VOA慢速英语--在2019年离开我们的科学家、体育明星、政治家和艺术家

This year saw the deaths of people who changed culture through art, politics and tireless hard work. It also witnessed tragedy, in talent struck down in its youth.

A sharecropper's son who rose through positions of political power to become one of the nation's influential¹ voices. A Republican who went on to lead the U.S. Supreme² Court's liberal justices. A beloved writer who explored prejudice through her novels.

In 2019, the United States lost a major civil rights leader. Elijah E. Cummings was born the son of a poor farmer. A school official once told young Cummings he would never become a lawyer because he was too slow to learn and spoke³ poorly.

He refused to believe that. Cummings not only gained an education in law, but went on to become an influential congressman⁴ and champion of civil rights.

Cummings died in October. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1996. The Maryland lawmaker became the leader of one of the House committees that led an investigation⁵ of President Donald Trump⁶.

America also lost a leading legal mind in 2019. U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens died in July. Stevens was appointed to the high court as a member of the Republican Party. However, he became the leader of its liberal members. He ruled in support of abortion⁷ rights and consumer protections.

The death of writer Toni Morrison in August left a huge hole in the publishing world. The 88-year-old was a leader of modern American literature. She was also seen as an artistic⁸ guide to many young writers.

Morrison wrote books that explored the inhumanity of racism⁹ and other discrimination. In 1993, she became the first black woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. In 2012, then-President Barack Obama awarded her one of the country's highest civilian¹⁰ honors, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Her most famous books include The Bluest Eye, Beloved and A Mercy.

Among those in the scientific world who died in 2019 was Soviet¹¹ cosmonaut, Alexei Leonov, the first person to walk in space. Leonov, who died in October, stepped out of a spaceship in 1965 and spent 12 minutes floating above Earth. He later described how he saw the stars that day: "They were everywhere," he said, "up above, down below, to the left, to the right. I can still hear my breath and my heartbeat in that silence."

American Scientist Wallace Smith Broecker, died in February. Broecker brought "global warming" into common use with a 1975 report that predicted rising carbon dioxide levels would lead to the warming of the planet. He was among the first people to warn about the dangers of climate change.

In January, Iraqi archaeologist Lamia al-Gailani died in Jordan at the age of 80. She was important to the rebuilding of the Iraqi National Museum's collection after raids and thefts in 2003. Al-Gailani's work helped Iraq recover thousands of ancient objects and art.

In the field of sports, American golfer Marilynn Smith died in April. Smith won two major championships and helped establish the Ladies Professional Golf Association. Smith was an athlete from a young age, playing on a boy's baseball team as a child. Her parents introduced her to golf when she was 12-years-old. In 2006, she was admitted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Smith died at the age of 89.

Cuban dancer Alicia Alonso died in October at age 98. The beloved ballerina and creator of dances enjoyed an almost 75-year-long career, continuing to perform into her seventies. With the support of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, Alonso helped establish the National Ballet of Cuba in the 1960s. It is the largest ballet school in the world, with about 3000 students.

Movie fans said goodbye to the British actor Peter Mayhew in April. Mayhew performed as the huge, hairy and lovable Chewbacca in the original Star Wars film. The character he played became a fan favorite immediately. Mayhew once said he won the part of Chewbacca by simply standing¹³ up, showing his 2.2 meters in height. He had the genetic¹⁴ disease, Marfan Syndrome¹⁵, which caused his unusual growth.

The year also saw the untimely deaths of two young American hip¹² hop¹⁶ artists. Grammy-nominated Nipsey Hussle was killed in a shooting in Los Angeles in March. He was 33. Juice WRLD, who launched his career on SoundCloud, became a star of music on the internet. He died of a drug overdose in December. He had turned 21 just a few days earlier.

Words in This Story

talent - n. a special ability that permits someone to do something well

novel - n. a long written story usually about imaginary characters and events

athlete - n. a person who is trained in or good at sports, games, or exercises that require physical skill and strength

sharecropper - n. a farmer especially in the southern U.S. who raises crops for the owner of a piece of land and is paid a portion of the money from the sale of the crops

abortion - n. a medical procedure used to end a pregnancy¹⁷ and cause the death of the fetus¹⁸

consumer - n. a person who buys goods and services

overdose - n. an amount of a drug or medicine that is too much and usually dangerous

1 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。

2 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

3 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。

4 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

6 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

7 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

8 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

9 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

10 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

11 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

12 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

13 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

14 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

15 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

16 hop   

n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过

参考例句：

• The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。
• How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？

17 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

18 fetus   

n.胎，胎儿

参考例句：

• In the fetus,blood cells are formed in different sites at different ages.胎儿的血细胞在不同时期生成在不同的部位。
• No one knows why a fetus is not automatically rejected by the mother's immune system. 没有人知道为什么母亲的免疫系统不会自动排斥胎儿。