Actress Elizabeth Taylor passes away at 79

（单词翻译）

    LOS ANGELES, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor, who was widely considered as of the great actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age, passed away in Los Angeles early Wednesday. She was 79.
    The glamorous（迷人的） queen of American cinema stardom died of congestive heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, her publicist Sally Morrison said. adding she had struggled with the condition "for many years."The Hollywood doyenne died at 1:28 a.m. "peacefully," after she had been hospitalized for the past couple of weeks, celebrity¹ website TMZ.com reported.
    A private family funeral is pending² later this week.
    Four of Taylor's children, Michael and Christopher Wilding, daughters Liza Todd and Maria Burton, were with her at the hospital when she died, Morrison said.
    "We will always be inspired by her enduring contribution to our world," Michael Wilding said in a statement.
    "Her remarkable³ body of work in film, her ongoing⁴ success as a businesswoman and her brave and relentless⁵ advocacy in the fight against HIV/AIDS all make us all incredibly proud of what she accomplished⁶. We know, quite simply, that the world is a better place for mom having lived in it.
    "Her legacy⁷ will never fade, her spirit will always be with us, and her love will live forever in our hearts."Throughout her adult life, the child star-turned-film queen was in and out of hospitals for numerous times for treatment of a range of illnesses, experienced several near-death moments.
    The legendary⁸ two-time Academy Awards winner is survived by 10 grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
    Born in London, England, on Feb. 27, 1932, the child star made her film debut⁹ in 1944 when she starred in MGM's "National Velvet¹⁰, " which became an instant smash hit.
    A series of films followed in the 1940s and continued for more than seven decades.
    Her film highlights included "Giant" with James Dean; "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" with Paul Newman, "Cleopatra" with Richard Burton, who she married and divorced twice.
    In "Butterfield 8" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" two of her highly acclaimed¹¹ films in the 60s, Taylor garnered¹² two Best Actress Oscars for her performance. She was also nominated for the honor three times.
    She has a plot next to her parents at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery¹³ in Los Angeles, according to TMZ.com. Marilyn Monroe, Natalie Wood, Dean Martin, Truman Capote,Farah Fawcett, Walter Matthau and other entertainment celebrities¹⁴ were buried or interred¹⁵ there.
    Taylor, whose private life and marriages had been a consistent focus of the tabloid¹⁶, was married eight times to seven men.
    A tireless campaigner in the campaign against AIDS, Taylor served as the founding national chairman of the American Foundation for AIDS Research and founder¹⁷ of the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.
    In 1998, Taylor was named the 34th recipient¹⁸ of the Screen Actors Guild¹⁹ Life Achievement Award, which honors both career achievements and humanitarian²⁰ contributions.
    In 1992, Taylor was honored with the motion picture academy's Jean Herscholt Humanitarian Award, which was bestowed²¹ in recognition of her work fighting AIDS.
    Taylor was also appointed Dame²² Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1999.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)