VOA慢速英语2010年-PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Margaret Mead, 190

VOICE ONE:

I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

Margaret Mead¹

And I'm Shirley Griffith with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English. Today we tell about one of the most influential² social scientists of the last century -- the cultural anthropologist³ Margaret Mead.

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VOICE ONE:

People around the world mourned the death of Margaret Mead in nineteen seventy-eight. A year later, the president of the United States, Jimmy Carter, honored the social scientist with America's highest award for civilians⁴.

Another honor came from a village in New Guinea. The people there planted a coconut⁵ tree in her memory. Margaret Mead would have liked that. As a young woman, she had studied the life and traditions of the village.

Miz Mead received such honors because she added greatly to public knowledge of cultures and traditions in developing countries. Many people consider her the most influential social science researcher of the twentieth century.

Yet some experts said her research was not scientific. They said she depended too much on observation and local stories. They said she did not spend enough time on comparative studies. They believed her fame resulted as much from her colorful personality as from her research.

VOICE TWO:

Margaret Mead shared her strong opinions about social issues. She denounced the spread of nuclear weapons. She spoke⁶ against racial injustice⁷.

She strongly supported women's rights. Throughout her life she enjoyed taking risks. Miz Mead began her studies of cultures in an unusual way for a woman of her time. She chose to perform her research in the developing world.

She went to an island village in the Pacific Ocean. She went alone. The year was nineteen twenty-five. At that time, young American women did not travel far away from home by themselves. They did not ask strangers personal questions. They did not observe births and deaths unless they were involved in medical work. Margaret Mead did all those things.

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VOICE ONE:

Margaret Mead was born in nineteen-oh-one in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her father was a professor of finance. Her mother was a sociologist⁸. Few women attended college in those days. However, Margaret Mead began her studies in nineteen nineteen at De Pauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. She soon decided⁹ that living in a small town did not improve one's mind. So she moved to New York City to study English and psychology¹⁰ at Barnard College. She graduated in nineteen twenty-three.

VOICE TWO:

Margaret Mead in 1928 on a canoe with children on Manus island, in what is now part of Papua New Guinea

Margaret next decided to study anthropology¹¹ at Columbia University in New York. She wanted to examine the activities and traditions of different societies. She later earned master's and doctorate¹² degrees.

Miz Mead studied with two famous anthropologists: Franz Boas and Ruth Benedict. Mister Boas believed that the environment people grow up in -- not family genes¹³ -- caused most cultural differences among people.

This belief also influenced his young student. Margaret Mead asked to do research in Samoa in the Pacific Ocean. Mister Boas was concerned for her safety. But he let her go. He told her to learn about how young Samoan women were raised.

VOICE ONE:

In graduate school, Margaret had married Luther Cressman, who was studying to be a clergyman. He went to Europe to continue his studies. She went alone to Samoa in nineteen twenty-five. She worked among the people of Tau Island. The people spoke a difficult language that had never been written down. Luckily, she was able to learn languages easily.

Miz Mead studied the lives of Samoan girls. She was not much older than the girls she questioned. She said their life was free of the anger and rebellion found among young people in other societies. She also said Samoan girls had sexual relations with anyone they wanted. She said their society did not urge them to love just one man. And she said their society did not condemn¹⁴ sex before marriage.

Margaret Mead said she reached these beliefs after nine months of observation in Samoa. They helped make her book "Coming of Age in Samoa" one of the best-selling books of the time. Miz Mead was just twenty-seven years old when her book was published in nineteen twenty-eight. Many American readers were shocked by her observations about the sexual freedom enjoyed by young Samoan women.

VOICE TWO:

Several social scientists later disputed her findings. Australian anthropologist Derek Freeman wrote a book which criticized her work. The book was published in nineteen eighty-three, five years after her death. He wrote that Miz Mead made her observations from just a few talks with two friendly young women.

He wrote that they wanted to tell interesting stories to a foreign visitor. But their stories were not necessarily true. Mister Freeman said Samoan society valued a young woman who had not had sexual relations. He said Tau Island men refused to marry women who had had sex. However, many published reports about the debate raised questions about Mister Freeman's criticism. After years of discussion, many anthropologists concluded that the truth would probably never be known.

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VOICE ONE:

After nine months among the Samoans, Margaret Mead returned to the United States. She met a student from New Zealand, Reo Fortune, on the long trip home. Her marriage to Luther Cressman ended. She married Mister Fortune, also an anthropologist, in nineteen twenty-eight. They went to New Guinea to work together. It would be the first of seven trips that she would make to the area in the next forty-seven years.

VOICE TWO:

The two studied the people of several areas of New Guinea. She published another influential book, "Sex and Temperament¹⁵ in Three Primitive¹⁶ Societies," in nineteen thirty-five. It was a study of the lives of three New Guinea tribes from infancy¹⁷ to adulthood¹⁸.

Miz Mead wrote that many so-called male and female characteristics are not based on sex differences. Instead they reflect the cultural traditions of different societies. She wrote that women have the major role in one group in New Guinea without causing any special problems. This book became important for the women's rights movement in the United States.

VOICE ONE:

Not long after their New Guinea trip ended, Margaret Mead's marriage to Reo Fortune also ended. In nineteen thirty-six, she married for the third time. Her new husband was Gregory Bateson, a British biologist. Mister Bateson and Miz Mead decided to work together on the island of Bali in Indonesia. The people of Bali proudly shared their rich culture and traditions. Miz Mead observed and recorded their activities. Mister Bateson took photographs. The Batesons had a daughter. But their marriage ended in nineteen fifty.

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VOICE TWO:

As time went on, Margaret Mead's fame continued to grow. Her books sold very well. She also wrote for popular magazines. She appeared on radio and television programs in the nineteen sixties and seventies. She spoke before many groups. Americans loved to hear about her work and the people she studied.

After her trips, Margaret Mead always returned to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. She worked there for more than fifty years. She also taught at several universities in New York. She studied the problems of child-rearing, personality and culture in different societies.

Margaret Mead was also concerned about issues like the environment. On April twenty-second, nineteen seventy, environmental activists¹⁹ organized the first ever Earth Day. Margaret Mead spoke about the dangers of science and technology.

MARGARET MEAD: "No society has ever yet been able to handle the temptations of technology to mastery, to waste, to exuberance²⁰, to exploration and exploitation. We have to learn to cherish this earth and cherish it as something that's fragile, that's only one, it's all we have. We have to use our scientific knowledge to correct the dangers that have come from science and technology."

VOICE ONE:

Other scientists paid Margaret Mead a high honor when she was seventy-four years old. They elected her president of the American Association for the Advancement²¹ of Science. A few years later, she developed cancer. But she continued to travel, speak and study almost to the end of her life. One friend said: "Margaret Mead was not going to let a little thing like death stop her."

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Jerilyn Watson. It was produced by June Simms. I'm Shirley Griffith.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Steve Ember. You can learn about other famous Americans on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English.

1 mead   

n.蜂蜜酒

参考例句：

• He gave me a cup of mead.他给我倒了杯蜂蜜酒。
• He drank some mead at supper.晚饭时他喝了一些蜂蜜酒。

2 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

3 anthropologist   

n.人类学家，人类学者

参考例句：

• The lecturer is an anthropologist.这位讲师是人类学家。
• The anthropologist unearthed the skull of an ancient human at the site.人类学家在这个遗址挖掘出那块古人类的颅骨。

4 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

5 coconut   

n.椰子

参考例句：

• The husk of this coconut is particularly strong.椰子的外壳很明显非常坚固。
• The falling coconut gave him a terrific bang on the head.那只掉下的椰子砰地击中他的脑袋。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

8 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

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 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

11 anthropology   

n.人类学

参考例句：

• I believe he has started reading up anthropology.我相信他已开始深入研究人类学。
• Social anthropology is centrally concerned with the diversity of culture.社会人类学主要关于文化多样性。

12 doctorate   

n.(大学授予的)博士学位

参考例句：

• He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
• Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士？

13 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

14 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

15 temperament   

n.气质，性格，性情

参考例句：

• The analysis of what kind of temperament you possess is vital.分析一下你有什么样的气质是十分重要的。
• Success often depends on temperament.成功常常取决于一个人的性格。

16 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

17 infancy   

n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期

参考例句：

• He came to England in his infancy.他幼年时期来到英国。
• Their research is only in its infancy.他们的研究处于初级阶段。

18 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。

19 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 exuberance   

n.丰富；繁荣

参考例句：

• Her burst of exuberance and her brightness overwhelmed me.她勃发的热情和阳光的性格征服了我。
• The sheer exuberance of the sculpture was exhilarating.那尊雕塑表现出的勃勃生机让人振奋。

21 advancement   

n.前进，促进，提升

参考例句：

• His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
• The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。