21世紀大學英語讀寫教程第一冊第3課內容講解

導語：史蒂夫莫里斯一出生就是盲目的，可是他並沒有自我放棄，而是頑強生存得有聲於色，下面是一篇講述史蒂夫莫里斯的英語課文，歡迎閱讀。

When Stevie Morris was born, on May 13, 1950, the doctors shook their heads and told the mother that her son was born blind and likely would always be that way. She broke into tears.

Blind and black and poor — what kind of life could this new infant have? In her wildest dreams, Mrs. Morris could never have imagined that her new baby would become a famous musician called Stevie Wonder. At the time, all she could do was pray — and worry.

Stevie himself didn't worry at all. Life was too full. He was brought up among church-going people whose faith helped them bear the poverty. He loved music and would pound spoons or forks on any surface that faintly resembled a drum.

He even ran and played with sighted children. "I didn't realize I was blind until I was about four," he says. That might sound strange. To a small child just learning about the world, it wasn't strange at all. Stevie heard and smelled and touched. As far as he knew, that was all anyone could do. That was life.

When Stevie's mother got tired of her tables being used for drums, she bought him a toy set. He played so hard that he had actually worn the toy out within a few weeks. Other toy sets followed; then an uncle added a toy harmonica, and Stevie learned to play it so quickly that everyone was amazed.

Stevie taught himself to play the piano as quickly as he had once learned the harmonica. With friends, he began playing rock and roll music. They performed on the front porch of Stevie's apartment building, drawing crowds of neighbors to watch and listen and clap time to the beat.

"I loved that beat," Stevie says. He not only loved the beat, he was very good at making it.

Ronnie White, of the Miracles singing group, heard Stevie and promptly took him down to his recording company, Motown Records.

"Give him an audition," Ronnie said. They did. All the top people at Motown got together to hear a little blind boy who wasn't even ten years old yet. At first, they were being nice. Poor kid. They didn't want to hurt his feelings.

Then they heard Stevie sing and play, and nobody said "poor kid" anymore. They were too busy congratulating themselves on finding a youngster who could be the musical talent of the decade. "He's a wonder boy," somebody said as they watched little Stevie dart from one instrument to the next, playing each one with ease.

"Wonder," somebody else said, "Little Stevie Wonder."

The new name stuck and Stevie Morris became Little Stevie Wonder. He had his first hit when he was twelve years old. It was called "Fingertips" and it was a smash.

Over the following years, Little Stevie Wonder became one of the top recording artists at Motown, producing one hit after another. But as he grew into adulthood, Stevie began to get tired of the way the Motown company controlled all aspects of his career. He wanted to write and produce his own songs, but the Motown company thought it was unwise to change a winning formula.

When he turned 21, Stevie finally got his freedom. Against Motown's wishes he started exploring: he made records that combined gospel, rock and roll, and jazz and which used African and Latin American rhythms. To the record company's surprise, Stevie's new albums such as "Music of My Mind" and "Innervisions" were even more popular than his early ones. Stevie Wonder had become a mature man and an independent musical artist.

Just after this success, however, tragedy struck. In August of 1973, Stevie was involved in a serious car accident. For nearly a week he lay in a coma, unable to speak or walk. "We don't know when he'll be out of danger," the doctor said. Everyone waited and prayed. Suddenly, it didn't matter that Stevie was a musical genius or that he had conquered blindness and poverty. All he had left was his faith and strong will.

That turned out to be enough. Stevie fought back from the shadow of death as he had once fought out from the shadow of blindness. He went on to give more performances, make more hit records.

The car accident changed Stevie by making him reevaluate his goals in life. He still loved to make music, but he also started to pay more attention to the world outside. He worked to create a national holiday to honor the civil rights leader in Luther King, Jr.. He recorded songs urging racial harmony and raised money to end world hunger. Recently, Stevie was honored by South African president Nelson Mandela for his work against that country's system of racial apartheid.

Stevie Wonder has faith and fame, wealth and love. He has not only conquered his own darkness, but through his music and his social activities he has been able to bring sunshine to the shadow of many other lives.

sunshine

n. the light and heat of the sun 陽光

infant

n. a very young child 嬰兒

musician

n. a person who performs on a musical instrument, or who writes music 樂師，作曲家

pray

vi. (for, to) speak to God in order to give thanks or to ask for help 祈禱，祈求

spoon

n. 匙，調羹

faintlh

ad. slightly; mildly 輕微地;微弱地

resemble

vt. look or be like 像，類似

drum

n. 鼓

tire

v. (使)感到疲勞;(使)厭倦，(使)厭煩

harmonica

n. 口琴

amaze

vt. fill with great surprise; cause wonder in 使驚奇;使驚羨

*porch

n. (建築物前有頂的)門廊，入口處

apartment

n. 公寓大樓;一套公寓房間

clap

vi. applaud 拍手

miracle

n. 奇蹟

promptly

ad. immediately and without any delay 迅速地，及時地

audition

n. (對志願藝人等的.)面試(指試讀、試唱、試奏等)

kid

n. a child 小孩

congratulate

vt. speak to (a person) with praise and admiration for a happy event or sth. successfully done 祝賀

youngster

n. a young person, esp. a boy 年輕人;男孩

talent

n. 1. a special ability or skill 天才，天資;超常智慧

2. people of such ability 人才

decade

n. a period of 10 years 十年(期)

*dart

vi. move suddenly and quickly 猛衝，飛奔

instrument

n. 樂器;儀器;器具;器械

ease

n. 1. freedom from difficulty 容易

2. freedom from discomfort, pain or worry 安適;悠閒;無痛苦;無憂慮

fingertip

n. the end of a finger 指尖

smash

n. 轟動的演出，巨大的成功

v. (cause to) break into pieces violently 打碎，粉碎

adulthood

n. 成年

aspect

n. a particular part or feature of sth. being considered 方面

career

n. a profession or occupation with opportunities for advancement or promotion 職業;生涯

formula

n. 公式，程式;準則，方案

explore

v. 探索;探測;勘探

gospel

n. (= gospel music) 福音音樂(美國黑人的一種宗教音樂，具有爵士音樂和美國黑人傷感歌曲色彩)

jazz

n. 爵士音樂

rhythm

n. 節奏;韻律

*album

n. 1. a long-playing record with several items by the same performer (同一表演者的)集錦密紋唱片

2. a book with blank pages for stamps, photographs, etc. 集郵冊，相簿

mature

a. fully grown or developed mentally or physically 充分發育的;(智力或體力)成熟的

independent

a. 獨立的，自主的

tragedy

n. 1. a terrible event that causes great sadness 慘事，災變

2. a serious play with a sad ending 悲劇

involve

vt. 使陷入，使捲入;牽扯，連累

coma

n. 昏迷

musical

a. of or for music 音樂的

genius

n. 天才;創造能力;天才人物

conquer

vt. gain control over (sth. unfriendly or difficult) 征服;克服(困難等)

performance

n. the acting of a play, the playing of a piece of music, the doing of a dance, etc., in front of an audience 演出，表演，演奏

reevaluate

vt. 重新評價

goal

n. 1. an end; objective 目的;目標

2.(足球等的)球門;得分進球

hunger

n. state of not having enough to eat; lack of food 飢餓

urge

vt. 力勸;懇求;敦促

racial

a. characteristic of race; due to or resulting from race 種族的;由種族引起的

harmony

n. agreement (of feelings, interests, opinions, etc.) 和睦，融洽，一致

apartheid

n. (南非的)種族隔離

fame

n. the condition of being known or talked about a lot 名聲，名望

activity

n. 活動;行動

Phrases and Exgressions

break into

begin suddenly (to cry, sing, laugh, etc.) 突然(哭、唱、笑)起來

bring up

take care of during infancy and childhood; nurse and educate 撫養;養育

as far as

to the degree that 就…;盡…;至於

get tired of

be no longer interested in 厭倦，厭煩

wear out

make useless by use 把…用壞;把…穿破

with ease

without difficulty 容易地，無困難地

grow into

become gradually with the passage of time 成長的

congratulate oneself on /that ...

因…而暗自慶幸

Stevie Wonder

史蒂威·旺達(人名)

Morris

莫里斯(姓氏)

Ronnie White

羅尼·懷特(人名)

Motown Records

莫頓唱片公司

Innervisions

《內心幻覺》(唱片名)

Martin Luther King, Jr.

小馬丁·路德·金(1929 — 1968，美國民權運動領袖)

Nelson Mandela

納爾遜·曼德拉(1918 —，南非共和國總統)