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Maya Angelou 玛亚．安洁罗

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During Black History Month, meet and learn from this phenomenal African-American woman  二月是黑人历史月，让我们来认识这位杰出的非裔美国女性：玛亚．安洁罗（译注：美国在二月纪念黑人历史学家Carter G. Woodson在一九二六年把二月的第二周订为「黑人历史周」，因为解放黑奴的前总统林肯和黑奴之子的废奴主义者Frederick Douglass都是在二月出生）。

If there is one thing women should do for their daughters, it is praise them and tell them that they are somebody special, says the celebrated author, singer and poet Maya Angelou.

著名作家、歌者暨诗人玛亚．安洁罗表示，如果说女人该为女儿做一件事的话，那就应该是赞美她们，要告诉女儿，她们有多特别。

“You tell them they’re pretty,” Angelou says. “You tell them they’re beautiful. You tell them that their hair is nice. …. Let her know that ‘my mother thinks I’m the big cheese,’ so that inside themselves they are secure that they are worthy to be treated well.”

「妳要告诉她们，她们好美，」安洁罗说道，「妳要告诉她们，她们很美丽；妳要告诉她们，她们的头发好美。…要让女儿知道，『在妈妈心中，我可是个大人物喔，』因为这样才能让她们内心充满了安全感，才会相信自己值得被善待。」

That’s a lesson Angelou learned from her mother, and it’s one described in her latest book, Letter to My Daughter.

这是安洁罗从自己妈妈身上所学到的功课，而她在新书《给女儿的信》中也娓娓道来。

Angelou’s new book isn’t actually a letter to her daughter. In fact, she has only one child, a son. But she has mothered and mentored many women, including Oprah Winfrey.

安洁罗的新书其实并不是写给自己女儿的信，因为事实上她只有一个孩子，而且是儿子。不过，她曾如母亲般地呵护了许多女性，作她们的心灵导师，而其中也包括欧普拉．温福瑞（译注：著名美国脱口秀女主持人）。

For 20 years, Angelou jotted down ideas, thoughts and snapshots of experiences – but never quite finished them. Last year she looked at what she had written and realized that she might have enough for a book. The result is a collection of reflections and insights that is part memoir, part prose, part poetry and all things Angelou.

长达二十年的期间，安洁罗不时匆匆记下了一些点子、思绪，及各种体验的浮光掠影──但却从未收尾。直到去年，她看了自己所写下的文字，发现其实这些可能就足够出书了，而最后的成果就是集结了深思和洞见的作品集，有的像回忆录，也有抒情文，还有诗篇，以及属于安洁罗的一切。

It is writing that takes you to a place where you taste the red rice she writes about, sway to the music she talks about and feel the faith that caused her grandmother to trust God in the face of a devastating Depression.

她的生花妙笔引领读者走入另一个世界让人品尝到她笔下的红米，并随着她提到的音乐摇曳生姿，同时也切身感受到带领她祖母在惨痛的经济大萧条时期信靠上帝的信仰。

Angelou says she didn’t write the book to preach or to attach a lesson to every story.

安洁罗透露，她写这本书的动机并不是想说教，或是硬把每则故事都强加上一个教训。

“I try not to be that kind of teacher,” she says. “I suggest the reader will know if there’s a lesson in there for her, and it may be a different lesson than the one I extracted.”

「我试着不让自己装出一副为人师表的模样，」她透露，「我建议读者，她们会在阅读的过程中，自己体会有没有适合她们的宝贵功课，而这些功课可能和我自己所学到的不一样。」

单词发音

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phenomenal [fəˋnɑmən!] adj. 异常的；杰出的；惊人的

praise [prez] v. 赞美，表扬

big cheese【俚】大人物  an important or powerful person in a group

secure [sɪˋkjʊr] adj. 安心的，无忧虑的; 安全的

mentor [ˋmɛntɚ] v. 指导

jot [dʒɑt] v. 草草记下[（+down）]

snapshot [ˋsnæp͵ʃɑt] n. 简要印象；点滴的了解

prose [proz] n. 散文；散文体

sway [swe] v. 摇动，使摇摆

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Her story  她的故事

Born Marguerite Annie Johnson, Angelou was given the nickname Maya by her only sibling, her brother, Bailey. Her career began when she was given a scholarship to study dance and drama while in high school in San Francisco. It became her steppingstone to performing – singing, dancing, acting – and world travel.

安洁罗本名玛格列特．安妮．琼森，笔名玛亚是她唯一的手足：哥哥替她取的昵称。她事业起飞的关键，是在旧金山念高中时，获得了进修舞蹈和戏剧的奖学金，这成了一个跳板，使她能进一步投入表演艺术──包括了歌唱、舞蹈和表演──而且还能奔走世界各地。

After moving to New York in the early 1960s, she became part of a community of artists and writers whose words and work both reflected and inspired the growing civil rights movement.

她在一九六０年代早期搬到了纽约，成了当地艺术家和作家社的一员，而这群人的话语和文字不但反映出日渐茁壮的民权运动，也对这项运动有所启发。

She would eventually become most known for her writing. Her books include a series of biographical works, children’s books, poetry, a line of greeting cards and a cookbook that re-creates many of her favorite foods.

她后来以文笔最为人称道，作品包括了一系列自传式作品、童书、诗集、卡片系列，以及收录了许多她爱吃的食物的烹饪书。

Angelou on life 安洁罗看人生

People, she says, ought to look less at possessions and more toward one another for personal fulfillment.

她表示，人们应该少看人所拥有的身外之物，而应该多把眼光放在人的自我实现上。

“It’s time for us to stop looking at things …. and look at human beings. Look at the children. Look at the men. Look at the women.

「时候已经到了，现在大家不应该只重视外在的事物…而该多看重活生生的人。该看看男人，看看女人。」

“It would behoove us all to learn some grace,” she says. “Grace is not just posture. It really is civility and that’s civil rights at the highest level. Civility, courtesy, well-chosen words, kindness, interest in other human beings, not just interest in oneself.”

「我们理当学习让自己变得更优雅，」她表示，「优雅并不只是摆出来一副样子，而是行事彬彬有礼，而这其实是民权的极致表现（译注：civility（有礼、谦恭）和civil（公民的）的字根相同，源自于拉丁文，意指公民的、符合公民的，而后者引申为符合公民身分和行为的，也就是有礼谦恭的）。彬彬有礼、谦恭、言语谨慎合宜、和善、关心他人，而不是仅仅看重自己而已。」

That Angelou, who will turn 82 on April 4, is still teaching, writing, speaking and motivating women and men is a reflection of the poem that she has come to be known for, Phenomenal Woman.

四月四日就将满八十二岁的安洁罗，仍然持续教书、写作、演讲，并激励男男女女，这正显示了她本人其实已经体现出她著名诗作《杰出的女孩》的真髓。

Age shouldn’t stop a woman – or anyone – from accomplishing all she can, she says. “I can’t run the 5K dash. There are certain constraints that prohibit me from reaching certain goals so I make goals that are within my reach,” she says. “I don’t ask myself to dance the jitterbug, but I still have rhythm.”

她表示，年纪不应该阻碍一位女性──或是任何人──发挥她所有的潜能。「我没办法跑五公里赛跑，此外，还有一些局限使我无法达成某些目标，因此我只设定自己能力范围之内的目标，」她如此说道，「我虽不会逼自己去跳吉鲁巴舞，但我还是保有自己的韵律感。」

−by Cassandra Spratling

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sibling [ˋsɪblɪŋ] n. 兄弟姊妹

civil rights movement 民权运动 a movement in the United States that began in the 1950s in an effort to gain equal rights for black citizens

biographical [͵baɪəˋgræfɪk!] adj. 传记的；传记体的

line [laɪn] n.（排成的）行，列

possession [pəˋzɛʃən] n. 所有物；财产

fulfillment [fʊlˋfɪlmənt] n. 满足（感); 成就（感）

behoove [bɪˋhuv] v. 对……有此必要   to be right for someone to do something

grace [gres] n. 风度，魅力；美德; 优美；优雅

civility [sɪˋvɪlətɪ] n. 有礼貌的举止

interest [ˋɪntərɪst] v. 关注

reflection [rɪˋflɛkʃən] n. 反映; 表现; 显示; 体现

dash [dæʃ] n. 短跑

constraint [kənˋstrent] n. 约束；限制

jitterbug [ˋdʒɪtɚ͵bʌg] n. 吉特巴舞  an energetic jazz dance for couples that was popular in the 1940s

单词发音

Vocabulary Focus

celebrated [ˋsɛlə͵bretɪd] adj. 著名的，驰名的 famous for some special quality or ability

jot down 草草记下; 匆匆记下 to write something quickly in order to remember it

memoir [ˋmɛmwɑr] n. （本人写的）回忆录，自传 a written record of a usually famous person’s own life and experiences

devastating [ˋdɛvəs͵tetɪŋ] adj. 破坏性极大的，毁灭性的 causing a lot of damage or destruction

extract [ɪkˋstrækt] v. 摘录；选用（例子，章节等）; 设法得到（情报等）to remove or tale out

steppingstone [ˋstɛpɪŋ͵ston] n.（达成某目的的）手段；进身之阶 an event or experience that helps achieve something else

fulfillment [fʊlˋfɪlmənt] n. 满足（感），成就（感）a feeling of pleasure or satisfaction

posture [ˋpɑstʃɚ] n. 姿势，姿态; 心情，心境 the way in which someone usually holds his or her shoulders, neck and back, or a particular position in which someone stands, sits, or walks

courtesy [ˋkɝtəsɪ] n. 谦恭有礼的言辞（或举动）[ polite behavior, or a polite action or remark

prohibit [prəˋhɪbɪt] v. 妨碍，阻止；使不可能[（+from）][+v-ing] to prevent a particular activity by making it impossible

Maya Angelou introduces Letter to My Daughter