VOA标准英语2010年-Legendary American Entertainer Lena Ho

Whatever her mood, from sultry blues¹ ballads² to fiery³ jazz classics, Lena Horne was adored by audiences the world over, especially when she delivered her signature song, Stormy Weather.

Lena was born the great-granddaughter of a freed slave in Brooklyn, New York.   At 16, she entered show business as a member of the chorus line at New York's famous Cotton Club.  While still in her teens, she went on tour with an orchestra led by jazz bandleader Noble Sissle.  In the 1940s, she was one of the first black performers hired to sing with a major white band, the Charlie Barnet Orchestra.

Lena's manager persuaded her to try acting⁴, and in 1942, she made her debut⁵ in the Hollywood musical Panama Hattie.  She eventually starred in two all-black films, Stormy Weather and Cabin In The Sky, but her subsequent screen roles were severely⁶ limited by racial attitudes of the era.  As a result, she was only cast in movies as a nightclub singer, appearing in isolated⁷ segments in which she usually sang only one song.  Those segments were cut altogether when the films were shown in the American South, where racial segregation⁸ was then practiced.  That experience, along with other acts of discrimination, sparked her interest and work in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and '60s.

Lena Horne from the 1946 film "Till the Clouds Roll By"

"When I went South, and met the kind of people who were fighting in such an unglamorous fashion, I mean, fighting just to get someplace to sit and get a sandwich, I felt close to that kind of thing because I had denied, it and had been left away from it so long," said Lena Horne. "And I began to feel such pain again."

At the same time she was fighting prejudice, Lena Horne continued appearing with bands in nightclubs around the country, and making recordings⁹ of such standard blues favorites as Can't Help Lovin' That Man Of Mine.

Although blues were her specialty¹⁰, Lena Horne's husky, contralto voice was equally at home with a variety of styles.  She easily hypnotized audiences with her rendition of the classic Night And Day when set to a Latin beat.

In 1981, Lena Horne introduced her one-woman show on Broadway in New York City, Lena Horne: The Lady And Her Music.  It ran for three years and earned her Broadway's highest honor, the Tony Award.  The show went on to tour 40 cities in the U.S. and London.

Lena Horne appeared in a number of musical films in the 1940s, but her appearances were cut from the movies when they played in America's South.

In 1984, Lena Horne received the Kennedy Center Honors Award for her achievements in the performing arts.  Singer Dionne Warwick paid tribute to Lena at the awards ceremony.

"She was, and still is, a pioneer for women, and especially for black women," said Dionne Warwick. "She has kept alive her inner fires, cast them into song, and warmed us all."

Lena Horne was presented the Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1989.  One of her last albums, An Evening with Lena Horne, earned her a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal¹¹ Performance in 1995.

Legendary¹² singer Lena Horne died on May 9 in New York City at age 92.
 

1 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

2 ballads   

民歌，民谣，特别指叙述故事的歌( ballad的名词复数 )； 讴

参考例句：

• She belted out ballads and hillbilly songs one after another all evening. 她整晚一个接一个地大唱民谣和乡村小调。
• She taught him to read and even to sing two or three little ballads,accompanying him on her old piano. 她教他读书，还教他唱两三首民谣，弹着她的旧钢琴为他伴奏。

3 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

4 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

5 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

6 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

7 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

8 segregation   

n.隔离，种族隔离

参考例句：

• Many school boards found segregation a hot potato in the early 1960s.在60年代初，许多学校部门都觉得按水平分班是一个棘手的问题。
• They were tired to death of segregation and of being kicked around.他们十分厌恶种族隔离和总是被人踢来踢去。

9 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

10 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

11 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

12 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。