(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
I'm Steve Ember. And I'm Barbara Klein with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English program. Today we report about Annie Oakley, a woman who became famous for her ability to shoot a gun and hit very small objects. There are hundreds of stories about Annie Oakley. Many of the stories involve her adventures in the American Wild West. Others tell about her travels with Native American tribes. However, most of the stories are not true. She did not grow up in the Wild West, nor did she fight in any battles. Annie Oakley was a performer in a traveling Wild West show. She used her skill at shooting a gun to become one of the most famous sharp shooters in American history.
Annie Oakley was born in eighteen sixty in Darke County, Ohio. Her real name was Phoebe Ann Mosey. When she was six years old, her father died of pneumonia. Her family was very poor. She did not attend school. When she was nine years old, Annie went to live with another family on a farm. Then she became a servant for still another family. She later said that this new family abused her. When Annie returned to live with her own family, she decided to help them earn money. She taught herself how to shoot her grandfather's gun and began hunting animals for food. She could shoot the animals without ruining the important parts of the meat.
She sold the animals to the people in her town. When she was fifteen years old, she had made enough money to pay for her family's farm. Soon her ability to shoot a gun became well known in her town. When she was sixteen years old, she was invited to a shooting contest with a famous marksman named Frank Butler. Frank Butler claimed that he could shoot better than anyone else. Annie surprised everyone when she won the competition. She shot all twenty-five targets, while Frank Butler was only able to shoot twenty-four of them. Perhaps their shooting abilities attracted them to one another, because Annie and Frank married in eighteen seventy-six.
In eighteen eighty-two, Annie took the name Oakley. She and Frank Butler started putting on shows together, demonstrating their abilities to shoot a gun. Frank Butler was the star of the show and Annie Oakley was his assistant. However, sometimes she did her own shooting. Two years later, Annie Oakley met the famous Native American chief, Sitting Bull, at a performance. The chief liked her skill in shooting and also her personality. They became friends. He gave her the name "Little Sure Shot" because of her shooting ability and because she was only one and one-half meters tall.
In eighteen eighty-five, Annie Oakley and Frank Butler joined another traveling show. It was called "Buffalo Bill's Wild West." William Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill, ran the show. For sixteen years, Annie Oakley was the star of the show while Frank Butler was her assistant. Posters for the show called her a "Champion Markswoman."
The Wild West show became very famous all over the United States. All of the performers demonstrated their skills. Many of the performers had fought in real gun battles while settling the western part of the United States. They wanted to bring the excitement and mystery of the Wild West to a show that people would like to watch. Annie Oakley did tricks that showed off how good she was at aiming and shooting a gun. She could shoot a small metal coin thrown in the air from twenty-seven meters away. She could shoot the thin edge of a playing card and then shoot it six more times as it fell to the ground. She could shoot the ashes off of a cigarette her husband Frank Butler held in his mouth.
In eighteen eighty-seven, Buffalo Bill took the whole Wild West show to Europe. They traveled to many countries and gave many performances. They performed in England for Queen Victoria. Annie Oakley received a lot of attention. The newspapers wrote stories about her and she took part in many shooting contests. The Wild West show returned to Europe two years later. By this time, Annie Oakley had become even more famous. The Wild West show performed in Paris, France, for six months. Then the performers traveled to Germany, Italy and Spain. In Germany, the Crown Prince asked Oakley to shoot the ashes off of a cigarette that he held in his mouth, as she famously had done with her husband. She asked the Prince to hold the cigarette in his hand instead and did the trick easily.
When the Wild West show returned to the United States, Buffalo Bill decided to change it to include scenes from the life and culture of the Wild West. These scenes included train robberies, gunfights and conflicts with Native American Indians. In nineteen-oh-one, Annie Oakley was in a train crash that badly injured her back. She had five operations. Annie and Frank wanted to stop traveling so much and have their own home. So they left the Wild West show. They built a home in Cambridge, Maryland. They liked this area because it had a nice community and there were many places they could go hunting. Annie Oakley and Frank Butler took part in community activities. Oakley gave shooting lessons and demonstrations at the local county fair.
Annie Oakley wrote a book about her life that was published in nineteen fourteen. It was called "Powders I Have Used." She also wrote many stories about hunting and fishing. Some of these articles tried to get other women to begin hunting. She also tried to get women to learn how to shoot a gun so that they could defend themselves. During World War One, Annie Oakley offered to help the military. She proposed to train a group of women volunteers who would become solders in the war. However, the United States did not accept this offer. She also offered to give the American troops shooting lessons. She traveled across the country and visited many training camps. She gave shooting demonstrations and raised money for medicine and supplies.
In nineteen twenty-five, Annie Oakley and Frank Butler moved back to Ohio to be near her family. They continued to give performances. But Annie Oakley was sick. She died on November third, nineteen twenty-six. Her husband Frank Butler died eighteen days later. Annie Oakley has been remembered in many ways. People have written movies, songs, plays, books and television shows about her. One of the most famous examples is the Broadway musical play called "Annie Get Your Gun." Irving Berlin wrote it in nineteen forty-six. In one of the famous songs from the musical, Annie Oakley and Frank Butler sing "Anything You Can Do." The singers are Ethel Merman and Bruce Yarnell. The musical is still being performed today to remember a woman with an unusual skill. She showed that women could be just as good, if not better, than men. We leave you with "There's No Business Like Show Business" from "Annie Get Your Gun."
重点解析
1.adventure 冒险
I set off for a new adventure in Alaska on the first day of the new year.
我在新年第一天出发去阿拉斯加进行一次新的冒险。
2.abuse 滥用；虐待
...investigation of alleged child abuse.
…对涉嫌虐待儿童的调查。
3.ruin 毁坏
My wife was ruining her health through worry.
我妻子的忧虑正在损害着她的健康。
4.marksman 神枪手; 神射手
Police marksmen opened fire.
警察中的神枪手开了火。
5.demonstrate 展示
A selection of cosmetic companies will be there to demonstrate their new products.
一些化妆品公司会在那里展示他们的新产品。
6.conflict 争执；冲突
Employees already are in conflict with management over job cuts
雇员已经就裁员一事与管理层发生了争执。
参考译文
我是史蒂夫·恩贝尔、我是芭芭拉·克莱恩。这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。今天我们将讲述安妮·奥克利，这位女性因她的射击技能而知名。有上百篇关于安妮·奥克利的故事。很多故事讲的都是他在美国西部的冒险。其他关于是关于她在美洲原住民部落旅行的故事。但大部分故事都是虚构的。她并不是生长在西部，也没有参加任何战争。安妮·奥克利是一场巡游西大荒表演秀的一名表演者。因为她的枪法，她成为了美国历史上最著名的神枪手之一。
1860年，安妮·奥克利出生于俄亥俄州达克县。她的真名叫做菲比·安·摩西。6岁时，她的父亲死于肺炎。她们家很穷。她没有上学。9岁时，安妮和农场的另一户人家住在一起。然后她成为了另一家的仆人。之后她说这个新家庭虐待了她。当安妮回到原生家庭时，她决定帮家人挣钱。她拿着祖母的枪自学，并开始狩猎获食。她可以射击动物且保持肉的完整。她将这些动物卖给镇上的人。15岁的时候，她赚到了足够的钱支付家里的农场。
很快，她的枪法闻名小镇。16岁的时候，她被邀请去参加射击比赛，其中有著名神射手弗兰克·巴特勒。弗兰克·巴特勒称他的技术比任何人都好。当安妮赢得比赛时，所有人都很惊讶。25个目标她全中，而弗兰克·巴特勒只中了24个。大概是因为他们的技术吸引了彼此，安妮和弗兰克在1976年结婚了。1882年，安妮更名奥克利。她和弗兰克·巴特勒开始一起表演，展示他们的枪法。弗兰克·巴特勒是演出中的明星，安妮·奥克利是他的助手。但有时她也会自己射击。
2年后，安妮·奥克利在表演中遇见了著名的印第安首领坐牛。首领喜欢她的枪法和她的性格。他们成为了朋友。他给她取名为“Little Sure Shot”，因为她的枪法，因为她身高只有一米五。1885年，安妮·奥克利和弗兰克·巴特勒加入了另一场巡回演出—“野牛比尔的西大荒演出”。威廉·科迪，也就是著名的野牛比尔经营这场秀。16年来，安妮·奥克利都是表演中的明星，而弗兰克·巴特勒是她的助手。表演的海报上称为她是“女射手冠军”。
西大荒演出在全美都很出名。所有表演者都展示了他们的技能。很多表演者在美国西部参加过真正的枪战。他们想将西大荒的刺激和神秘展示给喜欢的观众。安妮·奥克利会耍点小花招，这展现了她娴熟的瞄准和射击技巧。她可以在27米远的地方射中抛入空中的金属小硬币。她可以射中纸牌的一角，然后在纸牌落入地面前射中它六次。她可以射中丈夫弗兰克·巴特勒叼着的烟的烟灰。
1887年，野牛比尔带着西大荒演出来到欧洲。他们去了很多城市，进行了很多场演出。他们在英格兰为维多利亚女王表演。安妮·奥克利获得了很多关注。报纸写了关于她的故事，她参加了很多射击比赛。西大荒演出两年后返回欧洲。这时，安妮·奥克利变得更加出名。西大荒演出在法国巴黎演出了六个月。然后他们又去了德国、意大利和西班牙。在德国，皇储让奥克利射击他嘴里那只烟的烟灰，因为她曾和丈夫搭档成功完成射击。她让皇储把烟拿在手里，并轻松完成。当西大荒演出回到美国，野牛比尔决定将西大荒的生活和文化场景融入演出中。这些场景包括火车劫匪、枪战以及和原住民的冲突。
1901年，安妮·奥克利在一次火车事故中严重损伤背部。她进行了五次手术。安妮和弗兰克希望能停止演出，回到自己的家中。因此他们离开了西大荒演出。他们在马里兰坎布里奇建了房子。他们喜欢这片区域，因为这里的社会很好，也有很多他们可以打猎的地方。安妮·奥克利和弗兰克·巴特勒参加了社区活动。奥克利教别人射击并在当地县集市上表演。安妮·奥克利写了一本关于自己生平的书，并于1914年出版。这本书叫做《Powders I Have Used》。她还写了很多关于狩猎和垂钓的故事。其中有些文章是让女性开始打猎。她还想让女性学习如何射击，这样就可以保护自己。
一战期间，安妮·奥克利为军队提供帮助。她提议训练一组女性志愿者，她们愿意参战。但美国没有同意。她还提议训练美国军队如何射击。她巡回全国并拜访了很多训练营。她进行射击演示并为药品和物资筹钱。1925年，安妮·奥克利和弗兰克·巴特勒搬回俄亥俄州，住在了她家附近。他们继续表演。但安妮·奥克利生病了。她在1926年11月3日去世。她的丈夫弗兰克·巴特勒在18天后也去世了。人们以很多方式纪念安妮·奥克利。人们写关于她的电影、歌、戏剧、书和电视节目。其中最著名的就是百老汇音乐剧《飞燕金枪》。欧文·柏林在1946年创作了这部剧。这部音乐剧中最有名的一首歌之一是安妮·奥克利和弗兰克·巴特勒唱的《Anything You Can Do》。这部音乐剧至今仍在上演以纪念这个枪法不凡的女性。她展现了女性也可以一样好，甚至可以比男性更好。结尾为大家放送音乐剧《飞燕金枪》的歌曲《There's No Business Like Show Business》。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
