VOA慢速英语 2008 0203
时间：2019-01-11 作者：英语课 分类：VOA慢速英语2008年（二）月
VOICE ONE:
This is Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
Lucille Ball
And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Program PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Today, we tell about the much-loved performer Lucille Ball. Her famous television series, “I Love Lucy,‿was first broadcast in nineteen fifty-one.
(SOUND)
VOICE ONE:
The “I Love Lucy‿show was a huge success. It was the most popular television show of the nineteen fifties. The kind of television program Miz Ball helped develop is called a situation comedy. Some television experts give her credit 1 for inventing this kind of series. Today, some of the most popular television programs in America are situation comedies.
VOICE TWO:
One reason for the great popularity 2 of “I Love Lucy‿may have been its real-life connection with Miz Ball’s family. On the show, she was Lucy, the wife of Ricky Ricardo, a Cuban musician. Ricky was played by band leader Desi Arnaz, who was Lucille Ball’s husband in real life. The show combined issues common to the life of married people living in the city with musical performances and comic theater.
Often, a show would include a part with Mister 3 Arnaz acting 4 seriously while Miz Ball added a funny element. In the following piece, Mister Arnaz tries to sing normally 5 and Miz Ball adds the comedy:
(MUSIC: "By the Waters of the Minnetonka")
VOICE ONE:
Also on the “I Love Lucy‿show were Vivian Vance and William Frawley. Miz Vance played Ethel Mertz and Mister Frawley played Ethel’s husband, Fred Mertz. On the show, the Mertzes were friends of the Ricardos and owned the building in which they all lived.
Fred Mertz loved baseball, which was America’s most popular sport at the time. “I Love Lucy‿often showed Fred Mertz intensely 6 watching baseball or some other sport like boxing while Ethel added her own funny comments.
(SOUND: “Seeing a baseball game is fun‿
VOICE TWO:
A well-known story about the “I Love Lucy Show‿concerns the birth of the Arnaz’s son, Desi Junior. Officials of the broadcasting company wondered what to do when Miz Ball became pregnant 7 in nineteen fifty-two. Miz Ball explains that her husband, Desi, came up with a solution:
(SOUND: “Why don’t we have it on the show?‿
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz
VOICE ONE:
Miz Ball’s pregnancy 8 was made part of the show. In fact, critics say the show in which Lucy Ricardo tells Ricky that she is pregnant is one of the best. In it, Lucy goes to the entertainment place where Ricky’s band is playing to tell him that they are going to have a baby. Ricky suddenly understands that he is going to be a father after Lucy secretly requests the song, “We’re Having a Baby:‿/P>
(MUSIC: “We’re Having a Baby‿
VOICE ONE:
Miz Ball gave birth to her second child on the same day that Lucy Ricardo gave birth. In fact, Desi Junior’s birth date was planned to happen on the same day as the broadcast.
The show in which Lucy gave birth was one of the most popular television programs ever broadcast in America. In fact, the story is that Desi Junior’s birth replaced reports about Dwight Eisenhower’s first presidential ceremony on the front pages of America’s newspapers.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
The success of the “I Love Lucy‿show did not come early in Lucille Ball’s life, or easily. Instead, it was the result of years of hard work.
Miz Ball was born near Jamestown, New York, in nineteen eleven. She tried to get into show business at an early age. Early on, she went to the same acting school as the famous actress Bette Davis. However, she left when she was told that she did not have enough acting ability.
In the early nineteen thirties, she moved to Hollywood. She appeared in a number of movies, but was not well known.
VOICE ONE:
In nineteen forty, she met the leader of a musical group who had been born in Cuba. His full name was Desiderio Alberto Arnaz de Acha the Third. They worked together in a movie and married soon after they met. For the next ten years, she appeared in movies and on radio. He traveled a lot with his band.
In nineteen fifty, the broadcasting company, CBS, decided 9 to make a television program based on the radio show, “My Favorite Husband.‿nbsp; Lucille Ball was the star of the radio show. She wanted Mister Arnaz to play the part of her husband on the television show. CBS rejected the idea. But she refused to give up. She and Desi traveled around the country performing in a show together to prove that they would do well on television. Their show was a success. CBS offered them both jobs.
VOICE TWO:
Miz Ball had another demand. She wanted her show to be a production of the best quality. Early television pictures were not of good quality. Miz Ball wanted her program to be filmed, which would improve the picture, and then broadcast later. Yet she wanted people to watch the program as it was being filmed so the sound of their reactions could be captured 10.
Miz Ball also wanted to film the shows in Hollywood. CBS did not want the extra costs. So, Miz Ball and Mister Arnaz agreed to work for less pay. In exchange, CBS let them own the program. That agreement made them owners of what would become one of the most successful programs on television.
VOICE ONE:
During the fifties, Miz Ball won almost every honor 11 there was for television actors including several Emmy Awards. Yet, even the most popular performers could not escape the political realities of the time. Conservative 12 lawmakers accused Lucille Ball of being a communist. The Federal 13 Bureau 14 of Investigation 15 kept a secret record of information about her, just as it did about many Hollywood actors at that time.
VOICE TWO:
Mister Arnaz supervised 16 their company, Desilu Productions. The company produced sixteen different television programs and ran three production centers, called studios.
In nineteen sixty, Lucille Ball and Mister Arnaz legally ended their marriage. Mister Arnaz sold his part of the company to his ex-wife. Miz Ball became the first woman to head a major production company. It was one of the biggest in Hollywood.
Miz Ball also was the star of several other shows of her own. “The Lucy Show‿was broadcast from nineteen sixty-two to nineteen sixty-eight. “Here’s Lucy‿followed until nineteen seventy-four. Miz Ball later sold her production company to Paramount 17 Studios.
VOICE ONE:
“I Love Lucy‿showed Miz Ball at her best. Mister Arnaz added something that was unusual for American television at the time. Many of the songs on the show were in Spanish. One song, “Babalu,‿is popularly connected with “I Love Lucy‿ Its words are Spanish and its sound is Latin 18 American. It is this mixture along with the excellent performances that made the show special:
(MUSIC: “Babalu‿
VOICE TWO:
Miz Ball died in nineteen eighty-nine after a heart operation. Yet, she still makes people laugh. Her programs are rebroadcast on television and there are hundreds of Internet sites about her. After all these years, everyone still loves Lucy.
(MUSIC: “I Love Lucy‿
VOICE ONE:
This Special English program was written by Mario Ritter and produced by Caty Weaver 19. I’m Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program on the Voice of America.
- I credit him with a certain amount of sense.我认为他有一定的见识。
- He got the credit,and we did the dirty work.他得荣誉，我们做不讨好的工作。
- The story had an extensive popularity among American readers.这本小说在美国读者中赢得广泛的声望。
- Our product enjoys popularity throughout the world.我们的产品饮誉全球。
- Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
- He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。
- Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
- During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。
- I normally do all my shopping on Saturdays.我通常在星期六买东西。
- My pulse beats normally.我脉搏正常。
- I was intensely curious to know more about him. 我迫不及待地想更多地了解他的情况。
- Her parents were intensely ambitious for her and her younger sister. 她的父母对她和她妹妹有着很高的期望。
- Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
- Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。
- This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
- There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
- Allied troops captured over 300 enemy soldiers. 盟军俘虏了300多名敌方士兵。
- Most of the rebels were captured and disarmed. 大部分叛乱分子被俘获并解除了武装。
- I take your visit as a great honor.您的来访是我莫大的光荣。
- It is a great honor to receive that prize.能拿到那个奖是无上的光荣。
- He is a conservative member of the church.他是一个守旧教会教友。
- The young man is very conservative.这个年轻人很守旧。
- Switzerland is a federal republic.瑞士是一个联邦共和国。
- The schools are screaming for federal aid.那些学校强烈要求联邦政府的援助。
- The weather bureau makes daily reports on weather conditions.气象局每天报告天气状况。
- The Tourist Bureau arranged everything for our journey to Rome.旅游局已为我们去罗马旅行准备了一切。
- In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
- He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。
- The architect supervised the building of the house. 建筑工程师监督房子的施工。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- He supervised and trained more than 400 volunteers. 他指导和培训了400多名志愿者。 来自辞典例句
- My paramount object is to save the Union and destroy slavery.我的最高目标是拯救美国，摧毁奴隶制度。
- Nitrogen is of paramount importance to life on earth.氮对地球上的生命至关重要。
- She learned Latin without a master.她无师自通学会了拉丁语。
- Please use only Latin characters.请仅使用拉丁文字符。