(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Hello, I'm Steve Ember.
Today, Mario Ritter tells us about how retired Roman Catholic Bishop Paride Taban has served people in Sudan -- sometimes at the risk of his life. Kelly Jean Kelly tells about the continuing struggle for free speech in Egypt. And we'll have a tribute to the great American pianist Van Cliburn, who died last week.
Humanitarian bishop Paride Taban helped shelter and feed thousands of people during many years of armed conflict in Sudan. Now the United Nations has awarded the retired Roman Catholic Church official the 2013 Sergio Vieira de Mello Prize. The peace award is named for a former U.N. official who died in a bombing in Iraq in 2003. Mario Ritter has more.
Bishop Paride Taban is being recognized for starting and lending his support to a cooperative village in southern Sudan. He established the peace village in 2004 for people from several tribes, nationalities and religions. And at age 76, the bishop continues to encourage good relationships among all Sudanese people. Paride Taban was born in 1936 and became a priest of the Catholic Church in 1964. At that time, the first Sudanese civil war was going on, and religious workers had been expelled from southern Sudan. But the clergyman did not flee. "I remained throughout the war, under bombs, under persecution, and many intellectuals and priests had to leave the country."
Bishop Taban says he got the idea for a cooperative, peaceful community partly from visits to Israel.
In that country, he traveled to a cooperative village. Israelis, Palestinian, Jews, Christians and Muslims all lived there together. So he asked himself, why not establish such a community in Sudan?
In 1999, Bishop Taban started a demonstration farm in southern Sudan. At the time, violent cattle raids were taking place there. But he helped change that place of warfare into the peace village of Kuron. His actions earned him the peace prize. I'm Mario Ritter. You are listening to "As It Is" in VOA Special English.
Egyptians are struggling over whether to set limits on free speech. They won rights to free speech in the country's political unrest two years ago. Kelly Jean Kelly has more.
In the past two years, Egyptians have used free speech in ways considered unimaginable in the past. Ways like online activism and street protests… But writer Alaa el Aswany says the feeling of freedom is not real. He says the government of President Mohamed Morsi is setting its own policies.
"The formula is the following: you write whatever you want, and I'm going to do whatever I want." Alaa el Aswany says the problem is that Egypt's current leadership has reduced free speech even more than former president Hosni Mubarak. The writer says President Morsi took legal action against about ten writers over a period of about six months. They were accused of insulting the president. In 30 years, the writer says, Mr. Mubarak did that three times. It is not just insults to political leaders that have led to a reaction in Egypt. A video insulting Islam's Prophet Muhammad incited an attack on the American Embassy in Cairo. The attack resulted in death sentences for the Egyptians who made the video. Happily for them, they were not present when the sentences were announced. Safwat al Ghani is with the group Gama'a Islamiya. He says he believes in freedom that is controlled by what he calls "respect for sacredness and the conventions of Islam." Many Egyptians agree with him. But they do not want freedom of expression for politicians -- or humorists who make fun of the government. Publisher Rania Al Malki says the government needs to ease restrictions on free speech. And, she says nobody understands parts of the new constitution related to control of the media. "We have a situation here where the constitution has mandated the creation of two new bodies to regulate the media. But we have no clue what that is going to entail." I'm Kelly Jean Kelly.
Internationally celebrated American pianist Van Cliburn died Wednesday at his home in Fort Worth, Texas. He was 78 years old. "You're always hoping to play well. And if you don't play well, YOU are the unhappiest person. So you want to please your audience." And please his audiences he did. Van Cliburn was 23 years old when he performed in the famous Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow, in April of 1958. This was at the height of the Cold War period between the then Soviet Union and the United States. The Soviets had, only months earlier, launched the first orbiting earth satellite, Sputnik One. The Tchaikowsky competition was intended to also demonstrate Soviet cultural superiority. But Cliburn's performances, including this music, the Tchaikowsky Piano Concerto No.1, had the Russian audience chanting "First Prize! First Prize!" There was concern about awarding first prize to an American, but when premier Nikita Khruschev was approached for his permission, he asked "Was he the Best? Then give it to him."
His victory launched a career that made him unusually famous for a classical musician. He also became a hero to music-loving people in the former Soviet Union. Following the competition, a ticker tape parade in New York's Lower Manhattan, with 100,000 people lining the streets, welcomed him back to the United States. His RCA Victor recording of the Tchaikowsky Concerto was the first classical recording to gain platinum status by selling over a million copies within a year. It is still available on CD.
Throughout his career, he had a great interest in encouraging young people to take up classical music. He established the annual Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in his home town of Fort Worth. "It's been so interesting to see the young people come. They meet each other and have friendships and musical correspondences. It's really very exciting. And it's like the same feeling I had when I went to Russia in 1958. The warmth and camaraderie – it carried through all through the years."
He also encouraged the careers of young performers by creating several scholarship programs. Cliburn continued to perform concerts and solo recitals, but in 1978, he walked off the stage, professionally exhausted. He would play occasionally in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but he mainly lived out his final years outside of the public spotlight. His death last week, at the age of 78 was the result of advanced bone cancer. A favorite saying of Van Cliburn was his take on a statement by the great 20th century Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff: "Great music is enough for a lifetime. But a lifetime is not enough for great music."
And that's "As It Is" in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember. Thanks for joining us.
重点解析
1.tribute 致敬
I want to pay tribute to all those working in these exceptionally difficult situations.
我要向所有在这些极端困难境况下工作的人们致以敬意。
2.armed conflict 武装冲突
Armed conflict is likely to break out between the two countries.
这两国间有可能发生武装冲突。
3.flee 逃跑
The enemy were defeated and fled in disorder.
敌人被击败后仓皇而逃。
4.set limits on 对...作出限制
Some experts recommend that people set strict limits on their time for Internet use.
许多专家建议人们严格限制自己的上网时间。
5.The writer says President Morsi took legal action against about ten writers over a period of about six months.
take legal action against 对...提起诉讼
They might try to take legal action against you if you break the contract.
如果你违反合同，他们可能会对你采取法律行动。
6.This was at the height of the Cold War period between the then Soviet Union and the United States.
at the height of 在…的顶峰或鼎盛时期
The poet was at the height of his fame when we saw him twenty years ago.
二十年前我们见到那个诗人时，他正处于鼎盛时期。
参考译文
大家好，我是史蒂夫·恩贝尔。
今天马里奥·里特将为我们讲述已经退休罗马天主教会主教Paride Taban如何在苏丹为人们提供帮助—有时甚至是冒着生命危险。凯利·珍·凯利将讲述埃及言论自由斗争的故事。还有让我们向上周刚去世的美国伟大钢琴家范·克莱本致敬。
在苏丹武装冲突的多年中，人道主义主教Paride Taban为人们提供庇护所和食物。如今联合国授予了这位退休的罗马天主教会高级成员2013年度塞尔吉奥·比埃拉·德梅洛奖。该和平奖是以一名前联合国官员命名，这位官员死于2003年伊拉克的一场炸弹爆炸中。请听马里奥·里特为我们讲述。
Paride Taban主教是为南苏丹一个合作村庄提供支持公认的第一人。他于2004年建立了这个和平村庄，为数个部落、种族和宗教人群提供住所。主教在76岁高龄还继续鼓励所有苏丹人民之间的良好关系。Paride Taban生于1936年并于1964年成为了一名天主教教堂牧师。那时第一次苏丹内战爆发，宗教工作者被驱逐出南苏丹。但是这位牧师没有逃走。“在战争中，在轰炸和迫害之下，我留了下来，许多知识分子和牧师不得不离开这个国家。”
Taban主教说他要建立一个合作和平社区的想法部分来自于去以色列的访问。在以色列，他游览了一个合作村庄。以色列人、巴基斯坦人、犹太人、基督徒和穆斯林共同生活。所以他问自己，为什么不在苏丹建一个这样的社区呢？1999年，Taban主教在南苏丹建了一个示范农场。那时那里的牛畜暴力袭击时有发生。但是他帮助扭转了那里的冲突，将那变成了库龙和平村庄。他的举动为他赢得了和平奖。我是马里奥·里特。您正在收听的是VOA慢速英语栏目《As It Is》。
埃及人正在挣扎着是否应该限制自由言论。两年前，在国家的政治动乱中，他们赢得了自由言论权。下面由凯利·珍·凯利为你讲述。
在过去两年里，埃及人以一种不可思议的方式行使了言论自由权，就像是网络运动和街头示威一样...但是作家阿拉·阿斯万尼表示自由的感觉不真实。他说穆罕默德·穆尔西政府设定了自己的政策。“其准则就是：你想写什么随你，我想做什么随我。”阿拉·阿斯万尼说，问题是埃及现任领导阶层对言论自由限制的比前总统穆罕默德·胡斯尼·穆巴拉克还严格。这位作家称在约六个月内，穆尔西总统对约十位作家提起诉讼。他们被指控犯有侮辱总统罪。这位作家还说道，在三十年时间里，穆巴拉克先生提起了三次诉讼。并不仅仅是侮辱政治领导人才引起了埃及的反应。一份侮辱伊斯兰教先知穆罕穆德的视频引发了对美国驻开罗大使馆的攻击。因为该场攻击，制作这个视频的埃及人被判处死刑。开心的是，宣布死刑时，他们不在现场。
Safwat al Ghani是伊斯兰集团一员。他说他相信“由对神圣的尊重和伊斯兰教规”所控制着自由。许多埃及人都同意他的说法。但是他们不希望政治家或取笑政府的幽默家有言论自由。
出版人Rania Al Malki表示政府需要放松对言论自由的限制。她还说道，新宪法中的有关媒体控制部分的内容让人难以理解。“我们这里的情况是宪法强制执行两种新媒体体制的创造。但是对于其需要承担的，我们一无所知。我是凯利·珍·凯利。
美国钢琴家范·克莱本于周三在其位于德克萨斯州沃思堡市的家中逝世。享年78岁。全球都为他悼念。“你总希望弹出美妙乐章。如果弹不好，你是最不开心的那一个。所以你想要取悦你的观众。”并且他做到了。
1958年十月，当范·克莱本在莫斯科的柴可夫斯基国际音乐大赛上表演时，他只有23岁。此时美苏的冷战正处于顶峰时期。苏联在几个月前发射了第一颗人造地球卫星斯普特尼克1号。柴可夫斯基国际音乐大赛本意也是为了展现苏联文化的优越。但是克莱本的演奏，包括这首曲子，第1钢琴协奏曲，让俄罗斯观众大喊“一等奖！一等奖！一等奖！”有人担心要把一等奖颁给一名美国人，但是当尼基塔·谢尔盖耶维奇·赫鲁晓夫总理获得了他的允许，他问道“他是弹得最好的么？那就颁发给他吧。”他的成功为他开创了一份事业，使他成为了一名非常著名的古典音乐家。他还成为了前苏联音乐爱好者的英雄。比赛后，纽约下曼哈顿区十万人排在道路两边热烈欢迎他回到美国。他比赛时的VCR一年卖出了一百多万张，因此成为第一张获得白金地位的古典乐唱片。现在CD上仍然可以听到。
在他的职业生涯中，他常鼓励青年朋友从事古典乐。他在自己的家乡沃思堡市开办年度范·克莱本国际钢琴大赛。“看到年轻朋友们来参赛很有趣。他们在此会见、建立友谊、因音乐相连。这真的很让人兴奋。就像我1958年踏上俄国时的感觉一样。温暖和友情—贯穿时间。他还通过设立迹象奖学金项目来鼓励年轻演奏家的事业。克莱本一直开演奏会和独奏会，但1978年，他因劳累而退出了舞台。1980年代晚期和1990年代早期，他偶尔还会弹奏，但是他晚年已退出公众视线。他因骨癌恶化去世，享年78岁。范·克莱本最喜欢说的一句话出自20世纪俄罗斯作曲家谢尔盖·瓦西里耶维奇·拉赫玛尼诺夫：“一生有好的音乐陪伴足以。但是好的音乐追寻一生也不够。”
这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《As It Is》。我是史蒂夫·恩贝尔。感谢收听。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
