(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Today, we continue the story of America's fortieth president, Ronald Reagan. Soon after Ronald Reagan's presidency began, there was an attempt on his life. A gunman shot him in March, nineteen eighty-one. Doctors removed the bullet. He rested, regained his strength, and returned to the White House in twelve days. The new president's main goal was to reduce the size of the federal government. He and other conservative Republicans wanted less government interference in the daily lives of Americans. President Reagan won Congressional approval for his plan to reduce taxes on earnings. Many Americans welcomed the plan. Others were concerned about its affect on the national debt. They saw taxes go down while defense spending went up. To save money, the Reagan administration decided to cut spending for some social programs. This pleased conservatives. Liberals, however, said it limited poor peoples' chances for good housing, health care, and education. President Reagan also had to make decisions about using military force in other countries.
In nineteen eighty-three, he sent Marines to Lebanon. They joined other peacekeeping troops to help stop fighting among several opposing groups. On October twenty-third, a Muslim extremist exploded a bomb in the building where the Marines were living. Two-hundred forty-one Americans died. Two days later, Marines led an invasion of the Caribbean island nation of Grenada. Communist forces were rebelling against the government there. Cuban soldiers were guarding the streets. President Reagan said he feared for the safety of American students at Grenada's medical school. He sent the Marines to get them out safely. The Marines quickly defeated the communist forces. Many Americans were pleased. Others were angry. They said Grenada was invaded only to make people forget about what happened in Lebanon. The next year, Nineteen-Eighty-Four, was another presidential election year.
It looked like no one could stop President Reagan. His warm way with people had made him hugely popular. He gained support with the military victory in Grenada. And, by the time the campaign started, inflation was under control. The Republican Party re-nominated Ronald Reagan for president and George Bush for vice president. There were several candidates for the Democratic Party's nomination. One was the first African American to run for president, Jesse Jackson. He was a Protestant clergyman and a long-time human rights activist. The candidate who finally won the nomination was Walter Mondale. He had been a senator and had served as vice president under President Jimmy Carter. The vice presidential candidate was Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro. It was the first time a major political party in the United States had nominated a woman for national office. One of the big issues in the campaign was taxes. Most candidates try not to talk about them.
Democrat Mondale did. He said taxes would have to be raised to pay for new government programs. This was a serious political mistake. President Reagan gained even more support as a result. The two candidates agreed to debate on television. During one debate, President Reagan looked old and tired. He did not seem sure of his answers. Yet his popularity was not damaged. On Election Day, he won fifty-nine percent of the popular vote. On Inauguration Day, the weather was not so kind. It was bitterly cold in Washington. All inaugural activities, including the swearing-in ceremony, were held inside. President Reagan's first term began with an attempt on his life. Six months after his second term began, he faced another threat. Doctors discovered and removed a large growth from his colon. The growth was cancerous. The president was seventy-four years old. Yet, once again, he quickly regained his strength and returned to work. For years, the United States had accused Libyan leader Muammar Kaddafi of supporting international terrorist groups. It said he provided them with weapons and a safe place for their headquarters. In January, Nineteen-Eighty-Six, the United States announced economic restrictions against Libya. Then it began military training exercises near the Libyan coast. Libya said the Americans were violating its territory and fired missiles at them. The Americans fired back, sinking two ships.
On April Fifth, a bomb destroyed a public dance club in West Berlin. Two people died, including an American soldier. The United States said Libya was responsible. President Reagan ordered bomb attacks against the Libyan cities of Tripoli and Benghazi. Muammar Kaddafi escaped unharmed. But one of his children was killed. Some Americans said the raid was cruel. Others praised it. President Reagan said the United States did what it had to do. The president also wanted to intervene in Nicaragua. About fifteen thousand rebel troops, called Contras, were fighting the communist government there. Reagan asked for military aid for the Contras. Congress rejected the request. It banned all aid to the Contras. At that same time, Muslim terrorists in Lebanon seized several Americans. The Reagan administration looked for ways to gain the hostages' release. It decided to sell missiles and missile parts to Iran in exchange for Iran's help. After the sale, Iran told the terrorists in Lebanon to release a few American hostages. Not long after, serious charges became public.
Reports said that money from the sale of arms to Iran was used to aid the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. Several members of the Reagan administration resigned. It appeared that some had violated the law. President Reagan said he regretted what had happened. But he said he had not known about it. Investigations and court trials of those involved continued into the Nineteen-Nineties. Several people were found guilty of illegal activities and of lying to Congress. No one went to jail. Most Americans did not blame President Reagan for the actions of others in his administration. They still supported him and his policies. They especially supported his efforts to deal with the Soviet Union. At the beginning of his first term, President Reagan called the Soviet Union an "evil empire". To protect the United States against the Soviets, he increased military spending to the highest level in American history. Then, in Nineteen-Eighty-Five, Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union. The two leaders met in Switzerland, in Iceland, in Washington, and in Moscow. Each agreed to destroy hundreds of nuclear missiles.
President Reagan also urged Mister Gorbachev to become more democratic. He spoke about the wall that communists had built to divide the city of Berlin, Germany."No American who sees first-hand can ever again take for granted his or her freedom or the precious gift that is America. That gift of freedom is actually the birthright of all humanity. And that is why, as I stood there, I urged the Soviet leader, Mister Gorbachev, to send a new signal of openness to the world by tearing down that wall."Ronald Reagan was president as the American economy grew rapidly. He was president as a new sense of openness was beginning in the Soviet Union. Yet, at the end of his presidency, many Americans were concerned by what he left behind. Increased military spending, together with tax cuts, had made the national debt huge. The United States owed thousands of millions of dollars. The debt would be a political issue for presidents to come. On our next program, we will discuss some social and cultural issues of the Reagan years.
重点解析
1.inaugural activities 就职活动
His supporters at the inaugural activities may be sending post cards backing home, celebrating their choice for President.
他的支持者们可能会在就职典礼活动上往家里邮寄卡片，庆祝他们的总统之选。
2.presidential election 总统选举；总统大选
This week, he signed a proclamation authorising a presidential election in January.
本周，他签署了一个声明授权于一月份的总统选举。
3.tearing down 拆卸
We have spent the last two days tearing down both units, and familiarized ourselves with their designs, reviewed Toyota’s “shim fix”, and replicated the fix ourselves.
我们最近花了两天的时间将这两款油门踏板拆卸，分别熟悉了它们的设计原理；并对于丰田的“加装垫片”修复方式进行了探讨，也按照这种方式对于油门踏板进行了修复。
4.blame for 责备；因……责备
If you like hearing gossip, you are participating and you are also to blame for the harm this gossip does to a person.
如果你喜欢听流言蜚语，而且你正在参与其中，那么你也同样应当为这种言语对他人造成的伤害而受到责备。
5.run for 竞选；匆匆去取；赶紧去请
Log of the audit types run for each audit.
为每个审计运行的审计类型日志。
参考译文
今天，我们继续美国第四十任总统罗纳德·里根的故事。罗纳德·里根就任总统后不久，就有人企图杀害他。1981年3月，里根遭遇暗杀，所幸医生取出了子弹。休息之后，里根总统身体康复，12天后回到了白宫，上任之后里根的主要目标是缩减联邦政府的规模。他和共和党的其它保守派希望政府减少对美国人日常生活的干预。里根总统的减税计划得到了国会的批准。这个计划受到了很多美国人的欢迎，其他人则担心这样做会对国债产生影响。有目共睹，税收下降而国防开支上升。为了节省开支，里根政府决定削减一些社会项目的开支。保守派对此很高兴。然而，自由派人士表示，减少社会保障会限制穷人获得良好住房、医疗和教育的机会。里根总统还必还数次下令出军其它国家。1983年，他派遣海军陆战队前往黎巴嫩。和其他维和部队一起，制止黎巴嫩交战各方的冲突。10月23日，一名穆斯林极端分子在海军陆战队居住的建筑内引爆了一枚炸弹。造成241人死亡。两天后，海军陆战队领导出军加勒比岛国格林纳达。那里共产主义军队反抗政府，古巴士兵在街道上巡逻。
里根总统说，他担心格林纳达医学院美国学生的安全。因此派海军陆战队将这些人安全撤离。海军陆战队迅速击败了共产党军队。很多人为此欢欣鼓舞，但是另外一些人却感到愤怒，他们说，格林纳达事件只是为了让大家忘记黎巴嫩发生的事情。次年，即1984年，又是一个总统选举年。看起来里根当选总统毫无悬念，他热情待人，这使他广受欢迎。在格林纳达的军事胜利更增加了他的威望。与此同时，通货膨胀已经得到控制。共和党再次提名罗纳德·里根为总统，乔治·布什为副总统。有几个候选人角逐民主党的提名。其中包括首位竞选总统的非裔美国人——杰西·杰克逊。他是一名新教牧师，长期从事推动人权的活动。最终赢得提名的候选人是沃尔特·蒙代尔。蒙代尔曾担任国会参议员，在吉米·卡特总统手下担任副总统。副总统候选人是众议员杰拉尔丁·费拉罗。费拉罗是美国历史上第一个获得总统副总统提名的女性。竞选中的一大议题是税率，大多数候选人都尽量回避谈论税率问题。但民主党蒙代尔不以为然。他说，必须提高税收用于新的政府项目。
蒙代尔犯下严重的政治错误，这使得里根总统得到了更多的支持。两位候选人同意在电视上辩论。在其中一次辩论中，里根总统看起来衰老疲惫。他似乎对自己的回答不太有把握，但这并没有让里根的民众支持率受到影响。在选举日那天，里根赢得了59%的选票。宣誓就职那天，天气不太好，华盛顿刺骨地冷。所有的就职活动，包括就职典礼，都在室内举行。里根总统的第一个任期就曾遭遇暗杀。在他的第二个任期开始六个月后，生命面临另一个威胁。他接受了一个结肠手术，是癌症。里根总统当时74岁。然而，他很快又恢复了体力，重新返回白宫。多年来，美国一直指责利比亚领导人卡扎菲支持国际恐怖组织。据说利比亚向他们提供了武器和总部的安全地点。1986年1月，美国宣布对利比亚实行经济限制。然后它开始在利比亚海岸一带进行军事演习。利比亚称美国侵犯了其领土主权并向美国发射导弹。美国还击，击沉了两艘战舰。4月5日，一枚炸弹炸毁了西柏林的一家公共舞蹈俱乐部，造成两人死亡，其中包括一名美国士兵。美国表示利比亚应该对此负责。里根总统下令轰炸利比亚城市的黎波里和班加西。穆阿迈尔·卡扎菲毫发无伤地逃脱了，但是他的一个孩子遇害。一些美国人说这次突袭很残忍，另外一些人则对空袭行动表示支持。
里根总统说，美国这样做是迫不得已。里根总统还想干预尼加拉瓜。大约有一万五千人的反政府武装跟尼加拉瓜共产政权战斗。里根向反政府武装请求军事援助，国会拒绝了这一要求，禁止对反对派施行一切援助。与此同时，黎巴嫩的穆斯林恐怖分子劫持了几名美国公民。里根政府设法营救人质，他决定向伊朗出售导弹和导弹部件，以换取伊朗的帮助。之后，伊朗要求黎巴嫩的恐怖分子释放几个美国人质。不久之后，有报导对美国政府提出严重指控，称向伊朗出售武器所得的钱被用来援助尼加拉瓜的反政府武装。里根政府的几名成员辞职，政府里似乎确实有人在这件事上违反了法律。里根总统说他对所发生的一切深感遗憾。但他说自己并不知情。对相关人员的调查和法庭审判一直持续到20世纪90年代。一些人被判定从事非法行为，或是向国会撒谎，但是没有任何人为此入狱服刑。大多数美国人并没有因为里根总统政府中其他人的行为而责怪他。他们一如既往地支持里根，还有他的政策，特别是在苏联问题上。第一个任期之初，里根总统称苏联为“邪恶的帝国”。为了保护美国的安全，对抗苏联，他将军费开支提高到美国历史上的最高水平。
1985年，米哈伊尔·戈尔巴乔夫成为苏联的领导人。两位领导人分别在瑞士、冰岛、华盛顿和莫斯科举行会晤。双方同意销毁数以百计的导弹。里根总统也敦促戈尔巴乔夫先生推动民主。他谈到了共产党为分隔德国柏林而修建的柏林墙。“任何亲眼目睹柏林墙的美国人都不会再认为自由或珍贵礼物理所当然属于美国，这种自由实际上是全人类与生俱来的权利。这就是我站在那里的原因，我要敦促苏联领导人——戈尔巴乔夫先生，拆除那堵墙，向世界发出开放的新信号。”罗纳德·里根任期内，美国经济快速增长。他担任总统时，开放和重建之风开始席卷苏联。然而，在其任期结束时，许多美国人深感担忧。军事开支的增加，加上减税，使国家负债累累。美国欠了一大笔债。债务问题将是未来总统面临的一个政治问题。下期，我们将为您讲述里根时代的一些社会和文化问题。
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