VOA标准英语2014--Audio Tapes Open Window to Muhammad Ali's Private Life

 

Audio Tapes Open Window to Muhammad Ali's Private Life

WASHINGTON— 

I Am Ali, a new documentary by Clare Lewins, offers an intimate portrait of boxing legend Muhammad Ali, through anecdotal audio tapes he recorded with family and friends.

No one, not even some members of his family, knew of the existence of these audio tapes, until recently. One of Ali’s daughters, Hana, discovered then in a farm house the family keeps, and gave them to Lewins with her father’s blessing¹. They thread the narrative² of the boxing champion’s life in her documentary. 

The filmmaker said these tapes raise the curtain on Muhammad Ali’s private life, and she hopes that audiences will come away from this documentary with a better understanding of this complex character as a person. She says some hail him as hero for defying the U.S. government and decrying³ the war in Vietnam, and some may see his as a traitor⁴ for refusing to be conscripted into the U.S. military. She said that regardless of how one feels, her documentary can show his amazing spirit.

I Am Ali does not say much about his broken marriages or his womanizing, but it highlights his bond with his children. His daughter Hana said Ali was always conscious of the power of history and she believes that’s why he made those tape recordings⁵. Her sister Maryum is also featured in those conversations. She said that when her parents got divorced he would call her and ask about school and her life dreams. “He would always tell me, ‘time is gonna fly,’” she recalled. “It’s like he could foresee things.”

Snapshots of a life

Lewins’ documentary does not chronicle Ali’s life in a linear way. By jumping around in time, connecting some of his conversations to landmarks⁶ of his earlier years, she presents a more visceral and emotional sense of his spirit. She depicts⁷ Ali’s charisma⁸ as an athlete, a leader and a symbol of power for the African-American community as well as a quick-witted joker. Although he was intimidating⁹ in the boxing ring, Lewins said, “he did not have a mean bone in his body.” 

Testimonials of friends and adversaries¹⁰ paint the Olympian and three time boxing champion born Cassius Clay -- later Muslim convert Muhammad Ali -- as a sensitive, poignant¹¹, and courageous¹² man. Because he refused to serve in the Vietnam War, he was stripped of his championship title, and his boxing license¹³ was revoked¹⁴. His close friend, former football player Jim Brown, remembers Ali’s bravery.

“He had a lot of courage. The risk he had to take and to be isolated¹⁵ to have his crown taken away, not be able to make a living, that was difficult," said Brown.

It was difficult, but Ali stuck to his convictions. He did not fight again for nearly four years, losing a crucial time of peak performance. But in 1974, at the age of 32, he made a comeback. He challenged the undefeated heavyweight champion George Foreman to a boxing match in Zaire, Africa. It was promoted as “The Rumble¹⁶ in the Jungle.” 

During a televised interview before the fight, Ali made a prediction in his signature tongue-in-cheek verse.

“I said, last night, I had a dream. When I got to Africa I had one hell of a rumble. I had to beat Tarzan first for claiming to be the king of the Jungle. For this fight I’ve wrestled¹⁷ with alligators¹⁸. I’ve tussled with a whale; I had handcuffed lighting¹⁹ and put thunder in jail. You know I’m bad I have murdered a rock. I injured a stone, and I hospitalized a brick;

I am so bad I make medicine sick. I’m so fast, man, I can run through a hurricane and don’t get wet. When George Foreman meets me, he’ll pay his debt. I can drown a drink of water and kill a dead tree, wait till you see Muhammad Ali.”

The champion returns

Ali won that match - 40 years ago this month - with a knockout punch, and recaptured his title. George Foreman remembers, “I get into the ring with the guy. I bluffed²⁰ him, I've done everything. Beat him up, basically for about five or six rounds. I thought it was easy. Then about the sixth round he whispered in my ear as I hit him in the side, ‘That all you got, George?’ And that was about all I had!" he added with a laugh.

As Ali has aged²¹, his eloquence²² has faded. He kept fighting but suffered some humiliating losses and showed less and less of his signature style. In the late '70s, he began slurring²³ his words, and his hands were visibly trembling: both symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. His last fight was in 1981, and in 1984 his diagnosis²⁴ of Parkinson’s was confirmed. His courageous fight against the crippling disease was on display in 1996, when he lit the Olympic flame at the Atlanta Games. And Clare Lewins’s documentary, I Am Ali, shows that Muhammad Ali remains²⁵ an icon²⁶ of power and grace, in the eyes of his friends, his foes²⁷ and especially his children.

1 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

2 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

3 decrying   

v.公开反对，谴责( decry的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Soon Chinese Internet users, including government agencies, were decrying the' poisonous panda. 不久，中国网民以及政府机构纷纷谴责“影响极坏的熊猫烧香”。 来自互联网
• Democratic leaders are decrying President Bush's plan to indefinitely halt troop withdrawals from Iraq after July. 民主党领导公开谴责布什总统七月后无限停止从伊拉克撤兵的举动。 来自互联网

4 traitor   

n.叛徒，卖国贼

参考例句：

• The traitor was finally found out and put in prison.那个卖国贼终于被人发现并被监禁了起来。
• He was sold out by a traitor and arrested.他被叛徒出卖而被捕了。

5 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

6 landmarks   

n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址）

参考例句：

• The book stands out as one of the notable landmarks in the progress of modern science. 这部著作是现代科学发展史上著名的里程碑之一。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The baby was one of the big landmarks in our relationship. 孩子的出世是我们俩关系中的一个重要转折点。 来自辞典例句

7 depicts   

描绘，描画( depict的第三人称单数 )； 描述

参考例句：

• The book vividly depicts French society of the 1930s. 这本书生动地描绘了20 世纪30 年代的法国社会。
• He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively. 他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。

8 charisma   

n.(大众爱戴的)领袖气质，魅力

参考例句：

• He has enormous charisma. He is a giant of a man.他有超凡的个人魅力，是个伟人。
• I don't have the charisma to pull a crowd this size.我没有那么大的魅力，能吸引这么多人。

9 intimidating   

vt.恐吓，威胁( intimidate的现在分词)

参考例句：

• They were accused of intimidating people into voting for them. 他们被控胁迫选民投他们的票。
• This kind of questioning can be very intimidating to children. 这种问话的方式可能让孩子们非常害怕。

10 adversaries   

n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• That would cause potential adversaries to recoil from a challenge. 这会迫使潜在的敌人在挑战面前退缩。 来自辞典例句
• Every adversaries are more comfortable with a predictable, coherent America. 就连敌人也会因有可以预料的，始终一致的美国而感到舒服得多。 来自辞典例句

11 poignant   

adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的

参考例句：

• His lyrics are as acerbic and poignant as they ever have been.他的歌词一如既往的犀利辛辣。
• It is especially poignant that he died on the day before his wedding.他在婚礼前一天去世了，这尤其令人悲恸。

12 courageous   

adj.勇敢的，有胆量的

参考例句：

• We all honour courageous people.我们都尊重勇敢的人。
• He was roused to action by courageous words.豪言壮语促使他奋起行动。

13 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

14 revoked   

adj.[法]取消的v.撤销，取消，废除( revoke的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It may be revoked if the check is later dishonoured. 以后如支票被拒绝支付，结算可以撤销。 来自辞典例句
• A will is revoked expressly. 遗嘱可以通过明示推翻。 来自辞典例句

15 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

16 rumble   

n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说

参考例句：

• I hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.我听到远处雷声隆隆。
• We could tell from the rumble of the thunder that rain was coming.我们根据雷的轰隆声可断定，天要下雨了。

17 wrestled   

v.（与某人）搏斗( wrestle的过去式和过去分词 )；扭成一团；扭打；（与…）摔跤

参考例句：

• As a boy he had boxed and wrestled. 他小的时候又是打拳又是摔跤。
• Armed guards wrestled with the intruder. 武装警卫和闯入者扭打起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 alligators   

n.短吻鳄( alligator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Two alligators rest their snouts on the water's surface. 两只鳄鱼的大嘴栖息在水面上。 来自辞典例句
• In the movement of logs by water the lumber industry was greatly helped by alligators. 木材工业过去在水上运输木料时所十分倚重的就是鳄鱼。 来自辞典例句

19 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

20 bluffed   

以假象欺骗，吹牛( bluff的过去式和过去分词 )； 以虚张声势找出或达成

参考例句：

• Hung-chien bluffed, "You know perfectly well yourself without my telling you." 鸿渐摆空城计道：“你心里明白，不用我说。”
• In each case the hijackers bluffed the crew using fake grenades. 每一个案例中，劫机者都用了假手榴弹吓唬机组人员。

21 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

22 eloquence   

n.雄辩；口才，修辞

参考例句：

• I am afraid my eloquence did not avail against the facts.恐怕我的雄辩也无补于事实了。
• The people were charmed by his eloquence.人们被他的口才迷住了。

23 slurring   

含糊地说出( slur的现在分词 )； 含糊地发…的声； 侮辱； 连唱

参考例句：

• She was slumped in the saddle and slurring her words. 她从马鞍上掉了下去，嘴里含糊不清地说着什么。
• Your comments are slurring your co-workers. 你的话诋毁了你的同事。

24 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

25 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。

26 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

27 foes   

敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They steadily pushed their foes before them. 他们不停地追击敌人。
• She had fought many battles, vanquished many foes. 她身经百战，挫败过很多对手。