讀點好英文:Oprah Winfrey, a RefuIgent SouI　逆風(fēng)飛揚

所屬教程:英語漫讀

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2022年03月02日

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Oprah Winfrey, a RefuIgent SouI　逆風(fēng)飛揚

·Terry·

Oprah Winfrey is one of the most exciting, highest paid, and best-loved celebrities in America. She is also the country's top television talk show host.Oprah Winfrey is a very fine actress and a successful producer.She is a living example of what talent, hard work, and determination can do.

Oprah Winfrey has come a long way from her poor childhood home in a small Mississippi town. She was an unwanted child whose parents never married.She was brought up on her grandmother's farm.The possibiIity that she would become rich and famous was not very good.

Oprah's mother left her child in her mother's care, so she could go to work in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was a strict and difficult life for Oprah.But it also led the way for her future.She was a highly inteIIigent child.By the age of three, she had learned to read and write.She also made her first public appearance at that age.She gave a talk in church, which impressed everyone.“That child is gifted，”people said.

Oprah's intelligence was resented by other children her age. They called her unkind names and pushed her away.Oprah felt very isoIated and unwanted.It made her feel worse that she didn't live with her mother and father.She felt that no one loved her.This made her angry, resentful, and rebellious.These feelings brought her much trouble as she was growing up.She often behaved badly, causing her grandmother to punish her.By the time Oprah was seven, she was too much for her grandmother to discipline.Then Oprah went to live with her mother, Vernita, in Milwaukee.

Vernita worked very hard at her job as a housekeeper. It was hard for her to work and take care of her bright, troublesome child.Oprah was a burden, and she knew it.They lived in poverty in a small apartment in the city.Oprah took out all her angry feelings on her mother.She was a difficult child.When Oprah was eight, Vernita sent her to live with her father and stepmother in Nashville, Tennessee.But she moved again a few months later when Vernita married a man with two children.Vernita wanted Oprah with her and her new family.

Unfortunately she felt she didn't belong with them. She believedshewasn't loved by anyone.Her anger and frustration grew stronger.She struck back by misbehaving and running away from home.Her parents found her impossible to discipline.When she was 14 they tried to send her to a special center for troubled girls.But there was no room for her.So Vernita sent Oprah back to live with her father.Vernon Winfrey was by then a successful businessman and family man.He took one look at his daughter and knew she needed guidance, love, and discipline.He gave her all three.It was a turning point in Oprah's life.Vernon Winfrey was strict about hisdaughter's education.He gave her homework in addition to her schoolwork.She was allowed to watch only one hour of television a day.She became an A student and a popular girl in her class.

Oprah watched Barbara Walters, a famous journalist and interviewer, and decided that was what she wanted to be. When shewas still in high school, she got a part-time job reading news on the radio.In her senior year she won a beauty contest and a four-year scholarship to TennesseeState University.While still in college she was offered a job as a news broadcaster at a local television station.She was the first female and the first African-American newscaster in Nashville.She was promoted to anchor, the most important position on the news team, while still a senior.

After Oprah graduated she got a job with a Baltimore news station. But she soon realized that broadcasting news wasn't enough for her.She had to let her personality shine through.She wanted to show emotion when she told a story, not just report it.Meanwhile the station managers were thinking the same way.They couldn't stop her from commenting on the news she read.They removed her from the anchor spot and wondered what to do with her.Finally they put her on an early morning talk show called People Are Talking.No one knew what to expect.

The show was a great success. In a very short time, the managers and Oprah all knew what she was born to do.She was funny, witty, charming, warm, and compassionate.She was everything a talk show host should be.She was so successful that she got a show with a bigger station in Chicago.It was called A.M.Chicago.Within one month the show's ratings were the best in years.Twice she left the show to make movies, The Color Purple and Native Son.In 1985 the show was changed to The Oprah Winfrey Show.It was broadcast nationally and soon became the most popular talk show on television.By the age of 35，Oprah Winfrey was one of the most famous celebrities in America.

特里

奧普拉·溫弗瑞是美國最令人激動的、薪水最高的和最受觀眾喜愛的知名人士之一，她還是美國頂級脫口秀節(jié)目主持人、非常優(yōu)秀的女演員和成功的制片人。（要問）才華、勤奮和決心能成就什么，她就是一個鮮活的例子。

奧普拉·溫弗瑞來自遙遠的密西西比的一個小鎮(zhèn)中的貧窮家庭。她的父母沒有結(jié)婚就生下了她，她在外婆的農(nóng)場里長大成人，對她來說，發(fā)財和成名的可能性都非常小。

奧普拉·溫弗瑞的媽媽將小奧普拉交給外祖母看管，這樣，她就能去威斯康星州的密爾瓦基市工作了。生活對奧普拉·溫弗瑞來說既嚴(yán)格又艱難，但這引領(lǐng)她走向了屬于她的未來。奧普拉是個非常聰明的孩子，三歲時，已經(jīng)學(xué)會了讀書認字，并第一次在舞臺上公開演出。奧普拉·溫弗瑞在教堂的講話，給人們留下了很好的印象，人們都說她“這孩子很有天賦”。

奧普拉·溫弗瑞的聰明遭到了同齡孩子的嫉恨。他們?nèi)枇R她，排斥她。奧普拉·溫弗瑞感到孤獨無助。不能和爸爸媽媽住在一起使她心情更糟，她感到?jīng)]人喜歡她。這一切造就了她憤怒、怨恨和反叛的性格。隨著年齡的增長，這給她帶來了很多麻煩。她經(jīng)常不守規(guī)矩，招來外婆的懲罰。七歲時，外婆再也管不了她了。后來，奧普拉就去和在密爾瓦基的媽媽——沃尼塔一起生活。

給別人做女管家，沃尼塔干得非常賣力。既要工作又要照顧她那聰明而又常惹事生非的孩子使她很辛苦，奧普拉也感覺到自己是媽媽的負擔(dān)。她們住在市里的一個小公寓里，日子過得很清貧。奧普拉將所有的火氣都發(fā)到了媽媽的身上。孩子成了沃尼塔的一個大麻煩。奧普拉八歲時，媽媽把她送到了田納西州的納什維爾的生父和繼母那里。后來，沃尼塔和一個帶有兩個孩子的男人結(jié)了婚，她把奧普拉接了回來，因為她想要奧普拉與她和她的新家在一起。

不幸的是，奧普拉感到自己不屬于這個家，她覺得誰也不愛她。她的憤恨與挫折感越發(fā)強烈，于是就用不守規(guī)矩和離家出走來進行反擊。奧普拉的媽媽覺得無望管教好女兒，于是在奧普拉十四歲那年試圖把她送到管教麻煩女孩的特別中心，但那里已經(jīng)沒有地方了，于是沃尼塔又把奧普拉送到她爸爸那里去了。弗農(nóng)·溫弗瑞當(dāng)時已經(jīng)再婚，并且是一位成功的商人。他觀察了他的女兒，了解到她需要引導(dǎo)、愛和管教。她需要的，他都給予了，這成了奧普拉人生的轉(zhuǎn)折點。弗農(nóng)·溫弗瑞對女兒的教育要求非常嚴(yán)格，除學(xué)校的作業(yè)外，他還給她布置家庭作業(yè)，并且一天只允許她看一小時的電視。奧普拉成了班上最優(yōu)秀的學(xué)生，成了班里受歡迎的女孩兒。

奧普拉看到了著名的新聞記者和采訪人芭芭拉·沃爾特斯，決心成為像她那樣的人。剛上高中時，奧普拉就在廣播電臺做兼職，播新聞。到了更高年級時，她在一次選美大賽中勝出，贏取了田納西州立大學(xué)四年的助學(xué)金。到了大學(xué)時期，她在當(dāng)?shù)匾患译娨暸_播報新聞。她是納什維爾市獲取這種工作的第一位女性和第一位美國黑人。大學(xué)四年級時，奧普拉晉升為新聞播報負責(zé)人，這是新聞組最重要的位置。

大學(xué)畢業(yè)后，奧普拉在巴爾的摩市電視臺謀得工作。她很快不滿足于播報新聞，想要充分展示自己的個性，滿懷激情地講述而非簡單地播送。與此同時，電視臺的經(jīng)理也在琢磨這個問題，他們無法阻攔她播送新聞時的評論。他們將她調(diào)離新聞負責(zé)人的職位，但不知道該讓她干什么好，最后安排她主持早晨脫口秀——《大家談》，沒人知道結(jié)果會是怎樣。

節(jié)目取得了極大的成功！經(jīng)理認為奧普拉天生就是干這個的，奧普拉也這么認為。風(fēng)趣、機智、熱情、魅力四射、富有同情心，她具備了脫口秀主持人所應(yīng)具備的全部素質(zhì)。她非常成功，在芝加哥一家更大的電視臺主持脫口秀節(jié)目——《早安芝加哥》。一個月內(nèi)這檔節(jié)目的收視率就創(chuàng)下了歷年的新高。她第二次離開脫口秀主持人位置，轉(zhuǎn)而去拍電影《紫色與本土人》。1985年，她主持的節(jié)目更名為《奧普拉秀》，在全美國播放，《奧普拉秀》一躍成為最富人氣的電視脫口秀節(jié)目。到了奧普拉·溫弗瑞三十五歲時，她成了全美國知名度最高的人士之一。

核心單詞

possibiIity[，p?si'biliti]n.可能性；可能的事

inteIIigent[in'telid??nt]adj.有才智的；聰明的；明智的

isoIated['ais?leitid]adj.（被）孤立的，（被）分離的，（被）隔離的

behave[bi'heiv]v.表現(xiàn)；行為舉止

stepmother['step, m?e?]n.繼母，后母

frustration[fr?s'trei??n]n.挫折，失敗，挫敗

remove[ri'mu：v]v.移動，搬開；調(diào)動

witty['witi]adj.機智的；詼諧

實用句型

She was so successfuI that she got a show with a bigger station in Chicago.

她非常成功，在芝加哥一家更大的電視臺主持脫口秀。①so……that在這里引導(dǎo)結(jié)果狀語從句。