名人轶事:Lucille Ball

VOICE ONE:

This is Mary Tillotson.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Program PEOPLE IN

AMERICA. Today, we tell about the much-loved performer Lucille Ball. Her

famous television series, “I Love Lucy,” was first broadcast in nineteen-

fifty-one.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The “I Love Lucy” show was a huge success. It was the most popular

television show of the Nineteen-fifties. The kind of television program Mizz

Ball helped develop is called a situation comedy. Some television experts

give her credit¹ for inventing this kind of series. Today, some of the most

popular television programs in America are situation comedies.

VOICE TWO:

One reason for the great popularity² of “I Love Lucy” may have been its

real-life connection with Mizz Ball’s family. On the show, she was Lucy, the

wife of Ricky Ricardo, a Cuban musician. Ricky was played by band leader Desi

Arnaz, who was Lucille Ball’s husband in real life. The show combined issues

common to the life of married people living in the city with musical

performances and comic theater.

Often, a show would include a part with Mister³ Arnaz acting⁴ seriously while

Mizz Ball added a funny element. In the following piece, Mister Arnaz tries

to sing normally⁵ and Mizz Ball adds the comedy:

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Also on the “I Love Lucy” show were Vivian Vance and William Frawley. Mizz

Vance played Ethel Mertz and Mister Frawley played Ethel’s husband, Fred

Mertz. On the show, the Mertzes were friends of the Ricardos and owned the

building in which they all lived.

Fred Mertz loved baseball, which was America’s most popular sport at the

time. “I Love Lucy,” often showed Fred Mertz intensely⁶ watching baseball or

some other sport like boxing while Ethel added her own funny comments:

(COMMENTS)

VOICE TWO:

A well-known story about the “I Love Lucy Show” concerns the birth of the

Arnaz’s son, Desi Junior. Officials of the broadcasting company wondered

what to do when Mizz Ball became pregnant⁷ in nineteen-fifty-two. Mizz Ball

explains that her husband, Desi, came up with a solution:

(COMMENTS)

VOICE ONE:

Mizz Ball’s pregnancy⁸ was made part of the show. In fact, critics say the

show in which Lucy Ricardo tells Ricky that she is pregnant is one of the

best. In it, Lucy goes to the entertainment place where Ricky’s band is

playing to tell him that they are going to have a baby. Ricky suddenly

understands that he is going to be a father after Lucy secretly requests the

song, “We’re having a Baby:”

(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:

Mizz Ball gave birth to her second child on the same day that Lucy Ricardo

gave birth. In fact, Desi Junior’s birth date was planned to happen on the

same day as the broadcast.

The show in which Lucy gave birth was one of the most popular television

programs ever broadcast in America. (In fact, the story is that Desi Junior’

s birth replaced reports about Dwight Eisenhower’s first presidential

ceremony on the front pages of America’s newspapers.) OPT⁹

1 credit   

n.信用，荣誉，贷款，学分；v.归功于，赞颂，信任

参考例句：

• I credit him with a certain amount of sense.我认为他有一定的见识。
• He got the credit,and we did the dirty work.他得荣誉，我们做不讨好的工作。

2 popularity   

n.普及，流行，名望，受欢迎

参考例句：

• The story had an extensive popularity among American readers.这本小说在美国读者中赢得广泛的声望。
• Our product enjoys popularity throughout the world.我们的产品饮誉全球。

3 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

4 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

5 normally   

adv.正常地，通常地

参考例句：

• I normally do all my shopping on Saturdays.我通常在星期六买东西。
• My pulse beats normally.我脉搏正常。

6 intensely   

adv.强烈地

参考例句：

• I was intensely curious to know more about him. 我迫不及待地想更多地了解他的情况。
• Her parents were intensely ambitious for her and her younger sister. 她的父母对她和她妹妹有着很高的期望。

7 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。

8 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

9 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 captured   

俘获( capture的过去式和过去分词 )； 夺取； 夺得； 引起（注意、想像、兴趣）

参考例句：

• Allied troops captured over 300 enemy soldiers. 盟军俘虏了300多名敌方士兵。
• Most of the rebels were captured and disarmed. 大部分叛乱分子被俘获并解除了武装。

12 honor   

n.光荣；敬意；荣幸；vt.给…以荣誉；尊敬

参考例句：

• I take your visit as a great honor.您的来访是我莫大的光荣。
• It is a great honor to receive that prize.能拿到那个奖是无上的光荣。

13 conservative   

adj.保守的，守旧的；n.保守的人，保守派

参考例句：

• He is a conservative member of the church.他是一个守旧教会教友。
• The young man is very conservative.这个年轻人很守旧。

14 federal   

adj.联盟的；联邦的；(美国)联邦政府的

参考例句：

• Switzerland is a federal republic.瑞士是一个联邦共和国。
• The schools are screaming for federal aid.那些学校强烈要求联邦政府的援助。

15 bureau   

n.提供或收集消息的机构；局，司，处；署

参考例句：

• The weather bureau makes daily reports on weather conditions.气象局每天报告天气状况。
• The Tourist Bureau arranged everything for our journey to Rome.旅游局已为我们去罗马旅行准备了一切。

16 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

17 supervised   

v.监督，管理( supervise的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The architect supervised the building of the house. 建筑工程师监督房子的施工。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He supervised and trained more than 400 volunteers. 他指导和培训了400多名志愿者。 来自辞典例句

18 paramount   

a.最重要的，最高权力的

参考例句：

• My paramount object is to save the Union and destroy slavery.我的最高目标是拯救美国，摧毁奴隶制度。
• Nitrogen is of paramount importance to life on earth.氮对地球上的生命至关重要。

19 Latin   

adj.拉丁的，拉丁语的，拉丁人的；n.拉丁语

参考例句：

• She learned Latin without a master.她无师自通学会了拉丁语。
• Please use only Latin characters.请仅使用拉丁文字符。

20 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。