(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
I'm Ray Freeman. And I'm Shirley Griffith with the Special English program, People in America. Every week we tell about a person who was important in the history of the United States. Today we tell about a woman who spent her life caring for others, Clara Barton. Clara Barton was a small woman. Yet she made a big difference in many lives. Today her work continues to be important to thousands of people in trouble. Clara Barton was an unusual woman for her time. She was born on Christmas day, December twenty-fifth, eighteen twenty-one. In those days, most women were expected to marry, have children and stay home to take care of them. Barton, however, became deeply involved in the world.
By the time of her death in nineteen twelve, she had begun a revolution that led to the right of women to do responsible work for society. As a nurse, she cared for thousands of Wounded soldiers. She began the American Red Cross. And, she successfully urged the American government to accept the Geneva Convention. That treaty established standards for conditions for soldiers injured or captured during wartime. Clara Barton really began her life of caring for the sick when she was only eleven years old. She lived with her family on a farm in the northeastern state of Massachusetts. One of her brothers, David, was seriously injured while helping build a barn. For two years, Clara Barton took care of David until he was healed. Most eleven-year-old girls would have found the job impossible. But Clara felt a great need to help. And she was very good at it. She also seemed to feel most safe when she was at home with her mother and father, or riding a horse on her family's land.
As a young child, Clara had great difficulty studying and making friends at school. Her four brothers and sisters were much older than she. Several of them were teachers. For most of Clara's early years, she was taught at home. She finished school at age fifteen. Then she went to work in her brother David's clothing factory. The factory soon burned, leaving her without a job. Clara Barton decided to teach school. In eighteen thirty-six, she passed the teacher's test and began teaching near her home in North Oxford, Massachusetts. She became an extremely popular and respected teacher. After sixteen years of teaching, she realized she did not know all she wanted to know. She wanted more education. Very few universities accepted women in those days. So Clara went to a special school for girls in Massachusetts. While in that school, she became interested in public education. After she graduated, a friend suggested she try to establish the first public school in the state of New Jersey. Officials there seemed to think that education was only for children whose parents had enough money to pay for private schools. The officials did not want Barton to start a school for poor people. But she offered to teach without pay for three months. She told the officials that they could decide after that if she had been successful. They gave her an old building with poor equipment. And they gave her six very active little boys to teach. At the end of five weeks, the school was too small for the number of children who wanted to attend. By the end of the year, the town built her a bigger, better school. They had to give her more space. She then had six hundred students in the school.
Within a year, Clara Barton had lost her voice. She had to give up teaching. She moved to Washington, D.C. to begin a new job writing documents for the United States government. Clara Barton started her life as a nurse during the early days of the Civil War in eighteen sixty-one. One day, she went to the train center in Washington to meet a group of soldiers from Massachusetts. Many of them had been her friends. She began taking care of their wounds. Not long after, she left her office job. She became a full-time nurse for the wounded on their way from the fields of battle to the hospital. Soon, Barton recognized that many more lives could be saved if the men had medical help immediately after they were hurt. Army rules would not permit anyone except male soldiers to be on the battlefield. But Barton took her plans for helping the wounded to a high army official. He approved her plans. Barton and a few other women worked in the battle areas around Washington. She heard about the second fierce battle at Bull Run in the nearby state of Virginia. She got into a railroad car and traveled there. Bull Run must have been a fearful sight. Northern forces were losing a major battle there. Everywhere Barton looked lay wounded and dying men.
Day and night she worked to help the suffering. When the last soldier had been placed on a train, Barton finally left. She was just in time to escape the southern army. She escaped by riding a horse, a skill she gained as a young girl.
For four years, Clara Barton was at the front lines of the bloodiest battles in the war between the North and the South. She was there at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Charleston. She was there at Spotsylvania, Petersburg, and Richmond. She cleaned the wounds of badly injured soldiers. She eased the pain of the dying. And she fed those who survived. When she returned to Washington, Clara Barton found she was a hero. She had proved that women could work in terrible conditions. She made people understand that women could provide good medical care. She also showed that nursing was an honorable profession. After the war ended, Barton's doctor sent her to Europe to rest. Instead of resting, she met with representatives of the International Red Cross. The organization had been established in eighteen sixty-three to offer better treatment for people wounded or captured during wars. She was told that the United States was the only major nation that refused to join.
Barton began planning a campaign to create an American Red Cross. Before she could go home, though, the war between France and Prussia began in eighteen seventy. Again, Clara Barton went to the fields of battle to nurse the wounded. After a while her eyes became infected. The woman of action was ordered to remain quiet for months in a dark room, or become blind. When she returned to the United States she again suffered a serious sickness. She used the time in a hospital to write letters in support of an American Red Cross organization. In eighteen eighty-one, Barton's campaign proved successful. The United States Congress signed the World's Treaty of the International Red Cross. This established the American Chapter of the Red Cross. Clara Barton had reached one of her major goals in life. The next year she successfully urged Congress to accept the Geneva Convention. This treaty set the international rules for treatment of soldiers wounded or captured in war. For twenty-five years, Clara Barton continued as the president of the American Red Cross. Under her guidance, the organization helped people in all kinds of trouble. She directed the aid efforts for victims of floods in Johnstown, Pennsylvania and Galveston, Texas. She led Red Cross workers in Florida during an outbreak of the disease yellow fever. And she helped during periods when people were starving in Russia and Armenia.
Clara Barton retired when she was in her middle eighties. For her last home, she chose a huge old building near Washington, D.C. The building had been used for keeping Red Cross equipment and then as her office. It was made with material saved from aid centers built after the flood in Johnstown. In that house on the Potomac River, Clara Barton lived her remaining days. She died after a life of service to others in April, nineteen twelve, at age ninety. She often said: "You must never so much as think if you like it or not, if it is bearable or not. You must never think of anything except the need --- and how to meet it."
重点解析
1.involved a. 难懂的, 复杂的, 不易懂的
You are merely involved in the project as my assistant.
在这个项目里你只是做我的助手。
2.extremely ad. 极端地, 非常地
These paintings by Van Gogh are extremely valuable.
梵高的这些作品都价值连城。
3.fierce a. 凶猛的, 猛烈的, 热烈的, 暴躁的
They finally surrendered after the fierce attack.
猛烈的进攻过后，他们终于投降了。
4.honorable a. 值得尊敬的, 荣耀的, 高贵的
Since putting on that green military uniform, he has become an honorable soldier.
自从穿上了那身军绿装，他就成了一名光荣的战士。
5.bearable a.可忍受的, 支承得住的
The pain was just bearable.这种痛尚能忍受得了。
6.take care of 照顾
你是个女孩，所以要注意修剪指甲。
参考译文
我是雷·弗里曼。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。今天我们将讲述一位女士克拉拉·巴顿的故事，她将自己的一生都奉献于照护他人。克拉拉·巴顿是一位娇小的女士，但是却对很多人有着重大的影响。对数千名处于痛苦中的人而言，如今她所做的工作也是意义非凡。克拉拉·巴顿是一个不平凡的女性。
1921年12月25日，她在圣诞节那一天出生。在那些日子里，对多数女性的期待都只是结婚、生孩子并待在家里照顾他们。但是巴顿却深刻地参与到了这个世界之中。1912年，在她去世时，她已开创了一次革命，赋予女性为这个社会贡献一份责任的权利。作为一名护士，她照料着数千名受伤的士兵，并且她还创立的美国红十字会。她成功地促使美国政府接受日内瓦公约。这份公约为战时受伤士兵或被捕士兵的生存环境设立了标准。
在克拉拉·巴顿只有十一岁的时候，她就开始了自己照顾别人的一生。她和家人的住在马萨诸塞州北部的一个农场里。她的一个兄弟戴维在帮忙建仓库的时候严重受伤。两年来，克拉拉·巴顿一直在照料戴维，直到他痊愈。大部分十一岁的女孩都不可能找到工作。但是克拉拉强烈感受到了帮助别人的需要。而且，她也很擅长照顾别人。当她和家人待在一起或是在家里的土地上骑马时，她都会有一种很安全的感觉。作为一个小孩子，学校里的克拉拉在学习和交朋友方面遇到了很大的困难。她的四个哥哥姐姐都比她大。其中几个还是老师。克拉拉早年大部分时间都是待在家里。她在15岁的时候完成学业，然后来到哥哥戴维的服装厂里工作。不久这个工厂被烧毁了，她也失业了。克拉拉·巴顿决定去学校教书。
1836年，她通过教书测试并开始在离家不远的北牛津教书。她成为了一名极受欢迎和尊敬的老师。在教了16年书后，她意识到对于自己的想了解的事情，她还知之甚少，她想接受更多教育。那些时候，很少有大学会接受女学生，所以克拉拉来到了马萨诸塞州的一所女子学校。在那所学校里，她对公共教育很感兴趣。毕业后，一位朋友建议她在新泽西州建第一所公立中小学。该州的官员似乎认为只有来自富裕家庭的孩子才能接受教育。官员们不想让巴顿为穷人建学校。但是她免费为孩子们教授了三个月。她告诉官员们，可以在她成功后再做决定。他们给了巴顿一幢设备陈旧的大楼。并且她教授的是六个很淘气的小孩子。五周后，想来上学的孩子越来越多，这个学校太小了。到年底，这个镇子为她建了一所更大更好的学校。他们不得不给她更多的空间，因为那时她的学校里已经有了六百个学生。一年内，克拉拉·巴顿的嗓子哑了。她不得不放弃教书。
她搬到了华盛顿开始了一项新的工作—为美国政府写文件。1861年美国内战前期，克拉拉·巴顿开始了护士的工作。有一天，她来到华盛顿的训练中心会见一群来自马萨诸塞州的士兵。其中很多士兵都是她的朋友，她开始照料受伤的士兵。不久后，她辞去了办公室的工作，开始成为一名全职护士，在将战场伤员送往医院的途中照顾他们。 很快巴顿就意识到，如果在受伤后马上进行医疗救助，就可以拯救更多的生命。军队条例规定，除了男性士兵外，其他任何人都不能上战场。但是巴顿将自己帮助伤员的计划告诉给了军方高级军官。他赞成她的计划。巴顿和其他几名女性在华盛顿周围的战区作战地带工作。她听说弗吉尼亚附近的布尔溪发生二次激战，她搭乘有轨电车来到那里。布尔溪战况激烈，北方军力失去了主要战区，巴顿眼前躺满了伤员和死人。她日以继日地帮助这些伤员。最后一名士兵被安置在车上后，巴顿也终于离开了。她恰好逃过了南方军。她骑着马避开了南军，这是她从小学会的一项技能。四年里，克拉拉·巴顿都带着南北血腥的战争前线。她到过安蒂特姆河、弗雷德里克斯堡、查尔斯顿，也去过斯波特瑟尔韦尼亚、彼得斯堡和里士满。她为士兵清理糜烂的伤口、缓解死亡的痛苦、给那些生存者喂食。
当克拉拉·巴顿返回华盛顿时，她发现自己成了一名英雄。她证明了女性可以在可怕的环境中工作。她让大家了解女性可以提供好的医疗看护。她还向世人展示了护士是一份光荣的职业。战争结束后，巴顿的医生将她送至欧洲修养。她没有休息，反而和国际红十字会的代表们会面。该组织建于1863年，为战时受伤或被捕的人提供更好的治疗。她被告知，美国是唯一一个拒绝加入红十字会的主要国家。巴顿开始策划一次活动，建立一个美国红十字会。在她回家前，法国和普鲁士已于1870年开战。克拉拉·巴顿再一次回到战区照顾伤员。不久，她的眼睛受到感染。这个好动的女士被命令在黑暗的房间里带上几个月，否则就会失明。当她返回美国时，她再一次患上了疾病。她利用在医院的时间写信支持美国红十字会组织。1881年，巴顿组织的活动成功了。美国国会在国际红十字协会世界条款中签字，就此翻开了美国红十字会篇章。克拉拉·巴顿实现了人生目标之一。第二年，她成功敦促国会接受日内瓦公约。该公约为战时受伤或被捕士兵设立国际条款。25年来，克拉拉·巴顿继续以美国红十字协会主席身份活动。在她的指导下，该组织帮助了陷入各种困难的人。她在约翰斯敦、宾夕法尼亚州、加尔维斯顿以及德克萨斯州指导救助那里的洪水难民。在黄热病爆发时期，她领导红十字会在佛罗里达的工作。在俄罗斯和亚美尼亚饿殍遍野的日子里，她也提供了帮助。
克拉拉·巴顿八十岁的时候退休了。她选择了华盛顿附近的一个老式建筑作为自己最后的居所。这幢建筑一直被用作保留红十字会设备，也是她的办公室。这幢建筑的建筑材料来自于救助中心，是在约翰斯敦发洪水后建成的。那栋在波托马克河边上的房子，克拉拉·巴顿余生一直住在那里。用一生救助他人之后，克拉拉·巴顿于1912年4月去世，享年90岁。她常说：“你不要总想着自己喜欢不喜欢，这个是否可以忍受。也不要老想着救助之外的事情，而要多想想如何才能达到这些要求。”
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