(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
I'm Bob Doughty. And I'm Shirley Griffith with the VOA Special English program People in America. Every week we tell about a person important in the history of the United States. Today we tell about Louisa May Alcott. She wrote one of America's best known children's books.
In eighteen sixty-eight, an American publisher asked a struggling young writer to write a book for girls. At first, the writer, Louisa May Alcott, was not sure she wanted to do it. She said she never liked girls. And she never knew many, except her sisters. She thought her family's activities and experiences might be interesting to others. But, she said, probably not.
Alcott decided to write the book anyway. She told about her experiences growing up in the northeastern United States during the middle of the nineteenth century. Her book proved to be more than interesting. "Little Women" became one of the most popular children's books in American literature. It has been published in more than fifty languages.
Louisa May Alcott was born in Pennsylvania in eighteen thirty-two. She was the second of four daughters. She had one older sister, Anna. And two younger sisters, Elizabeth, called Beth, and May. Her parents were Bronson and Abigail Alcott. Her father was an educator and social reformer.
The Alcotts later settled in Concord, Massachusetts. Several great American writers were friends of the family. They included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau. Mister Alcott provided the girls' education. He taught them many subjects. He also made them write about their personal thoughts and experiences.
The Alcotts did not have much money. Louisa worked to help support her family. She tried teaching, sewing, and taking care of children. She did not like any of these jobs.
Louisa thought of herself as a writer. At the age of sixteen, she wrote her first book. It was called "Flower Fables." She decided to sell what she wrote. She wrote many kinds of poems, stories, and plays. Her stories were exciting, but unrealistic. She sold them to newspapers and magazines for small amounts of money.
In eighteen sixty-two, during the American Civil War, Louisa May Alcott went to Washington, D.C. She served as a nurse in a military hospital. She cared for sick and wounded soldiers. She wrote letters to her family about her experiences. She included these letters in a book that was published the next year. Critics praised it but it did not bring her much money. And, working in the hospital damaged her health.
In eighteen sixty-five she visited Europe as a helper to an older woman. Alcott hoped to re-gain her health. She spent a long time away from her family. Her health did not improve. But she thought about her writing. When she returned, she agreed to her publisher's request that she write a book for girls based on the life she knew.
"Little Women" was published in eighteen sixty-eight. The book was immediately popular with people of all ages. It brought Alcott fame and a lot of money. She continued writing other popular books for young people. These included "An Old-Fashioned Girl," "Little Men, and "Eight Cousins."
Louisa May Alcott wrote books for adults, as well as children. She published these under another name -- A. M. Barnard. These books were published before "Little Women" made her famous. They were very different from her children's stories. They were about love, power, and unhappiness.
One book is called "Behind a Mask: The Unknown Thrillers of Louisa May Alcott." The book includes four mystery stories. Another is called "The Lost Stories of Louisa May Alcott." These stories are about love, betrayal, and illegal drugs.
Alcott wrote a story called "A Long Fatal Love Chase." It is about an independent young woman. She marries an older man who already has a wife. She flees from him. He follows her throughout Europe. The book tells of insanity, violence, and death. Louisa May Alcott tried to get the book published in eighteen sixty-six. The publisher rejected it. He said it was too shocking.
In the early nineteen nineties, a man who collected Alcott materials found the unpublished story in a bookstore in New York City. He bought it for about fifty thousand dollars. Reports said he sold it to a major American publisher for about one million dollars. The story was published in nineteen ninety-five.
Louisa May Alcott wrote many exciting stories about love. Yet she never married. She continued to support her family during the last years of her life. In fact, she cared for the young daughter of her sister, May, who died in eighteen seventy-nine.
Alcott was involved in the movements to end slavery and to gain voting rights for women. She wrote that "I . . . take more pride in the very small help we Alcotts could give than in all the books I ever wrote." Louisa May Alcott died in eighteen eighty-eight.
Louisa May Alcott's most famous book, "Little Women", tells the story of the March family of Concord, Massachusetts. The story begins during the American Civil War in the eighteen sixties. Mister March is away from home. He is with the troops of the Union Army. He is a religious worker. Missus March is raising her four daughters by herself.
The March family is very close. They do many things together. They do not have much money. They suffer shortages caused by the war. Yet they share what they have with people who are in need.
The four daughters are Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. They are strong, brave, and loving. Jo is the most important person in the book. She is smart. She has a good imagination. She writes stories. And she creates plays that the sisters perform together.Jo also is independent. She chooses a non-traditional life. She goes to New York to become a writer. There she meets an older man, a professor. She returns home to care for her parents. She writes stories that become very popular. Later, Jo marries the professor. Together, they establish a school.
The March family in "Little Women" is very much like Louisa May Alcott's family. Her sisters are like the sisters in the book. And the leading person, Jo, is like Louisa. Jo must work to support her family, just as Louisa had to do. One of Jo's jobs is to help a family member, an old woman called Aunt March. Jo does not really like Aunt March. But she loves the older woman's house, especially the large library with hundreds of books. This is how Alcott writes about this place:
"The dim, dusty room. . . the cozy chairs, the globes, and, best of all, the wilderness of books in which she could wander where she liked, made the library a region of bliss to her. The moment Aunt March took her nap, or was busy with company, Jo hurried to this quiet space, and, curling herself up in the easy chair, devoured poetry, romance, history, travels, and pictures, like a regular bookworm. "
All of these wonderful books put great ideas into Jo's head. Jo wanted to do something very wonderful, Alcott writes: "What it was she had no idea as yet, but left it for time to tell her."
Jo's beloved sister Beth dies young, as Alcott's own sister Beth did. Jo is very unhappy. Her mother tells her to write because that always made her happy. Jo writes a story "that went straight to the hearts of those who read it." Jo cannot understand how her simple little story became so popular.
Her father explains, "There is truth in it, Jo, that's the secret; . . . You have found your style at last. You wrote with no thought of fame or money, and put your heart into it. . . ; You have had the bitter, now comes the sweet. "
Louisa May Alcott's book, "Little Women", is still popular today. The book has been made into several movie versions. And, some American women say they decided to become writers after reading how Jo March became a writer in "Little Women".
重点解析
1.reformer 改革家
Nonetheless, there is some evidence that he is a committed reformer.
尽管如此，他仍不失为一个尽心尽力的改革家。
2.unrealistic 不切实际的
It would be unrealistic to expect such a process ever to be completed.
期望完成这样一个过程是不现实的。
3.care for 照顾
Lily spent years caring for her sick uncle.
莉莉照顾了她生病的叔叔好多年。
4.Alcott was involved in the movements to end slavery and to gain voting rights for women.
be involved in 涉及；卷入；参与
Both parents and communities must be involved in the local schools.
家长和社会都应该参与到当地的学校中来。
5.They suffer shortages caused by the war.
shortage 短缺
A shortage of funds is preventing the UN from monitoring relief.
资金短缺使得联合国无法监督救济工作。
6.Jo hurried to this quiet space, and, curling herself up in the easy chair.
curl up 缩成一团
She curled up next to him.
她蜷卧在他身边。
参考译文
我是鲍勃·道蒂。我是雪梨·格里菲斯。这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。每周我们都会讲述美国历史上的一位重要人物。今天我们要讲的是路易莎·梅·奥尔科特。美国最知名儿童读物之一就是她的作品。1868年，一名美国出版商要求一名努力的年轻作家为女孩子们写一本书。起初，这名作家路易莎·奥尔科特并不确定自己是否想写。她说她从不喜欢女孩子。除了她的姐妹，她就不认识其他女孩子了。她认为别人或许对她的家庭生活和经历感兴趣。但是她说自己不一定会写。奥尔科特还是写了这本书。书中讲述了在十九世纪中期，她在美国东北部的成长经历。事实证明，她的书非常有趣。《小妇人》成为了美国文学界最受欢迎的儿童读物之一。这本书被翻译成五十多种语言出版。
1832年，路易莎·奥尔科特出生于宾夕法尼亚，她是四个女儿中的一个。她有一个姐姐安娜，两个妹妹，伊丽莎白和贝斯。她的父母是布朗森和阿比盖尔·奥尔科特。她的父亲是一名教育家以及社会改革者。之后，奥尔科特一家定居马萨诸塞州康科德。几位很好的美国作家都是他们家的朋友。其中包括拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生、纳撒尼尔·霍桑以及亨利·戴维·梭罗。奥尔科特先生给这些女孩子们上课，教授她们很多课程。他还让她们写下自己的想法和经历。奥尔科特一家并不富裕，路易莎出去工作支撑家庭。她做过教师、缝纫和照顾小朋友，这些工作她都不喜欢。路易莎认为自己是一名作家。16岁的时候，她写了自己的第一本书《花的寓言》。她决定卖自己的作品，她写过诗集、故事和话剧。她的故事很刺激却不真实。她以低价将它们卖给报社和杂志社。
1862年，美国内战期间，路易莎·奥尔科特前往华盛顿。她在一家军事医院当护士，照顾那些生病和伤手的士兵。她写信告诉家人她的经历，第二年，她将这些信收录在一本书中出版。评论家赞扬了这本书，但这本书并没有为她带来多少收入。而在医院的工作损耗了她的健康。1965年，作为一位老太太的帮手，她来到了欧洲。奥尔科特希望恢复健康。她离家很久，健康却并未改善，但是她想到了她的写作。
当她回家时，她同意了出版人的要求，基于她所知道的生活，为女孩子写一本书。1868年《小妇人》出版。这本书立即受到各年龄层的欢迎。也为奥尔科特带来了名声和金钱。她继续为年轻人写其他流行书籍。包括《旧式女孩》、《小男儿》以及《八个表亲》。路易莎·奥尔科特为成年人和孩子写书，她以A. M. Barnard这个名字出版了这些小说。这些书出版在《小妇人》之前，和她的儿童读物完全不同。这些书是关于爱、力量和苦恼的。有一本书《面具背后:路易莎·梅·奥尔科特未知的恐惧》，这本书中包含四个神秘故事。另一本书《路易莎·梅·奥尔科特遗失的故事》，这些故事讲述的是爱、背叛和非法药物。奥尔科特写了一本书《亡爱天涯》，书中讲述的一个独立年轻女性的故事。她和一个已经有妻子的老男人结婚，并逃离了他，他追着她穿越欧洲。这本书讲的是疯狂、暴力和死亡。1966年，路易莎·奥尔科特试图出版这本书。但是出版商拒绝了，他说这本书太让人震惊了。1990年代早期，一位收集奥尔科特作品的男人在纽约一家书店中发现了这本未出版的书籍。他以五万美元的价格买下这本书。报道称，他以一百万美元的价格将这本书卖给了一名专业美国出版商。1995年，这本书出版了。
路易莎·梅·奥尔科特写了很多关于爱的故事，但是她一辈子未婚。在她生命的最后几年，她也在继续支撑家庭。事实上，她照顾着她妹妹的女儿，她的妹妹死于1979年。奥尔科特参与终止奴隶制以及女性投票权的运动。她写到，“我很自豪我们一家所做出的小贡献，这种自豪感多于我写出的书籍。”路易莎·梅·奥尔科特死于1888年。路易莎·梅·奥尔科特最著名的书《小妇人》讲述的是居住在马萨诸塞州康科德的马奇一家人的故事。故事发生于1860年代美国内战期间，马奇先生出门在外。他和同盟军一起，他是一名宗教工作者。马奇夫人独自养育着四个女儿。马奇一家非常亲密。很多事都是她们一起完成，她们并没有多少钱。由于战争，她们遭遇各种短缺，但是她们却和那些需要帮助人的分享自己的东西。这四个女儿分别是梅格、乔、贝斯和艾米，她们强壮、勇敢又有爱。
乔是书中最重要的人物。她很聪明，有着很好的想象力还会写故事。姐妹们一起表演了很多她创作的戏剧。乔也很独立，她选择了一种非传统的生活方式。她去到纽约想成为一名作家，在那里她遇上了一位老男人，他是一名教授。她返回家中照顾她的父母。她写的故事很受欢迎。之后，乔嫁给了教授。他们共同创办了一所学校。《小妇人》中的马奇一家和路易莎·梅·奥尔科特一家非常相似。她的姐妹们就像书中的姐妹一样，而主角乔就像是路易莎。乔必须工作支撑她的家庭，就像路易莎一样。乔的工作之一就是帮助一位年老的家庭成员—马奇婶婶。乔并不喜欢马奇婶婶。但是她喜欢老太太的房子，特别是家中藏书数百本的大藏书室。奥尔科特是这样描述这个地方的：藏书室光线暗淡，灰尘满布，还有舒适的椅子、精致的地球仪，书籍凌乱地堆放着，乔可以毫无顾忌地随处走动翻阅，这一切使藏书室成了乔的天堂。每当马奇婶婶打盹儿或顾着跟人闲聊时，乔就跑到这个安静的地方，将自己蜷缩在安乐椅上，读着这些诗集、爱情故事、史书、旅游类书籍，就像一个书呆子一样。”
所有这些美妙的书籍都给了乔很多好主意。乔的理想是做一番宏伟的事业，奥尔科特写到，“但这番事业究竟是什么她却一直毫无头绪，也并不急于知道。”乔心爱的妹妹贝斯年纪轻轻就过世了，就像奥尔科特自己的妹妹贝斯一样，乔非常难过。她的母亲告诉她去写作，写作总能让她快乐。乔写了一个故事“直击读着内心。”乔无法理解她的这个小故事是怎么受大家欢迎的。她的父亲解释道，“故事中有真理，乔，这就是秘密；最终你找到了自己的风格。你不为名誉或金钱而写作，你将真心倾入写作之中... 这是苦尽甘来。”《小妇人》至今仍很受欢迎。还被改编成几个电影版本。一些美国女性表示她们在读到《小妇人》中的乔·马奇如何成为作家后，也决定当一名作家。
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