VOA慢速英语2014 Belittle
时间：2019-01-12 作者：英语课 分类：2014年VOA慢速英语(四)月
Now, the VOA Special English program Words and Their Stories.
Today’s word is "belittle." It was first used by Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States.
Many years ago, a French naturalist 2, the Count de Buffon, wrote some books about natural history. The books were a great success even though some critics did not like them. Some critics said, “Count Buffon is more of a poet than a scientist.”
Thomas Jefferson did not like what the Count had said about the natural wonders of the New World. It seemed to Jefferson that the Count had gone out of his way to speak of natural wonders in America as if they were unimportant 3.
This troubled Thomas Jefferson. He, too, was a naturalist -- as well as a farmer, inventor, historian 4, writer and politician. He had seen the natural wonders of Europe. To him, they were no more important than those of the New World.
In 1788, Thomas Jefferson wrote about his home state, Virginia. While writing, he thought of its natural beauty and then of the words of Count de Buffon. At that moment, Jefferson created a new word -- belittle. He said, “The Count de Buffon believes that nature belittles 5 her productions on this side of the Atlantic.”
Noah Webster, the American word expert, liked this word. He put it in his English language dictionary in 1806: "Belittle -- to make small, unimportant."
Americans had already accepted Jefferson’s word and started to use it. In 1797, the Independent Chronicle newspaper used the word to describe a politician the paper supported. “He is an honorable man,” the paper wrote, “so let the opposition 6 try to belittle him as much as they please.”
In 1844, the Republican 7 Sentinel of Virginia wrote this about the opposition party: “The Whigs may attempt to belittle our candidates...that is a favorite game of theirs.”
In 1872, a famous American word expert decided 8 that the time had come to kill this word. He said, “Belittle has no chance of becoming English. And as more critical writers of America -- like those of Britain -- feel no need of it, the sooner it is forgotten, the better.”
This expert failed to kill the word. Today, belittle is used not only in the United States and England, but in other countries where the English language is spoken. It seems that efforts to belittle the word did not stop people from using it.
You have been listening to the VOA Special English program Words and Their Stories.
I’m Warren Scheer.
- Do not belittle what he has achieved.不能小看他取得的成绩。
- When you belittle others,you are actually the one who appears small.当你轻视他人时， 真正渺小的其实是你自己。
- He was a printer by trade and naturalist by avocation.他从事印刷业，同时是个博物学爱好者。
- The naturalist told us many stories about birds.博物学家给我们讲述了许多有关鸟儿的故事。
- Let's not quarrel about such unimportant matters.我们不要为这些小事争吵了。
- Money seems unimportant when sets beside the joys of family life.与天伦之乐相比，金钱显得微不足道。
- As a historian,he was most typical of the times in which he lived.作为历史学家，他是他所处时代最有代表性的人物。
- He calls himself a historian,but his books are a mere journalism.他自称为历史学家，但是他的书都是些肤浅的通俗作品。
- The size of the office tower belittles the surrounding buildings. 这座办公楼的规模使周围的建筑物相形见小。
- The bulk of the warehouse belittles the houses around it. 货栈的庞大使周围的房屋显得矮小了。
- 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。
- Some families have been republican for generations.有些家庭世代都支持共和党。
- A third candidate has entered the contest for the Republican nomination.第三个候选人已经加入角逐共和党提名的行列。