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VOA慢速英语2010年-PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Woody Guthrie,1912

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(单词翻译)

STEVE EMBER: And I’m Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program, PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Today, we complete our story about songwriter and singer Woody Guthrie.

(MUSIC)

MARY TILLOTSON: Woody Guthrie grew up in Oklahoma and Texas during the nineteen twenties. A short time later, many farms in these states failed. Extreme dry weather ruined the soil. This area became known as the Dust Bowl.

Like many people, Woody left for California to find work. However, many people could only find work on farms gathering1 fruit or other crops. These workers often lived in camps with poor conditions.

“This Land is Your Land” became his most famous song.

Woody visited these farm worker camps. He played his guitar and sang songs he wrote that described the conditions at the camp he was visiting.

STEVE EMBER: Labor2 union organizers in California found Woody Guthrie useful to their cause. They urged him to go to New York City to make recordings3 of his songs.

Woody liked the idea and left California for New York City in nineteen forty. There he met Alan Lomax, an expert on America’s traditional music. Lomax worked for the United States Library of Congress4 in Washington, D.C. He collected and recorded traditional American folk music. When he heard Woody sing, Lomax knew he had found a true singer of American folk music.

Woody Guthrie sang songs that described the conditions at farm worker camps.

MARY TILLOTSON: Alan Lomax recorded many of Woody’s songs for the Library of Congress. He also helped Woody find work in New York. One company agreed to record some of Woody’s songs. The record he made was called “Dust Bowl Ballads5.” The songs told stories of people who had lost their land. Many music critics praised Woody and the songs he wrote.

Lomax also helped Woody get a job with CBS Radio. He sang and played folk music on a radio program that was broadcast across the United States.

STEVE EMBER: Woody and several other musicians joined together to write political protest6 songs. One of these was Pete Seeger. Woody wrote performed with a group called the Almanac Singers. Later, some members of the group formed the folk singing group called the Weavers7.

It was during this time in New York that Woody wrote what became his most famous song, “This Land is Your Land.” He described the beauty and richness of America that he had seen during his travels. He believed America should be a place that belongs to rich and poor people alike8. The first version9 of his song expressed opposition10 to private property.

(MUSIC - "THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND")

MARY TILLOTSON: In nineteen forty-one, the Interior11 Department asked Woody Guthrie to write songs supporting the building of the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River in Washington state. He wrote twenty-six songs in a month. The best known of these is “Roll on Columbia.”

(MUSIC - "ROLL ON COLUMBIA")

STEVE EMBER: Woody Guthrie wrote a book about his early life in Oklahoma and Texas. It was published in nineteen forty-three. He called it “Bound for Glory.” He described his childhood, and the pain of watching his mother slowly becoming insane12. He also wrote about his travels and the needy13 people he saw in many parts of America. One book critic wrote: “Someday, people are going to wake up and realize that Woody Guthrie and his songs are a national treasure, like the Yellowstone or Yosemite parks.”

MARY TILLOTSON: During World War Two, Woody joined America’s Merchant Marine14. The Merchant Marine transported soldiers and supplies across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe. Later, Woody served in the Army. He returned to New York when the war ended.

Woody’s wife had left him a few years earlier. In nineteen forty-five, he married Marjorie Mazia. She was a dancer with the Martha Graham dance group. Woody and Marjorie had a daughter named Cathy Ann. In nineteen fifty, Woody began writing songs for children. These became very popular. Here is one called “Riding in My Car.” It shows his sense of fun and humor15.

(MUSIC - "RIDING IN MY CAR")

One of the first songs Woody Guthrie wrote was about fleeing his home in the Dust Bowl.

STEVE EMBER: One day, while Woody and Marjorie were away, a fire started in their house. Their daughter Cathy Ann was severely16 burned. She died the next day. Woody was crushed17 by her death. He remembered how his sister had died the same way. He was never the same after Cathy Ann died. He had trouble earning money. He began drinking alcohol18. Woody and Marjorie had several more children after Cathy Ann’s death. But their marriage ended.

Woody Guthrie began noting something strange about himself. He found that the words he wrote often did not make sense. And he had sudden attacks of uncontrollable shaking. In nineteen fifty-two, doctors confirmed his worst fears. He had Huntington’s Chorea, the same disease19 of the brain and nervous system that had killed his mother. Woody Guthrie was forty years old.

MARY TILLOTSON: There was no treatment for the disease. His condition got worse. In nineteen fifty-four, Woody Guthrie traveled one more time across America. He wanted to see the places where he had lived and the workers’ camps where he had sung. Old friends had trouble recognizing him. Instead of a young man full of life, they saw an old man who could not speak clearly or control his shaking.

Finally, he entered a hospital because he could no longer care for himself. But while he seemed to be forgotten, his music was not. By the late nineteen fifties, folk music became popular again in the United States. More Americans began listening and playing the songs of Woody Guthrie.

Young folk singers, like Bob Dylan, came to New York to visit Woody in the hospital. Dylan and others copied the way Woody sang and played the guitar. And like Woody, they wrote protest songs that called for social and political justice.

STEVE EMBER: Woody Guthrie remained in the hospital until he died in nineteen sixty-seven. His family and friends visited him each week. In the last years of his life, Woody could hardly speak. But his family and friends knew he still believed in the causes he had sung and written about all his life. They knew this because when they sang his songs, Woody’s eyes would become brighter and his defiant20 spirit would shine through.

(MUSIC - "HARD TRAVELIN")

MARY TILLOTSON: This VOA Special English program was written by Shelley Gollust. It was produced by Paul Thompson. I’m Mary Tillotson.

STEVE EMBER: And I’m Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program on the Voice of America.

 


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 gathering ChmxZ     
n.集会,聚会,聚集
参考例句:
  • He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
  • He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。
2 labor P9Tzs     
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦
参考例句:
  • We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
  • He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后,他已经疲惫不堪了。
3 recordings 22f9946cd05973582e73e4e3c0239bb7     
n.记录( recording的名词复数 );录音;录像;唱片
参考例句:
  • a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
  • old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐
4 Congress eY1y1     
n.(代表)大会;(C-:美国等国的)国会,议会
参考例句:
  • There were some days to wait before the Congress.大会的召开还有几天时间。
  • After 18 years in Congress,he intented to return to private life.在国会供职18年后,他打算告老还乡。
5 ballads 95577d817acb2df7c85c48b13aa69676     
民歌,民谣,特别指叙述故事的歌( ballad的名词复数 ); 讴
参考例句:
  • She belted out ballads and hillbilly songs one after another all evening. 她整晚一个接一个地大唱民谣和乡村小调。
  • She taught him to read and even to sing two or three little ballads,accompanying him on her old piano. 她教他读书,还教他唱两三首民谣,弹着她的旧钢琴为他伴奏。
6 protest rRRxF     
v.反对,抗议;宣称;n.抗议;宣称
参考例句:
  • I can't pass the matter by without a protest.我不能对此事视而不见,我要提出抗议。
  • We translated his silence as a protest.我们把他的沉默解释为抗议。
7 weavers 55d09101fa7c612133657b412e704736     
织工,编织者( weaver的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The Navajo are noted as stockbreeders and skilled weavers, potters, and silversmiths. 纳瓦霍人以豢养家禽,技术熟练的纺织者,制陶者和银匠而著名。
  • They made out they were weavers. 他们假装是织布工人。
8 alike kLUyz     
adj.同样的,相像的;adv.一样地;同程度地 
参考例句:
  • The twins are so alike that I can't tell which is which.这对双胞胎一模一样,我分辨不出谁是谁。
  • All stories seemed dreadfully alike,no matter who told them.看来,不管谁讲,故事都是千篇一律的。
9 version FiJwT     
n.版本;型号;叙述,说法
参考例句:
  • His version of the events is pure supposition.他对这件事的说法纯属猜测。
  • What is your version of this matter?你对这件事情的看法 怎么样?
10 opposition eIUxU     
n.反对,敌对
参考例句:
  • The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
  • The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。
11 interior 54gyR     
adj.在内的,内部的,内地的,国内的;n.内部
参考例句:
  • There is water in the interior of the cave.在山洞的内部有水。
  • They went into the interior room.他们进了内室。
12 insane nbVzG     
adj.蠢极的,荒唐的,精神错乱的,疯狂的
参考例句:
  • Insane people are sometimes dangerous.精神病人有时非常危险。
  • The letter made her insane with jealousy.那封信使她妒忌得发疯。
13 needy wG7xh     
adj.贫穷的,贫困的,生活艰苦的
参考例句:
  • Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷,但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
  • They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。
14 marine 77Izo     
adj.海的;海生的;航海的;海事的;n.水兵
参考例句:
  • Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
  • When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时,他自愿参加了海军陆战队。
15 humor 4crxX     
n.(humour)幽默,诙谐
参考例句:
  • He is distinguished for his sense of humor.他以其幽默感著称。
  • American humor is founded largely on hyperbole.美式幽默主要以夸张为基础。
16 severely SiCzmk     
adv.严格地;严厉地;非常恶劣地
参考例句:
  • He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
  • He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。
17 crushed 8v6zDH     
a.压碎的,倒碎的
参考例句:
  • The car was completely crushed under the truck. 小轿车被卡车压得完全变形了。
  • The box was crushed when the car ran over it. 汽车辗过箱子时把它给压碎了。
18 alcohol AxCzB     
n.酒精,乙醇;含酒精的饮料
参考例句:
  • The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors.法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。
  • The alcohol is industrial.这些酒精是供工业用的。
19 disease etMxx     
n.疾病,弊端
参考例句:
  • The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
  • He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。
20 defiant 6muzw     
adj.无礼的,挑战的
参考例句:
  • With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时,仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。
  • He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。

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