VOA慢速英语2021--苏斯博士的儿童书籍因“有害”图片被下架

The business that oversees¹ the work of children's writer Dr. Seuss will stop publishing six of his books. In a statement Dr. Seuss Enterprises² gave this reason: "These books portray³ people in ways that are hurtful and wrong."

Canceling publication of these books, the statement said, is part of a bigger plan to make sure all of Dr. Seuss Enterprises' books and products represent and support all communities and families.

One of the books being withdrawn⁴ is "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street." In it, an Asian person is drawn⁵ wearing a pointed⁶ hat, holding chopsticks and eating from a bowl. In the book "If I Ran the Zoo" a drawing has two bare-footed African men wearing what appear to be grass skirts with their hair tied above their heads.

The other books that will no longer be published are "McElligot's Pool," "On Beyond Zebra!," "Scrambled⁷ Eggs Super!," and "The Cat's Quizzer." The company said it reached the decision last year after working with a group of experts.

Dr. Seuss is the pen name of Theodore Seuss Geisel. He was a writer of books for children who died in 1991. However, Dr. Seuss remains⁸ very popular. The company that oversees sales of his books earned an estimated $33 million in 2020. That is up from $9.5 million five years ago. In 2020, Forbes magazine listed Dr. Seuss as its second highest-earning person who is no longer alive. The late popular music star Michael Jackson is the first.

Forbes also reported that a day after the announcement of the cancellation⁹, nine of the top 10 books on Amazon's best-selling charts were by Dr. Seuss. None was one of the six now-canceled books.

The National Education Association in the United States started Read Across America Day in 1998 on Geisel's birthday. However, for the past several years, it has distanced itself from Seuss and has supported other children's books instead.

The move to stop publication of the books quickly caused reactions on social media. Some called it another example of "cancel culture." While others approved of the decision.

Rebekah Fitzsimmons is an assistant teaching professor at Carnegie Mellon University. She tweeted this statement: "The books we share with our children matter. Books shape their world view and tell them how to relate to the people, places, and ideas around them. As grown-ups, we have to examine the worldview we are creating for our children, including carefully re-examining our favorites."

Other popular children's series have been criticized in recent years for being offensive¹⁰ to some people.

In the 2007 book, "Should We Burn Babar?" the author and educator Herbert R. Kohl wrote that the "Babar the Elephant" books celebrated¹¹ colonialism.

He said this because the elephant Babar leaves the forest and later returns to "civilize¹²" his fellow animals. One of the books, "Babar's Travels," was removed from the shelves of a British library in 2012 because of the way it shows Africans.

Others have criticized the "Curious George" books because the story begins with a white man bringing the monkey George out of Africa.

The writer Laura Ingalls Wilder has been criticized for how she wrote about Native Americans in her "Little House on the Prairie" books. Her books have been criticized so often that the American Library Association removed Wilder's name in 2018 from a prize it gives out each year. The association still gives out the Geisel Award. This is a book prize for beginning readers published in the English language.

Words in This Story

portray –v. to describe in a particular way

pen name –n. a name used by a writer instead of the writer's real name

relate –v. to understand or have sympathy for someone or something

1 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

2 enterprises   

事业( enterprise的名词复数 )； 事业心； 企[事]业单位； 企业发展

参考例句：

• In capitalist society,big enterprises always try to freeze out the smaller ones. 在资本主义社会，大企业总是千方百计地排挤小企业。
• Big transcontinental enterprises jostle with one another for world markets. 巨大的跨国公司[企业]互相争夺国际市场。

3 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

4 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

5 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

6 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

7 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 cancellation   

n.删除，取消

参考例句：

• Heavy seas can cause cancellation of ferry services.海上风浪太大，可能须要取消渡轮服务。
• Her cancellation of her trip to Paris upset our plan.她取消了巴黎之行打乱了我们的计划。

10 offensive   

adj.令人不快的，侮辱的，攻击用的；n.进攻

参考例句：

• His mode of doing business is offensive to me.他干事情的方式叫我很不喜欢。
• If all else fails,I will take the offensive.如果其他方法不行，我将采取攻势。

11 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

12 civilize   

vt.使文明，使开化 (=civilise)

参考例句：

• We must civilize away the boy's bad habit.我们必须教育这孩子使其改掉恶习。
• Those facilities are intended to civilize people.那些设施的目的在于教化民众。