美國十大偶像

只要一提起他們的名字，人們就會聯(lián)想到美國;不管他們愿不愿意，在其他國家人們的眼里，他們就代表著美國。

A national icon is someone who, by the mere mention of their name, will remind people of their country. Whether they like it or not, they are representatives of their nation to the rest of the world.

Top 10 : 羅納德·里根

Ronald Reagan1

Best known for his role as the 40th President of the United States, Reagan started out as a radio announcer and Hollywood actor, having made over 50 films. He realized politics was his calling2 and in 1947 became President of the Screen Actors Guild3.

He changed his party affiliation4 from Democrat to Republican and was elected Governor of California in 1966. After taking over the White House in 1981, he served in this capacity5 for two terms. During those years, he showed the world what America is all about.

Best quote: "America is too great to dream small dreams."

Top9: 歐內(nèi)斯特·海明威

Ernest Hemingway6

Hemingway is considered the greatest American fiction writer of the 20th century. He was an ambulance driver during World War I and a war correspondent during World War II. He wrote about his experiences as an American expatriate7 in Paris during the 1920s, hunting in Africa, and fishing off Cuba.

His direct and sparse way of writing became his trademark, which has often been imitated and parodied8. His works have earned him both the Pulitzer9 and the Nobel Prize. He supposedly committed suicide while struggling with a bout10 of depression, but he still remains one of the most prominent literary ambassadors America has ever had.

Best quote: "All things truly wicked start from an innocence."11

Top8: 弗蘭克·西納特拉

Frank Sinatra12

The single most popular crooner13 of all time, Frank Sinatra had early ambitions of becoming a journalist. By the time he was working as a sports reporter, a second career in singing was taking off. Before long, he was touring with a big band orchestra and embarking on a solo career in 1942.

He was a bona fide14 sensation, selling records faster than they could be printed. Regarded as the greatest entertainer of the 20th century, Sinatra deserves his status as an American icon.

Best quote: "A friend is never an imposition."

Top7: 詹姆斯·迪恩

James Dean15

James Dean was a kid from the Midwest. He studied acting and law in California but quit after getting a taste of the real thing on a TV show. He then moved to act on Broadway and got more guest appearances16 on television. His soft, unforced acting impressed both audience and producers.

He made three movies before his 1955 death in a car crash. East of Eden, Rebel without a Cause and Giant were not only critical and financial successes, but they showcased17 a new kind of actor that people had never seen before. Dean became more than an idol; he became a legend.

Best quote: "Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today."

Top6: 邁克爾·喬丹

Michael Jordan

Here's a man who lives the American Dream. Originally from Brooklyn18, Michael Jordan attended the University of North Carolina and proved that he truly was the best basketball player that ever lived by taking his team to the NCAA19 championship. He was soon drafted into the NBA as a guard for the Chicago Bulls. He led his team to six league championships and won the MVP20 award five times.

Also a savvy businessman, Air Jordan's fortune was estimated at $408 million in 2003.

Best quote: "I can accept failure, but I can't accept not trying."

Top5: 馬丁·路德·金

Martin Luther King, Jr.

He had a dream. When he heard about a pacifist in India named Mahatma Gandhi21, and became enamored with22 Gandhi's methods of peaceful protest.

Openly supporting Rosa Parks23 and her refusal to relinquish her seat to a white bus passenger made him a target for his opponents and his house was bombed. But that just served to fuel his desire to see segregation terminated. He became a national advocate for civil liberties and inspired a nation to change its ways. His assassination in 1968 only proved that he was on the right track24.

Best quote: "If a man hasn't found something he will die for, he isn't fit to live."

Top4: 約翰·韋恩

John Wayne25

The "Duke" was forced to leave college after an injury put an end to his football playing days. He had been working odd jobs at Fox Studios when he was finally noticed by executives. After a lead role in a major production failed to make him a star, he began to appear in low-budget films.

The movie that put him on the map was 1939's Stagecoach26, directed by John Ford, with whom Wayne would have a long professional relationship. The Duke became famous for playing tough guys in westerns and war pictures. He is the personification of the American of those days, a private and honest man of action.

Best quote: "I never trust a man that doesn't drink."

Top3: 艾爾維斯·普萊斯利(貓王)

Elvis Presley27

Since his death, he's been spotted at grocery stores, gas stations and diners; irrefutable evidence that his fans will love him eternally and still can't seem to accept his passing. He grew up in a poor home and taught himself how to play the guitar.

Later he recorded a song for his mother, which attracted the attention of a small-time producer. Elvis then recorded a couple of rockabilly28 singles, which became local hits. He finally shocked the nation in 1956 as a performer on The Ed Sullivan Show29--the nation had never heard, or seen, anything like it before. He will always be known as the King of Rock 'n' Roll.

Best quote: "I don't know anything about music. In my line you don't have to."

Top2: 瑪麗蓮·夢露

Marilyn Monroe30

Marilyn Monroe proved that where there's a will, there's a way. She overcame a childhood of abuse, worked as a swimsuit model, and eventually became one of the most famous movie stars of all time.

Her performances in films like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes confirmed she had as much talent as she did beauty. She even allegedly had affairs with President Kennedy and his Attorney General31, Bobby Kennedy. Her tragic death on August 5, 1962 was ruled a suicide by overmedication, which only intensified her perpetual allure and legendary status.

Best quote: "Sex is a part of nature. I go along with nature."

Top1: 約翰·肯尼迪

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

The Kennedy clan is often considered the only Royal family the United States has ever had. What makes it so is not their wealth or political role, but rather the aura of nobility surrounding them. JFK was the embodiment of this. A Navy officer during World War II, he became a senator in 1952. Nine years later, he became the 35th American president.

His term in office was often dubbed the New Frontier32 since it was an era of change. He put an end to segregation, established the Peace Corps33, and masterminded the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis.34

Unfortunately, he is often best remembered for his assassination in 1963. For all his youthful energy and magnetism, he represented the quintessence of America.

Best quote: "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."

Notes：

1 Ronald Reagan：羅納德·里根(1911- )，曾在艾奧瓦州電臺體育節(jié)目任廣播員五年，1937年成為好萊塢華納兄弟電影公司的電影和電視演員，拍攝過50部影片，先后兩次任影視演員協(xié)會主席。連任美國第49屆和第50屆總統(tǒng)(1981-1989)。

2 calling：職業(yè)，行業(yè)。

3 Screen Actors Guild：美國影視演員協(xié)會(也譯作“美國演員協(xié)會”)，成立于1933年。

4 affiliation：從屬關(guān)系。

5 capacity：地位，職位。

6 Ernest Hemingway：歐內(nèi)斯特·海明威(1899-1961)，美國小說家，獲1954年諾貝爾獎。代表作有《老人與海》、《喪鐘為誰而鳴》、《太陽照常升起》等，作品風(fēng)格獨特，文筆精練。

7 expatriate：移居國外者，背井離鄉(xiāng)者。

8 parody：拙劣模仿。

9 Pulitzer：即Pulitzer Prize(普利策獎)，美國一年一度頒發(fā)給新聞、文學(xué)、戲劇和音樂方面優(yōu)秀作品之獎，于1917年首次授獎。

10 bout：發(fā)作。

11 所有的罪惡都始于清白。

12 Frank Sinatra：弗蘭克·西納特拉(1915-1998)，美國最受歡迎的歌手之一，也是知名的演員和夜總會明星。

13 crooner：低聲哼唱者，低吟歌手。

14 bona fide：<拉>真正的。

15 James Dean：詹姆斯·迪恩，好萊塢50年代當(dāng)紅的英俊小生。他頗具代表性地演繹出了一代人迷失方向的痛苦心態(tài)，他的穿著——T恤衫、皮夾克和牛仔褲——成了一代青年文化的標(biāo)志，下文提到的三部電影分別是他主演的《伊甸之東》(1955年)、《無因的反抗》(1955年)和《巨人》(1956年)。

16 guest appearance：(友情)客串。

17 showcase：使展現(xiàn)，使亮相。

18 Brooklyn：布魯克林，美國紐約市西南部的行政區(qū)名。

19 NCAA：National Collegiate Athletic Association，(美國)全國大學(xué)生體育協(xié)會。

20 MVP：=most valuable player, 最有價值球員。

21 Mahatma Gandhi：“圣雄”甘地(1869-1948)，印度民族解放運動領(lǐng)袖，印度國大黨主席[1925-1934]，首倡“非暴力抵抗”，多次發(fā)動反英 “不合作”運動，領(lǐng)導(dǎo)爭取印度獨立的斗爭，印度獨立[1947]后，被印度教極右分子暗殺。Mahatma: (印度或中國西藏的)圣人，偉人。

22 be enamored with/of：傾心……，對……迷戀。

23 Rosa Parks：羅莎·帕克斯，民權(quán)先鋒。1955年黑人婦女羅莎·帕克斯因為在公共汽車上拒絕給一名白人乘客讓座而遭逮捕，這件事激起廣大黑人民眾的義憤。在馬丁·路德·金等黑人領(lǐng)袖的組織下，黑人民眾展開了聲勢浩大的抵制公共汽車運動。

24 on the right track：循著正確的路線，表示“做得對”。

25 John Wayne：約翰·韋恩(1907-1979)，著名的西部牛仔明星，素有“公爵”之稱，他在銀幕上所表現(xiàn)的質(zhì)樸敦厚與剛毅不屈也成為美國精神的代表，曾憑《大地驚雷》獲奧斯卡最佳男主角獎，是20世紀(jì)30-70年代的十大賣座巨星之一。

26 由著名西部片導(dǎo)演約翰·福特執(zhí)導(dǎo)的影片《驛站馬車》。

27 Elvis Presley：“貓王”艾爾維斯·普萊斯利，美國著名搖滾歌手，20世紀(jì)美國流行音樂最重要的人物之一。

28 rockabilly：<美> 山區(qū)鄉(xiāng)村搖滾樂(起源于美國東南部)。

29 The Ed Sullivan Show：“愛德·沙利文秀”，20世紀(jì)50-60年代美國最有名的電視綜藝節(jié)目。

30 Marilyn Monroe：瑪麗蓮·夢露(1926-1962)，美國歷史上最成功的電影明星之一，主演過下文提到的《紳士們喜歡金發(fā)女郎》(1953年)以及《怎樣嫁個百萬富翁》(1954年)、《七年之癢》(1955年)和《有人愛熱鬧》(1959年)等影片。

31 Attorney General：<美>司法部長。

32 New Frontier：“新邊疆”政策(時期)。“新邊疆”政策系肯尼迪提出的施政方針。

33 Peace Corps：〈美〉和平隊，由志愿人員組成的美國政府代表機構(gòu)，成立于1961年，前往發(fā)展中國家提供技術(shù)服務(wù)。

34 mastermind：策劃; the Cuban Missile Crisis：古巴導(dǎo)彈危機。1962年10月22日，美國總統(tǒng)肯尼迪宣布武裝封鎖古巴，要求蘇聯(lián)從古巴撤出進(jìn)攻性武器，并威脅不惜使用武力，形成戰(zhàn)爭一觸即發(fā)之勢。經(jīng)過與蘇聯(lián)多次斡旋、協(xié)商，最終以蘇聯(lián)從古巴運走武器和美國取消對古巴的海上封鎖告終。