听力文本

I'm Shirley Griffith. And I'm Steve Ember with the Special English Program, PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Every week, we tell about a person who played an important part in the history and culture of the United States. Today, we tell about the writer Dorothy West.
Dorothy West's first long book was published when she was more than forty years old. Her second book was published when she was in her late eighties.
Yet African American poet Langston Hughes called her "The Kid." This means a child. Dorothy West had been one of the youngest members of the group of writers and artists of the Harlem Renaissance. This was a creative period for African Americans during the nineteen twenties and nineteen thirties.
During and after World War One, thousands of southern blacks moved to northern cities in the United States. They were seeking jobs and better lives. Many settled in an area of New York City known as Harlem. Many were musicians, writers, artists and performers. Harlem became the largest African American community in the United States.
The mass movement from south to north led African Americans to examine their lives: Who were they? What were their rights as Americans? The artistic expression of this collective examination became known as the Harlem Renaissance. Renaissance means re-birth. The Harlem Renaissance represented a re-birth of black people as an effective part of American life.
Dorothy West helped influence the direction and form of African American writing during this time.
Dorothy West was born in nineteen-oh-seven in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. Both her parents were born in the southern United States and moved north. Her father was a former slave. He became the first African American to own a food-selling company in Boston.
The family became part of the black upper middle class social group of Boston. Dorothy West had private teachers, dancing classes, and holidays on Martha's Vineyard -- an island off the coast of Massachusetts. She studied at Boston University and the Columbia University School of Journalism in New York. Later, she would use her own experiences and observations to write about social class in the black community.
Dorothy West started writing stories at age seven. When she was fourteen, she published her first story in the "Boston Post." After that, she wrote often for that newspaper. In nineteen twenty-six, she won second place in a short story contest by Opportunity magazine. Her story was called "The Typewriter." It describes an African American man who hates his real life. He creates a better life for himself -- in his imagination -- in order to help his daughter improve her typing skills.
Dorothy West won second place in the competition with Zora Neale Hurston. Hurston was another famous writer of the Harlem Renaissance. West moved to Harlem, too. She was considered a little sister by Hurston and other writers and poets such as Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Wallace Thurman.
Members of the Harlem Renaissance group were very serious about their art. West once told a reporter that they all thought they were going to be the greatest writers in the world.
During this time, Dorothy West wrote a number of short stories. They were published in magazines in and around New York. One story was called "Funeral." Another was called "The Black Dress."
She once said the writer whose work she liked most was the Russian, Fyodor Dostoevsky. Experts say some of her work is similar to his. Like Dostoevsky, she wrote about the idea of being saved by suffering. She wrote about unsatisfied people who feel trapped by their environment, or by racism, or because they are female or male.
In nineteen thirty-two, Dorothy West went to Russia with a group of black intellectuals and artists. They went to make a film about racism in the United States. The film, "Black and White," was never completed. West remained in Russia for about a year. It appears she did not stay for political reasons, however. She said she went to Russia with Langston Hughes and the others because she liked them. She returned to the United States when her father died.
By the middle of the nineteen thirties, the Harlem Renaissance was dying out. Dorothy West wanted to re-capture the creativity of the period. So she created a magazine called Challenge.
She edited and published the works of new, young African American writers. The magazine lasted only three years. West did not have enough money to continue producing it. She also said she did not receive enough writing of a high quality.
The magazine was criticized by a group of black writers. They included Richard Wright, author of the book "Native Son," and Margaret Walker. They said the magazine was too concerned with artistic values. They felt it should deal with political issues.
In nineteen thirty-seven, Dorothy West created another magazine called New Challenge. She asked Richard Wright to help her, even though he had criticized her earlier magazine.
The two writers disagreed on a number of issues, however. Also, West again had financial difficulties producing the magazine. So New Challenge was published only once. Yet that one publication was very important. It included a document by Wright called "Blueprint for Negro Writing." That was a statement about what he believed African Americans should write about. New Challenge was the first publication to bring together black art and politics. Other magazines would follow its example.
In the late nineteen forties, Dorothy West left New York. She moved to her family's holiday house on Martha's Vineyard island. She lived there for the rest of her life.
In nineteen forty-eight, she published her first book, "The Living Is Easy." It is partly based on her life and on her mother. It is about a light-skinned black woman named Cleo Johnson. She wishes that her dark-skinned daughter were more like her. She treats her husband badly because he is from a lower social class. The book describes black middle class values in Boston. Many critics liked the book and its message about racism against blacks and within the black community.
"The Living is Easy" was published again by the Feminist Press in nineteen eighty-two. Critics at that time described the book as important because it showed the position of women in the family and in life. The book also is valued for its description of the complex relationship between a mother and a daughter. "The Living Is Easy" is now recognized as having an important influence on the writing tradition of African American women.
After her first novel, Dorothy West continued writing stories and short pieces containing her ideas on different subjects. Her second novel was published forty-seven years later, in nineteen ninety-five. It is called "The Wedding."
The story takes place in the black community of Martha's Vineyard during the nineteen fifties. It is about a rich young black woman who is to marry a white jazz musician. It deals with class and color issues between blacks, and racial issues between blacks and whites. West believed that different races should not be separated from each other. She also believed in love.
She began the book in the nineteen sixties. But she stopped writing it when the Black Power political movement grew strong. She thought members of the group would denounce it. She was not active in the civil rights movement to guarantee fair treatment for black Americans.
In nineteen ninety-two, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis began to visit Dorothy West to help her finish "The Wedding." Missus Onassis was married to American President John Kennedy when he was killed in nineteen sixty-three. Later, she worked for a publishing company. She died just before "The Wedding" was published. Dorothy West noted that the two women looked very different but had worked together perfectly.
The book was so popular that its publishers produced another one by Dorothy West. "The Richer, The Poorer" is a collection of stories and other writings she made throughout her life.
Dorothy West was the last living member of the Harlem Renaissance. She died in August, nineteen ninety-eight. She was ninety-one years old. Not long before she died, she was honored at a special ceremony. Many different people praised her work. They described her influence on American culture over so many years. One said simply that Dorothy West was a "national gift."

重点解析

1.in order to为了

But in order to do this, we have to decide what our priorities are.
但是为了能够做这些，我们必须决定我们的优先次序w#r+Cti=sx%g。

2.die out灭绝；消失

Many animals would lose their homes and maybe die out.
许多动物将会失去家园，并且可能灭绝0es#iqY~LgJ。

3.concerned with关心；涉及

Today we're going to talk about the two big ones that people are usually concerned with: carbohydrates and fat.
今天我们将讨论人们关心的两个大问题,碳水化合物和脂肪

4.deal with处理；涉及

As the school student, how will you deal with this issue?
作为学校的学生， 应如何处理和解决这个问题？

5.bring together集合；聚集

The aim of the meeting is to bring together people from many different cultures.
这次会议的目的就是将许多文化背景各异的人聚在一起qXykiOQ3=JEp。

6.similar to相似

You should end up with something similar to what I have below.
操作结束后，你应该会得到与下图相似的结果zRfj(pt4Scm.]3K8M^。

参考译文

我是雪莉·格里菲斯，我是史蒂夫·恩贝尔qjSI(oK%(60QE!。这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》XPa8T#k=@b;sjJeR)yq。每周我们都会讲述一位美国历史和文化上重要的人物的故事mP.7D5f0I;=mN7。今天我们讲述作家多罗西·韦斯特的故事m)NhRZe.,YdQO。
多萝西·韦斯特的第一本长篇小说是在她四十多岁的时候出版的;3(N3=77bgP9c]Vi。她的第二本书是在她90岁的时候出版的;8)eYOtYN9_k。然而，非裔美国诗人兰斯顿·休斯称她为“孩子”EiZt^!o_(z0DHlvjD。它的意思是一个孩子gKFvpaZ5Y*|,KBgq^。多萝西·韦斯特是哈莱姆文艺复兴时期最年轻的作家和艺术家之一90-|J4z8o^。哈莱姆文艺复兴时期是20世纪二三十年代非裔美国人很有创造力的一个时期!BGs;_S9RW&FT。
在一战期间和一战后，数以千计的南方黑人搬到了美国的北方城市7b2w|4E6,BO2]VpW38。他们是为了寻找工作和更好的生活IAbA9k9^7NE。很多人定居在纽约市的一个叫哈莱姆的地方TP_7L|KR-3m|+,mP1t%。他们中很多人是音乐家，作家，艺术家和表演者%|1+g9YmWjdv)7CB。哈莱姆成为了美国最大的非裔美国人社区40,6v-,ugO。
从南方到北方的大规模运动促使非裔美国人审视他们的生活：他们是谁？作为美国人，他们有什么权利？这种集体审视的艺术表现形式被称为哈莱姆文艺复兴Kz-uv-oL33*Ym2。文艺复兴意味着重生b9MMbPW0U85。哈莱姆文艺复兴代表了黑人的重生，它是美国生活的一个有效组成部分Clo&^X!g9VETYHHC#。
多萝西·韦斯特在这一时期影响了非裔美国人写作的方向和形式N=RgI@^k_Gs;g%iE。
多萝西·韦斯特于1907年出生在马萨诸塞州的波士顿市5iykq0Z1*nIq88-3Z。她的父母都出生在美国南部，后来搬到了北部KI=%ACdyS;Q。她的父亲以前是一名奴隶OUv3=VbVW..。他成为了波士顿首位拥有一家食品销售公司的非裔美国人q7sk98uTPqE7。
这个家庭成为波士顿黑人上层中产阶级社会群体的一部分REBObOi&1k@VwEywDT。多萝西·韦斯特有私人教师、舞蹈班，还在马萨诸塞州海岸外的玛莎葡萄园岛度假J2;S0rrYS^^BDp+8B。她曾就读于波士顿大学和纽约哥伦比亚大学新闻学院qnIK7k;KSt4s7Nt。后来，她将利用自己的经验和观察来描述黑人社区的社会阶级lDvNh5z4G_。
多萝西·韦斯特7岁的时候就开始写故事z1%,q9G]e!(YA。她14时在《波士顿邮报》发表了自己的第一篇故事@@ovcsRPXk*@。之后，她经常为这家报纸写作[oMjXM5V_ci%q.S6z。1926年，她在由《机会》杂志举办的短篇小说竞赛中赢得了第二名*hgjuI[.mb&5%Xsx|7.。她的小说叫做《打字员》@_d1WE1uKA。它描述了一位恨自己现实生活的非裔美国人xSCR31I2nT(s。为了帮助女儿提高打字技能，他在自己的想象中为自己创造了更好的生活LU[I![JK@XKEhL)。
多萝西·韦斯特在与佐拉·尼尔·赫斯顿的比赛中获得第二名2bfTO*VPvX_5LkIc=z。赫斯顿是另外一名哈莱姆文艺复兴时期著名的作家Xpkn8;(MezB|ANcah。韦斯特也搬到了哈莱姆^&uIZza1;m=w;SWh|%e%。赫斯顿和其他作家、诗人，如兰斯顿·休斯、康提·卡伦和华莱士·瑟曼，都认为她是一个小妹妹tj(qUCC%TCQG&f。
哈莱姆文艺复兴的成员对待他们的艺术非常严肃mpmjMhQJ[s~&。韦斯特曾对一个记者说，他们都认为他们将成为世界上最伟大的作家=QIo[xOL)8w。
在那段时间，多萝西·韦斯特写了一些短篇小说J36wirSIN]a^HUV)。它们刊登在纽约内外的一些杂志I2wfKV7;qR&x4v。其中一个故事叫做《葬礼》7Btp@2*w+,hAS+q0CsGS。另外一个叫做《黑裙子》hY]HwY=A0_GLl&umU~gS。
她曾经说过，她最喜欢俄罗斯作家费奥多尔·陀思妥耶夫斯基的作品Rr];Auq;3ke!bWd)RN.J。专家说她的一些作品和他的相似K%|-8QVnpT=。和陀思妥耶夫斯基一样，她也写过通过受苦来得救的思想L_8=j5,DjZO=+ENGD。她写作那些感觉受环境所困、或受种族主义所困、或因为他们是女人或男人所困的不满足的人的故事R5;N,6kUtJu。
1932年，多萝西·韦斯特和一群黑色皮肤的知识分子和艺术家一块去了俄罗斯f=hm]Ar[-KQJF。他们去制作一部关于美国种族主义的电影497HlXLjqKpKkS0O。这部电影《黑人和白人》从没有被完成pKeLBP_rKD;0,Hd8NUtq。韦斯特在俄罗斯待了一年NR^_h6KrUIQk。但是她似乎并不是因政治原因留下的iVsb4_O23NIfUc)5C。她说她和兰斯顿·休斯以及其他人一起去了俄罗斯，因为她喜欢他们R0|Kr3aTWSp。父亲去世后，她回到了美国vISYTWQnYT[n(LzYP])n。
20世纪30年代中期哈莱姆文艺复兴正在消亡^*s*,3KRrG。多萝西·韦斯特想要重新捕捉那个时代的创造力)f!J_y&Q8X。于是她创办了一本名为《挑战》的杂志|osU-kJimv6Pi5R@W,pZ。
她编辑并出版了年轻的非裔美国作家的作品FHyx=k54;;.mqTgLjy*。这本杂志只出版了三年EC*J0Pl9=1;AHv(D。韦斯特没有足够的资金继续出版_GN)G)gg7!zFP5.8。她还说，她没有收到足够高质量的作品IhH#pC%m+sR!&nUt]K)。
该杂志受到了一群黑人作家的批评~6*IFsdJslA[C,U@AF。其中包括《土生子》的作者理查德·赖特，还有玛格丽特·沃克u(WcU1&4]w。他们认为杂志过于关注美学价值Td,GVD))4haE9NC#v+oz。他们认为它应该处理政治问题dcA*dm]6T%Y&#。
1937年，多萝西·韦斯特创办了另一本名为《新挑战》的杂志Hn0wqqH%yamh。她请理查德·赖特帮助她，尽管他之前批评过她的杂志gG=DT9+Hlgzq)j5。
然而，这两位作家在许多问题上意见不一致4ojqyQQZdAeoXw%+_。而且，韦斯特再一次出现了出版杂志的经济困难xM(r00HIzx@D9^@sbh。所以《新挑战》杂志只出版过一次@|cjaB;Gl[z2o2)Pb,dU。但是那一次的出版非常重要LD_UoV3A_2j(dC。其中包括赖特的一份名为《黑人写作蓝图》的文件PzF[q=_P|!l8~z@e1l8U。那是一份关于他认为黑人应该写作什么内容的声明@X2UYkJ_XIHd5yE.。《新挑战》是首本将黑人艺术和政治联系在一起的出版物0|9u5(%&4%9aF。其它杂志以它为榜样+iTN;-d[RWy^!&p~c。
在20世纪40年代晚期，多萝西·韦斯特离开了纽约Xk#!0NOcxWn+vg。她搬到了她家在玛莎葡萄园岛的度假屋6%a1,1SUyDB。她在那里度过了余生@ixg=S.X@Ns-。
1948年，她出版了她的第一本书《生活很容易》6i-Bz8GkhG。这本书部分是基于她的生活和她的母亲hf+PSv[ANoRJ。故事讲的是一个名叫克莱奥·约翰逊的浅肤色黑人女性RnZkQUlV_gcsnTNEg^Vv。她希望她黑皮肤的女儿更像她r4aiEYHboE@Mj3i+n+。她对她丈夫不好，因为他来自低社会阶级E7f!~@l|O;rtpvEI)j6。这本书描述了波士顿的黑人中产阶级的价值观HK@a%^sX9m。很多评论家喜欢这本书，喜欢它的关于针对黑人和黑人社区的种族主义NtZu0IQ6cOxF+#1C。
1982年，《生活很容易》由女权主义出版社再次出版jHT!9C__nkQwHg.[|。当时的评论家表示这本书很重要，因为它展现了女性在家庭和生活中的地位.E16RODdImd1=x。这本书对母女之间复杂关系的描述也很有价值OfQ78Iuse~)vZ~s。《生活很容易》现在被认为对非裔美国女性的写作传统有着重要的影响~*0^EYoRmL^。
在她的第一部小说之后，多萝西·韦斯特继续写故事和短篇，其中包含了她对不同话题的想法Gi%byBiF.M(es。她的第二本小说出版于47年后的1995年K9E+hk~r7l6v_s|XOD。书名为《婚礼》zOu[&[[yY5!CP)|I8gpz。
故事发生在20世纪50年代玛莎葡萄园岛的黑人社区KFSC*PgC9d_XH。这是一个富有的年轻黑人女子嫁给一个白人爵士音乐家的故事JxT,cY~OtQK_X!hd6!。它涉及了黑人之间的阶级和肤色问题，以及黑人和白人之间的种族问题XkGtB,BO]ebUYJtXV。韦斯特认为不同的种族不应该彼此分离EqBa[u(SL2X。她也相信爱情TBOg%6fmT7A^~。
她在二十世纪六十年代开始写这本书va+8ixxTIo5w。但当黑人权力政治运动发展壮大时，她停止了写作PyU.9cNo|TDisJTeq)KA。她认为团体的成员会谴责它RSh5sZtwcq2K22SdO|。她没有积极参与确保美国黑人得到公平对待的民权运动nAsQ.2^p]vZ。
1992年，杰奎琳·肯尼迪·奥纳西斯开始拜访多萝西·韦斯特，帮助她完成《婚礼》3y]8~QBc#!et@f2=%。奥纳西斯夫人嫁给了美国总统约翰·肯尼迪，当时肯尼迪于1963年遇刺身亡69yxZyzKYq|E2.__8SJI。后来，她为一家出版社工作sp.W8eY4.W08bG*J|y。就在《婚礼》出版之前，她去世了nu@otUhAt!,ea。多萝西·韦斯特注意到，这两个女人看起来很不一样，但在一起工作得很完美d&wsKzrnIzy6m。
这本书太受欢迎了，它的出版商出版了另一本多萝西·韦斯特的作品3Vmp65OzZ&)9N(mXdAKJ。《愈富愈穷》是她一生中写作的故事和其他作品的合集a.axIK&O*%QI7=NaK4。
多萝西·韦斯特是最后一名在世的哈莱姆文艺复兴成员w+,1!lX=VoEEyEP&3fS。她于1998年8月去世4CmLIifT@iJfcIf-#。享年91岁)Fht.Q(PC[%bH(N#zc3P。在去世不久前，她在一次特殊的仪式上受到致敬^(w11-g-Y0#krdk,2)A。很多不同的人赞扬了她的作品UMzIfj,slOf8CL8DGox。他们表达了多年来她对美国文化的影响yhF~vZYxOepo。一人简单地说道，多萝西·韦斯特是“国家的礼物”Z*|,^pkzEr_7zvMY#*。

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