(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
This is Phoebe Zimmermann. And this is Steve Ember with People in America in VOA Special English. Today we tell about Shel Silverstein. He was a poet, writer, composer, singer, musician and artist.
Shel Silverstein wrote hundreds of poems and published many books. He is most famous as a writer of books for children. He won several awards for his children's books. But he also wrote many stories and created many drawings for adults.
Shel Silverstein was born in Chicago, Illinois in nineteen thirty. His birth name was Sheldon Allan Silverstein. Sometimes he called himself Uncle Shelby. He never planned to write children's books. Still, he is most famous for writing them.
Shel Silverstein once told a reporter that when he was growing up, he wanted to be a good baseball player. He also said he wanted to be popular with girls. But he could not play baseball, and girls did not like him. So he started to draw and write. Shel Silverstein said he developed his own way of writing. By the time girls were interested in him, he found that work was more important.
Shel Silverstein served in the United States Army in the early nineteen fifties. He worked as an artist for the American military newspaper, Pacific Stars and Stripes. He wrote his first book in nineteen fifty-five. "Take Ten" was about life in the army, and included drawings.
After leaving the army, he worked for Playboy magazine for almost twenty years. He wrote stories and drew funny pictures for the publication.
Shel Silverstein was also a musician. He released his first album in nineteen fifty-nine. It is called "Hairy Jazz." He began writing folk music in the nineteen sixties. Famous artists have recorded his songs. The Irish Rovers, Johnny Cash, and Loretta Lynn have sung his songs. Ten years later, he released "A Boy Named Sue and His Other Country Songs." The most famous song from the album is called "A Boy Named Sue." It is about a boy whose father gave him a name usually given to girls. Johnny Cash made the song famous.
Shel Silverstein is best known for his books for children. However, people of all ages like his poems and stories. He published his first children's book in nineteen sixty-three. It is called "Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back." It is about a lion that eats hunters and lives like a human. The lion has to make some important decisions.
One year later, Shel Silverstein published what may be his most popular book. It is called "The Giving Tree." This story is about a boy and a tree that loved him. The tree gives the boy everything until it can give no more. Both adults and children have enjoyed reading this book. This book is still very popular today. It has sold more than five million copies. Listen as Faith Lapidus reads from the beginning of "The Giving Tree."
There was once a great apple tree and a little boy. They would spend hours and hours together. The boy would play in the tree's branches, sleep at her roots and eat of her apples. And the tree loved the boy.
One day, the boy came to the tree. The tree was delighted and beckoned, 'Come and play!' But the boy was no longer a boy; he was now a young man, and he was interested in making a living, but he didn't know how.
'Here,' the tree said, 'take my apples and sell them.' The young man did just that, and the tree was happy.
In the nineteen seventies, Shel Silverstein produced music for several movies. His first movie soundtrack was for the film "Ned Kelly." It is based on a true story about a famous Australian criminal. Here is a song from the album. It is called "Ned Kelly."
Shel Silverstein is also famous for his poetry. His first children's poetry book was "Where the Sidewalk Ends." It was published in nineteen seventy-four. It contains more than one hundred poems, and many drawings. The poems and drawings are creative, funny and wise. In the book, readers meet a boy who turns into a television set. They meet a girl who eats a whale.
Imaginary creatures like the Unicorn and the Bloath live there. So does a girl called Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout who will not take the garbage out. "Where the Sidewalk Ends" is a place where you can wash your shadow. You can plant a garden of diamonds. It is a place where shoes can fly. And a crocodile goes to the dentist because his tooth hurts.
Shel Silverstein's second children's poetry book is called "A Light in the Attic." It also contains many funny poems and drawings. This book was so popular that it was on the New York Times newspaper's list of best-selling books for more than three years.
In the nineteen eighties, Shel Silverstein began writing plays. He wrote about twenty of them. His first play is called "The Lady or the Tiger Show." It is a funny play about a game show. The game show player has to choose between two doors. Behind one door is a beautiful woman, and behind the other door is a tiger.
Shel Silverstein died of heart failure in nineteen ninety-nine. He was sixty-eight years old. Some of his works were released after his death. Shel Silverstein once said: "I would hope that people, no matter what age, would find something to identify with in my books." He hoped people would "experience a personal sense of discovery."
Shel Silverstein once said that he wanted to go everywhere, look at and listen to everything. He said people could go crazy with the wonderful things in life. And he communicated this in all of his writings, drawings and songs. We leave you now with a song by Shel Silverstein that was a huge hit around the world. The Irish Rovers sing "The "Unicorn."
重点解析
1.Famous for因...闻名
Famous for playing dizzy blondes, this time she has been given a more meaty role.
尽管她以扮演头脑简单的金发女郎著称，这一次她却得到了一个人物形象更丰满的角色。
2.popular with喜爱；流行
His engaging personality made him popular with his peers.
他迷人的个性使他深受同龄人的喜爱。
3.no longer不再
After about three months, I was no longer addicted to nicotine.
大约3个月后，我就不再对尼古丁上瘾了。
4.making a living谋生
Today he does not have to worry about making a living.
现在他不用为生活发愁了。
5.based on基于
The study was based on data from 2,100 women
这项研究基于从2,100名女性那里收集来的资料。
6.turn into变成
I think I have got to stop or I might turn into a machine
我想我得停下来了，否则我就会变成一台机器。
参考译文
我是菲比·齐默尔曼，我是史蒂夫·恩贝尔。这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。今天我们讲述谢尔·希尔弗斯坦的故事。他是一位诗人，作家，作曲家，歌手，音乐家和艺术家。
谢尔·希尔弗斯坦写作了成百上千诗歌，出版了很多书。他最著名的是写作儿童书籍。他凭借自己的儿童书籍获得了一些奖项。但是他也为成人写作了很多故事，创作了很多画作。
谢尔·希尔弗斯坦于1930年出生在伊利诺斯州的芝加哥。他出生时名为谢尔登·艾伦·西尔弗斯坦。有时他称自己为谢尔比大叔。他从未计划写作儿童书籍。尽管如此，他最出名的还是他的儿童作品。
谢尔·希尔弗斯坦曾告诉一个记者，当他长大的时候，他想成为一个优秀的棒球运动员。他还说他想要受到女孩们的欢迎。但是他不会打棒球，女孩子们也不喜欢他。于是他开始画画和写作。谢尔·西尔弗斯坦说，他发展了自己的写作方式。到姑娘们对他感兴趣的时候，他发现工作更加重要。
谢尔·希尔弗斯坦在20世纪50年代早期在美国陆军服役。他是美国军事报纸《太平洋星条旗报》的艺术家。他在1955年写了他的第一本书。《小憩》讲述的是在军队里的生活，其中包括绘画。
离开军队后，谢尔为花花公子杂志工作了将近20年。他为这个刊物写作故事和画有趣的图片。
谢尔·希尔弗斯坦也是一位音乐家。他于1959年发行了自己的第一张专辑。专辑名为《毛茸爵士》。他于20世纪60年代开始写作民谣。著名的音乐家录制了他的歌曲。爱尔兰漫游者、约翰尼·卡什和洛蕾塔·林恩都唱过他的歌。十年后，他发行了《一个叫苏的男孩和他的其他乡村歌曲》。专辑中最著名的歌曲是《一个叫苏的男孩》。歌曲是关于一个男孩的故事，他的父亲给他取了一个通常给女孩取的名字。约翰尼·卡什使这首歌出名。
谢尔·西尔弗斯坦最著名的作品是儿童读物。然而，各个年龄段的人都喜欢他的诗歌和故事。他于1963年出版了自己的首本儿童书籍。书名为《反击的狮子拉夫卡迪奥》。这是关于一只狮子的故事，它吃猎人，像人一样生活。狮子必须做出一些重要的决定。
一年后，谢尔·西尔弗斯坦出版了可能是他最受欢迎的书。此书名为《给予之树》。这个故事是关于一个男孩和一棵爱他的树。树给了男孩一切，直到它不能再给了。成年人和孩子都喜欢读这本书。这本书今天仍然很受欢迎。这本书的销量超过了500万本。下面是费丝·拉皮德斯阅读的《给予之树》的开头。
从前有一棵大苹果树和一个小男孩。他们会花很多时间在一起。这个男孩会在树的枝头玩耍，在树根处睡觉，吃她的苹果。这棵树爱这个男孩。
一天，男孩来到了树这里。树非常高兴，向男孩示意，“来玩耍吧！”但是男孩不再是男孩了；他现在是一个年轻人了，他感兴趣的是谋生，但是他不知道要怎么做。
树说，“这里，拿走我的果实，把它们卖掉。”年轻人照做了，树非常开心。
在20世纪70年代，谢尔·西尔弗斯坦为几部电影创作了音乐。他的第一张电影原声带是为电影《奈德·凯利》配乐的。电影是根据一个关于澳大利亚著名罪犯的真实故事改编的。这是专辑里的一首歌。它叫“内德·凯利”。
谢尔·西尔弗斯坦也因他的诗歌而著名。他的第一部儿童诗歌作品是《人行道的尽头》。它出版于1974年。书中包含了超过100首诗，还有很多绘画。书中的诗歌和绘画都很有创造性，有趣，睿智。在书中，读者遇到了一个变成计算机的男孩。他们遇到了一个吃掉鲸鱼的女孩。
像独角兽和布罗斯这样的生物生活在这里。莎拉·辛西娅·西尔维亚·斯托特也生活在这里，她不把垃圾扔出去。《人行道的尽头》是一个你可以清洗你的影子的地方。你可以种植一个钻石花园。这是一个鞋子可以飞行的地方。鳄鱼会去看牙医，因为他的牙齿疼痛。
谢尔·西尔弗斯坦的第二本儿童诗歌作品是《阁楼上的光》。书中有很多有趣的诗和绘画。这本书如此受欢迎，以至于在《纽约时报》的畅销书排行榜上出现了三年多。
20世纪80年代，谢尔·西尔弗斯坦开始写作戏剧。他创作了有20部。他的第一部戏剧是《女士秀还是老虎秀》。这是一个关于游戏节目的有趣戏剧。游戏节目选手必须在两个门之间做出选择。一扇门的后面是美丽的女人，另一扇门的后面是一只老虎。
谢尔·西尔弗斯坦于1999年死于心力衰竭。享年六十八岁。在谢尔去世后，他的一些作品被发行了。谢尔·西尔弗斯坦曾表示，“我希望人们，无论年龄多大，都能在我的书中找到一些可以认同的东西。”他希望人们可以“体验一种个人的发现感。”
谢尔·西尔弗斯坦曾表示，他想去任何地方，去看、去倾听任何事情。他表示热门可以为生活中的美好事物疯狂。他的所有作品，绘画和歌曲都传达了这一点。我们以谢尔·西尔弗斯坦创作的在世界各地的大热歌曲结束今天的节目。这是由爱尔兰流浪者演唱的《独角兽》。
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