VOA慢速英语20060625a

PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Clara Barton, Founder¹ of the American Red Cross: A Life of Caring for OthersBy Jerilyn Watson

Broadcast: Sat, 24 Jun 2006 16:00:00 UTC

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VOICE ONE:

I'm Ray Freeman.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Shirley Griffith with the Special English program People in America. Every week we tell about a person who was important in the history of the United States. Today we tell about a woman who spent her life caring for others, Clara Barton.

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VOICE ONE:

Clara Barton was a small woman. Yet she made a big difference in many lives. Today her work continues to be important to thousands of people in trouble.


Clara Barton

Clara Barton was an unusual woman for her time. She was born on Christmas day, December twenty-fifth, eighteen twenty-one. In those days, most women were expected to marry, have children and stay home to take care of them. Barton, however, became deeply involved in the world.

By the time of her death in nineteen twelve, she had begun a revolution that led to the right of women to do responsible work for society. As a nurse, she cared for thousands of wounded soldiers. She began the American Red Cross. And, she successfully urged the American government to accept the Geneva Convention². That treaty³ established standards for conditions for soldiers injured or captured⁴ during wartime.

VOICE TWO:

Clara Barton really began her life of caring for the sick when she was only eleven years old. She lived with her family on a farm in the northeastern state of Massachusetts. One of her brothers, David, was seriously injured while helping⁵ build a barn⁶. For two years, Clara Barton took care of David until he was healed⁷.

Most eleven-year-old girls would have found the job impossible. But Clara felt a great need to help. And she was very good at it. She also seemed to feel most safe when she was at home with her mother and father, or riding a horse on her family's land.

As a young child, Clara had great difficulty studying and making friends at school. Her four brothers and sisters were much older than she. Several of them were teachers. For most of Clara's early years, she was taught at home. She finished school at age fifteen. Then she went to work in her brother David's clothing factory. The factory soon burned, leaving her without a job.

VOICE ONE:

Clara Barton decided⁹ to teach school. In eighteen thirty-six, she passed the teacher's test and began teaching¹⁰ near her home in North Oxford¹¹, Massachusetts. She became an extremely popular and respected teacher.

After sixteen years of teaching, she realized she did not know all she wanted to know. She wanted more education. Very few universities accepted women in those days. So Clara went to a special school for girls in Massachusetts. While in that school, she became interested in public education.

VOICE TWO:

After she graduated, a friend suggested she try to establish the first public school in the state of New Jersey¹². Officials there seemed to think that education was only for children whose parents had enough money to pay for private schools.

The officials did not want Barton to start a school for poor people. But she offered to teach without pay for three months. She told the officials that they could decide after that if she had been successful. They gave her an old building with poor equipment. And they gave her six very active little boys to teach.

At the end of five weeks, the school was too small for the number of children who wanted to attend. By the end of the year, the town built her a bigger, better school. They had to give her more space. She then had six hundred students in the school.

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VOICE ONE:

Within a year, Clara Barton had lost her voice. She had to give up teaching. She moved to Washington, D.C., to begin a new job writing documents for the United States government.

Clara Barton started her life as a nurse during the early days of the Civil War in eighteen sixty-one. One day, she went to the train center in Washington to meet a group of soldiers from Massachusetts. Many of them had been her friends. She began taking care of their wounds.

Not long after, she left her office job. She became a full-time¹³ nurse for the wounded on their way from the fields of battle to the hospital.

Soon, Barton recognized that many more lives could be saved if the men had medical help immediately after they were hurt. Army rules would not permit anyone except male soldiers to be on the battlefield. But Barton took her plans for helping the wounded to a high army official. He approved her plans.

VOICE TWO:

Barton and a few other women worked in the battle areas around Washington. She heard about the second fierce battle at Bull¹⁴ Run in the nearby state of Virginia. She got into a railroad¹⁵ car and traveled there.

Bull Run must have been a fearful¹⁶ sight. Northern forces were losing a major battle there. Everywhere Barton looked lay wounded and dying⁸ men.

Day and night she worked to help the suffering. When the last soldier had been placed on a train, Barton finally left. She was just in time to escape the southern army. She escaped by riding a horse, a skill she gained as a young girl.

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VOICE ONE:

For four years, Clara Barton was at the front lines of the bloodiest¹⁷ battles in the war between the North and the South. She was there at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Charleston. She was there at Spottsylvania, Petersburg, and Richmond. She cleaned the wounds of badly injured soldiers. She eased¹⁸ the pain of the dying. And she fed those who survived.

When she returned to Washington, Clara Barton found she was a hero. She had proved that women could work in terrible conditions. She made people understand that women could provide good medical care. She also showed that nursing was an honorable¹⁹ profession.

After the war ended, Barton's doctor sent her to Europe to rest. Instead of resting, she met with representatives of the International Red Cross. The organization had been established in eighteen sixty-three to offer better treatment for people wounded or captured during wars. She was told that the United States was the only major nation that refused to join.

VOICE TWO:

Barton began planning a campaign to create an American Red Cross. Before she could go home, though, the war between France and Prussia began in eighteen seventy.

Again, Clara Barton went to the fields of battle to nurse the wounded. After a while her eyes became infected. The woman of action was ordered to remain quiet for months in a dark room, or become blind.

When she returned to the United States she again suffered a serious sickness. She used the time in a hospital to write letters in support of an American Red Cross organization.

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VOICE ONE:

In eighteen eighty-one, Barton's campaign proved successful. The United States Congress²⁰ signed the World's Treaty of the International Red Cross. This established the American Chapter of the Red Cross. Clara Barton had reached one of her major goals in life.

The next year she successfully urged Congress to accept the Geneva Convention. This treaty set the international rules for treatment of soldiers wounded or captured in war.

For twenty-five years, Clara Barton continued as the president of the American Red Cross. Under her guidance, the organization helped people in all kinds of trouble. She directed the aid efforts for victims of floods in Johnstown, Pennsylvania and Galveston, Texas. She led Red Cross workers in Florida during a outbreak of the disease²¹ Yellow Fever. And she helped during periods when people were starving in Russia and Armenia.

VOICE TWO:

Clara Barton retired²² when she was in her middle eighties. For her last home, she chose a huge old building near Washington, D.C. The building had been used for keeping Red Cross equipment and then as her office. It was made with material saved from aid centers built after the flood in Johnstown.

In that house on the Potomac River, Clara Barton lived her remaining days. She died after a life of service to others in April, nineteen twelve, at age ninety.

She often said: You must never so much as think if you like it or not, if it is bearable or not. You must never think of anything except the need --- and how to meet it.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This Special English program was written by Jeri Watson. I'm Ray Freeman.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week for another People in America program on the Voice of America.

1 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

2 convention   

n.惯例，习俗，常规，会议，大会

参考例句：

• How many delegates have checked in at the convention?大会已有多少代表报到？
• He sets at naught every convention of society.他轻视所有的社会习俗。

3 treaty   

n.条约；协议，协定

参考例句：

• Hungary has indicated its readiness to sign the treaty.匈牙利已表示愿意签订该条约。
• I believe this treaty will pave the way to peace in Europe. 我相信这个条约将为欧洲的和平铺平道路。

4 captured   

俘获( capture的过去式和过去分词 )； 夺取； 夺得； 引起（注意、想像、兴趣）

参考例句：

• 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。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 barn   

n.谷仓，饲料仓，牲口棚

参考例句：

• That big building is a barn for keeping the grain.那幢大房子是存放粮食的谷仓。
• The cows were driven into the barn.牛被赶进了牲口棚。

7 healed   

v.（使）愈合( heal的过去式和过去分词 )；治愈；（使）结束；较容易忍受

参考例句：

• The surgeon healed the soldier's bullet wound in the leg. 医生治好了那位士兵腿部的枪伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The doctor applied an unguent to the wound,which speedily healed it. 医生给伤口涂了些油膏，伤口很快就愈合了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 dying   

adj.垂死的，临终的

参考例句：

• He was put in charge of the group by the dying leader.他被临终的领导人任命为集团负责人。
• She was shown into a small room,where there was a dying man.她被领进了一间小屋子，那里有一个垂死的人。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• 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。

10 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

11 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

12 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

13 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

14 bull   

n.公牛，买进证券投机图利者，看涨的人

参考例句：

• It's only a hair off a bull's back to them.这对他们来说，不过九牛一毛。
• Many dogs closed around the bull.很多狗渐渐地把那只牛围了起来。

15 railroad   

n.铁路；vi.由铁路运输

参考例句：

• The railroad connects two cities,namely,New York and Chicago.这条铁路连接两个城市，即纽约与芝加哥。
• My brother is working on the railroad.我兄弟在铁路系统工作。

16 fearful   

adj.惧怕的，担心的；可怕的，吓人的

参考例句：

• What a fearful waste of time!简直太浪费时间了！
• They are fearful of another business depression.他们担心会再次发生商业萧条。

17 bloodiest   

adj.血污的( bloody的最高级 )；流血的；屠杀的；残忍的

参考例句：

• The Russians were going to suffer their bloodiest defeat of all before Berlin. 俄国人在柏林城下要遭到他们的最惨重的失败。 来自辞典例句
• It was perhaps the bloodiest hour in the history of warfare. 这也许是战争史上血腥味最浓的1个小时。 来自互联网

18 eased   

adj. 放松的 动词ease的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• After the patient received acupuncture treatment,his spasms eased off somewhat. 病人接受针刺治疗后，痉挛稍微减轻了。
• The news that her child was safe eased her mind. 孩子平安的消息使她放心了。

19 honorable   

adj.光荣的，荣誉的；可敬的，高尚的

参考例句：

• I don't think I am worthy of such an honorable title.这样的光荣称号，我可担当不起。
• These businessmen are both competitive and honorable.这些商人既有竞争性又很诚实。

20 Congress   

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。

21 disease   

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。

22 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。