(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 six interesting people who died in the past year. We start with Elizabeth Edwards. She was the wife of former senator John Edwards and served as a political adviser during his campaigns.
Mr. Edwards was the Democratic vice-presidential nominee in two thousand four. He unsuccessfully competed for the presidential nomination in two thousand eight. Elizabeth Edwards had a successful career as a lawyer long before she became involved with politics. She was also the mother of four children. She faced several tragedies in her life. The Edwards' teenage son Wade was killed in a car accident in nineteen ninety-six. She was diagnosed with breast cancer at age fifty-five. And, during his last campaign, it became public that John Edwards had had an affair and child with another woman. The Edwards later separated.
For many people Elizabeth Edwards was a hero for her brave and very public battle with cancer. She did not let the disease stop her campaign work and activism. She became a fierce supporter for health care reform and women's health issues. She also wrote two best-selling books about her life. Shortly before her death, she posted her last message on Facebook. She said that she had been supported in her life by three saving graces: her family, her friends, and her belief in the power of hope. Elizabeth Edwards died of cancer in December at the age of sixty-one.
Paul Miller was a lawyer who became a leader in the disability rights movement. In nineteen eighty-six, he graduated at the top of his class from Harvard Law School in Boston, Massachusetts. Many law firms wanted to hire him. But after meeting him, none would give him a job. Paul Miller was born with a condition called achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism. As an adult, he stood about one hundred thirty-seven centimeters tall. Later in his career, Paul Miller would work to change such forms of discrimination. He became a member of the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He helped enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act of nineteen ninety. This law protected disabled people in both public and private employment. He served as an advisor to President Clinton and President Obama.
He also worked to create federal laws protecting the privacy of people's genetic information. Employers and insurance agencies cannot use this information in a discriminatory way. As a child, Paul Miller's parents took him to meetings of the Little People of America. This group gives support and information to people of short height and their families. He later said going to these meetings made him want to help others like himself. Paul Miller died of cancer in October at the age of forty-nine.
Dorothy Kamenshek was considered one of the best female players in baseball history. In nineteen forty-three, the owner of the Chicago Cubs created the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. At the age of seventeen, Kamenshek was picked to be on the Rockford Peaches team. Known as "Dottie" to her fans, she became a huge success. She would jump over a meter in the air to catch the ball at the first base position. She was also a great hitter. She had one of the league's top ten batting averages. Kamenshek played for the All-American Girls League for ten seasons. She was chosen to be on the All-Star team seven times in her career.
Her life influenced the role played by Geena Davis in the nineteen ninety-two movie "A League of Their Own." Dorothy Kamenshek was such a skillful player that a men's minor league team from Florida once tried to buy her contract. She refused the offer. Kamenshek retired from baseball in nineteen fifty-three. She earned a degree in physical therapy. She later worked for the Crippled Children's Services Department in Los Angeles, California. Dorothy Kamenshek died in May at the age of eighty-four.
Leslie Nielsen's was a serious actor in television and movies for many years. But using this seriousness to make people laugh changed his career. Leslie Nielsen was born in Canada and later became an American citizen. After serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force, he began studying acting in Toronto and New York City. He worked in theater and television before making his first movie in nineteen fifty-six. He had major roles in movies including "Forbidden Planet," "Tammy and the Bachelor" and "The Poseidon Adventure." By the nineteen sixties, Nielsen's hair had turned white. He was often chosen to play the serious roles of government and military leaders. In nineteen eighty, he was chosen to be in a very different kind of film. The movie "Airplane!" was very funny. It is about a plane and its crew and passengers in a difficult situation.
"Can you fly this plane and land it?"
"Surely you can't be serious."
"I am serious. And don't call me Shirley."
"Airplane!" changed Leslie Nielsen's career. He became famous for his roles in the funny "Naked Gun" movies. He played detective Frank Drebin, a man who does everything wrong. Nielsen spent the rest of his career playing funny parts in movies including "Dracula: Dead and Loving It" and "Spy Hard." One reporter said his fans loved him because he seemed to be having a good time while making sure the audience had a good time, too. Leslie Nielsen died in November at the age of eighty-four.
Louise Bourgeois was an influential artist best known for her large sculptures of metal spiders. Much of her art was fearless, sexual and strange. Her paintings and sculptures were often shaped by painful experiences. Her anger toward her father for betraying her mother with another woman was one big influence in her work. She once said that her artwork was a way to battle her tensions and fears and attempt to be a better person. Louise Bourgeois was born in nineteen eleven in Paris, France. Her parents had a business repairing ancient tapestries. She used her drawing skills to help with repairs. Louise studied math in college, but later changed her area of study to art.
In nineteen thirty-eight she met art historian Robert Goldwater in Paris. They married and moved to New York City. She continued to work as an artist while raising their three sons. Bourgeois took part in many gallery and museum shows in New York. But she did not become internationally famous until she was in her sixties. In nineteen eighty-two the Museum of Modern Art organized a show of her work. Major museums around the world later bought her artworks. She once said she was glad she was discovered later in life. This gave her time to work without interruption at her own speed and in her own way. Louise Bourgeois kept working on her art until her last days. She died in May at the age of ninety-eight.
Jerry Bock was a celebrated composer who wrote music for many popular Broadway shows. He worked with the songwriter Sheldon Harnick to create seven musicals. These include "Fiorello" and "She Loves Me." But their most famous musical was "Fiddler on the Roof." It first played on Broadway in nineteen sixty-three. The play tells about Jewish life in a small Russian village during the early nineteen hundreds. The main characters are a milkman named Tevye, his wife and five daughters. Jerry Bock was influenced by the Jewish musical traditions he heard as a child. "Fiddler on the Roof" became a huge success. It won nine Tony Awards. The show played for eight years, making it Broadway's longest-running musical at the time. It was also made into a popular movie.
Jerry Bock was born in nineteen twenty-eight and grew up in New York City. At a young age he was able to play complex music on the piano. In high school he wrote his first musical. He wrote his first musical play for Broadway in nineteen fifty-six. Later in his career, Jerry Bock wrote music for television programs for children. He died in November at the age of eighty-one. We leave you with one of the most popular songs from "Fiddler on the Roof --"If I Were a Rich Man."
重点解析
1.compete for 角逐，竞争；为…比赛
Scientists now have to compete for funding, and do not share information among themselves.
科学家们现在为了资金不得不相互竞争，互相之间也不会共享信息。
2.nomination 提名
This is her first Oscar nomination.
这是她的首次奥斯卡提名。
3.be diagnosed with 被诊断为;被诊断出
Six million American men will be diagnosed with depression this year.
今年将有600万的美国男性被诊断为抑郁者。
4.enforce 实施，执行；强迫，强制
They struggled to limit the cost by enforcing a low-tech specification.
他们通过强制执行一种低技术规范来竭力限制成本。
5.serve as 担任…，充当…；起…的作用
The Ambassador said he hoped the statement would serve as a wake-up call to the government.
大使说，他希望这一声明能给政府敲响警钟。
6.betray 背叛
They offered me money if I would betray my associates.
如果我出卖自己的同伴，他们就会给我钱。
参考译文
我是费丝·拉皮德斯。我是史蒂夫·恩贝尔。这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。今天让我们来缅怀2010年去世的六位有趣的人。从伊丽莎白·爱德华兹开始。她是前参议员约翰·爱德华兹的妻子，也是他在职期间的政治顾问。
2004年，民主党提名爱德华兹先生为副总统候选人。他在2008年的总统提名中失利。伊丽莎白·爱德华兹参政前是一名成功的律师。她还是四个孩子的母亲。一生中，她也面临过几次悲剧。爱德华兹家十几岁的儿子在1996年死于车祸。55岁的时候，她被诊断出乳腺癌。在最后一次竞选中，约翰·爱德华兹和另一个女人有婚外情，还生了孩子成为了公开的事情。之后，他们分开了。
对多数人而言，伊丽莎白·爱德华兹是一位英雄，因为她的勇敢以及她与癌症的斗争。她并没有让疾病阻碍她的工作。她成了医疗改革以及女性健康问题的坚定支持者。她还出了两本讲述自己生平的畅销书。在她去世前不久，她在脸书上po出了最后一条消息。她说在她的一生中，有三件事一直支撑着她：家庭、朋友和她对希望的信仰。12月，61岁的伊丽莎白·爱德华兹因癌症去世。
保罗·米勒是一名律师，之后成为了残疾人权利运动的领袖。1986年，在马萨诸塞州波士顿哈佛大学法学院念书的他，以全班最优异的成绩毕业。很多法律公司想要雇用他。但是和他见面后，没有一家公司愿意给他工作。保罗·米勒出生便患有软骨发育不全症，这是侏儒症的一种。作为一名成年人，他站起来约有137厘米高。
在他事业后期，保罗·米勒将致力于改变这种歧视。他成为了美国公平就业机会委员会的成员。他帮助强制实施1990年美国残疾人法案。该法案保护国企和私企中的残疾人。他是克林顿与奥巴马总统的顾问。他还致力于制定联邦法案保护公民遗传信息的隐私。雇主和保险代理机构不得以歧视目的使用这些信息。小时候，保罗·米勒的父母带他去参加美国侏儒组织的聚会。该组织为侏儒症患者和他们的家庭提供帮助和信息。之后他说道，去参加这些聚会让他也想要帮助和自己一样的人。10月49岁的保罗·米勒因癌症去世。
桃乐西·卡曼谢克被认为是棒球历史上最棒的女性运动员之一。1943年，芝加哥小熊队的老板成立了全美女子职业棒球联盟。17岁的时候，卡曼谢克被选入罗克福德桃子队。被粉丝称为“多蒂”的她取得了巨大成功。在第一垒位置，她会跳一米高去接球。她也是一名伟大的击球员。她的击球率位列联赛前十。卡曼谢克为全美女子职业棒球联盟打了十个赛季的比赛。职业生涯中，她七次入选全明星阵容。她的生平影响到了吉娜·戴维斯在1992年电影《红粉联盟》的角色。桃乐西·卡曼谢克是一位技术高超的运动员，来自佛罗里达的小联盟比赛队伍曾试图买下她的合同，但是她拒绝了。1953年，卡曼谢克退役。她获得了物理治疗学位。之后，她在加利福尼亚洛杉矶的残疾儿童服务机构工作。五月，桃乐西·卡曼谢克去世，享年84岁。
莱斯利·尼尔森是活跃电视和电影的严肃演员。但是利用这一份严肃逗乐观众也改变了他的事业。莱斯利·尼尔森出生于加拿大，之后成为了一名美国公民。从加拿大皇家空军退役后，他开始在多伦多和纽约学习表演。1956年第一部电影制作之前，他在剧院和电视台工作。他在电影《禁忌星球》、《牧野芳踪 》以及《海神号遇险记》中担任主角。到上世纪六十年代，尼尔森头发花白。他常扮演政府和军队领导者的角色。
1980年，他入选出演一部形式非常不同的电影。电影《空前绝后满天飞》是部喜剧片。讲的是飞机遇险，机上的乘务人员和乘客的故事。
“你能驾驶这架飞机并将着陆么？”
“你一定是在开玩笑。”
“我是认真的，别叫我雪梨。”
《空前绝后满天飞》改变了莱斯利·尼尔森的事业。喜剧《白头神探》的演出让他名声大噪。他在电影中扮演侦探法兰克，一个搞砸一切事情的男人。在事业后期尼尔森都负责电影中的搞笑部分，比如《吸血鬼也疯狂》以及《终极笑探》。一名记者称，他的粉丝非常爱他，因为他在逗乐观众的时候，自己也很开心。11月莱斯利·尼尔森去世，享年84岁。
路易丝·布尔乔亚是一名颇具影响力的艺术家，以她的大型雕塑金属蜘蛛最为出名。她的多数艺术都是无畏的、有性且奇怪的。她的画作和雕塑受到痛苦经历的影响。她的父亲背叛了她的母亲并出轨另一名女性，这种愤怒对她的作品造成巨大影响。她曾说她的作品是和自己的紧张、恐惧和想成为更好的人之间的斗争。1911年，路易丝·布尔乔亚出生于法国巴黎。他的父母经营着修复古地毯的事业。她用自己的绘画技巧帮助修复。大学时，路易丝学的是数学，但是之后她转学艺术。
1938年，她在巴黎遇到了艺术史学家罗伯特 ·戈德华特。他们结婚并搬去了纽约。她继续艺术家的工作同时还养育着他们的三个儿子。布尔乔亚参与了纽约的很多艺术馆和博物馆展出。但是直到六十多岁的时候，她才享誉全球。1982年，现代艺术博物馆组织了一场她的作品展。之后全球主要博物馆都带来了她的作品。她曾说她很开心在生命的后期被发现。这给了她创作的时间，不被打扰，按照自己的速度和方式。路易丝·布尔乔亚直到生命结束前的几天还在创作。她于五月去世，享年98岁。
杰瑞·巴克是一位很有名望的作曲家，为很多著名百老汇音乐剧写过曲子。他和歌曲作家谢尔顿·哈尼克共同创作了七部音乐剧，包括《Fiorello》以及《She Loves Me》。但他们最出名一部音乐剧是《屋上的提琴手》，于1963年首次登上百老汇舞台。该剧讲述了上世纪早期在一个俄罗斯小村里的犹太人生活。主角是一位名为特伊的送奶工和他的妻子以及五个女儿的故事。杰瑞·巴克深受童年时听到的犹太传统音乐剧的影响。《屋上的提琴手》取得巨大成功，获得九座托尼奖。八年来，该剧一直在百老汇上演，成为那时百老汇上演时间最长的音乐剧，随后也被制成电影。杰瑞·巴克出生于1928年，生长在纽约。年轻时，他会弹奏复杂的音乐。高中时，他就写下了自己的第一步音乐剧。1956年，他为百老汇写下第一步音乐剧。在事业后期，杰瑞·巴克为儿童电视节目写歌。他于11月去世，享年81岁。节目最后，为大家送上他最著名的歌曲之一《If I Were a Rich Man》，出自《Fiddler on the Roof》。
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