人文英语之外国人物

外国著名人物

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was considered the greatest scientist of the 20th century and one of the greatest of all time. His discoveries and theories have greatly influenced science in many fields.

Einstein was born in 1879 in Ulm, a city in Germany. As a boy, he was slow to learn to talk, but later in his childhood he showed great curiosity about nature and ability to solve difficult mathematical problems. After he left school, he went to Switzerland, where he graduated from the university with a degree in mathematics.

In 1905, Einstein began to publish a series of papers which shook the whole scientific and intellectual world, and for the theories he established in the papers he won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921.

Because Einstein was Jewish, when Hitler took over Germany in 1933, he had to leave the country and finally settled in the United States. There he continued his study on the structure of the universe until his death in 1955.

Among the several important discoveries Einstein made in his life, the greatest is the creation of his famous Theory of Relativity

艾伯特爱因斯坦

艾伯特爱因斯坦被视为20 世纪和最好的之一最伟大科学家整时间。他的发现和理论在许多领域中已经非常影响科学。

爱因斯坦在1879 年在Ulm 出生, 在德国的一个城市。身为一个男孩，他慢学习说话，但是稍后在他的孩童时期方面，他表示关于自然的棒好奇心和能力解决困难的数学问题。在他离开了学校之后, 他去达到他从大学以数学的一个学位毕业的瑞士。

在1905 年，爱因斯坦开始出版摇动了整个的科学和智力的世界的一系列的文件, 和为理论「他在他在1921 年为物理学嬴得了诺贝尔奖的文件中建立」.

因为爱因斯坦是犹太人的，当希特勒在1933 年接管了德国的时候，他必须离开国家和最后被定居美国。在那里他在1955 年直到他的死亡继续在宇宙的结构方面的他的研究。

在一些重要的发现爱因斯坦之中在他的生活方面制造, 最好的是他的相对论的出名理论的创造

Ludwig van Beethoven (IPA: [?l?tv?? va:n ?be:tov?n], baptized December 17, 1770[1] –March 26, 1827) was a German composer. He is generally regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of music, and was the predominant figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music. His reputation and genius have inspired — and in many cases intimidated — ensuing generations of composers, musicians, and audiences. While primarily known today as a composer, he was also a celebrated virtuoso pianist and conductor, and an accomplished violinist.

Born in Bonn, Germany, he moved to Vienna, Austria, in his early twenties, and settled there, studying with Joseph Haydn and quickly gaining a reputation as a virtuoso pianist. In his late twenties he began to lose his hearing gradually, and yet he continued to produce notable masterpieces throughout his life, even when his

deafness was almost total. Beethoven was one of the first composers who worked as a freelance —arranging subscription concerts, selling his compositions to publishers, and gaining financial support from a number of wealthy patrons —rather than being permanently employed by the church or by an aristocratic court.

The Firm Helen Keller

In 1882 a baby girl caught a fever that was so fierce she nearly died. She survived but the fever left its mark — she could no longer see or hear. Because she could not hear she also found it very difficult to speak.

So how did this child, blinded and deafened at 19 months old, grow up to become a world-famous author and public speaker?

The fever cut her off from the outside world, depriving her of sight and sound. It was as if she had been thrown into a dark prison cell from which there could be no release.

Luckily Helen was not someone who gave up easily. Soon she began to explore the world by using her other senses. She followed her mother wherever she went, hanging onto her skirts, She touched and smelled everything she came across. She copied their actions and was soon able to do certain jobs herself, like milking the cows or kneading dough, She even learnt to recognize people by feeling their faces or their clothes. She could also tell where she was in the garden by the smell of the different plants and the feel of the ground under her feet.

By the age of seven she had invented over 60 different signs by which she could talk to her family, If she wanted bread for example, she would pretend to cut a loaf and butter the slices. If she wanted ice cream she wrapped her arms around herself and pretended to shiver.

Helen was unusual in that she was extremely intelligent and also remarkably sensitive. By her own efforts she had managed to make some sense of an alien and confusing world. But even so she had limitations.

At the age of five Helen began to realize she was different from other people. She noticed that her family did not use signs like she did but talked with their mouths. Sometimes she stood between two people and touched their lips. She could not understand what they said and she could not make any meaningful sounds herself. She wanted to talk but no matter how she tried she could not make herself understood. This make her so angry that she used to hurl herself around the room, kicking and screaming in frustration.

As she got older her frustration grew and her rages became worse and worse. She became wild and unruly . If she d idn’t get what she wanted she would throw tantrums until her family gave in. Her favourite tricks included grabbing other people’s food from their plates and hurling fragile objects to the floor. Once she even managed to lock her mother into the pantry. Eventually it became clear that something had to be done. So, just before her seventh birthday, the family hired a private tutor — Anne Sullivan.

Anne was careful to teach Helen especially those subjects in which she was interested. As a result Helen became gentler and she soon learnt to read and write in Braille. She also learnt to read people’s lips by pressing her finger-tips against them and feeling the movement and vibrations. This method is called Tadoma and it is a skill that very, very few

people manage to acquire. She also learnt to speak, a major achievement for someone who could not hear at all.

Helen proved to be a remarkable scholar, graduating with honours from Radcliffe College in 1904. She had phenomenal powers of concentration and memory, as well as a dogged determination to succeed. While she was still at college she wrote ‘The Story of My Life’. This was an immediate success and earned her enough money to buy her own house. She toured the country, giving lecture after lecture. Many books were written about her and several plays and films were made about her life. Eventually she became so famous that she was invited abroad and received many honours from foreign universities and monarchs. In 1932 she became a vice-president of the Royal National Institute for the Blind in the United Kingdom.

After her death in 1968 an organization was set up in her name to combat blindness in the developing world. Today that agency, Helen Keller International, is one of the biggest organizations working with blind people overseas.

坚强的海伦·凯勒

1882年，一名女婴因高发烧差点丧命。她虽幸免于难，但发烧给她留下了后遗症——她再也看不见、听不见。因为听不见，她想讲话也变得很困难。

那么这样一个在19个月时就既盲又聋的孩子，是如何成长为享誉世界的作家和演说家的呢？

高烧将她与外界隔开，使她失去了视力和声音。她仿佛置身在黑暗的牢笼中无法摆脱。

万幸的是海伦并不是个轻易认输的人。不久她就开始利用其它的感官来探查这个世界了。她跟着母亲，拉着母亲的衣角，形影不离。她去触摸，去嗅各种她碰到的物品。她模仿别人的动作且很快就能自己做一些事情，例如挤牛奶或揉面。她甚至学会靠摸别人的脸或衣服来识别对方。她还能靠闻不同的植物和触摸地面来辨别自己在花园的位置。

七岁的时候她发明了60多种不同的手势，靠此得以和家里人交流。比如她若想要面包，就会做出切面包和涂黄油的动作。想要冰淇淋时她会用手裹住自己装出发抖的样子。

海伦在这方面非比一般，她绝顶的聪明又相当敏感。通过努力她对这个陌生且迷惑的世界有了一些知识。但她仍有一些有足。

海伦五岁时开始意识到她与别人不同。她发现家里的其他人不用象她那样做手势而是用嘴交谈。有时她站在两人中间触摸他们的嘴唇。她不知道他们在说什么，而她自己不能发出带有含义的声音。她想讲话，可无论费多大的劲儿也无法使别人明白自己。这使她异常懊恼以至于常常在屋子里乱跑乱撞，灰心地又踢又喊。

随着年龄的增长她的怒气越为越大。她变得狂野不驯。倘若她得不到想要的东西就会大发脾气直到家人顺从。她惯用的手段包括抓别人盘里的食物以及将易碎的东西猛扔在地。有一次她甚至将母亲锁在厨房里。这样一来就得想个办法了。于是，在她快到七岁生日时，家里便雇了一名家庭教师——安尼·沙利文。

安尼悉心地教授海伦，特别是她感兴趣的东西。这样海伦变得温和了而且很快学会了用布莱叶盲文朗读和写作。靠用手指接触说话人的嘴唇去感受运动和震动，她又学会了触唇意识。这种方法被称作泰德马，是一种很少有人掌握的技能。她也学会了讲话，这对失聪的人来说是个巨大的成就。

海伦证明了自己是个出色的学者，1904年她以优异的成绩从拉德克利夫学院业。她有惊人的注意力和记忆力，同时她还具有不达目的誓不罢休的毅力。上大学时她就写了《我的生命》。这使她取得了巨大的成功从而有能力为自己购买一套住房。

她周游全国，不断地举行讲座。她的事迹为许多人著书立说而且还上演了关于她的生平的戏剧和电影。最终她声名显赫，应邀出国并受到外国大学和国王授予的荣誉。1932年，她成为英国皇家国立盲人学院的副校长。

1968年她去世后，一个以她的名字命名的组织建立起来，该组织旨在与发展中国家存在的失明缺陷做斗争。如今这所机构，“国际海伦·凯勒”，是海外向盲人提供帮助的最大组织之一。

1991年，奥巴马在哈佛大学获得了“极优等”（拉丁文的学位荣誉，magna cum laude）法学士的学位，并回到芝加哥。1994年至2002年，奥巴马分别在芝加哥森林基金会和乔伊斯基金会的董事会任职过一段时间。

1996年，奥巴马进入政坛，当选伊利诺伊州参议员。2003年1月，奥巴马被选为伊利诺伊斯州卫生公共服务委员会主席。2004年11月，他在国会选举中当选伊利诺伊州联邦参议员。2008年参加美国大选

2007年2月10日，奥巴马在伊利诺斯州首府春田市的老州政府大厦前正式宣布参加2008年总统大选。伊拉克战争、增大能源自主和全民医疗保险是奥巴马竞选纲领所关注的三大主要问题。此外，“变化”是奥巴马的竞选主题。

巴拉克?奥巴马在美国当地时间周二的晚间以压倒性优势获胜，成为美国首位黑人总统。这一结果颠覆了美国有史以来存在的种族隔阂现状。他在获胜后对欢庆胜利的众多支持者们喊道：“变革的时代来了。”

这位伊利诺伊州民主党参议员在俄亥俄、佛罗里达、弗吉尼亚、爱荷华等几个角逐激烈的战场州击败共和党参议员约翰?麦凯恩之后，这一历史性胜利的局面便已锁定。

Romantic story

Obama met his wife, Michelle Robinson, in June 1989 when he was employed as a summer associate at the Chicago law firm of Sidley Austin. Assigned for three months as Obama's adviser at the firm, Robinson joined him at group social functions, but declined his initial offers to date. They began dating later that summer, became engaged in 1991, and were married on October 3, 1992. The couple's first daughter, Malia Ann, was born in 1998, followed by a second daughter, Natasha ("Sasha"), in 2001.

A diversified family

In a 2006 interview, Obama highlighted the diversity of his extended family.

"Michelle will tell you that when we get together for Christmas or Thanksgiving, it's like a little mini-United Nations," he said. "I've got relatives who look like Bernie Mac, and I've got relatives who look like Margaret Thatcher." Obama has seven half-siblings from his Kenyan father's family, six of them living, and a half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, the daughter of his mother and her Indonesian second husband. Obama's mother was survived by her Kansas-born mother, Madelyn Dunham until her death on November 2, 2008, just before the presidential election.

Obama plays basketball, a sport he participated in as a member of his high school's varsity team. Before announcing his presidential candidacy, he began a well-publicized effort to quit smoking. “罗曼史”

1989年6月，奥巴马在芝加哥盛德国际律师事务所做暑期助理期间，结识了米歇尔?鲁宾逊。当时米歇尔被指派为奥巴马3个月工作期间的顾问，她在社交集会时加入了奥巴马的团体，但却拒绝了他最初的约会邀请。那年夏季快结束时，他们才开始约会，随后两人于1991年

订婚，并于1992年10月3日正式结婚。他们有两个女儿，大女儿玛丽亚-安出生于1999年，小女儿娜塔莎（萨沙）出生于2001年。

“小联合国”

在2006年的一次采访中，奥巴马让人们了解了他的多样性的大家庭。

他说：“米歇尔最有发言权了，每当过圣诞节或者感恩节，我们家就像一个小联合国一样。我的亲人有的长得像伯尼·麦克（黑人喜剧演员），有的则酷似撒切尔夫人”。奥巴马的父亲是肯尼亚人，在那里他有7个同父异母兄妹，其中6个还健在。他还有一个同母异父的妹妹---玛雅，是他的母亲和他的印尼继父所生。他的母亲先于外祖母去世。奥巴马的外祖母玛德琳?杜汉姆出生于堪萨斯，遗憾的是她在本月2日大选之前去世。

奥巴马喜欢打篮球，高中时曾是校队成员。宣布竞选总统之前，他向民众表示自己会戒烟。Cultural and Political image

With his Kenyan father and white American mother, his upbringing in Honolulu and Jakarta, and his Ivy League education, Obama's early life experiences differ markedly from those of African American politicians who launched their careers in the 1960s through participation in the civil rights movement. Expressing puzzlement over questions about whether he is "black enough," Obama told an August 2007 meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists that the debate is not about his physical appearance or his record on issues of concern to black voters. Obama said that "we're still locked in this notion that if you appeal to white folks then there must be something wrong."

Echoing the inaugural address of John F. Kennedy, Obama acknowledged his youthful image in an October 2007 campaign speech, saying: "I wouldn't be here if, time and again, the torch had not been passed to a new generation."奥巴马的父亲来自肯尼亚，母亲为美国白人，他在檀香山和雅加达两地长大，就读于常青藤名校。他的这些早期经历与在二十世纪六十年代通过民权运动开拓自己事业领域的那些非洲裔美国政界人士明显不同。在关于他是否“够黑”这个问题上，奥巴马在全美黑人新闻工作者协会2007年8月的会议上表示，这样的争论与他的外表或者他对黑人选民问题的关注并无关系。他说：“我们到现在还在被那个固有的观念所影响，觉得受到白人的认可是不可能的。”

对于自己的年轻形象，奥巴马在2007年10月的一次竞选演讲中引用肯尼迪总统就职演说中的话说：“如果不是这个火炬在被一次次地传递到新一代的手上，我不会有这个机会的。” 很多评论家都认为奥巴马在国际上的受欢迎度在他的公众形象中起了决定性作用。他不仅在其他国家的几次民调中都得到了极高的支持率，而且在他成为总统候选人之前就与一些外国政要及在职官员关系密切。这其中就有2005年与奥巴马在伦敦会面、时任英国首相的托尼?布莱尔，同年拜访过奥巴马参议员办公室的意大利民主党领袖瓦尔特?维尔特洛尼，以及现任法国总统尼古拉斯?萨科奇，二人曾于2006年在华盛顿会过面。