(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Today, we continue the story of the American Revolution against Britain in the late seventeen hundreds. Battles had been fought between Massachusetts soldiers and British military forces in the towns of Lexington and Concord. Yet, war had not been declared. Even so, citizen soldiers in each of the thirteen American colonies were ready to fight. This was the first question faced by the Second Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Who was going to organize these men into an army? Delegates to the Congress decided that the man for the job was George Washington. He had experience fighting in the French and Indian War. He was thought to know more than any other colonist about being a military commander. Washington accepted the position. But he said he would not take any money for leading the new Continental Army. Washington left Philadelphia for Boston to take command of the soldiers there. Delegates to the Second Continental Congress made one more attempt to prevent war with Britain. They sent another message to King George. They asked him to consider their problems and try to find a solution. The king would not even read the message. You may wonder: Why would the delegates try to prevent war if the people were ready to fight?
The answer is that most members of the Congress -- and most of the colonists -- were not yet ready to break away from Britain. They continued to believe they could have greater self-government and still be part of the British Empire. But that was not to be. Two days after the Congress appointed George Washington as army commander, colonists and British troops fought the first major battle of the American Revolution. It was called the Battle of Bunker Hill, although it really involved two hills: Bunker and Breed's. Both are just across the Charles River from the city of Boston. Massachusetts soldiers dug positions on Breed's Hill one night in June, seventeen seventy-five. By morning, the hill was filled with troops. The British started to attack from across the river. The Americans had very little gunpowder. They were forced to wait until the British had crossed the river and were almost on top of them before they fired their guns. Their commander reportedly told them: Do not fire until you see the whites of the British soldiers' eyes. The British climbed the hill. The Americans fired. A second group climbed the hill. The Americans fired again. The third time, the British reached the top, but the Americans were gone. They had left because they had no more gunpowder. The British captured Breed's Hill. More than one thousand had been killed or wounded in the attempt.
The Americans lost about four hundred. That battle greatly reduced whatever hope was left for a negotiated settlement. King George declared the colonies to be in open rebellion. And the Continental Congress approved a declaration condemning everything the British had done since seventeen sixty-three. The American colonists fought several battles against British troops during seventeen seventy-five. Yet the colonies were still not ready to declare war. Then, the following year, the British decided to use Hessian soldiers to fight against the colonists. Hessians were mostly German mercenaries who fought for anyone who paid them. The colonists feared these soldiers and hated Britain for using them. At about the same time, Thomas Paine published a little document that had a great effect on the citizens of America. He named it, "Common Sense." It attacked King George, as well as the idea of government by kings. It called for independence. About one hundred fifty thousand copies of "Common Sense" were sold in America. Everyone talked about it. As a result, the Continental Congress began to act. It opened American ports to foreign shipping. It urged colonists to establish state governments and to write constitutions. On June seventh, delegate Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed a resolution for independence. The resolution was not approved immediately. Declaring independence was an extremely serious step. Signing such a document would make delegates to the Continental Congress traitors to Britain. They would be killed if captured by the British. The delegates wanted the world to understand what they were doing, and why.
So they appointed a committee to write a document giving the reasons for their actions. One member of the committee was the Virginian, Thomas Jefferson. He had already written a report criticizing the British form of government. So the other committee members asked him to prepare the new document. They said he was the best writer in the group. They were right. It took him seventeen days to complete the document that the delegates approved on July fourth, seventeen seventy-six. It was America's Declaration of Independence. Jefferson's document was divided into two parts. The first part explained the right of any people to revolt. It also described the ideas the Americans used to create a new, republican form of government. The Declaration of Independence begins this way: When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them to another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
Jefferson continued by saying that all people are equal in the eyes of God. Therefore, governments can exist only by permission of the people they govern. He wrote: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. The next part states why the American colonies decided to separate from Britain: That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it. This is why the Americans were rebelling against England. The British believed the Americans were violating their law. Jefferson rejected this idea. He claimed that the British treatment of the American colonies violated the natural laws of God. He and others believed a natural law exists that is more powerful than a king. The idea of a natural law had been developed by British and French philosophers more than one hundred years earlier. Jefferson had studied these philosophers in school.
In later years, however, he said he did not re-read these ideas while he was writing the Declaration. He said the words came straight from his heart. The second part of the Declaration lists twenty-seven complaints by the American colonies against the British government. The major ones concerned British taxes on Americans and the presence of British troops in the colonies. After the list of complaints, Jefferson wrote this strong statement of independence: That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States they have the full Power to levy War, conduct Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. The last statement of the Declaration of Independence was meant to influence the delegates into giving strong support for that most serious step -- revolution: And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
重点解析
1.fight for 为…而战
He readied himself to fight for freedom.
他准备为自由而战斗。
2.Declaration of Independence 独立宣言
Russian workers have staged a number of strikes in protest at the republic's declaration of independence
俄罗斯工人已经举行了数次罢工，抗议该共和国宣布独立。3. for the support of 支持
3.for the support of 支持
This pattern is used in conjunction with a service adaptor for the support of virtual providers.
这个模式可以与服务适配器一起使用来支持虚拟提供者。
4.military commander 军事指挥官
But she said she thinks Mr. Thein Sein, who was a military commander before being appointed president earlier this year, wields considerable power, which could augur well for further change.
不过，她说，她认为登盛拥有相当大的权力，可能预示会有进一步的改革。 登盛今年早些时候被任命为总统，在那之前曾是一名军事指挥官。
5.across the river 穿过这条河
Across the River. Soon Salinger was much too absorbed with writing to need the Village, and he began a series of withdrawals.
很快，由于塞林格对写作太过投入，他也更需要那个村庄了，于是他便开始了摆脱人群行动。
参考译文
今天，我们继续讲述18世纪末美国独立战争的故事。马萨诸塞州士兵和英国军队在莱克星顿和康科德镇进行了战斗。然而，双方还没有正式开战。即便如此，美国13个殖民地的公民士兵都准备好了战斗。在宾夕法尼亚州费城召开的第二届大陆会议面临的第一个问题是：谁来把这些人组成一支军队?国会代表们决定的人选是乔治•华盛顿。他有参加法国-印第安战争的经验。人们认为乔治•华盛顿比其他任何殖民者都更适合担任军事指挥官。华盛顿接受了这个职位。但他表示，他不会接受任何报酬来领导新的大陆军。华盛顿离开费城前往波士顿去指挥那里的士兵。第二届大陆会议的代表们又一次试图阻止与英国交战。他们致信乔治国王，请他考虑这个问题并设法找到解决办法。国王甚至不愿读信。你可能会想：如果人民已经摩拳擦掌，那么为什么代表们还要试图阻止与英国交战呢?答案是，大多数国会议员——以及大多数殖民者——还没有准备好脱离英国。他们仍然相信他们可以享受更多的自治，仍然是大英帝国的一部分。但事实并非如此。会议任命乔治•华盛顿为军队指挥官的两天后，殖民者和英国军队打响了美国独立战争的第一场大战。其被称为邦克山战役，尽管邦克山包括两座山：邦克山和布里德山，这两座山都位于波士顿市，查尔斯河从中间流过。1775年6月的一天晚上，马萨诸塞州的士兵在布里德山上挖战壕。
到了早晨，山上已经布满了军队。英国人开始从河对岸发起进攻。而殖民地只有很少的火药。他们不得不等到英国人渡河，攻到跟前的时候再开火，。据报道，他们的指挥官下令：除非看到英国士兵的眼白否则不允许开枪。英军爬上了这座山，殖民地民兵开火了。英军第二次爬上山，殖民地民兵再次开火。第三次，英军成功登上了顶峰，而殖民地军民不见人影。他们之所以离开是因为没有火药了。英国人占领了布里德山。此次战争中英军死伤人数达1000多人。殖民地军民损失了大约400人。那次战斗大大减少了英军和殖民地谈判和解的希望。乔治国王宣布殖民地叛乱。大陆会议通过了一项声明，谴责英国自1763年以来的所作所为。1775年，殖民者与英国军队开战多次。然而殖民地还没有准备好正式宣战。第二年，英国决定使用黑森士兵来对抗殖民者。黑森士兵多数是德国雇佣兵，他们为任何付钱给他们的人而战。殖民者害怕这些黑森士兵，他们对英国的做法深恶痛绝。大约同一时间，托马斯•潘恩发表了一份对美国公民产生巨大影响的文件。他称之为《常识》。该文件反对乔治国王，以及国王统治的思想，要求独立。《常识》在美国大约售出15万本。成了街头巷尾议论的话题。于是，大陆会议开始采取行动。它对外开放了殖民地港口，敦促殖民者建立州政府并制定宪法。
6月7日，弗吉尼亚州代表理查德•亨利•李提出了独立的议案。该议案并没有立即获得通过。宣布独立是极为重要的一步。大陆会议的代表签署这样的文件意味着背叛英国。如果被英国人俘虏，他们就会被杀死。大陆会议的代表们希望全世界了解他们在做什么，以及为什么要这样做。因此，他们指定一个委员会，撰写了一份文件，说明他们要求独立的理由。委员会成员之一是弗吉尼亚人托马斯•杰斐逊。他曾经写过一篇批评英国政府形式的文章。因此，委员会的其他成员请他来准备这份新文件。他们说杰斐逊文笔最好，的确如此。杰斐逊花了17天时间完成了，1776年7月4日，代表们通过了这份文件。即美国的独立宣言。杰斐逊的文件分为两部分。第一部分阐述了人民反抗的权利。还描述了美国人用来创建新的共和政体的想法。《独立宣言》开头是这样写的：在有关人类事务的发展过程中，当一个民族必须解除其和另一个民族之间的政治联系，并在世界各国之间依照自然法则和上帝的意旨，接受独立和平等的地位时，出于人类舆论的尊重，必须把他们不得不独立的原因予以宣布。杰斐逊接着说，在上帝眼中，人人生而平等。而政府的正当权力，则应得到他们统治的人民的允许。
他写道：我们认为下面这些真理是不言而喻的：人人生而平等，造物者赋予他们若干不可剥夺的权利，其中包括生命权、自由权和追求幸福的权利.为了保障这些权利，人类才在他们之间建立政府，而政府之正当权力，是经被治理者的同意而产生的。《独立宣言》下一部分阐述了北美殖民地为什么决定独立：当任何形式的政府对这些目标具破坏作用时，人民便有权力改变或废除它，这就是美国人反抗英国的原因。英国人认为美国人违反了他们的法律。杰斐逊拒绝了这个想法。他声称英国对美洲殖民地的处理违反了上帝的自然法则。杰斐逊等人相信，自然法规高于王权。自然法的概念是一百多年前由英国和法国哲学家提出的。杰斐逊在学校里研究过这些哲学家的思想。然而，在后来的几年里，他说他在写《独立宣言》时没有再读过这些概念。这些话都是他的肺腑之言。独立宣言的第二部分列举了美洲殖民地对英国政府的27条控诉。主要问题是英国对殖民地的征税以及英国军队驻扎在殖民地。控诉之后，杰斐逊写下了这样一份铿锵有力的独立宣言:这些联合一致的殖民地从此是自由和独立的国家，并且按其权利也必须是自由和独立的国家，它们取消一切对英国王室效忠的义务，它们和大不列颠国家之间的一切政治关系从此全部断绝，而且必须断绝；作为自由独立的国家，它们完全有权宣战、缔和、结盟、通商，和采取独立国家有权采取的一切行动。《独立宣言》的结尾部分是号召代表们为最重要的一步——革命给予强烈的支持。为了支持这篇宣言，我们坚决信赖上帝的庇佑，以我们的生命、我们的财产和我们神圣的名誉，相互保证，共同宣誓。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
