有声英文阅读-奋斗与坚持：报业女巨人的一生

The Ups and Downs of Katherine Graham
奋斗与坚持：报业女巨人的一生

It could safely be said of Katherine Graham that few women had a greater influence on 20th-century American history. When she died last year at the age of 84, people from all walks of life were swift and generous in their eulogies¹.

Long-time owner of the Washington Post, Graham was a female pioneer in the “man's world” of serious journalism². Her decision to publish the controversial Pentagon Papers in 1971 ensured that her name would always be linked to the ideals of press freedom.
Katherine Meyer was born in 1917 to a wealthy and privileged family. Her father was a multimillionaire who gave up business and government service to buy the ailing³ Washington Post in 1933. Katherine shared his love of journalism, and worked on the paper's editing desk for a few years before getting married.

Her husband, Phil Graham, was a bright young lawyer who took over at the Post in 1945. The couple became a popular part of the Washington social scene. Behind the facade⁴, however, lay a different story. Phil was given to wild mood swings and abusive behavior that caused Katherine a great deal of mental anguish⁵. He suffered from manic depression, which gradually got worse, culminating in his suicide when Katherine was 46. Suddenly, she found herself in control of the Post.

Despite her personal tragedy, Graham was determined⁶ to keep the Washington Post in the family, and took over the day-to-day running of the paper herself. Skeptics who had doubted her ability to make a success of it were dumbfounded as her enthusiasm and tenacity⁷ proved them wrong.

Graham was never afraid of making a courageous⁸ decision. Against the advice of the Post's lawyers, she sided with her editors and published the Pentagon Papers. The papers were top secret documents about the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War. She later remained steadfast⁹ in the face of government pressure not to pursue the Watergate scandal that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

Graham handed over the control of the Post to her son in 1991, when she was 74 years old. By that time, she was often being described as the most powerful woman in America. Whether or not that was true, few would disagree with the assessment¹⁰ of one of her many admirers, that without her, Washington “would have been a much less civilized¹¹ place.”

Avid¹² readers who look to biography for inspiration could do worse than pick up a copy of Katherine Graham's Pulitzer Prize-winning “Personal History.” It is a rich chronicle of momentous¹³ events and the people that played their part in them. It is also the fascinating story of a person of character and values that many would like to emulate¹⁴.

1. eulogy¹⁵ n. 颂词，悼词
2. pioneer n. 先锋，先驱
3. ailing a. 痛苦的，境况不佳
4. anguish n. 剧烈痛苦
5. dumbfounded a. 哑然的
6. steadfast a. 坚定的
7. assessment n. 评价
8. momentous a. 重大的
 

我们可以有把握地说，没有几个妇女像凯瑟琳·格拉罕对20世纪美国历史有这么大的影响的。去年她与世长辞，享年84岁，各界人士纷纷赶往悼念，表示敬意。

在由男性主导的严肃的新闻业中，《华盛顿邮报》的长期业主格拉罕是一位女性先驱。1971年，她决定出版备受争议的《五角大楼文件》。这就确定了她的名字会永远与出版自由的理想联系在一起。

凯瑟琳·迈耶1917年出生在一个富裕的特权家庭。她的父亲是一位大富豪，他放弃了工作和政府部门的职位，在1933年买下了境况不佳的《华盛顿邮报》。凯瑟琳承袭了父亲对新闻的热爱，婚前在这家报社的编辑部工作了数年。

她的丈夫菲尔·格拉罕曾是一位很出色的年轻律师，他1945年接管了华盛顿邮报。夫妇俩成为颇受华盛顿社交届欢迎的一对。然而，他们私下又是另外一种状况。菲尔喜怒无常的情绪变化和虐待行为带给凯瑟琳精神上巨大的痛苦。他深为躁狂抑郁症所苦，病情日渐恶化，最后在凯瑟琳46岁时自杀身亡。突然间，她感到管理邮报的责任落在了自己身上。

尽管个人的境遇悲惨，格拉罕仍决心要为家族保住《华盛顿邮报》，她接管了邮报每日的运作。当她以热忱和执着证明了那些曾怀疑她能力不足的人是错误的时候，他们都哑口无言。

格拉罕从来不怕果断地作决定。她不听从邮报律师们的劝告，而支持她手下的编辑们，发表了《五角大楼文件》，这些文件是有关美国卷入越战的最高机密文件。即使面临政府施加的压力，要她不要再追究后来迫使尼克松总统下台的水门事件，她始终立场坚定。

1991年，葛拉罕74岁时，将掌管邮报的权力移交给了她的儿子。那时，她常被形容为美国最有影响的女人。无论这种说法是否正确，相信多数人都会认同她众多仰慕者之一给予的评价：没有她，华盛顿“就会是远不如现在文明的地方”。

想从传记中获得启发的热忱读者，不妨选读凯瑟琳·格拉罕获得了普立策奖的《自传》。它是一部记载重大事件及参与其中的相关人物的内容丰富的编年史书。同时也是一部引人入胜的故事，人物的性格和价值观都是大家愿意仿效的。

1 eulogies   

n.颂词，颂文( eulogy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Her latest film has brought eulogies from the critics. 她最近的这部电影获得影评界的好评。 来自互联网

2 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

3 ailing   

v.生病

参考例句：

• They discussed the problems ailing the steel industry. 他们讨论了困扰钢铁工业的问题。
• She looked after her ailing father. 她照顾有病的父亲。

4 facade   

n.(建筑物的)正面，临街正面；外表

参考例句：

• The entrance facade consists of a large full height glass door.入口正面有一大型全高度玻璃门。
• If you look carefully,you can see through Bob's facade.如果你仔细观察，你就能看穿鲍勃的外表。

5 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

6 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

7 tenacity   

n.坚韧

参考例句：

• Tenacity is the bridge to success.坚韧是通向成功的桥。
• The athletes displayed great tenacity throughout the contest.运动员在比赛中表现出坚韧的斗志。

8 courageous   

adj.勇敢的，有胆量的

参考例句：

• We all honour courageous people.我们都尊重勇敢的人。
• He was roused to action by courageous words.豪言壮语促使他奋起行动。

9 steadfast   

adj.固定的，不变的，不动摇的；忠实的；坚贞不移的

参考例句：

• Her steadfast belief never left her for one moment.她坚定的信仰从未动摇过。
• He succeeded in his studies by dint of steadfast application.由于坚持不懈的努力他获得了学业上的成功。

10 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

11 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

12 avid   

adj.热心的；贪婪的；渴望的；劲头十足的

参考例句：

• He is rich,but he is still avid of more money.他很富有,但他还想贪图更多的钱。
• She was avid for praise from her coach.那女孩渴望得到教练的称赞。

13 momentous   

adj.重要的，重大的

参考例句：

• I am deeply honoured to be invited to this momentous occasion.能应邀出席如此重要的场合，我深感荣幸。
• The momentous news was that war had begun.重大的新闻是战争已经开始。

14 emulate   

v.努力赶上或超越，与…竞争；效仿

参考例句：

• You must work hard to emulate your sister.你必须努力工作，赶上你姐姐。
• You must look at the film and try to emulate his behavior.你们必须观看这部电影，并尽力模仿他的动作。

15 eulogy   

n.颂词；颂扬

参考例句：

• He needs no eulogy from me or from any other man. 他不需要我或者任何一个人来称颂。
• Mr.Garth gave a long eulogy about their achievements in the research.加思先生对他们的研究成果大大地颂扬了一番。