(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
And I'm Faith Lapidus with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English. Today, we tell about Roberto Clemente. He was one of the most honored baseball players in history. He became the first Latino baseball player to be included in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Most sports players are known for how great they play a game, or how many records they break. But Roberto Clemente was loved not only for his ability in sports, but also for the kind of person that he was.
Clemente was one of the first professional Latino baseball players in the United States. He became one of the best. He also worked to change the way baseball, and the country, treated racial minorities in the nineteen fifties and sixties. He stood up against racism and did not permit anyone to be treated differently in his presence.
Today's Latino baseball players say Roberto Clemente opened doors for them to reach their goals in a sport that had not always treated them equally.
Roberto Clemente Walker was born in nineteen thirty-four in Carolina, Puerto Rico. Roberto's family struggled financially. As a young boy, he helped his father, who worked on a sugar farm and also managed a store that sold food.
In school, Roberto was an excellent runner. He also won awards for throwing the javelin. But more than anything, he loved playing baseball. Puerto Rico's warm island climate made it easy for the young boy to play baseball all year. He had many skills. But his strongest quality was his powerful right arm that could throw a ball a great distance.
While in high school, Roberto signed a contract to play baseball for the Santurce Crabbers in the Puerto Rican winter league. At the age of eighteen, Roberto was already hitting a baseball better than many professional players in the United States.
This ability was recognized the following year. An official from the Brooklyn Dodgers team in New York City came to Puerto Rico looking for new, young players. The official, Al Campanis, was pleased with Roberto's skill. He offered to give him a ten thousand dollar gift to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
But Roberto was unable to join the major league team because he was still in high school. The young baseball player told Mister Campanis that he would join the Brooklyn team as soon as he finished school.
By the time he finished high school, Roberto had received several other offers from major league teams in the United States. One team offered him a thirty thousand dollar gift just to sign a contract agreement. Although Clemente had not signed a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers, he kept his word to the team. He refused the other offers and signed on to play for Brooklyn.
The Dodgers put Roberto Clemente on one of their minor league teams where young players often begin. But soon after his first season, the Pittsburgh Pirates took Clemente for their team. Clemente began playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates in nineteen fifty-five. At the time, Clemente was still learning to speak English.
In the nineteen fifties the United States was still very much divided between racial lines. Pittsburgh did not have a Latin American community at the time. Clemente, a black Puerto Rican, was shocked when he experienced racism in America.
In the spring, baseball players attended training camps in the southern state of Florida. Many eating-places in the South at that time did not serve black people. So the black players on the team were forced to ask their white teammates to buy food for them. The black players would then eat on the bus that drove them to the games.
Roberto Clemente had a very strong sense of self-worth. He would not let others treat him unequally. Clemente felt that having to ask his teammates for food was insulting. He later became a strong believer in the messages of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Junior. Clemente's work helping poor people, especially those in Puerto Rico, became a very important part of his life.
Roberto Clemente stood out among the other players on his team. He was a strong right fielder who quickly became known for his powerful throwing and near-perfect aim. Clemente had an unusual way of hitting the baseball. He stood farther away from the pitcher than most players, and used a heavier bat than most players. He was also known as a very aggressive hitter, swinging hard and fast at almost any ball.
The Pittsburgh Pirates did not do well the first few years Clemente played on the team. But by nineteen sixty, all that changed. That year, he played in the first of his twelve All-Star games. Every year, the best players from the National and American leagues compete in an All-Star game. That same year, Clemente helped his team beat the New York Yankees to win the World Series – the national baseball championship.
Clemente continued to improve. He had suffered for years from pain caused by an automobile accident. Yet even with his health problems Clemente rarely missed a game. By nineteen sixty-one, he was feeling better and it showed. He hit extremely well that year and won his first batting award.
Roberto Clemente was one of the best baseball players at the time. But he did not receive as much interest from the national media as other top players like Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays. Many people believe that was because he played for a team in a smaller city.
However, Clemente's popularity began to grow during the nineteen seventy-one World Series. The Pittsburgh Pirates won the series against the Baltimore Orioles. Clemente was voted the Most Valuable Player of that year's World Series. One sports writer later described Clemente's throwing, running and hitting during the World Series as close to the level of perfection.
Roberto Clemente was also a loving husband and father. He had married Vera Cristina Zabala in nineteen sixty-four. Together they had three sons. Clemente never forgot his Puerto Rican roots. He made sure all of his sons were born on the island.
During his eighteen years in the major leagues, Clemente won many awards and helped his team win two World Series championships. In nineteen seventy-two Clemente made his three thousandth hit in the last game of the regular season. At that time, no one knew that it would be his final baseball season.
During the winter of that year, Clemente returned to Puerto Rico with this family. He began to work on one of his long-time dreams– opening a sports center for the young people of San Juan.
Then, on December twenty-third, a major earthquake struck Managua, Nicaragua. Thousands of people were killed. Clemente quickly organized an aid effort to help thousands of homeless earthquake victims. But he was angered by reports from the area that the Nicaraguan government was not getting the supplies to the victims.
So Clemente paid for a small plane and a pilot to take supplies to Nicaragua. Clemente and four others were on that plane on December thirty-first, nineteen seventy-two. But the plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after take-off. Everyone on the plane was killed. Clemente's body was never found. He was thirty-eight years old.
The Baseball Writers Association of America held a special election. The usual five-year waiting period for entrance into the Baseball Hall of Fame was suspended. Soon after his death, Roberto Clemente became the first Latino player to be included in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The Pittsburgh Pirates also honored him in nineteen seventy-three. They removed Clemente's number – twenty-one – from their team. That meant no other player on the team could ever wear that number.
Roberto Clemente once said: "Anytime you have an opportunity to make things better and you don't, then you are wasting your time on Earth." Clemente truly lived, and died, by those words. Some experts have called him baseball's greatest hero.
重点解析
1.stand up against反对；抵抗
I hope that people could stand up against such a practice and start protecting.
我希望人们能站起来反对这样的做法，并开始保护。
2.make it easy使...变得容易
The thick, soft pads under its feet make it easy to walk on the sand.
骆驼脚掌下又厚又软的肉垫使它能轻易地行走在沙子上。
3.sign a contract签订合同
A client refused to sign a contract with us only because of my joke.
由于我开了个玩笑，客户拒绝跟我们签署合同了。
4.be pleased with对...满意
I think we have done that and we can be quite pleased with our performance - and the win, obviously.
我想我们就是那么做的，而且我们对自己的表现和赢得比赛都十分高兴。
5.stand out站出来；突出
His height makes him stand out in the crowd.
他这么高，使他在人群中显得很突出。
6.known for因...而闻名
He's one of the most famous scholars ever but he's not known for any single discovery.
他也是史上最著名的学者之一，但他不是因为某一项发现而名扬四海。
参考译文
我是费思·拉皮德斯，这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。今天我们讲述罗伯托·克莱门特的故事，他是历史上最受尊敬的棒球运动员之一。他成为首位入选棒球名人堂的拉丁裔男子棒球运动员。
大多数体育运动员都以他们的出色表现或他们打破了多少记录而闻名。但是罗伯托·克莱门特不仅因为他在体育方面的能力，而且因为他是一个怎样的人而受到爱戴。
克莱门特是美国第一批拉美裔职业棒球运动员之一。他成为了最好的之一。在20世纪五六十年代，他也努力改变棒球运动和这个国家对待少数族裔的方式。他反对种族歧视，不允许任何人在他面前受到不同的待遇。
今天的拉丁裔棒球运动员表示，罗伯托·克莱门特为他们在棒球运动中实现自己的目标打开了大门，这项运动并不总是平等对待他们。
罗伯托·克莱门特·沃克1934年出生于波多黎各的卡罗莱纳州。罗伯托的家庭经济困难。当他还是个小男孩的时候，他就帮他的父亲干活，他的父亲在一个糖厂工作，还经营着一家食品商店。
在学校里，罗伯托是一个优秀的赛跑运动员。他还因投掷标枪而获奖。但最重要的是，他喜欢打棒球。波多黎各温暖的岛屿气候使这个小男孩一年四季都很容易打棒球。他掌握了很多的技术。但是他最强的能力是，他的强有力的右臂可以把球扔到很远的距离。
高中的时候，罗伯托签了一份合同，为波多黎各冬季联赛的圣特尔斯克拉布尔斯队打棒球。18岁的时候，罗伯托的棒球打得已经比美国的许多职业球员都好。
他的能力在下一年得到了认可。纽约布鲁克林道奇队的一名官员来到波多黎各寻找新的年轻球员。这位名叫艾尔·坎帕尼斯的官员对罗伯托的球技感到满意。他提出给他一万美元的礼物，让他为布鲁克林道奇队效力。
但是罗伯托无法加入大联盟的球队，因为他还在上高中。这位年轻的棒球运动员告诉坎帕尼斯先生，他一毕业就加入布鲁克林道奇队。
高中毕业时，罗伯托已经收到了美国职业棒球大联盟其他几支球队的邀请。一个球队给了他3万美元的礼物，只是为了签一份合同协议。尽管克莱门特没有与布鲁克林道奇队签订合同，但他对球队信守了自己的诺言。他拒绝了其他球队的邀请，签约为布鲁克林队效力。
道奇队把罗伯托·克莱门特安排在他们的一支小联盟球队中，年轻球员经常在那里开始。但在他的第一个赛季后不久，匹兹堡海盗队就把克莱门特招进了他们的球队。克莱门特于1955年开始为匹兹堡海盗队打比赛。同时，克莱门特继续学习英语。
在20世纪50年代，美国仍然存在很大的种族分歧。匹兹堡当时没有拉美社区。克莱门特是一名波多黎各黑人，他在美国体验了种族歧视后感到非常震惊。
春天的时候，棒球运动员参加了南部佛罗里达州的训练营。当时南方的许多餐馆都不招待黑人。所以队里的黑人运动员被迫请他们的白人队友帮他们买食物。黑人运动员会在载他们去比赛的巴士上吃东西。
罗伯托·克莱门特有很强的自我价值感，他不让别人不公正地对待他。克莱门特觉得不得不请队友帮他们买食物是一种侮辱。她后来成为了民权运动领袖小马丁·路德·金的坚定信徒。帮助穷人，尤其是波多黎各的人，成为了克莱门特生活中非常重要的一部分。
罗伯托·克莱门特在他的球队中脱颖问出，他是一名很强的右外野手，他很快就因他的强力投掷和近乎完美的瞄准而闻名。克莱门特以一种不同寻常的方式击球。他比大多数运动员站的离投手更远，比大多数使用的球棒更重。他也被认为是一个非常有侵略性的击球手，几乎对任何球都挥得又快又猛。
在克莱门特为匹兹堡海盗队效力的前几年，球队的表现并不好。但是到了1960年，一切都变了。那一年，他参加了自己12次全明星赛中的第一次。每年，全美和美国联盟的最佳球员都会参加全明星赛。同年，克莱门特帮助他的球队击败了纽约洋基队，赢得了世界职业棒球大赛的冠军。
克莱门特继续在进步。多年来他一直忍受着车祸引起的疼痛。但是即使有着健康问题，克莱门特也很少缺席比赛。1961年，他感觉更好了，在比赛中也展现了出来。那一年，他击球特别棒，赢得了他的首次击球奖。
罗伯托·克莱门特是当时最棒的棒球运动员之一。但是，他不像其他像顶级选手米奇·曼托和威利·梅斯那样获得全国媒体很多的关注。很多人认为，这是因为他在一个小城市里打球。
然而，在1971年世界大赛中，克莱门特开始变得更加受欢迎。匹兹堡海盗队战胜了巴尔的摩金莺队赢得了冠军。克莱门特被选为当年世界大赛最有价值球员。一位体育作家后来表示，克莱门特在世界职业棒球大赛上的投球、跑动和击球都近乎完美。
罗伯特·克莱门特也是一位慈爱的丈夫和父亲。1964年，他与薇拉·克里斯蒂娜·扎巴拉结婚。他们一共生了三个儿子。克莱门特从未忘记他的波多黎各血统。他确保他所有的儿子都出生在岛上。
在职业棒球联盟的十八年生涯中，克莱门特赢得了很多奖项，并帮助自己的球队赢得了两次世界大赛的冠军。1972年，克莱门特在常规赛最后一场比赛中打出了他的第三千支安打。那时，没人知道这是他的最后一个棒球赛季。
那年冬天，克莱门特和他的家人回到了波多黎各。他开始为自己的一个长期梦想而努力——为圣胡安的年轻人开设一个体育中心。
12月23日，尼加拉瓜的马那瓜发生了大地震。数千人遇难。克莱门特迅速组织了一次救援行动，帮助成千上万无家可归的地震灾民。但他对该地区的报道感到愤怒，报道称尼加拉瓜政府没有向受害者提供物资。
于是克莱门特花钱雇了一架小型飞机和一名飞行员，把补给品运到尼加拉瓜。那是1972年12月31日，克莱门特和其他四人都在那架飞机上。但是飞机起飞后不久就坠入了大西洋。机上所有人都遇难了。克莱门特的尸体一直没有找到。他当时38岁。
美国棒球记者协会举行了一次特别选举。棒球名人堂通常的5年等待期被暂停。罗伯托·克莱门特去世不久，成为首位入选棒球名人堂的拉丁裔球员。
匹兹堡海盗队也于1973年授予他荣誉。他们把克莱门特的21号从他们的队伍中移除。这意味着球队没有其他球员能够使用这个号码。
罗伯托·克莱门特曾说道；“不论任何时候，如果你有机会使事情变得更好，而你没有做，那你就是在浪费在地球上的时间。”克莱门特确实是这样活的，也因此牺牲。一些专家称他为棒球界最伟大的英雄。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
