Oprah Winfrey is one of the most exciting, highest paid, and best-loved celebrities in American . She is also the country’s top television a talk show host. Oprah Winfrey is a very fine actress and a successful producer. She is a living example of what talent, hard work, and determination can do.
Oprah Winfrey has come a long way from her poor childhood home in a small Mississippi town. She was an unwanted child whose parents never married. She was brought up on her grandmother’s farm. The possibility that she would become rich and famous was not very good.
Oprah’s mother left her child in her mother’s care, so she could go to work in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was a strict and difficult life for Oprah. But it also led the way for her future. She was a highly intelligent child. By the age of three, she had learned to read and write. She also made her first public appearance at that age. She gave a talk in church, which impressed everyone.” That child is gifted,” people said.
Oprah’s intelligence was resented by other children her age. They called her unkind names and pushed her away. Oprah felt very isolated and unwanted. It made her feel worse that she didn’t live with her mother and father. She felt that no one loved her. This made her angry, resentful, and rebellious. These feelings brought her much trouble as she was growing up. She often behaved badly, causing her grandmother to punish her. By the time Oprah was seven, she was too much for grandmother to discipline. Then Oprah went to live with her mother, Vernita, in Milwaukee.
Vernita worked very hard at her job as a housekeeper. It was hard for her to work and take care of her bright, troublesome child. Oprah was a burden, and she knew it. They lived in poverty in a small apartment in the city. Oprah took out all her angry feelings on her mother. She was difficult child. When Oprah was eight, Vernita sent her to live her father and stepmother in Nashville, Tennessee. But she moved again a few months later when Vernita married a man with two children. Vernita wanted Oprah with her and her new family.
Unfortunately felt she didn’t belong with them. She believed she wasn’t loved by anyone. Her angry and frustration grew stronger. She struck back by misbehaving and running away from home. Her parents found her impossible to discipline. When she was 14 they tried to send her to a special center for troubled girls. But there was no room for her. So Vernita sent Oprah back to live with her father. Vernon Winfrey was by then a successful businessman and family man. He took one look at his daughter and knew she needed guidance, love, and discipline. He gave her all three. It was a turning point in Oprah’s life. Vernon Winfrey was strict about his daughter’s education. He gave her homework in addition to her schoolwork. She was allowed to watch only one hour of television a day. She became an A student and a popular girl in her class.
Oprah watched Barbara Walters, a famous journalist and interviewer, and decided that was what she wanted to be. When she was still in high school, she got a part-time job reading news on the radio. In her senior year she won a beauty contest and a four-year scholarship to Tennessee State University. While still in college she was offered a job as a news broadcaster at a local television station. She was the first female and the first African- American newscaster in Nashville. She was promoted to anchor, the most important position on the news team, while still a senior.
After Oprah graduated she got a job with a Baltimore news station. But she soon realized that broadcasting news wasn’t enough for her. She had to let her personality shine through. She wanted to show emotion when she told a story, not just report it. Meanwhile the station manager were thinking the same way. They couldn’t stop her from commenting on the news she read. They removed her from the anchor spot and wondered what to do with her. Finally they put her on an early morning talk show called People Are Talking. No one knew what to expect.
The show was a great success. In a very short time, the managers and Oprah all knew what she was born to do. She was funny, witty([wit·ty || 'wɪtɪ]adj. 富于机智的, 诙谐的), charming, warm, and compassionate. She was everything a talk show host should be. She was so successful that she got show with a bigger station in Chicago. It was called A. M. Chicago within one month the show’s ratings were the best in years. Twice she left the show to make movies, The Color Purple and Native Son. In 1985 the show was changed to The Oprah Winfrey Show. It was broadcast nationally and soon became the most popular talk show on television . By the age of 35, Oprah Winfrey was one of the most famous celebrities in American.
Celebrity：著名人士，名士，名人。
living example：鲜活的例子。
Unwanted：不必要的，多余的，讨厌的，有害的。
made appearance：登台演出
called her unkind names ：骂她。
Unkind：不客气的，不体谅的，刻薄的，严酷的。
Rebellious：*的，反叛的，难管的，难治的。
Discipline：管教。
in poverty ：贫穷，缺乏。
frustration ：挫折，挫败。
strike back：回击。
Misbehaving：使人觉得行为不当的，不规矩的
an A student ：最优等生
news broadcaster：广播员，播种机，广播电台
anchor：负责安排广播的新闻广播员，制动器。
senior：大四的，资深的。
What she was born to do：她生来就是该干这个的。
compassionate：有同情心的。
rating：（美国的电台、电视台经调查后确定的）节目受欢迎程度。
逆风飞扬
译/ 艾临
欧普拉•温芙芮是美国最令人激动的、薪水最高的和最受人喜爱的知名人士之一，她还是全国*脱口秀节目主持人、非常优秀的女演员和成功的制片人。（要问）才华、勤奋和决心能成就什么，她就是一个鲜活的例子。
欧普拉•温芙芮来自遥远的密西西比一个小镇的贫穷的家庭。她是父母的非婚生子，在外婆的农场里长大成人，发财和成名的可能性都不被看好。
欧普拉•温芙芮的妈妈把自己的孩子交给她自己的妈妈看管，自己得以去威斯康星的米尔瓦基去工作。生活对欧普拉•温芙芮来说既严格又艰难，这引领她走向属于她的未来。她是个非常聪明的孩子，三岁时，已经学会了读书习字，并第一次在舞台上公开演出。欧普拉•温芙芮在教堂的讲话，给大家留下很好的印象，人们都说她“很有天赋”。
欧普拉•温芙芮的聪明遭到了同龄孩子的嫉恨。他们辱骂她，排斥她。欧普拉•温芙芮感到孤独无助。不能和爸爸妈妈住在一起使她心情更糟，她感到没人喜欢她。这一切造就了她愤怒、怨恨和反叛的性格。随着年龄的增长，这给她带来了很多麻烦。她经常不守规矩，招来外婆的惩罚。七岁时，外婆再也管不了她了。后来，欧普拉就去在米尔瓦基的妈妈——沃尼塔。
为人做女管家，沃尼塔干得非常卖力。既要工作又要照顾她聪明而又惹是生非的孩子使她很做难，欧普拉也感觉到自己是妈妈的负担。他们住在市里的一个小公寓里，日子过得很清贫。欧普拉将所有的火气都发到了妈妈的身上，孩子成了沃尼塔的一大麻烦。欧普拉八岁时，妈妈把她送到了田纳西州的那斯维尔（Nashville）的生父和继母那里。后来，沃尼塔又和一个带有两个孩子的男人结了婚，又把欧普拉接了回来，因为沃尼塔想要欧普拉与她和她的新家在一起。
不幸的是，欧普拉感到自己不属于这个家，她觉得谁也不爱她。她的愤恨与挫折感越发强烈，就用不守规矩和离家出走进行反击。她的爸爸妈妈觉得无望管教好他们的女儿，14岁那年试图把她送到麻烦女孩的特别中心。但那里已经没有地方了，于是沃尼塔又把她送到她爸爸那里去。佛蒙•温芙芮当时已是成功的商人和有家的男人。他看了一次他的女儿，了解她需要引导、爱和管教。他给了她这三样东西，这成了欧普拉人生的转折点。佛蒙•温芙芮对女儿的教育要求非常严格，除学校的作业外，他还给她布置家庭作业，一天只允许她看一个小时的电视。欧普拉成了班上的最优秀学生，成了受人欢迎的女孩。
欧普拉看到了著名的新闻记者和采访人芭芭拉•瓦尔特丝，决心成为象她那样的人。上高中时，就兼职在广播电台播新闻。高年级时，在选美大赛中胜出，赢取了田纳西州立大学四年的助学金。到了大学时期，她在当地一家电视台播报新闻。她是那斯维尔市获取这种工作的第一位女性和第一位美国黑人。大学四年级时，欧普拉晋升为新闻播报负责人，这是新闻组最重要的位置。
大学毕业后，欧普拉在巴尔的摩电视台谋得工作。她很快不满足于播报新闻，想要充分展示自己的个性，满怀激情的讲述而非简单播送。与此同时，电视台的经理也在琢磨这个问题。他们无法阻拦她播送新闻时的评论。他们将她调出新闻负责人的位子，但不知道她干什么好。最后安排她主持早晨脱口秀——“大家谈”，没人知道结果会是什么。
节目取得极大的成功！经理认为欧普拉天生就是干这个的，欧普拉也这么认为。风趣、机智、热情、魅力四射、富有同情心，她具有了脱口秀主持人所应具备的全部素质。她非常成功，在更大的一个芝加哥电视台主持脱口秀——“早安芝加哥”。一个月内这档节目的收视率就创历年新高。她第二次离开脱口秀主持人位置，转而去拍电影——《紫色与本土人》。1985年，她主持的节目更名为欧普拉秀，在全国播放，欧普拉一跃成为最富人气的电视脱口秀。到了35岁时，欧普拉•温芙芮是全美知名度最高的人士之一。