(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
I'm Phoebe Zimmermann. And I'm Doug Johnson with the VOA 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 writer Edith Wharton.
A critic once described American writer Edith Wharton as a "self-made man." She liked the comment and repeated it. Others said she was a product of New York City. But the New York she wrote about was different from the New York of those who came after her.
Edith Wharton was born in New York City in eighteen sixty-two. New York then was several different cities. One New York was made up of people who worked for a living. The other was much smaller. It was made up of families who were so rich they did not need to work.
Edith was born into the wealthy New York. But there was a "right" wealthy New York and a "wrong" wealthy New York. Among the rich there were those who had been given money by parents or grandparents. Then there were those who earned their own money, the newly rich.
Edith's family was from the "right" New Yorkers, people who had "old" money. It was a group that did not want its way of living changed. It also was a group without many ideas of its own. It was from this group that Edith Wharton created herself.
Like many girls her age, Edith wrote stories. In one of her childhood stories, a woman apologizes for not having a completely clean house when another woman makes an unexpected visit. Edith's mother read the story. Her only comment was that one's house was always clean and ready for visitors. Edith's house always was.
Edith spent much of her childhood in Europe. She was educated by special teachers and not at schools.
If Edith's family feared anything, it was sharp social, cultural, and economic change. Yet these were the things Edith would see in her lifetime.
The end of the Civil War in eighteen sixty-five marked the beginning of great changes in the United States. The country that had been mostly agricultural was becoming?industrial. Businessmen and workers increasingly were gaining political and economic power.
Edith Wharton saw these changes sooner than most people. And she rejected them. To her, the old America was a victim of the new. She did not like the new values of money replacing the old values of family.
In eighteen eighty-five, she married Edward Wharton. He was her social equal. They lived together for twenty-eight years. But it was a marriage without much love.
In nineteen thirteen, she sought to end the marriage. That she waited so long to do so, one critic said, was a sign of her ties to the idea of family and to tradition.
Some critics think that Edith Wharton began to write because she found the people of her social group so uninteresting. Others say she began when her husband became sick and she needed something to do.
The fact is that Wharton thought of herself as a writer from the time she was a child. Writing gave her a sense of freedom from the restrictions of her social class.
Writing was just one of a series of things she did. And she did all of them well. She was interested in designing and caring for gardens. She designed her own house. She had an international social life and left a large collection of letters.
In her lifetime she published about fifty books on a number of subjects.
Many critics believe Edith Wharton should have written the story of her social group. To do this, however, she would have had to remove herself from the group to see it clearly. She could not do this, even intellectually. Her education and her traditions made it impossible.
The subject of Edith Wharton's writing became the story of the young and innocent in a dishonest world. She did not make a connection between her work and her own life. What she had was the ability to speak plainly about emotions that, until then, had been hidden.
She also was among the first American women writers to gain a sense of the world as an evil place. "Life is the saddest thing," she wrote, "next to death."
To show that she could do more than just write stories, she wrote a book with Ogden Codman, "The Decoration of Houses." It was very successful. About the same time, her poems and stories also began to be published in Scribner's Magazine.
In eighteen ninety-nine her collection of stories, "The Greater Inclination," appeared. It was an immediate success. When she was in London, she visited a bookstore. The store owner, who did not know who she was, handed her the book. He said to her, "This is what everyone in London is talking about now.
Three years later her first novel, "The Valley of Decision," was published. Three years after that she published her first great popular success, the novel "The House of Mirth."
"The House of Mirth" is the story of a young woman who lacks the money to continue her high social position. As in so many stories by Edith Wharton, the main character does not control what happens to her. She is a victim who is defeated by forces she does not fight to overcome. This idea is central to much of Edith Wharton's best writing. The old families of New York are in conflict with the newly rich families. The major people in the stories are trapped in a hopeless struggle with social forces more powerful than they. And they struggle against people whose beliefs and actions are not as moral as theirs.
This is the situation in one of Wharton's most popular books, "Ethan Frome," published in nineteen eleven. Unlike her other novels, it is set on a farm in the northeastern state of Massachusetts. It is the story of a man and woman whose lives are controlled, and finally destroyed, by custom. They are the victims of society. They die honorably instead of fighting back. If they were to reject custom, however, they would not be the people they are. And they would not mean as much to each other.
In nineteen thirteen, Wharton's marriage ended. It was the same year that she published another novel that was highly praised, "The Custom of the Country." In it she discusses the effects of new wealth in the late nineteenth century on a beautiful young woman.
Most critics agree that most of Edith Wharton's writing after nineteen thirteen is not as good as before that time. It was as if she needed the difficulties of her marriage to write well. Much of her best work seems to have been written under the pressure of great personal crisis. After her marriage ended, her work was not as sharp as her earlier writing.
In nineteen twenty, however, she produced "The Age of Innocence." Many critics think this is her best novel. In it she deals with the lack of honesty that lies behind the apparent innocence of the New York social world. A man and woman see their lives ruined because they have duties they cannot escape.
Edith Wharton received America's top writing award, the Pulitzer Prize, for "The Age of Innocence."? In nineteen ninety-three, the movie of "The Age of Innocence" created new interest in her work.
In the later years of her life, Wharton gave more and more of her time to an important group of diplomats, artists, and thinkers. Among her friends was the American writer Henry James. She liked James as a man and as a writer. She often used her car and driver to take him on short trips.
At one time, Henry James was hoping that his publisher would print a collection of his many novels and stories. Wharton knew of this wish. And she knew that the publisher thought he would lose money if he published such a collection. She wrote to the publisher. She agreed to secretly pay the publisher to print the collection of her friend's writings.
In nineteen thirty, the American National Institute of Arts and Letters gave Wharton a gold medal. She was the first woman to be so honored. Four years later she wrote the story of her life, "A Backward Glance." Edith Wharton died in nineteen thirty-seven at one of the two homes she owned in France.
重点解析
1.the beginning of...的开始
College is not only the beginning of a new path into education , it is also a path to life and dreams.
大学不仅仅是继续接受教育的一个新的起点，也是走向生活、实现梦想的一条康庄大道。
2.make up of由…组成
The medical team is make up of 5 doctors and 10 nurses.
这支医疗队是由5医生和10名护士组成的。
3.in conflict with和...冲突
But the interests of the various groups within the Knights were often in conflict with each other.
然而骑士团内部的不同集团之间经常发生利害冲突。
4.instead of代替；而不是
We should learn from him instead of laughing at him.
我们不应该嘲笑他，而是应当向他学习。
5.different from不同于
The Crystal Palace was different from all other buildings in the world, for it was made of iron and glass.
这座水晶宫不同于世界上所有的其他建筑，因为它是用钢和玻璃建成的。
6.is central to中心
Karnak Temple is central to religion in Egyptian society during the New Kingdom, and it plays an important part on politics, economy and civilization.
卡那克神庙是埃及新王国时期宗教活动的中心，而且在埃及政治、经济、文化中发挥着巨大的作用。
参考译文
我是菲比·齐默尔曼，我是道格·约翰逊。这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。每周我们都会讲述一位美国历史上重要的人物。今天，我们讲述作家伊迪丝·沃顿的故事。
一位评论家曾把美国作家伊迪丝·沃顿描述为一名“靠自己奋斗取得成功的人。”她喜欢这个评论，又把它重复了一遍。其他人则表示她是纽约市的一个产品。但她笔下的纽约与她之后的人笔下的纽约大不相同。
伊迪丝·沃顿于1862年出生于纽约市。那时的纽约是几个不同的城市。一种纽约是由以工作为生的人组成的。另一种要小得多。它是由非常富有的家庭组成的，这些人不需要工作。伊迪丝出生在富裕的纽约。
但是，那里有一个“正当的”富裕纽约和一个“不正当的”富裕纽约。在富人中，有些是从父母或祖父母那得到钱的人。还有一些是自己挣钱的人，他们是新富阶层。
伊迪丝的家庭是“正当的”富裕纽约人，就是继承祖辈财产的人。这类人不想改变他们的生活方式。这是没有很多自己想法的一类人。伊迪丝·沃顿就是在这类人中创造了自己。
像她这个年龄的很多女生一样，伊迪丝也写故事。在她的一个童年故事中，当另一个女人突然来访时，一个女人为没有一个干净的房子而道歉，伊迪丝的母亲读了这个故事。她唯一的评论是，一个人的房子总是干净的，随时准备迎接客人。伊迪丝的房子就是干净的。
伊迪丝在欧洲度过了自己的大部分童年。她没有上学，接受的是特教教师的教育。
如果伊迪丝的家庭担心什么东西的话，那就是剧烈的社会、文化和经济变化。然而，这些都是伊迪丝在她的一生中都会遇到的事情。
美国内战于1865年结束，这标志着美国开始发生巨大变化。这个以农业为主的国家正在变成工业国家。商人和工人日益获得政治和经济权力。
伊迪丝·沃顿比大多数人更快地看到了这些变化。她拒绝了他们。对她来说，旧日美国是新的美国的受害者。她不喜欢金钱的新价值观取代家庭的旧价值观。
1885年，伊迪丝嫁给了爱德华·沃顿，她和丈夫的社会地位相当。他们在一起生活了28年。但是，这是一份没有很多爱的婚姻。
1913年，她想结束自己的婚姻。她很久之前就想这么做了。一位评论家称，这象征着她与家庭观念和传统的联系。
一些评论家表示，伊迪丝·沃顿开始写作是因为她发现自己的社交圈子很无趣。其他人则表示，她是因为丈夫生病、自己需要做一些事情而开始写作的。
事实是，沃顿小时候就认为自己是一名作家。写作给她一种摆脱社会阶级限制的自由感。
写作只是她做的一些列事情之一。她做的都很好。她对设计和照料花园很感兴趣。她自己的房子就是她设计的。她过着国际化的社交生活，留下了大量信件。
在她的一生中，她出版了大约50本关于许多主题的书。
许多评论家认为伊迪丝·沃顿应该写她的社交圈的故事。然而，要做到这一点，她必须把自己从人群中移开才能看清楚。她做不到这一点，即使在智力上。她所受的教育和她的传统使这成为不可能。
伊迪丝·沃顿写作的主题变成了在一个不诚实的世界里年轻而无辜的故事。她没有把自己的作品和自己的生活联系起来。她所拥有的是一种能力，能够坦率地表达在那之前一直被隐藏的情感。
她也是第一批意识到世界是个罪恶的地方的美国女作家之一。“生活是最悲伤的事情，”她写道，“它仅次于死亡。”
为了证明她能做的不仅仅是写故事，她和奥格登·科德曼一起写了一本书《房子的装饰》。这本书非常成功。大约在同一时间，她的诗歌和故事也开始在斯克里布纳的杂志上发表。
在1899年，她的短篇小说集《更大的倾向》问世。它立即获得了成功。她在伦敦时，参观了一家书店。店主不知道她是谁，把书递给了她。他对她说：“这就是现在伦敦每个人都在谈论的事情。
三年后，她的第一部小说《决策谷》出版。三年后，她出版了她的第一部畅销小说《欢乐之家》。
《欢乐之家》讲述的是一个没有钱维持自己高社会地位的年轻女子的故事。正如伊迪丝·沃顿写的许多故事一样，在这本书里，主人公无法控制自己的命运。她是一个受害者，被她无法战胜的力量打败。这是伊迪丝·沃顿的很多畅销书的核心思想。纽约的古老世家和新的富裕家庭产生了冲突。在这些故事中，主要人物被困在一场无望的斗争中，他们要与比他们更强大的社会力量作斗争。他们与那些信仰和行为不如他们道德的人作斗争。
这是沃顿最受欢迎的书之一《伊桑弗洛姆》中的情况，此书出版于1911年。不像她其他的小说，《伊桑弗洛姆》的故事发生在美国东北部马萨诸塞州的一个农场。这是一个男人和女人的故事，他们的生活被习俗控制了，最终被摧毁。他们是社会的受害者。他们体面地死去了，而没有进行反击。然而，如果他们拒绝习俗的话，他们就不会是现在的自己。他们对彼此也不会那么重要。
1913年，沃顿的婚姻结束了。同年，她又出版了另一本广受好评的小说《乡村风俗》。在这本书中，她讨论了19世纪末新财富对一位漂亮年轻女性的影响。
大多数评论家一致认为，伊迪丝·沃顿在1913年以后的大多数作品都不如之前好。似乎她需要经历婚姻的艰难才能写出好作品。她很多的好作品似乎都是在巨大的个人危机压力之下完成的。在婚姻结束后，她的作品不像之前的那样锐利了。
但是，在1920年，她出版了小说《纯真年代》。很多评论家都认为这是她最好的小说。在这本书中，她讲述了纽约社交圈表面上的纯真背后所隐藏的缺乏诚实的问题的故事。一个男人和女人的生活被摧毁了，因为他们有无法逃避的责任。
伊迪丝·沃顿因《纯真年代》获得了美国最高写作奖项，普利策奖。1993年，《纯真年代》电影的问世使人们对她的作品有了新的兴趣。
在晚年的时候，沃顿把时间更多的花在一个重要的由外交官、艺术家和思想家组成的群体上。伊迪丝其中一个朋友是美国作家亨利·詹姆斯。作为一个男人和作家，她喜欢詹姆斯。她经常用她的汽车和司机带他短途旅行。
曾经，亨利·詹姆斯希望他的出版商能出版他的许多小说和故事的合集。沃顿知道他这个愿望。她也知道，出版商觉得出版这么一个合集会赔钱。于是她给这名出版商写信。她同意秘密付钱给出版商印刷她朋友的作品集。
1930年，美国国家艺术与文学学院授予沃顿一枚金牌。她是首次获此殊荣的女性。四年后，沃顿写作了她生活的故事《回首往事》。伊迪丝·沃顿于1937年在她在法国拥有的两所房子中的一所去世。
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