(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
I'm Steve Ember.
And I'm Barbara Klein with People in America in VOA Special English. Today we tell about the unforgettable entertainer Eartha Kitt. The life of this singer and actress was as rich and interesting as her career.
"C'est Si Bon," or "It's So Good" in French, was one of Eartha Kitt's first hit songs. She recorded it in the early nineteen fifties after performing it in a Broadway show. But Eartha Kitt's life was not always so good. She had a very difficult childhood although information about her early history is limited.
Eartha Mae Keith was born into a poor, rural family in South Carolina in nineteen twenty-seven. Some reports say she was the child of rape. Her mother was of African and Cherokee Indian ancestry. Her father was a white farmer.
When Eartha was eight, her mother married. The husband did not want Eartha to live with them because of her mixed race. Eartha Kitt said he called her "yellow gal."
Eartha was sent to New York City to live with an aunt in the African- American neighborhood of Harlem. The relationship was difficult. The aunt helped pay for piano and dance lessons for Eartha. But she also beat the girl. Eartha would run away after beatings.
Eartha Kitt lived on the streets and worked in a factory as a young teenager. But she kept up her dance lessons. One day she decided to try out for a famous African-American dance company. Soon, Eartha was performing in shows around the world with the Katherine Dunham Dance Troupe.
In Paris, Eartha left the dance company to sing in a nightclub. Her voice was unusual – but very appealing. She learned French quickly and gained French fans.
The film director Orson Welles discovered Eartha Kitt singing in Paris. He called her "the most exciting woman in the world." Welles asked her to play a lead part in a play he was directing and starring in.
Eartha Kitt returned to New York and appeared in the Broadway show "New Faces of Nineteen Fifty-Two." A humorous song she sang about a bored, spoiled woman became famous. Here is "Monotonous."
She soon signed a recording agreement with a record company. Eartha Kitt's songs were all daring, especially for the nineteen fifties. She even made a sexy Christmas song. "Santa Baby," became Kitt's biggest hit.
Eartha Kitt's first role in a film was in the nineteen fifty-seven movie "Mark of the Hawk" with Nat King Cole. Kitt was very careful about choosing her roles in films. She rejected parts that were not respectful to people of color. She said if her choices were bad it would not help the black actors who came after her.
CATWOMAN: "Hello Pierre.This is Catwoman. C-A-T-W-O-M-A-N."
PIERRE: "Quelle est la problem, Femme Chat?"
CATWOMAN: "Batman just caught Joker and me in the middle of a robbery."
VOICE ONE:
In nineteen sixty-seven, Eartha Kitt got the part of Catwoman on the popular television series "Batman." Fans loved the special way she rolled her "r"s to create a sound like a cat. She appeared on just three shows but was an unforgettable Catwoman.
CATWOMAN: "What now?"
BATMAN: "You're on your way to prison, Catwoman. Will you never learn that you cannot outwit the law?"
CATWOMAN: "Maybe one day I will, Batman. Purr-haps."
In nineteen sixty-eight Eartha Kitt was invited to the White House. President Lyndon Johnson was in office and the Vietnam War was an issue of national dispute.
The president's wife, Lady Bird Johnson, invited several women to a luncheon to discuss the problem of crimes committed by young people. Eartha Kitt said the First Lady asked her why she thought there was so much youth crime in America.
Eartha Kitt said: "You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed. They rebel in the streets. They will take pot and they will get high. They don't want to go to school because they will be snatched off from their mothers to be shot in Vietnam."
Those comments destroyed Kitt's career in America for a long time. Later, it was discovered that President Johnson had immediately ordered government agents to investigate the performer. Kitt said she was "blacklisted." No one in the American entertainment industry would employ her. For about ten years, she could only find work in other countries.
In the mid nineteen seventies Eartha Kitt slowly began to rebuild her career in America. She won critical praise for a concert in nineteen seventy-four at Carnegie Hall in New York. In nineteen seventy-eight, President Jimmy Carter asked Eartha Kitt back to the White House. That same year, she was nominated for a Tony award as best actress in the musical "Timbuktu!"
In nineteen ninety-four, Eartha Kitt released the album "Back In Business". It was nominated for a Grammy. She was sixty-six years old. She received another Tony nomination, three Emmys and other honors in the years that followed. And she continued singing in small clubs until the last year of her life.
Eartha Kitt was also a mother and grandmother. She married businessman William O'Donald in nineteen sixty and gave birth to their daughter, Kitt, the same year. Eartha Kitt said her daughter was her greatest joy in life. She said she took her everywhere her career went.
Eartha Kitt said her own experiences as a child left her a divided person. Her real self was not Eartha Kitt but Eartha Mae, a child given away by her mother.
EARTHA KITT: "Rejection has always made me into a person that does not want to be seen anywhere, except when I'm all made up and go out as Eartha Kitt. Then I feel okay."
And where was Eartha Mae most herself?
EARTHA KITT: "I'm at home, digging in the dirt, or doing something that is very close to the Earth, because that's where I know how to survive."
Eartha Mae Kitt was at home when she died on December twenty fifth, two thousand eight. The cause was colon cancer. She was eighty-one.
重点解析
1.limited 有限的
They may only have a limited amount of time to get their points across.
他们可能只有有限的时间来阐述清楚他们的观点。
2.rural 农村的；乡下的
These plants have a tendency to grow in the more rural areas.
这些植物倾向于生长在更偏远的乡村地区。
3.run away逃跑
After his beating, Colin ran away and hasn't been heard of since.
挨打后科林出走了，从此杳无音信。
4.Welles asked her to play a lead part in a play he was directing and starring in.
star in主演
She is to star in a new film.
她将主演一部新影片。
5.She said if her choices were bad it would not help the black actors who came after her.
come after紧随其后
If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
若有人要跟从我，就当舍己，背起他的十字架，来跟从我。
6.In nineteen ninety-four, Eartha Kitt released the album "Back In Business".
release 发布
He is releasing an album of love songs.
他将发行一张情歌专辑。
参考译文
我是史蒂夫·恩贝尔。我是巴尔巴拉·克莱恩。这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。今天我们要讲述一位难以忘怀的艺人厄莎·凯特。这位歌手兼女演员的一生和她的事业一样丰富而有趣。
《C'est Si Bon》或《It's So Goo》，这是厄莎·凯特的第一首畅销歌曲。在百老汇歌剧中演出后，她于1950年代录制了这首歌。但是厄莎·凯特的生活并非一帆风顺。虽然关于她早年生活的信息有限，但她的童年困苦。1927年，厄莎·凯特出生于南加利福尼亚一个贫穷偏远的家庭。一些报道称她是强奸犯的孩子。她的母亲有着非洲和切罗基人血统，她的父亲是一名白人农民。
厄莎8岁的时候，她的母亲结婚了。丈夫不想让厄莎和他们住在一起，因为她是混血。厄莎·凯特说，他称她为“黄种女孩”。厄莎被送去纽约，和黑人住宅区的一位阿姨生活在一起。他们的关系很艰难。
阿姨帮助支付厄莎的钢琴和舞蹈课费用。但是她还殴打女孩，被打后，厄莎就逃跑了。厄莎·凯特住在街边并成为工厂童工。但是她还继续她的舞蹈课。一天，她决定去一家著名的非裔美国人舞蹈公司看看。很快，厄莎和凯瑟琳·邓翰舞团一起世界演出。
在巴黎，厄莎离开舞蹈公司在夜店唱歌。她的嗓音很不一样—但也很吸引人。她很快学会了法语并收获法国粉丝。电影导演奥森·威尔斯发现了在巴黎唱歌的厄莎·凯特。他称凯特是“世界上最令人兴奋的女性”。威尔斯让她参演由他指导并主演的戏剧。厄莎·凯特回到纽约并登上百老汇歌剧《New Faces of Nineteen Fifty-Two》。她演唱的一首关于无趣且娇气女孩的幽默歌曲并开始流行，这首歌是《Monotonous》很快她和一家唱片公司签约。厄莎·凯特的歌曲在那个年代非常前卫。她甚至唱了一首性感的圣诞歌《圣诞宝贝》，它成为凯特最畅销的歌曲。
1957年，厄莎·凯特首次出演电影《Mark of the Hawk》搭档纳·京·高尔。电影中凯特对于角色的选择非常小心。她拒绝不尊重有色人种的片段。她说，如果她作出不好的选择，那么就无法帮助到紧随她其后的黑人演员。
猫女：“你好皮埃尔。我是猫女。”
皮埃尔：“怎么了，猫女士？”
猫女：“蝙蝠侠抓到小丑和我在行窃。”
1967年，厄莎·凯特出演《蝙蝠侠》中的猫女。
粉丝们喜欢她读“r”时的特别发音，就像猫一样。电影中，她只出场三次，却成为一名难以让人忘怀的猫女。
猫女：“现在怎么办？”
蝙蝠侠：“你将被送进监狱，猫女。你永远也学不会，不和法律对抗么？”
猫女：“或许有一天，我会的，蝙蝠侠。或许吧，喵~”
1968年，厄莎·凯特接受白宫邀请。林登·约翰逊总统当政，越南问题是国家争论的问题。总统妻子，第一夫人伯德·约翰逊邀请几位女性参加午宴，讨论年轻人的犯罪问题。厄莎·凯特说，第一夫人问她，为什么美国青年犯罪那么多。厄莎·凯特回答：“你们把国家最优秀的人送去战场，他们在街上造反，觉得很过瘾。他们不想上学，因为他们会被从母亲身边抓走被送去越南丧命。”这些言论在很长一段时期内，摧毁了凯特在美国的事业。之后，据发现约翰逊总统立刻命令政府特工对这位演员进行调查。凯特称她被“列入黑名单”。美国娱乐业没人雇用她。十年时间里，她只能在他国工作。1970年代中期，厄莎·凯特慢慢开始重建她在美国的事业。1974年，她在美国卡内基音乐厅的那场演唱会获得好评。
1978年，吉米·卡特总统让厄莎·凯特回到白宫。同年，她被提名为音乐剧《Timbuktu！》最佳女主。1994年，厄莎·凯特发布专辑《Back In Busines》，并提名格莱美奖，那时她66岁；。她还获得托尼奖提名，三项艾美奖以及其他荣誉。直到生命后期，她还在小俱乐部演唱。厄莎·凯特也是一名母亲及祖母。1960年，她嫁给商人唐纳德，同年他们的女儿出生。
厄莎·凯特说她的女儿是她生命中最大的快乐。她说在事业发展期，她一直带着她的女儿。厄莎·凯特说她自己的童年经历让她成为一个分裂的人。她的真我不是厄莎·凯特而是厄莎·梅，那个被母亲送走的孩子。
厄莎·凯特：被抛弃让我想要隐藏于世，当我准备好以厄莎·凯特的身份走出来时，我才感觉良好。”厄莎·梅大部分自我在哪？
厄莎·凯特：“我在家、挖掘尘土或是做些和地球近距离的事情，因为我在那里了解到如何生存。”
2008年12月25日，厄莎·凯特在家中去世。死于结肠癌，享年81岁。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
