(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
I'm Faith Lapidus. And I'm Steve Ember with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English. Today we remember four interesting Americans who died in two thousand seven.
The woman often called the First Lady of New York died on August thirteenth. Brooke Astor was one hundred five years old. The extremely wealthy and famous New Yorker spent much of her life helping the needy in her beloved city. She was born Brooke Russell in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She was the only child of a high level military officer. She lived in several countries and liked learning about different cultures. After two earlier marriages, she married Vincent Astor in nineteen fifty-three. He came from a family that had been rich for at least one hundred years. Among other things, he owned many buildings in New York City. Brooke Astor became one of the richest women in the world when Vincent Astor died. She also became head of a huge charity organization founded by her husband. He reportedly had told her she would have fun giving away his money. And apparently she did. Missus Astor gave tens of millions of dollars mainly to places and people in New York City. She said it was the sensible choice because that was where the money had been made. She gave financial support to the city's cultural centers, its poor and disabled as well as to many other smaller charities. She won a Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work. Brooke Astor also wrote two books about her life. She suffered from Alzheimer's disease in the last years of her life. When she died, the mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, said the city would not be what it is today without her support.
America lost its most famous daredevil this year. Evel Knievel rode motorcycles through the air in increasingly dangerous and exciting tricks in the nineteen sixties and seventies. He became a folk hero. Robert Craig Knievel was born in nineteen thirty-eight in Butte, Montana. As a boy, he was arrested for stealing car parts. He said the police gave him the nickname "Evil," spelled E-V-I-L. He later legally changed his first name to "Evel," spelled E-V-E-L. Evel Knievel began riding motorcycles in his teens. He said his first motorcycle was a Harley Davidson he had stolen. He was a good athlete and played professional ice hockey for a time. He also served in the United States Army where he became a paratrooper. He made more than thirty jumps from airplanes. Evel Knievel performed his first public motorcycle jump when he was twenty-seven. He had just opened a motorcycle store and wanted the public to know about it. He lined up several cars along with a box of poisonous snakes and a mountain lion tied up at the end. He drove his motorcycle up a ramp and began the twelve-meter long jump. He landed in the rattlesnakes. Later, he began performing such tricks all over the United States and Europe. Sometimes his jumps were successful; sometimes they were not. But his shows were always popular. Toy companies sold dolls that looked like him. His life story was told in two movies and a song about him became a hit. But Evel Knievel's body suffered greatly. He said he had as many as fifteen major operations to repair broken bones. One crash was so bad he was in a coma and lost consciousness for a month. Knievel's personal choices also damaged his health. He drank too much alcohol and used illegal drugs. In his later years, he also suffered from diabetes and an incurable lung disease. The former daredevil died November thirtieth in Clearwater, Florida, at the age of sixty-nine.
She was known as the "Queen of Mean" because she was not a very nice person. Leona Helmsley owned costly hotels and other property in New York City. She died August twentieth of heart failure. She was eighty-seven. Leona Rosenthal was born in nineteen twenty in a rural area of New York state. Her family moved to Brooklyn, New York, where she grew up. She became a successful real estate agent, selling homes in New York City. She met a rich investor, Harry Helmsley, as a result of her work. He soon asked her to work for one of his companies. Shortly after that he left his wife of more than thirty years and married Leona in nineteen seventy-two. Over the years, the Helmsleys owned property worth five billion dollars. At one time, they owned the famous Empire State Building in New York City and thirty hotels around the country. Leona became the main spokesperson for their hotels. She was the star of a very successful advertising campaign. Reports of Leona Helmsley's treatment of employees and family members often appeared in New York newspapers. She was criticized for her self-important behavior. A former housekeeper said Helmsley told her that she and her husband did not pay taxes. "Only the little people pay taxes," Helmsley reportedly added. But Leona Helmsley later may have regretted that statement. In nineteen eighty-nine she was found guilty of not paying federal income taxes. She served eighteen months in prison and had to pay millions of dollars. When she died, Leona Helmsley left twelve million dollars to her little dog, Trouble. The money is to care for him until the end of his life. It was the largest amount of money she left anyone, including her brother and grandchildren.
And finally we remember the inventive and highly skilled jazz drummer, Max Roach. He died August sixteenth in New York City at the age of eighty-three. He had been sick for several years. Max Roach established an unusual new rhythm to jazz that was an important part of the birth of bebop. Until the nineteen forties, jazz drummers mainly served to keep musical time. But Max Roach believed the drums had greater musical possibility. The drum beat style he and others established was more closely linked to the melody of the music. Here he plays at a live concert in Frankfurt, Germany in nineteen fifty-two. The song is "Undecided." He performs with several other jazz greats including saxophone player Lester Young. Maxwell Lemuel Roach was born in a small town in North Carolina in nineteen twenty-four. His family moved to Brooklyn, New York when he was four. Max's mother was a gospel singer and he followed in her musical footsteps. He learned to play the piano and bugle as a very young boy. But by the age of ten he was playing the drums for gospel bands. When he was still a teenager Max began playing with Duke Ellington's orchestra at the Paramount Theater in Brooklyn. He also played at music clubs in the Harlem area of Manhattan. Listen now as he plays "Garvey's Ghost," recorded in nineteen sixty-one. Max Roach won many awards and honors. He was among the most politically active jazz musicians. In nineteen sixty, he made an album called "We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite." It was about the black people's struggle for equality in the United States and Africa. In the nineteen seventies, Max Roach formed an all percussion orchestra called M'Boom. We leave you with Max Roach and that group performing "A Quiet Place."
重点解析
1.the needy 困难职工；贫穷的人
He afforded a temporary shelter for the needy.
他为穷人提供暂时的安身之处。
2.sensible 明智的; 通情达理的; 合乎情理的
She's a sensible sort of person.
她属于那种通情达理的人。
3.daredevil 铤而走险的人，蛮勇的人
He was a daredevil when young.
他年轻时一身蛮勇。
4.He reportedly had told her she would have fun giving away his money.
give away 赠送；丧失；泄露
John gave all his possessions away and became a monk.
约翰把他所有的家产都送了人，出家为僧。
5.As a boy, he was arrested for stealing car parts.
be arrested for 因···被逮捕
In rare cases, they may even be arrested for crimes they did not commit.
在极少情况下，他们会因没有犯过的罪行而被逮捕。
6.In nineteen eighty-nine she was found guilty of not paying federal income taxes.
be found guilty 被判决有罪
If you lie while you are under oath, you can be found guilty of perjury.
假如立誓之后还撒谎，你可能被判伪证罪。
参考译文
我是菲丝·拉伯蒂斯，我是史蒂夫·恩贝尔。这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。今天让我们纪念四名在2007年去世的有趣的美国人。
这位常被称为纽约第一夫人的女士于8月13日去世。布鲁克·阿斯特当时105岁。这位富有的著名纽约人将大部分时间都花在帮助这个城市的贫困之人。她出生于新罕布什尔的朴茨茅斯，名为布鲁克·罗素。她是这个高级别军事官员家庭中唯一的孩子。她在几个国家居住过，喜欢学习不同的文化。两次早期婚姻后，她于1953年嫁给了文森特·阿斯特。他来自于一个百年富裕之家。除了其他的事物，他在纽约市还拥有很多大楼。文森特·阿斯特死后，布鲁克·阿斯特成为了世界最富有的女人。她也成为了一家大型慈善机构的负责人，这家慈善机构由她丈夫建立。报道称阿斯特先生曾告诉她可以随意将他的钱捐赠给别人。显然她确实是这么做的。阿斯特太太主要为纽约各地和市民捐赠了数千万美元。她说这是明智的选择，因为这些钱源自那里。她给这个城市的文化中心、穷苦之人、残疾人以及很多其他小机构给予财政支持。她因此而获得了总统自由勋章。布鲁克·阿斯特还写了两本关于她生平的书。在晚年，她患上了阿尔茨海默病。她去世时，纽约市长迈克尔·布隆伯格说没有她的支持，这个城市不会像今天如此。
这一年，美国失去了其最著名的勇敢之人。1960年代至70年代，埃弗尔·尼夫尔以愈加危险和刺激的技巧在高空骑摩托车。他变成了一个民间英雄。1938年，罗伯特·克雷格·尼夫尔出生于蒙大纳比尤特。小时，他因偷窃汽车零部件而被捕。他说警察给他起了个外号“魔鬼”。之后，他通过合法程序将名字改为埃弗尔·尼夫尔。少年时期，埃弗尔·尼夫尔就开始骑摩托车。他说他的第一辆摩托车，哈雷摩托车，是他偷来的。他是个很好的运动员，曾打过一段时间的职业冰球。他还在美国陆军中服役，他是一名伞兵。他从飞机上逃过30多次。埃弗尔·尼夫尔27岁的时候，进行了首次公开表演摩托车飞跃。他还开了一家摩托车店，想让大众对此了解更多。在他一箱毒舌周围排了几辆车，并在尾端绑了一只美洲狮。他骑着摩托冲上斜坡并开始进行12米长的飞越。他在响尾蛇中落地。之后，他开始在全美和欧洲进行表演。有时他的飞越很成功；有时失败。但是他的表演一直很受欢迎。玩具公司还销售他的玩偶。两部关于他生平的电影以及一首歌成为大热。但是埃弗尔·尼夫尔的身体饱受痛苦。他说他进行了15次大型手术修复他断裂的骨头。一次失误让他陷入昏迷并失去意识一个多月。尼夫尔的个人选择也损害了他的健康。他酗酒吸毒。晚年时期，他还患上糖尿病和无法治愈的肺癌。9月30日，这位69岁的勇猛之人在佛罗里达克利尔沃特去世。
她被称为“吝啬女王”，因为她并不是个很好的人。利昂娜·赫尔姆斯利在纽约拥有几家豪华酒店和其他资产。8月20日，因心脏病去世，去世时87岁。1920年，利昂娜·赫尔姆斯利出生于纽约的一个偏远地区。一家人搬去了纽约布鲁克林，她也在这里长大。她成为一名成功的房地产代理，在纽约卖房子。由于工作原因，她遇到了一名富有的投资人哈里·赫尔姆斯利。很快他便邀请她去自己的一家公司工作。之后他和结婚三十多年的妻子离婚，1972年，和利昂娜结婚。多年来，赫尔姆斯利拥有价值五十亿美元的资产。他们曾一度拥有纽约著名帝国大厦以及美国的30家酒店。利昂娜成为他们酒店的主要发言人。她是一个非常成功的广告活动的明星。关于利昂娜对待员工和家人的报道常出现在纽约报纸上。她常因高傲的行为而受批评。一位前管家称赫尔姆斯利曾告诉她，自己和丈夫不交税。“只有小人物才交税，”报告称。但之后利昂娜·赫尔姆斯利或许后悔自己的这个言论了。1989年，她因逃避联邦所得税而被判有罪。她在监狱服刑18个月并支付了百万美元。利昂娜·赫尔姆斯利去世时，给她的狗“麻烦”留下了120万美元。这个钱用于照顾它，直到生命终止。这是她留下的最大的一笔钱，比她留给自己的哥哥和孙子的都多。
最后，我们来纪念一位善于创造且技艺精湛的爵士鼓手，麦斯·罗区。8月16日，83岁的他在纽约去世，这几年，他一直受疾病困扰。麦斯·罗区创造了一种不同的爵士新节奏，这是比波普爵士乐的重要部分。直到1940年代，爵士鼓手才加入音乐演出之中。但是麦斯·罗区认为鼓拥有更大的音乐可能性。他和其他人创造的鼓声风格和音乐旋律相似。以下是他1952年在德国法兰克福市的演唱会。这首歌是《Undecided》。他和几名其他爵士大家，包括萨克斯手莱斯特·杨共同演奏。1924年，麦斯·罗区在北卡罗来纳州的一个小镇出生。四岁时，他们家搬到了纽约布鲁克林。麦斯的母亲是一名福音歌手，他跟随着她的音乐脚步。小时候，他就学会了弹钢琴和喇叭。但是十岁时，他为福音乐队打鼓。青少年时期，麦斯开始在布鲁克林派拉蒙戏院和艾灵顿公爵的管弦乐队一同演奏。他还在曼哈顿岛的黑人住宅区的几家音乐俱乐部里演奏。现在播放的是他的《Garvey's Ghost》，收录于1961年。麦斯·罗区获得过很多奖项和荣誉。他是政治上最活跃的爵士音乐家之一。1960年，他制作专辑《We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite》。专辑是关于黑人在美国和非洲争取平等。1970年代，麦斯·罗区组建了打击乐管弦乐队M'Boom。最后倾听麦斯·罗区和乐队演奏《A Quiet Place》。
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