(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
People in America -- a program in Special English by the Voice of America.
Each week at this time, we bring you a story about people who were important in the history of the United States. Today, Doug Johnson and Larry West begin the story of Stephen Vincent Benet.
He was one of the most popular American writers of the first part of the nineteen-hundreds.
A young woman once asked Stephen Vincent Benet for his advice on writing. This is what he said:
"I spent my childhood on a series of army bases. If I were writing stories about that, I would have to explain a few things about the army. I would have to give you a sense of being in a world of your own that children have. I would have to show you that it is as natural for an army child to move to a different base every few years, as for a civilian child to grow up in one town."
It was natural for Benet to talk about writing -- and his childhood -- at the same time. For his family and early surroundings shaped his life as a writer perhaps more than usual.
Stephen Vincent Benet was born in eighteen-ninety-eight in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He was named in memory of his grandfather, who had been a general in the United States army.
General Benet attended the military academy at west point and was an expert on military law. He served in the army before, during and after the civil war. Stephen's father also was an army officer. Colonel James Benet worked on questions of military supply and artillery. Stephen was born while his father was on duty at the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, iron factory.
Stephen Vincent Benet was born into a world of history, poetry and laughter. His parents loved to read. So did his brother and sister, who were much older than he.
The Benet house was filled with books. Stephen's mother and brother wrote poems. His sister supervised his studies. And his father talked to him about history, philosophy and literature.
Colonel Benet always could find a kind word to say or a joke to tell. Many years later, Stephen wrote:
My father was interested in everything. And he was the finest critic of poetry I have ever known. He taught me many things about writing....and understanding of others...and independence...and the desire to know things.
Stephen's childhood was almost completely happy. He had suffered an illness when he was very young and this left him with a weak heart. But he played tennis and football, and loved to take long walks. His family members were his team players and close friends. Colonel Benet earned enough money to provide the family with everything they needed.
By the time Stephen was eight years old, his brother and sister were studying at universities. They introduced Stephen to their friends, some of whom would become famous writers and artists. These young people took an interest in Stephen, for he was an intelligent boy who spoke well. They began to send him things to Read: books, and some of their own writings.
Colonel Benet's work took him to different places. So while Stephen was still a boy, he lived in the states of Pennsylvania, New York, California and Georgia. He was happy to be able to see some of the places he had read about...places that were famous in American history. In the west, there were the mountains, rivers and towns with Spanish names. In the north and south, there were the battlefields of the civil war.
Stephen especially liked the army base in Georgia where he and his parents lived. The base was almost two-hundred years old. All around the buildings, inside and out, were the cannons and other equipment of past battles.
Best of all, Stephen was able to visit the great farms and small towns where little had changed since the civil war had ended in eighteen-sixty-five. He listened to the talk of old southern women who remembered very clearly the years before the war. More than forty years had passed. But the old women and the others made the past come alive for the boy. He thought about writing history.
By the time Stephen was fifteen, he was writing almost every day. The summer before he entered Yale University, at the age of seventeen, he published his first book of poems. The poems were political and philosophical. They expressed his thoughts on democracy and freedom.
At Yale, Stephen made loyal friends. He was truly interested in people. He was a quiet young man with little color in his face. He wore round eyeglasses and did not care much about his clothing. His friends tried to improve his appearance. And they tried to show him things that interested wealthy young men at that time. But Stephen liked simple things, and did not change.
Stephen worked hard at the university. He became editor of the Yale literary magazine, which the students published. The literary magazine was popular with students and writers at other schools, too. Stephen wrote poems and articles for the magazine, and for a number of other publications. He did this in addition to his school work.
Stephen learned to write very quickly. Often, he would write while attending classes or sitting in noisy coffee houses. This method did not always produce the best writing. But it made it possible for Stephen to produce a great deal of writing. Before he finished his four years of study at Yale, many people had read his poems and stories.
Stephen was almost twenty-one years old when he left Yale. He no longer wanted to take money from his father, who would soon retire with a wife and daughter to support. Stephens' brother, William, was a successful writer and editor. Yet he did not earn much money. So Stephen went to New York City. In the next two years, he worked briefly in an office. Then he returned to Yale.
The university helped him win an award of money to travel and write. The money gave him the chance to write whatever he wanted...wherever he wanted. Stephen decided to go to Paris.
In those years -- the early nineteen-twenties -- many young American writers lived in Paris. Among them were Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Stephen fell in love with the city, and with an American woman he met there. The woman was Rosemary Carr. She was a writer for a newspaper in the American city of Chicago. Stephen and Rosemary returned to Chicago to be married.
The Benets decided to make their home in New York. Stephen had written two books and a great many poems when he was in Paris.
He would spend the next five years writing stories for popular magazines. The stories were not about serious people or ideas. They were stories of the moment...not meant to be remembered.
Stephen often took long walks through the streets of New York. He did not like the life he saw there. He did not like the politics. He did not like the methods people used to succeed. And he did not like what he saw in many of the people's faces: a sense of hopelessness and need.
Stephen began to think back to his childhood...to the way he saw America as a boy. He thought about the history of America, and about its heroes. He decided to stop writing foolish things. He wanted to use his stories and poems to show Americans what was good and valuable in their culture. He wanted to give them something to believe in.
重点解析
1.a series of一系列的
In order to answer this question, I set up a series of tests using variables of different scope-depth.
为了回答这个问题，我模拟了一系列的测试，来测试不同作用域深度中变量的性能。
2.in memory of 纪念
She set up an educational fund in memory of her mother.
她为了纪念她母亲而设立了一个教育基金会。
3.take an interest in 对…感兴趣
We hope they take an interest in what is going on inside them.
我们希望孩子们对发生在自己体内的事情感兴趣。
4.in addition to除…之外
So what should we do to promote peace, in addition to the proposals mentioned above?
那么，除了上述提到的方案外，我们应该采取什么行动来促进和平呢？
5.fall in love 爱上
Why would people fall in love simply by gazing at each other?
为什么光凭注视双眼就能使人坠入爱河？
6.think back回想
Think back to when you had time for creative expression.
回想到你曾有时间进行创造性表达的时候。
参考译文
这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。
每周的这个时间，我们都会为您讲述美国历史上的重要人物的故事。今天，道格·约翰逊和拉里·韦斯特为您讲述史蒂芬·文森特·贝尼特的故事。
他是20世纪上半叶最受欢迎的美国作家之一。
一位年轻女性曾向史蒂芬请教写作方面的问题。下面的就是史蒂芬说的话：
“我的童年是在一系列的军事基地上度过的。如果我要写作关于这个的故事，那我得解释一些关于军队的事情。我必须让你有一种置身于孩子们自己的世界的感觉。我得向你展示，一位军人的孩子每隔几年就搬到不同的基地的生活，和一个生长在城镇的平民家的孩子的生活是一样自然的。”
一边谈论写作，一边谈论他的童年，这对贝尼特来说是很自然的事情。因为他的家庭和早期的环境塑造了他作为一个作家的生活，也许比平时更多。
史蒂芬·文森特·贝尼特于1898年出生于宾夕法尼亚州伯利恒。他的名字是为了纪念他的祖父，他的祖父曾是美国陆军的一名将军。
贝尼特将军曾就读于西点军校，是军事法律方面的专家。他在南北战争之前、期间和之后都在军队服役。斯蒂芬的父亲也是一名军官。詹姆斯·贝尼特上校研究军事供应和火炮问题。斯蒂芬出生时，他的父亲在宾夕法尼亚州伯利恒的刚铁厂值班。
斯蒂芬·文森特·贝尼特出生在一个充满历史、诗歌和欢笑的世界。他的父母喜欢读书。他的哥哥和姐姐也是，他们比他大得多。
贝尼特家摆满了书。斯蒂芬的母亲和哥哥写诗。他的姐姐指导他的学习。他的父亲和他谈论历史、哲学和文学。
贝尼特上校总是妙语连珠或讲笑话。许多年后，斯蒂芬写道:
我父亲对任何事情都感兴趣。他是我知道的最好的诗歌评论家。他教了我很多东西，比如写作，理解他人，独立或求知欲方面的事情。
斯蒂芬的童年几乎是完全快乐的。他很小的时候得了一种病，这使他的心脏很脆弱。但是他喜欢网球和足球，也喜欢长途步行。他的家人是他的网球队员和密友。贝尼特上校挣得了足够多的钱，可以给家人提供他们需要的一些东西。
史蒂芬8岁的时候，他的哥哥姐姐进入大学读书。他们把史蒂芬介绍给他们的朋友认识，其中一些人后来成为了有名的作家和艺术家。这些年轻人对史蒂芬很有兴趣，因为他是一个聪明的小孩，口齿伶俐。他们开始给史蒂芬寄读物：书，还有他们的一些作品。
因贝尼特上校的工作关系，史蒂芬去到了很多地方。所以史蒂芬是一个小男孩的时候，就已经在宾夕法尼亚州，纽约，加州和乔治亚州生活过了。他很开心能去到自己在书中读到的一些地方，一些在美国历史上有名的地方。在西部，有以西班牙语命名的山川，河流和城镇。在南方和北方，有美国内战的战场。
史蒂芬尤其喜欢他和父母居住的乔治亚州军事基地。这个基地几乎已有两百年的历史。在那些建筑周围，里里外外都是过去战役留下来的大炮和其他设备。
最棒的就是，史蒂芬可以参观那些大农场和小城镇。自1865年美国内战结束后那里几乎没什么变化。他会去听南方老妇人的谈话，她们对战前的岁月记忆犹新。四十多年过去了。但是，老妇人和其他的一些人使这位小男孩的过去鲜活起来。史蒂芬考虑写作历史。
史蒂芬15岁的时候，几乎每天都在写作。17岁进入耶鲁大学前的那个夏天，史蒂芬出版了自己的第一本诗集。这些诗是政治性和哲学性的。他们表达了他对民主和自由的思想。
在耶鲁大学，史蒂芬交了一些忠实的朋友。他对人真的很感兴趣。他是个安静的年轻人，面色苍白。他戴圆眼镜，不怎么在意着装。他的朋友试图改善他的外表。他们给他看一些当时富少们感兴趣的东西。但是史蒂芬喜欢简单的事物，并没有做出改变。
史蒂芬在大学很努力。他成为了耶鲁大学文学杂志的编辑，这是一个学生出版的杂志。这本文学杂志在其他学校的学生和作家中也很受欢迎。史蒂芬为杂志创作诗歌和文章，也为其他的一些出版物写作。这就是除了学业外他做的事情。
史蒂芬学着快速写作。他经常在上课时和嘈杂的咖啡屋写作。这种方法并不总能创作最好的作品。但是它使史蒂芬可以创作大量的作品。在史蒂芬在完成他在耶鲁四年的学业之前，很多人就已经读过他的诗集和故事了。
史蒂芬离开耶鲁大学时差不多已经21岁了。他不想再从父亲那里拿钱了，父亲快退休了，他还得养活妻子和女儿。史蒂芬的哥哥威廉是一位成功的作家和编辑。但是她没有挣到很多钱。所以史蒂芬去了纽约。在接下来的两年里，它主要在办公室工作。后来他返回了耶鲁大学。
耶鲁大学帮他赢得了一笔奖金，他可以去旅行和写作。这笔钱给了他写作自己想写的任何东西、去任何地方的权利。史蒂芬决定去巴黎。
在那些年——20世纪20年代初——许多年轻的美国作家住在巴黎。其中就有欧内斯特·海明威和F·司格特·菲茨杰拉德。史蒂芬爱上了这座城市，也爱上了他在那里遇到的一个美国女人。这个女人是露丝玛丽·凯尔。她是美国芝加哥一家报纸的撰稿人。史蒂芬和露丝玛丽回到芝加哥结了婚。
贝内特夫妇打算在纽约安家。在巴黎时，史蒂芬已经写了两本书和大量的诗歌。
他会在接下来的5年里为流行杂志写故事。这些并不是关于严肃的人或观点的故事。它们是关于那些不应该被铭记的时刻的故事。
史蒂芬经常沿着纽约的街道进行长途漫步。他不喜欢自己看到的那里的生活。他不喜欢政治活动。他不喜欢人们为取得成功采取的方法。他也不喜欢他在很多人脸上看到的面容：绝望感和需求感。
史蒂芬开始回想自己的童年，回想他小时候看待美国的方式。他想到了美国的历史和美国的英雄。他决定不再创作愚蠢的作品。他想用自己的故事和诗歌向美国人展示，美国文化中好的和有价值的东西。他想给美国人带来一些信念。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
