(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
I'm Shirley Griffith. And I'm Doug Johnson with the VOA Special English program, PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Today, we tell about the life of writer and reporter, Carl Rowan. He was one of the most honored reporters in the United States.
Carl Rowan was known for the powerful stories that he wrote for major newspapers. His columns were published in more than one hundred newspapers across the United States. He was the first black newspaper columnist to have his work appear in major newspapers. Carl Rowan called himself a newspaperman. Yet, he was also a writer of best-selling books. He wrote about the lives of African American civil rights leader, Reverend Martin Luther King Junior and United States Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall. Carl Rowan also was a radio broadcaster and a popular public speaker. For thirty years, he appeared on a weekly television show about American politics.
Carl Rowan won praise over the years for his reports about race relations in America. He provided a public voice for poor people and minorities in America. He influenced people in positions of power. Mister Rowan opened many doors for African Americans. He was the first black deputy Secretary of State in the administration of President John F. Kennedy. And he was the first black director of the United States Information Agency which at the time supervised the Voice of America. Carl Rowan was born in nineteen twenty-five in the southern city of Ravenscroft, Tennessee. He grew up during the Great Depression, one of the worst economic times in the United States. His family was very poor. His father stacked wood used for building, when he had work. His mother worked cleaning the homes of white people when she could. The Rowan family had no electricity, no running water, no telephone and no radio. Carl said he would sometimes steal food or drink warm milk from the cows on nearby farms. The Rowans did not even have a clock. As a boy, Carl said he knew if it was time to go to school by the sound of a train. He said if the train was late, he was late.
Growing up, Carl had very little hope for any change. There were not many jobs for blacks in the South. The schools were not good. Racial tensions were high. Laws were enforced to keep blacks and whites separate.
It was a teacher who urged Carl to make something of himself. Bessie Taylor Gwynn taught him to believe he could be a poet or a writer. She urged him to write as much as possible. She would even get books for him because blacks were banned from public libraries. Bessie Taylor Gwynn made sure that Carl finished high school. And he did. He graduated at the top of his class. Carl entered Tennessee State College in nineteen forty-two. He almost had to leave college after the first few months because he did not have enough money. But on the way to catch a bus, his luck changed. He found the twenty dollars he needed to stay in college. Carl Rowan did so well in college that he was chosen by the United States Navy to become one of the first fifteen black Navy officers. He said that experience changed his life. Carl served on ships during World War Two. Afterward, he returned to college and graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio. He went on to receive his master's degree in journalism from the University of Minnesota.
Carl RowanIn nineteen forty-eight, Carl Rowan became a reporter for the Minneapolis Tribune newspaper in Minnesota. He was one of the first black reporters to write for a major daily newspaper. As a young reporter, he covered racial tensions in the South during the civil rights movement. In nineteen fifty-six, he traveled to the Middle East to cover the war over the Suez Canal. He also reported from Europe, India and other parts of Asia. He won several major reporting awards. Mister Rowan's reports on race relations in the South interested President John F. Kennedy. In nineteen sixty-one, President Kennedy appointed Mister Rowan deputy assistant Secretary of State. He served as a delegate to the United Nations during the Cuban missile crisis in nineteen sixty-two. Mister Rowan later was appointed ambassador to Finland. During his years in President Kennedy's administration, Carl Rowan got to know Lyndon B. Johnson. Lyndon Johnson became president after President Kennedy was assassinated in nineteen sixty-three. In nineteen sixty-four, President Johnson named Carl Rowan director of the United States Information Agency. The position made him the highest level African American in the United States government. Mister Rowan said being chosen to head the United States Information Agency and the Voice of America was one of the great honors of his life.
In nineteen sixty-five, Carl Rowan left the government and started writing for newspapers. He wrote a column that told his opinions about important social, economic and political issues. It appeared several times a week in a number of newspapers. Radio and television jobs followed.
Mister Rowan often wrote intensely about race relations. Yet, he wrote with more feeling about one subject than any other: that education and hard work will help young African Americans move forward. Carl Rowan was angered by the ideas of some young blacks. He said they believed that to study hard and perform well in school was "acting white." He deplored the idea that excellence is for whites only. In nineteen eighty-seven, Mister Rowan created a program called "Project Excellence." The program rewards black students who do well in school. Over the years, the program has provided millions of dollars to help African American students get money for college.
Throughout his life, Carl Rowan was a strong voice for racial justice in America. Yet, he also demanded excellence from other black Americans. He wrote about wrongdoing within the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The NAACP fights for the civil rights of African Americans. Mister Rowan's columns led to the resignation of its chairman and helped speed the organization's financial recovery.
Carl Rowan lived with his wife, Vivien Murphy, in a large house in Washington, D.C. They had three children and four grandchildren. He had been a strong supporter of gun control laws. But in nineteen eighty-eight, he was charged for firing a gun that he did not legally own. He shot and wounded a teenager who was on his property illegally. Rowan was arrested and tried. During the trial, he argued that he had the right to use whatever means necessary to protect himself and his family. The jury failed to reach a decision in the case. In nineteen ninety-one, Carl Rowan wrote a book about his life called "Breaking Barriers." Several years later, he wrote a book called "The Coming Race War in America." The book describes the exploding anger between blacks and whites and the possibility of a future race war. Some people praised the book. Others thought it was harmful and irresponsible.
Carl RowanCarl Rowan was the first black president of an organization of top reporters in Washington called the Gridiron Club. The group does a show every year that makes fun of the American political process. Mister Rowan often performed by singing or leading a comedy act.
Carl Rowan used simple words when he spoke, yet he was very direct. He was criticized sometimes for that. Some people thought that his ideas were too liberal. Others thought he was too moderate. But most people thought his stories generally were very fair. Mister Rowan talks about his life in his book, "Breaking Barriers": "The barriers that were up against blacks getting into the field of communications. When I went in you could count on the fingers of one hand the number of blacks with full-fledged jobs on daily newspapers. Today you've got blacks not only on all kinds of newspapers but on TV screens and on radio, public relations jobs in great corporations, and that is an area of progress that I think I helped to open up a little bit." Carl Rowan died September Twenty-Third, Two-Thousand, in Washington, D.C. He was seventy-five years old. During the last years of his life, he suffered from diabetes and heart problems. But he never failed to write his newspaper column. He never let bad things slow him down.
重点解析
1.supervise vt.vi. 监督, 管理
The group leader supervises a dozen workers.
组长管十二个工人。
2.stack vt. 堆积,堆满,做牌
The acrobats stacked themselves up with amazing agility.
杂技演员们以惊人的敏捷动作表演叠罗汉。
3.enforce vt. 实施,执行;强制,强迫;加强
The teacher enforced the principle by examples.
这教师引用实例极力强调这原则。
4.Mister Rowan opened many doors for African Americans.
open doors for 创造机会，使……成为可能
I think your new job will really open doors for you.
我认为你的新工作会给你机会。
5.Bessie Taylor Gwynn made sure that Carl finished high school. And he did. He graduated at the top of his class.
make sure 查明,弄清楚;保证,务必
Make sure to turn off the light before you leave.
临走前一定要熄灯。
6.The group does a show every year that makes fun of the American political process.
make fun of 嘲弄, 取笑
It is wrong to make fun of a cripple.
嘲笑残疾人是不对的。
参考译文
我是雪梨·格里菲斯。我是道格·约翰逊。这里是慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。今天，我们将讲述作家兼记者卡尔·罗恩的生平。他是美国最受尊敬的记者之一。卡尔·罗恩最为人所知的是他为主流报社写的那些强有力的故事。美国一百多家报社都有他的专栏。他是首位将作品刊登在主流报纸上的黑人专栏作家。卡尔·罗恩称自己是一名新闻记者，但是他也是一名畅销书作家。他写关于非裔美国公民权利领袖—牧师马丁·路德·金和美国最高法院大法官—瑟古德·马歇尔的故事。卡尔·罗恩也是一名无线电节目播音员兼著名演讲者。三十年来，他都出现在一档关于美国政治的周播电视节目中。多年来，由于他在美国关于种族关系的报道，卡尔·罗恩获得过很多赞扬。他在美国为穷人和少数民族发声。身居其位，他也影响着众人。罗恩先生为众多非裔美国人打开了大门。他是肯尼迪总统手下的首位副国务卿。他是美国新闻署首位黑人局长，那时该新闻署监管。
1925年，卡尔·罗恩出生于田纳西州斯考夫的一个南方城市。他成长于大萧条时期，那是美国最糟糕的经济时期之一。卡尔·罗恩家里很穷，父亲的工作是堆积那些用于建筑的木材。他的母亲是给那些需要清洁的白人家庭打扫卫生。罗恩家里没有通电，没有自来水、没有电话，也没有收音机。卡尔说他有时会从附近的农场偷些食物或热牛奶。罗恩家里甚至都没有闹钟。孩童时期，卡尔说他通过火车的声音辨别上学时间。他说如果火车晚点，他也就迟到了。卡尔长大后，也没期待会有任何的改变。在南方，提供给黑人的工作并不多。学校也不好。种族紧张高涨。法律强迫黑人和白人隔离。是一名老师力劝卡尔做一个有作为的人。贝茜·泰勒·格温教会他相信自己可以成为诗人或作家。她要求他尽可能多的写作。她甚至为他准备书籍，因为黑人不允许去公共图书馆。贝茜·泰勒·格温确信凯尔能从高校毕业。他做到了。他已头等成绩毕业。1942年，卡尔进入纳西州立学院。由于没有钱，在开学头几个月，他差点就要离开学校。但是在赶公交的路上，他的运气发生改变。他找到了学费所需的20美元。卡尔·罗恩在学校表现优异，因此他被美国海军选中，成为首批15名黑人海军军官之一。他说那段经历改变了他的生活。
二战期间卡尔在战舰上服役。之后，他回到大学校园并从俄亥俄州欧柏林大学毕业。他继续在明尼苏达大学获得新闻系硕士学位。1948年，卡尔·罗恩成为明尼苏达州明尼阿波利斯论坛报记者。他是首位为主流日报写文章的黑人记者之一。作为一名年轻的记者，他的报道覆盖了民权运动期间南方的种族紧张。1956年，他来到中东报道苏伊士运河战争。他还从欧洲、印度和亚洲其他地区进行报道。他获得了几座主要报业奖项。罗恩先生关于南方种族关系的报道引起了肯尼迪总统的兴趣。1961年，肯尼迪总统任命罗恩为副助理国务卿。1962年，在古巴导弹危机期间，他是联合国的一名代表。之后罗恩先生被任命为驻芬兰大使。在肯尼迪总统执政期间，卡尔·罗恩结识了林登·约翰逊。
1963年，肯尼迪总统遭遇刺杀后，林登·约翰逊成为了新任总统。1964年，约翰逊总统任命卡尔·罗恩为美国新闻署局长。这个职位让他成为美国政府中职位最高的非裔美国人。罗恩先生表示被选中领导美国新闻署局和是他一生的荣誉。1965年，卡尔·罗恩离开政府，开始为报社写文章。他在专栏中写自己对重要的社会、经济和政治问题的观点。一周会在几份报纸中写文章。之后，他又开始播音和电视节目工作。罗恩先生关于种族关系的文章非常激烈。但是有一个主题，他投入了更多情感：教育和刻苦工作将帮助年轻美国人向前发展。卡尔·罗恩对一些年轻黑人的想法感到生气。他说他们认为刻苦学习和学校的高分是在“充当白人”。他对‘优秀只赋予白人’的这种想法感到遗憾。1987年，罗恩先生开创了一个项目“卓越项目”。该项目奖励那些在学校取得优异成绩的黑人学生。多年来，该项目提供百万美元帮助非裔美国学生获得大学学费。纵观他的一生，卡尔·罗恩都是美国种族平等强有力的声音。但是他还要求其他美国黑人变得优秀。他的文章揭露了美国全国有色人种协进会内部的一些恶行。美国全国有色人种协进会为非裔美国人的公民权利斗争。罗恩先生的专栏致使美国全国有色人种协进会主席辞职，也帮助加快了该组织经济的恢复。
卡尔·罗恩和他的妻子薇薇安·墨菲居住在华盛顿的一所大房子里，他们有三个孩子和四个孙子。他一直是枪支管控法案的坚定支持者。但是1988年，他因非法占有枪支而受到指控。他开枪射伤了一名非法闯入他家的青少年。罗恩被捕并接受审讯。在审讯期间，他争辩道他有权使用任何方式保护自己的和他的家人。法官没能对此案最初宣判。1991年，卡尔·罗恩写了一本关于他生平的书籍《冲破阻碍》。几年后，他写了一本书《美国即将到来的种族战争》。这本书描述了黑人和白人之间爆炸式的愤怒以及未来种族战争的可能。一些人赞扬这本书，而一些人则认为这本是极不负责任。卡尔·罗恩是华盛顿顶级记者组织俱乐部的首位黑人主席。该组织每年都办一场秀，拿美国政治进程开玩笑。罗恩常表演唱歌或喜剧。卡尔·罗恩演讲时都用一些简单的词汇，但他非常直接。他也因此而受到批评。一些人认为他的想法过于自由主义。其他人认为他过于温和。但是多数人认为他的故事非常普通。罗恩先生在《冲破阻碍》一书中讲述了自己的生平：“障碍竖立在那里，阻碍黑人进入沟通的领域。当我走进去时，在日报行业拥有体面工作的黑人屈指可数。今天不仅在各种报业有黑人工作的身影，在电视、广播、大公司的公共关系部门都有黑人员工。这是进步的领域，我认为我为敞开这扇大门出了自己的微薄之力。”2000年9月23日，卡尔·罗恩在华盛顿去世，享年75岁。在他生命的后期，他患上了糖尿名和心脏疾病。但是他从未放弃写自己的专栏。他从不让这些不好的事情拖累他。
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