(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
People America, a program in Special English on the Voice of America. Today, Steve Ember and Rich Kleinfeldt tell about scientist Rachel Carson. Her work started the environmental protection movement in the United States. Rachel Carson was born on May twenty-seventh, nineteen-oh-seven in Springdale, Pennsylvania. Rachel's father, Robert Carson, was a salesman who invested in local land. He purchased twenty-six hectares of land to make a home for his family. The area was surrounded by fields, trees and streaMiss The Carson family enjoyed living in the beautiful, country environment.
Rachel's mother, Maria Carson, had been a schoolteacher. She loved books. She also loved nature. Rachel was the youngest of three children. Her sister and brother were already in school when she was born. So Missus Carson was able to spend a lot of time with Rachel. She showed Rachel the beauty of nature. She also taught Rachel a deep love for books. Missus Carson became the most important influence on Rachel's life. Rachel was a quiet child. She liked to read and to write poems and stories. She was very intelligent. At a very early age she decided she wanted to be a writer someday. Her first published story appeared in a children's magazine when she was ten years old.
Rachel went to the Pennsylvania College for Women. She studied English because she wanted to become a professional writer. Yet, she felt she did not have the imagination to write creative stories. She changed her area of study from English to science after she took a biology course that she liked. Her professors advised her not to study science. They said there was no future for a woman in science.
In nineteen twenty-nine, Rachel graduated from college with high honors. She won a financial award to study at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. In nineteen thirty-two, she earned a master's degree in zoology, the scientific study of animals. She taught zoology at the University of Maryland for a few years. During the summers, she studied the ocean and its life forms at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory in Massachusetts. That is when she became interested in the mysteries of the sea. Rachel's life changed greatly in the middle nineteen thirties. Her father died suddenly in nineteen thirty-five. He left very little financial support for Rachel's mother. It was during the economic decline in the United States called the Great Depression. Rachel now had to support her mother and herself. She needed more money than her teaching job could provide. She began part-time work for a federal government agency, the Bureau of Fisheries in Washington, D.C.
One year later, Rachel's sister died. Her sister was the mother of two young girls. Rachel and her mother cared for the girls. Rachel now had to support her mother, two nieces and herself. Again, she needed a job with better pay. A full time job for a biologist opened at the United States Bureau of Fisheries. Rachel Carson was the only woman to try for the position. She had the highest score of all people competing for the job. Miss Carson got the position in August, nineteen thirty-six. She was chosen to work in the office of the chief of the biology division. Her first job was to write a series of programs called "Romance Under the Waters." The series was broadcast on radio for a year. She continued to write and edit publications for the Bureau of Fisheries for many years. The bureau was happy to have a scientist who was also an excellent writer. Rachel Carson provided information to the public in interesting and understandable ways. In nineteen-forty, the United States Bureau of Fisheries and the Biological Survey joined to become the Fish and Wildlife Service. Miss Carson continued as one of the few women employed there as a scientist. The other women worked as office assistants.
While she was working for the government, Miss Carson wrote at night and on weekends. In nineteen thirty-seven she wrote a report about sea life. It was called Undersea. It appeared in the magazine, Atlantic Monthly. An editor at a publishing house encouraged her to write a book about the sea for the general public. So she did. Her first book, "Under the Sea Wind," was published in nineteen forty-one. In nineteen forty-eight, Miss Carson began working on another book, "The Sea Around Us." It became her first best-selling book. Rachel Carson always researched carefully when she wrote. She gathered information from more than one thousand places to write "The Sea Around Us." She also wrote letters to experts all over the world.
"The Sea Around Us" was published in nineteen fifty-one. It was number one on the best-seller list for more than a year. It won the National Book Award. "The Sea Around Us" made Rachel Carson famous. The money the book earned eased her financial responsibilities for the first time in years.
In nineteen fifty-two, Miss Carson was able to leave her job at the Fish and Wildlife Service and spend her time writing. Miss Carson moved to a home on the coast of Maine. There she studied the ecology of the sea. Her next book, "The Edge of the Sea," was published in nineteen fifty-five. It told of the connection of all living creatures in areas where land and ocean meet.
Rachel Carson's most famous book, "Silent Spring" was published in nineteen sixty-two. The idea for the book developed from a suggestion from a friend. Rachel's friend owned a protected area for birds. An airplane had flown over the area where the birds were kept and spread a powerful chemical called DDT. It was part of a project to control mosquitoes. Many songbirds and harmless insects were killed by the DDT. Miss Carson and other scientists were very concerned about the harmful effects of DDT and other insect-killing chemicals called pesticides. After World War Two, these poisonous chemicals were widely used to control insects. Pesticides were sprayed almost everywhere including agricultural fields and communities. DDT and other pesticides had become popular with the public and the government because they were so effective. Manufacturing these chemicals had become a huge industry.
Rachel Carson tried to get many magazines interested in publishing a report about the subject. However, none would agree to publish anything about such a disputed subject. They said no one wanted to hear that industrial companies could cause great ecological damage. Miss Carson believed the public needed to know about this important issue. She decided to write a book about it. She collected facts from experts from all over the world. She gathered studies that showed the harmful effects of DDT, including declining bird populations and increased human cancers. In her book "Silent Spring," Miss Carson questioned the right of industrial companies to pollute without considering the effects on the environment. Miss Carson argued that this kind of pollution would result in ever-decreasing populations of birds and other wildlife. She said this would lead to the loss of the wonderful sounds of nature. The chemical poisoning of the environment, she said, would cause a silent spring.
The chemical industry felt threatened. Industry spokesmen and other critics said the book was non-scientific and emotional. They misunderstood the message of the book. Miss Carson did not suggest that all pesticides be banned. She urged that control of these substances be given to biologists who could make informed decisions about the risks involved. Support for the book increased. By the end of nineteen sixty-two, there were more than forty bills in state legislatures proposing to control pesticides. Finally, in November, nineteen sixty-nine, the United States government ruled that the use of DDT must stop in two years. Rachel Carson did not live to see how her book influenced the government's decision to ban DDT. She died of breast cancer in nineteen sixty-four. She was fifty-six years old.
Two memorials honor Rachel Carson. One is the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge in Maine. The other is the Rachel Carson Homestead in Springdale, Pennsylvania, the home she lived in when she was a child. Education programs are offered there that teach children and adults about her environmental values. Rachel Carson's voice is alive in her writings that express the wonder and beauty of the natural world. And her worldwide influence continues through the activities of the environmental protection movement she started.
重点解析
1.invest 投资
Many people don't like to invest in stocks.
许多人不喜欢投资股票。
2.imagination 想象力
Latanya is a woman with a vivid imagination.
拉坦尼娅是一个想像力丰富的女人。
3.mysteries 秘密，谜；神秘；神秘的事物
The source of the gunshots still remains a mystery.
枪弹来自何处依然是一个迷。
4.economic decline 经济衰退
He criticised the government for failing to halt economic decline
他批评政府未能遏止经济下滑。
5.understandable 可以理解的；可以了解的
His unhappiness was understandable.
他的不高兴是可以理解的。
6.harmful effect 不良影响
This drawing implies the harmful effect of examinations on children's psyche.
这幅画暗示了考试对儿童心灵的有害影响。
参考译文
这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。今天，史蒂夫·恩贝尔和里奇为大家讲述科学家蕾切尔·卡逊。她的作品开启了美国的环保运动。1907年5月27日，蕾切尔·卡逊出生于宾夕法尼亚州斯普林代尔。蕾切尔的父亲罗伯特卡森是一名销售人员，投资了当地土地。他买下了当地26公顷土地为他的家族建了一所房子。这片地区被田地、树木和溪流环绕。卡逊一家享受住在这个美丽的乡村环境之中。蕾切尔的母亲玛利亚·卡森是一名学校老师。她喜欢看书，也热爱自然。蕾切尔是三个孩子中的老幺。她的姐姐和哥哥在她出生时就读书了。因此卡逊太太有时间陪伴蕾切尔。她向蕾切尔展示了自然之美，还教会蕾切尔对书的热爱。卡逊太太成为蕾切尔一生中最重要的影响。
蕾切尔是个安静的孩子。她喜欢读书、写诗和故事。她非常聪明。小时候她就决定以后成为一名作家。10岁的时候，一本儿童杂志刊登了她的第一篇故事。蕾切尔去了宾夕法尼亚州女子大学。她学习的是英语，因为她想成为一名专业作家。但是她觉得自己没有写故事的想象力。在她上了一节喜欢的生物课后，她改修科学专业了。她的教授建议她不要学习科学，他们说女性在科学界是没有未来的。1929年，她从学校荣誉毕业并获得了马里兰巴尔的摩约翰霍普金斯大学的奖学金。1932年，她获得动物学硕士学位。她在马里兰大学教了几年动物学。夏天，她在马萨诸塞州伍德豪海洋生物实验室研究海洋和海洋中的生命形态。从那时起她对海洋的神秘产生兴趣。
20世纪30年代，蕾切尔的生活发生了巨大的改变。1935年，她的父亲突然去世。他给蕾切尔母亲留下的钱很少，那时正是美国的大萧条时期。蕾切尔不得不养活她的母亲和自己。学校工作的工资不够她们的所需。她开始在华盛顿渔业局，一家联邦政府机构做兼职。一年后，蕾切尔的姐姐去世了。她的姐姐有两个女儿。蕾切尔和她的母亲照顾着两个女孩。现在蕾切尔要养活她的母亲、两个侄女和她自己。她需要一个报酬更好的工作。美国渔业局要招一个全职生物学家。蕾切尔·卡逊是应聘者中唯一的女性。在竞争者中，她得分最高。1936年8月，卡逊得到了这个职位。她被选进了生物部门主管办公室。
她的第一份工作是撰写《Romance Under the Waters》系列项目。这一系列通过广播播出一年之久。多年来她一直为渔业局写文章、编辑出版刊物。局里很高兴有一位擅长写作的科学家。蕾切尔·卡逊以有趣又容易理解的方式为公众提供信息。1940年，美国渔业局和生物调查部合并成为野生动物保护局。卡逊是局里仅有的几位女科学家之一。其他女性都是办公室助理。在政府部门工作时，她晚上和周末写作。1937年，她写了一篇关于海洋生命的报告。这篇报告名为《Undersea》，在《大西洋月刊》上发表。出版社的一名编辑鼓励她为公众写一本关于海洋的书。她写了。她的第一本书《Under the Sea Wind》于1941年出版。1948年，卡逊开始写另一本书《The Sea Around Us》，这本书成了她的第一本畅销书。
蕾切尔·卡逊在写作时总会进行仔细研究。为了写《The Sea Around Us》这本书，她从一千多个地方收集信息。她还给全世界的专家写信。《The Sea Around Us》出版于1951年。一年多时间里，这本书都位列畅销书首位，还获得了国家图书奖。《The Sea Around Us》让蕾切尔·卡逊出名了。买书挣来的钱首次缓解了她的财务责任。1952年，卡逊离开野生动物保护局，专心写作。卡逊搬到了缅因州海岸。在那里她研究海洋生态学。她的下一本书《The Edge of the Sea》于1955年出版。这本书讲述的是大陆和海洋相接处所有生物的联系。
蕾切尔·卡逊最知名的书是《Silent Spring》，出版于1962年。写这本书的想法来自一位朋友的建议。蕾切尔的朋友拥有一个鸟类保护区。一架飞机飞过这片地区，投下化学物质DDT。DDT是为了控制蚊子，很多黄莺和无害的昆虫都被DDT杀死。卡逊和其他科学家非常担心DDT以及其他杀虫剂的有害影响。二战后，这些有毒化学物质被普遍用于控制昆虫。杀虫剂喷洒在几乎每个地方，包括农田和社区。DDT和其他杀虫剂很受公众和政府欢迎，因为它们很有效。生产这些化学品变成了巨大的工业。蕾切尔·卡逊想让杂志出版关于这个主题的报告。但没有一家杂志同意出版任何关于这种有争议主题的内容。
他们说没人想听到工业公司会造成巨大生态破坏的消息。卡逊认为公众需要知道这个重要的问题，她决定写一本关于这个主题的书。她从全球各地专家那里收集事实，收集关于DDT有害影响的研究，包括鸟类数量下降和人类癌症增长。在《Silent Spring》一书中，卡逊质疑生产公司的不顾环境影响进行污染的权利。卡逊争论到这种污染会造成鸟类和其他野生动物数量大量减少。她说这会导致自然界中美妙声音的损失。她说对环境的化学污染会造成春天的寂静。化学工厂感觉受到了威胁。行业发言人和其他批评者表示这本书并不科学且充满情绪。他们误解了这本书的信息。卡逊并没有表示所有杀虫剂都应被禁止。她要求将把控这些物质的权利交给生物学家，让他们做出关于风险的精明决策。越来越多人支持这本书。截止1962年年底，国家立法机关收到40多份提案建议控制杀虫剂。最终，在1969年11月，美国政府规定必须在两年内停止使用DDT。
蕾切尔·卡逊并没有活着看到自己的书籍如何影响政府决定禁止DDT。1964年，她因乳腺癌去世，年56岁。有两座蕾切尔·卡逊纪念馆成立。一个是在缅因州的蕾切尔·卡逊国际野生动物保护区。另一个是位于宾夕法尼亚州斯普林代尔的蕾切尔·卡逊宅地，这里是她童年的家。那里有教育项目，为孩子和成人讲述关于她的环保价值。蕾切尔·卡逊的声音仍活跃在她的作品中，这些作品描述了自然世界的奇妙和美丽。她的影响继续通过她发起的环保运动延续！
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