们的人数不成比例。
赛珍珠的想法常常引来人们批评。但她继续在演讲和写作中表达她对美国黑人民权的支持。她还相信计划生育和妇女的平等权利。她说，只有所有种族都互相尊重，世界才会和平。
赛珍珠：“我们是一个世界，如果我们不了解它，那它会是危险的。但是我觉得我们开始越来越多的了解这个世界了，这并不意味着我们要放弃我们的民族性或我们的差异。”
赛珍珠在美国发表了很多演讲。她跟年轻人讲述了接受良好教育的重要性。她表示他们需要更多地了解世界上其他的人。
赛珍珠：“我请求你们要特别注意你们的历史。不仅仅是美国的历史，还有和我们有关的国家的历史。”
1949年，赛珍珠帮助成立了欢迎之家收养机构。她非常关心世界各地不同种族的孩子。她敦促家庭收养这些孩子时，不要考虑他们的肤色或文化背景。赛珍珠和她的第二任丈夫理查德·沃尔什收养了七个孩子。其中两个人是混血儿。当他们住在格林希尔农场时，他们还照顾了许多其他的孩子。
赛珍珠于1973年去世。享年八十岁。她被埋葬在宾夕法尼亚州她的家附近。她的记忆在赛珍珠国际公司的作品中永存。这个组织为被收养的人和他们的家人提供收养服务和帮助。它还支持世界各地的文化，致力于消除偏见。
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