世界名人简介 第164期:J.K.罗琳

 J.K. Rowling is the pen name she uses as a writer. The J is for Joanne, her real first name, but she prefers to be called Jo.  J.K.罗琳是她作为作家的笔名。“J”是乔安妮的缩写，她真名中的第一个名字，但她更愿被叫做乔。

Apparently¹, people only call her Joanne when they're angry with her.  很显然，人们只有对她生气时才会叫她的全名。

The K is made up. Her publisher asked her to write using a name with two initials², but she didn't have a middle name. 她的出版商叫她使用带有两个首字母的笔名，但她真名中没有中名，所以“K”是编造的。

Jo did a few different things before she struck upon the idea of writing children's books.  在她有写儿童书的想法前，乔做过几份不同的工作。

She worked as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International and as an English teacher in Portugal.  她做过调查员、国际特赦组织的双语秘书，在葡萄牙做过英语老师。

The idea for the Harry³ Potter novels came from nowhere while she was on a train to London.  她在去伦敦的火车上萌生了创作哈利·波特的想法。

She said,"The characters and situations came flooding into my head". 她说“人物形象和情景涌入了脑海。”

Seven Potter novels later and Rowling is one of the richest women in the world.  七部哈利·波特小说出版后，罗琳成为世界上最富有的女人之一。

In fact, she is the first novelist ever to become a billionaire from writing.  事实上，她是有史以来第一位因为写作成为百万富翁的作家。

Her rags to riches story is a fantasy story in itself.  她白手起家的故事本身就是一个奇幻故事。

She was on government handouts⁴ while writing her first novel.  罗琳写第一部小说时在政府宣传部门工作，

Her last four books broke records for the fastest sellers in literary⁵ history. 她的后四部小说打破了文学史上卖得最快的畅销书记录。

Today she devotes much of her time to many charitable causes.  现在罗琳在许多慈善事业上倾注了大量时间。

She famously demanded that Coca-Cola donate $18 million to the Reading is Fundamental charity if it wanted a tie-up with the Potter movies.  最著名的是，她高调要求可口可乐公司向“阅读是基础”基金会捐献180万美元，如果可口可乐想通过哈利波特电影宣传。

The future? In March 2008, she said: "I will continue writing for children because that's what I enjoy". 未来罗琳会做什么？2008年3月，罗琳说“我会继续为孩子们写故事，因为这是我非常享受的事情。”

1 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

2 initials   

n.首字母，姓名

参考例句：

• a glass tankard with his initials etched on it 刻有他姓名首字母的玻璃大酒杯
• All the towels were personalized with their initials. 所有毛巾上都标有物主姓名的首字母。

3 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

4 handouts   

救济品( handout的名词复数 )； 施舍物； 印刷品； 讲义

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts. 士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Even after losing his job, he was too proud to accept handouts. 甚至在失去工作后，他仍然很骄傲，不愿接受施舍。

5 literary   

adj.文学（上）的

参考例句：

• Literary works of this kind are well received by the masses.这样的文学作品很受群众欢迎。
• The book was favourably noticed in literary magazines.这本书在文学杂志上得到好评。