VOA标准英语2010年-'Home on the Range' Was Not Just for W

American folklore¹ is rich with tales of western cowboys - hard-working ranch² hands who spent all day, every day, punching cows. That's cowpoke talk for herding³, roping, and branding cattle under the sun and stars.

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Sharpshooter Nate Love, who was known as Deadwood Dick, is regarded as the greatest black cowboy of the early American West.

Actors such as Tom Mix and Hopalong Cassidy - and Clint Eastwood  more recently - became cowboy film stars.  So did singing cowboys such as Roy Rogers and Gene⁴ Autry. And the classic heroes of western novels by Americans Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour, and Larry McMurtry - and the German Karl May - still stir the imagination.

And they all have something in common. Each of them was, or is, white.

But there's a place in the western state of Colorado devoted⁵ to equally talented black cowboys and cowgirls who are also part of America's western saga⁶.

Men like Bill Pickett of Oklahoma. He invented bulldogging. That's the popular rodeo event in which a cowboy on horseback ropes a steer⁷ with a lasso, then dismounts and twists the animal to the ground.

Or Deadwood Dick, a South Dakota bronco buster and Indian fighter who was such a great marksman, he could choose a feather in an Indian headdress and knock it out with one shot at full gallop⁸. 

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Renowned⁹ western artist Frederic Remington depicted¹⁰ a hardworking black cowboy.

The Black American West Museum and Heritage Center in Colorado's capital of Denver began as the personal hobby of Paul Stewart, who was born on an Iowa farm. We'd play 'cowboys and Indians,' he tells VOA, and when it came time for me to be the cowboy, they'd say I couldn't because there's no such thing as a black cowboy.

Then one day on the street, he saw an old black man in chaps, spurs, and cowboy hat, carrying a gun - which was then legal. Stewart learned that the man owned a cattle ranch and rode dusty western trails with white cowboys.

From that moment on, he began gathering¹¹ oral histories and photographing black cowboys, and recording¹² the exploits of black cavalrymen called buffalo¹³ soldiers. Their stories, pictures, clothes, cowboy gear, and guns are on display at the Black American West Museum in Denver, Colorado.

 

1 folklore   

n.民间信仰，民间传说，民俗

参考例句：

• Zhuge Liang is a synonym for wisdom in folklore.诸葛亮在民间传说中成了智慧的代名词。
• In Chinese folklore the bat is an emblem of good fortune.在中国的民间传说中蝙蝠是好运的象征。

2 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

3 herding   

中畜群

参考例句：

• The little boy is herding the cattle. 这个小男孩在放牛。
• They have been herding cattle on the tableland for generations. 他们世世代代在这高原上放牧。

4 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

5 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

6 saga   

n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇

参考例句：

• The saga of Flight 19 is probably the most repeated story about the Bermuda Triangle.飞行19中队的传说或许是有关百慕大三角最重复的故事。
• The novel depicts the saga of a family.小说描绘了一个家族的传奇故事。

7 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

8 gallop   

v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展

参考例句：

• They are coming at a gallop towards us.他们正朝着我们飞跑过来。
• The horse slowed to a walk after its long gallop.那匹马跑了一大阵后慢下来缓步而行。

9 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

10 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

11 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

12 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

13 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。