小组成员： 崔彩彩 王 艳 解 振 谢向向 王小兵

勇敢的芭蕾舞星

On the fateful night in 1930 when the first Ger-man bombs fell on Poland , young Nina Novak , one of Poland’s most promising dancers , was perform-ing in the Opera House in Warsaw . Two days later the Opera House was destroyed by bombs .Nina’s whole life had been devoted to ballet . Now her wor-ld collapsed around he.In the dark years that follow-ed , it seemed that she would never dance again , much less become one of the world’s leading balle-rinas .But Nina had courage – and a dream that be-gan when she was very young.

Translation

Nina was born in Warsaw and spent the early years of her childhood there.Her first school-teacher noticed little Nina’s grace and told her she should study dancing .Nina delightedly reported the teach-er’s words at home, but her mother fought the idea , saying that no daughter of hers was going to be a dancer. Nina, however, was a determined child .She had made up her mind to be a really great ballerina no matter what the cost, and she worked toward th-is goal with her whole being. She coaxed and raged until her mother finally gave in and let her enroll at the Polish Opera Ballet School.

Translation

Her first appearance on stage came three years later, when she was allowed to dance the part of a slave girl in the opera Aida . Shortly after this , Nina became a real professional , dancing for two years as prima ballerina of the Children’s Ballet of Warsaw.

Translation

When she was thirteen , she was taken into the Polish Opera Company . She was the youngest dancer ever to become a member of its corps de ballet . The follow-ing year, she started out with the company on a long European tour . She spent two exciting years dancing in the capitals of Europe , and she rose from her humble place in the corps de ballet all the way to soloist. Translation

She had just returned to Warsaw after this tour when the Polish State Ballet was invited to dance at the World’s Fair in New- York early in 1929. But while she was danc-ing gaily in New York , war clouds were darkening over her native country . Nina had been home for only a month when Hitler marched into Poland.

Translation

The invading Germans decreed that anyone who did not have a job would be sent to a work camp . At great risk , Nina refused to dance at the large theater that the Germans had taken over. Instead , she joined a group of Polish dancers in a small, ill-equipped theater where they gave per-formances only for their own countrymen. Translation

The dark years of World War Ⅱ wore on, One by one, the members of Nina’s large and wealthy family were arrested and sent to concentration camps . Her adored older brother was taken first , then her father , then Nina and her other brothers and sisters . They were separated and sent to di-fferent camps . Nina frantically asked for news of her family from each new prisoner who came to her camp . Dreary months dragged by before the tragic news reached her that her beloved brother had been killed for anti-Nazi activities . Her father, too, was dead -- of starvation.

Translation

Dazed with grief , she no long-er cared whether she lived or died. Six months later , when liberating troops arrived and threw open the prison gates , she was so thin that she could hardly walk.

Translation

Barely aware that the war was over , Nina listlessly began to pick up the threads of her life . She was re-united with what was left of her fa-mily , and they tried to make some sort of life for themselves in war-torn Poland.

Translation

She began to feel vague stirrings of the old, fami-liar desire to dance, but she was still too depressed and weak to practice . her younger brother tried to encourage her . He began to practice with her, and soon they had built up a charming little dance rou-tine of their own . Together they found dancing en-gagements in many Warsaw night spots . The fami-ly decided that the best future for Nina as a dancer was in the United States , and they started saving money for her to make the trip. Translation

Nina arrived in New York in 1947 – a slight girl whose tragic dark eyes held the only hint of the heartbreak she had been through. She set about learning to speaking English and took intensive ballet lessons to retrain her still-frail body . She applied for a position in the corps de ballet of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1948 , and was accepted . She worked hard , determined to rise to the top . Four years later , she had made the grade –she was the top-ranking ballerina with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.

Translation

The bitter war had brought Nina heartbreak and had driven her to the verge of physical co-llapse , But in spite of this , she says today , ” Always in life , I have luck –I really have luck .” She insists that it was luck that brought her two of her greatest roles . The first was Swanilda in Coppelia . Nina danced that role on three days notice when the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo was in Chicago. Replacing Danilova, who was ill, she danced so well that she got rave notices from the Chicago critics.

Translation

It was luck again , according to Nina , that brought her the role in Mute Wife for which she is best known. The leading ballerina had an argument with the choreographer and walked out . Nina stepped in.

Translation

She has won a leading role in almost every ballet of the Ballet Russe. Still dri-ven by ambition , she is so dedicated to her profession that nothing else matters to her . Nina Novak has taken for her creed the words of her teacher of long ago : “ If people tell you that you cannot dance , do not believe them , for you can. But if they say that you are wonderful , do not believe them either , for you must al-ways improve .”

Translation

coax [kəuks] 1. 哄 , 用好话劝说 vt. She coaxed her son into going to school. 她哄儿子上学。 2. 巧言骗取 He coaxed extra money from his father. 他用甜言蜜语骗他父亲额外给他钱。

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decree [di'kri:] 1. 命令 , 法令 , 政令 , 判决 n. They had to obey the decree that beards be

shaved off. 他们只得服从剃光胡须的法令。 2. 命令 , 裁决 ; 颁布…为法令 vt. The Queen has decreed her order. 女王已经颁布了她的命令。

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dreary ['driəri] 阴沉的 , 忧郁的；令人厌烦的 ; 单调的 ; 枯燥的 adj. It was the dreariest job I had ever done. 那是我所做过的最沉闷的工作。

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vague [veiɡ] 1. 模糊的 adj. He had a vague idea of finding Anne and

explaining it all to her. 他隐约觉得要去找安妮 , 向她解释所发生的一切。 2. 不具体的 ; 不精确的 Our holiday plans are still rather vague. 我们的度假计划仍然没有明确。

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wear on 基本释义 :( 时间 ) 慢慢过去 wear away 1. 磨损 , 磨掉 , 侵蚀 The inscription has worn away and can no

longer be read. 铭 F 文已磨损 , 无法辨认了。 2. 消逝 ; 衰退 The year is wearing away.

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set about 1. 开始做 ( 某事 ) We set about our task at once with great

enthusiasm. 我们立刻兴致勃勃地干起来。 2. 攻击 , 抨击 ( 某人 ) He would certainly defend himself if anybody

sets about him. 要是有谁攻击他 , 他当然会进行自卫的。

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step in 干涉 , 介入 The police are reluctant to step in. 警察不愿插手干预。

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1930 年，在德国的第一颗炸弹投向波兰的那个决定性的夜晚，年轻的妮娜 ·诺瓦克正在华沙歌剧院演出，她是波兰最具潜力的舞蹈家之一，两天后歌剧院被炸毁。妮娜的一生都致力于芭蕾舞事业，现在她的事业处于低谷。在接下来那黑暗的几年中，似乎她再也不能跳舞了，更不用说成为世界上顶尖的芭蕾舞演员。但是妮娜很勇敢，并且在幼年时就开始了她的梦想之旅。Back

妮娜生于华沙，在那里度过了她的童年。她的第一个教师发现她有跳舞的天赋，并且说她应该学舞蹈。回家后妮娜欣喜地宣告了老师的话，但她母亲反对这个想法，说她的女儿不能做舞者。然而，妮娜是一个有决心的孩子，她已经下定决心不惜一切代价成为一个真正的芭蕾舞星，她的整个人生都在朝着这个目标努力。她软硬兼施直到她母亲让步，终于让她进入波兰歌剧芭蕾舞学校学习。Back

三年后，她在歌剧《阿伊达》中饰演的一个奴隶女孩是她首次在舞台上亮相。之后不久，妮娜成为一个专业舞者，作为首席女演员，她在华沙儿童芭蕾舞团工作了两年。 十三岁那年，她成为波兰歌剧团伴舞队中年龄最小的演员。第二年，她开始跟随公司在欧洲进行长期巡回演出。她在欧洲的各个首都度过的两年愉快的舞蹈生活，使她从伴舞队的卑微地位中脱颖而出，成为一个独立的舞者。

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1929 年初，就在波兰国家芭蕾舞团被邀请到纽约，在世界博览会上演出时，她刚刚演出结束回到华沙。然而，战争的乌云正笼罩着她的祖国的时候，她正在纽约全情演出。当希特勒进军波兰时，妮娜刚回到家一个月。 入侵的德国军队法令，任何没有工作的人都将被送到一个劳动基地。妮娜冒着极大的风险，拒绝了在德国军队控制的大剧院里跳舞。相反，她却加入一个规模小，且设施简陋的波兰舞队，在这里他们仅给自己的同胞演出。 Back

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二战的黑暗年代慢慢过去，妮娜原本富有的家族成员一个接一个的被逮捕，并发配到集中营。首先被逮捕的是她最喜欢的哥哥，然后她父亲，接下来是妮娜和其他的兄弟姐妹。他们被分开，发送到不同的营地。妮娜疯狂地向每个新囚犯询问有关她家庭的消息。在她得知心爱的哥哥因为反对纳粹活动被杀害之前，日子过得很沉闷。她父亲因为饥饿也死了。 经历过悲伤和茫然后，她已经置自己的生死于不顾了。半年之后，当解放部队到达打开监狱门的时侯，她已经瘦弱得不能走路了。Back

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意识到战争已经结束，妮娜挣扎着开始重整她的人生路线。她和家庭的剩余成员团聚后，他们试图在战后的波兰找到自己的生活。过去的那种熟悉的跳舞激情慢慢苏醒过来，可是她依旧很消沉，虚弱而不能投入练习。她的弟弟试图鼓励她，和他一起练，不久他们就编排了一套他们自己的优美的舞蹈步法，并且在华沙的许多夜场创立了舞蹈协会。家庭成员认为妮娜作为一个舞者最好的前途就是到美国发展，因此他们开始为她的出国行程筹集资金。Back

1947 年，妮娜到达纽约，这个纤弱的女孩有着一双忧郁的黑眼睛，透过她的眼睛仿佛可以看到她内心经历过的那种彻骨的心碎。她开始着手学习英语，并通过高强度的芭蕾舞训练来改善她孱弱的体质。 1948 年她成功的在蒙地卡罗俄罗斯芭蕾舞团的伴舞队申请了一个职位，并刻苦努力，决心要做到最好。四年后，她做到了，成为蒙地卡罗俄罗斯芭蕾舞团的一流的芭蕾舞星。Back

残酷的战争使妮娜心灰意冷，差一点还将她拖垮了。尽管如此，直到今天她总是这样说，“在生活中，我一直很幸运，真的非常幸运！”她坚持说是幸运带给了她两个重要角色。第一个是《葛蓓莉亚》中的斯万尔妮达。当俄罗斯的蒙地卡罗芭蕾舞团在芝加哥的时候，妮娜顶替生病的尼诺娃出演的那个角色通告了三天。她演出地非常成功，受到了芝加哥评论家的极大吹捧。Back

依照妮娜的说法，她又一次幸运的得到了《哑妻》的角色，这个角色让她更出名了。原来的舞星跟设计师吵翻后甩手不干了，于是她顶替了那个位置。 在每场的俄式芭蕾中她几乎都是主要演员。雄心壮志激励着她，使她能够全身心地投身于她的事业，没有任何事情能影响到她。她将以前那个老师的话作为信条——“如果有人告诉你，你不能跳舞，请不要相信他们，因为你能；如果有人说你太完美了，也不要相信，因为你需要不断提高。” Back

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