美国国家公共电台 NPR A New Museum Dares To Showcase Stuntman Evel Knievel

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

A half a century ago, a daredevil from Butte, Mont., rocketed into national prominence¹ on a motorbike. Frank Morris of member station KCUR tells us about a new museum celebrating all that is Evel - Evel Knievel, that is.

FRANK MORRIS, BYLINE²: Robert Knievel was an ornery, reckless kid always in trouble with the law. He started jumping motorcycles over stuff like mountain lions, boxes of rattlesnakes and then trucks. By his late 20s, he'd hustled³ his way into the national spotlight⁴.

BRAD ZIMMERMAN: Evel Knievel was an original. And to a lot of people, young people, he was a super hero.

MORRIS: As Brad Zimmerman, who runs that just opened Evil Knievel Museum in Topeka, Kan., points out, Evel dressed the part. With his flamboyant⁵ red, white and blue leather jumpsuits, helmets and capes⁶, Evel was part Elvis, part Liberace, part John Wayne.

ZIMMERMAN: True daredevil - seat of the pants, not much science, just I can do this, so I'm going to do it. If you look at most of his motorcycles, they did not have speedometers on them.

MORRIS: Yeah, no speedometers, no special shocks, just instinct guiding heavy race bikes flying off wooden ramps⁷.

(SOUNDBITE OF YELL)

MORRIS: Even a virtual reality jump at the museum is enough to shake up some visitors.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: That's hilarious⁸.

MORRIS: In real life, Knievel crashed and crashed and crashed and got up for more, attracting fans bands like Rodney Brown.

RODNEY BROWN: It's just amazing he survived all the crashes and all the bones broken. And just - he didn't care. He just did what he wanted to do. And he lived his life, and that's the way it was.

MORRIS: Knievel's chutzpah, tenacity⁹, and flair¹⁰ vaulted¹¹ him to national stardom. Zimmerman says he made millions just licensing¹² his name.

ZIMMERMAN: Along this wall then, we have a display of the licensed¹³ products that Evel had. I mean, he had everything from barbecue sauce to motor oil to toys to a pinball machines, slot machines.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED VOICE ACTOR: This is Evel Knievel and the Evel Knievel Shock-Absorbing Stunt¹⁴ Cycle.

ZIMMERMAN: You name it; they were putting Evel's name on it.

MORRIS: And around the corner, in a freestanding showcase worthy¹⁵ of crowned jewels, rests a savagely¹⁶ battered¹⁷ old motorcycle helmet. It's from Evel Knievel's most famous and spectacular crash, where he landed head-first and tumbled 60 feet.

ZIMMERMAN: That is the Caesar's Palace helmet in the top, so that's a pretty famous piece. Everybody has seen that video, and there's the original helmet.

MIKE PATTERSON: The crashes are what made him famous.

MORRIS: Mike Patterson, who owns a Harley-Davidson shop in Topeka, is bankrolling the museum, showcasing stuff collected mostly by Lathan McKay. Seeing Knievel jump at the Kansas State Fair is Patterson's earliest childhood memory.

PATTERSON: I remember just hoping he would go, waiting for him to go - sitting there on the edge of my seat, you know, until he finally went.

MORRIS: Heroic as he seemed, Knievel's heavy drinking, gambling¹⁸ and surly disposition¹⁹ weighed him down. When he was jailed for beating his former publicist with a baseball bat, the Evel empire collapsed²⁰.

PATTERSON: When it flamed out, it flamed out pretty fast. And I think that's why, too, there probably wasn't an Evel Knievel Museum before now.

MORRIS: Knievel died a decade ago, of lung disease, but not before inspiring a huge industry around extreme sports and a generation of risk-takers. Museum director Zimmerman says it's time to celebrate what he calls the positives of Evel.

For NPR News, I'm Frank Morris.

1 prominence   

n.突出；显著；杰出；重要

参考例句：

• He came to prominence during the World Cup in Italy.他在意大利的世界杯赛中声名鹊起。
• This young fashion designer is rising to prominence.这位年轻的时装设计师的声望越来越高。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 hustled   

催促（hustle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He grabbed her arm and hustled her out of the room. 他抓住她的胳膊把她推出房间。
• The secret service agents hustled the speaker out of the amphitheater. 特务机关的代理人把演讲者驱逐出竞技场。

4 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

5 flamboyant   

adj.火焰般的，华丽的，炫耀的

参考例句：

• His clothes were rather flamboyant for such a serious occasion.他的衣着在这种严肃场合太浮夸了。
• The King's flamboyant lifestyle is well known.国王的奢华生活方式是人尽皆知的。

6 capes   

碎谷； 斗篷( cape的名词复数 )； 披肩； 海角； 岬

参考例句：

• It was cool and they were putting on their capes. 夜里阴冷，他们都穿上了披风。
• The pastor smiled to give son's two Capes five cents money. 牧师微笑着给了儿子二角五分钱。

7 ramps   

resources allocation and multiproject scheduling 资源分配和多项目的行程安排

参考例句：

• Ramps should be provided for wheelchair users. 应该给轮椅使用者提供坡道。
• He has the upper floor and ramps are fitted everywhere for his convenience. 他住在上面一层，为了他的方便着想，到处设有坡道。

8 hilarious   

adj.充满笑声的，欢闹的；[反]depressed

参考例句：

• The party got quite hilarious after they brought more wine.在他们又拿来更多的酒之后，派对变得更加热闹起来。
• We stop laughing because the show was so hilarious.我们笑个不停，因为那个节目太搞笑了。

9 tenacity   

n.坚韧

参考例句：

• Tenacity is the bridge to success.坚韧是通向成功的桥。
• The athletes displayed great tenacity throughout the contest.运动员在比赛中表现出坚韧的斗志。

10 flair   

n.天赋，本领，才华；洞察力

参考例句：

• His business skill complements her flair for design.他的经营技巧和她的设计才能相辅相成。
• He had a natural flair for business.他有做生意的天分。

11 vaulted   

adj.拱状的

参考例句：

• She vaulted over the gate and ran up the path. 她用手一撑跃过栅栏门沿着小路跑去。
• The formal living room has a fireplace and vaulted ceilings. 正式的客厅有一个壁炉和拱形天花板。

12 licensing   

v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A large part of state regulation consists of occupational licensing. 大部分州的管理涉及行业的特许批准。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• That licensing procedures for projects would move faster. 这样的工程批准程序一定会加快。 来自辞典例句

13 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

14 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。

15 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

16 savagely   

adv. 野蛮地，残酷地

参考例句：

• The roses had been pruned back savagely. 玫瑰被狠狠地修剪了一番。
• He snarled savagely at her. 他向她狂吼起来。

17 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

18 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

19 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。

20 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。