(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
John Adams took office in seventeen ninety-seven. He had served eight years as vice president under President George Washington. Now, state electors had chosen him to govern the new nation. Adams was an intelligent man. He was a true patriot and an able diplomat. But he did not like party politics. This weakness caused trouble during his presidency. For, during the late seventeen hundreds, two political parties struggled for power. He was caught in the middle. Adams was a member of the Federalist Party. As president, he should have been party leader. But this position belonged to a man who really knew how to get and use political power, Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton served as treasury secretary under President Washington. Now, he was a private citizen, a lawyer in New York City. Through the Federalist Party, Hamilton continued to have great influence over the national government. Federalists loyal to Hamilton controlled the Congress. Even President Adams' three cabinet ministers were loyal to Hamilton. In fact, they worked together against the new president. This political situation made Adams' term in office very difficult. Yet strangely, it also led to the end of Federalist Party power. Two major issues marked Adams' presidency. One concerned foreign policy.
The other concerned the rights of citizens. The first involved America's relations with France. Federalists, in general, were men of wealth and position. They did not believe in democracy, rule by the people. For this reason, they strongly opposed the revolution in France. They were horrified by the execution of the French king and queen. Federalists wanted an alliance with Britain. Over time, they demanded war with France. American support for France came from the opposition party, the Republicans. The leader of that party was the country's vice president, Thomas Jefferson. France helped America win its war for independence from Britain. The friendship formed during the war continued afterward when Thomas Jefferson served as Minister to Paris. Relations began to turn bad as soon as he returned home. The man who replaced him openly supported the French monarchy -- the losing side in the revolution. After the revolution succeeded, the new French government demanded that he leave. Most Federalists did not want good relations with France. They used their power to prevent the government from sending a pro-French representative to Paris. They also searched for any signs of insult, any excuse to declare war. President Adams did not agree with the majority of Federalists. He wanted to improve relations with France through negotiations. Yet he said the United States would strengthen its defenses. We will be ready, he said, if war comes. One incident, especially, brought the two nations close to war.
Under the Alien Act, the president could accuse any foreigner living in the United States of being a threat to national security. He could order that person out of the country. The act also increased the time a foreigner had to wait to become a citizen, from five years to fourteen years. Republicans were furious. Most foreigners, when they became naturalized citizens, joined the Republican Party. Republicans argued that the Alien Act violated the Constitution. They said it gave the government more powers than were stated in the Constitution. Federalists said the act was Constitutional. They said the Constitution gave the government the right to defend the country against foreign aggression. The other law, the Sedition Act, barred the publication of anything that might incite public hostility against the government. Republicans argued that this act violated Americans' Constitutional rights of free speech and a free press. Federalists, once again, defended it as necessary for national security. The Federalists tried to use the Sedition Act to quiet Republican critics of President Adams' administration. About twenty-five persons were charged under the Sedition act. These included several leading Republican newspapermen and a Republican member of Congress. Some of the men were tried and found guilty and sent to prison. But other Republicans took their places in the fight against the act. The Federalist plan to stop criticism did not succeed.
President Adams had signed the Alien and Sedition Acts into law. He believed they were necessary to protect the United States at a time when war with France was still possible. Then, in early seventeen ninety-nine, Adams received several reports that France was ready to reopen negotiations on improving relations. He immediately nominated a new minister to France. Federalist senators threatened to reject the nomination. In the end, Adams agreed to nominate a committee of three ministers. The Senate approved them. It was many months before the three men went to France to negotiate the agreement. And it was many more months before they completed their work. But they did so on September thirtieth, eighteen hundred. After several years of bitter political struggle at home, President Adams finally prevented war with France. Later he wrote: "There is one thing I would like to be remembered for more than anything else. I gave myself the task of making peace with France. And I succeeded." The year eighteen hundred was another presidential election year in the United States. The Federalist Party appeared to be dying. It failed in its effort to force the nation into war with France. And it failed to silence its critics through the Alien and Sedition Acts. Party leaders knew the election would be their last chance to keep political power. The Republican Party had more popular support. It also had gained an increasing number of seats in state legislatures and the national Congress. Party leader Thomas Jefferson was sure to be elected president -- unless the Federalists could find a way to change the electoral process. That will be our story next week.重点解析
1.looking for 寻找
I look at them one by one, and ask myself: Have they got what we are looking for?
我挨个端详她们并且扪心自问:她们已经得到了我们正在寻找的东西?
2.Federalist Party 联邦党
The nation’s first two presidents were members of the now-defunct Federalist Party.
美国的头两位总统都是现已不存在的联邦党(Federalist Party)成员 。
3.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 。
4.more than 多于;超出;比……多
That would be more than I have expected.
那已经比我期望的还要多了 。
5.prevent from 阻止,制止;妨碍
To prevent and investigate illegal activities; to attack and take precautions against terrorism; to maintain the public order and prevent from activities against public order.
预防、制止和侦查违法犯罪活动;防范、打击恐怖活动;维护社会治安秩序,制止危害社会治安秩序的行为;
参考译文
约翰·亚当斯于1797年宣誓就职
他们对法国国王和王后被处决感到震惊 。他曾在乔治·华盛顿总统手下担任了八年的副总统 。现在,州选举人选择他来治理这个新国家 。亚当斯聪慧过人 。他是一位真正的爱国者和能干的外交家 。但他不喜欢党派政治 。在他担任总统期间,这一弱点给他造成了很多麻烦 。18世纪后期,两个政党争权夺利 。亚当斯进退两难 。亚当斯是联邦党人 。作为总统,亚当斯本来应该是联邦党的领袖 。但真正懂得如何获得和使用政治权力的人才属于这个职位,这个人就是亚历山大·汉密尔顿 。汉密尔顿曾在华盛顿总统手下担任财政部长 。如今,他是一名普通公民,纽约市的一名律师 。通过联邦党的力量,汉密尔顿继续对联邦政府产生较大的影响 。忠于汉密尔顿的联邦党人控制了国会 。甚至亚当斯总统的三位内阁部长都忠于汉密尔顿事实上,他们一起反对新上任的总统 。这种政治形势给亚当斯带来了不少麻烦 。然而奇怪的是,最终竟然导致了联邦党的终结 。亚当斯的总统任期有两大问题 。一个涉及外交 。另一个涉及民权 。外交涉及美国与法国的关系 。总的来说,联邦党人有钱有势 。他们不相信民主,不相信人民统治 。因此,他们强烈反对法国大革命 。 。联邦主义者主张与英国结盟 。随着时间的推移,他们要求对法国开战 。美国副总统托马斯.杰斐逊领导的共和党支持法国大革命 。法国帮助美国摆脱英国的统治,实现了独立 。法国和美国战争期间结下的友谊一直延续到托马斯·杰斐逊担任驻巴黎公使 。杰斐逊一回到家乡,关系就开始恶化 。接替杰斐逊的人公开支持法国王室--法国大革命中失败的一方 。革命成功后,新的法国政府要求他离开 。大多数联邦党人不希望与法国保持良好关系 。他们利用权力阻止政府派亲法代表前往巴黎 。他们还寻找法国冒犯美国的迹象,为宣战寻找借口 。亚当斯总统不同意大多数联邦党人的意见 。他想通过谈判改善与法国的关系 。但他表示,美国将加强防御,如果战争来临,我们将随时准备应战 。特别是一次事件使两国濒临战争 。这次事件在美国历史书上被称为"X Y Z事件" 。亚当斯总统任命三名部长组成委员会与法国政府进行谈判 。法国官员让这三人等了好几个星期 。在他们等待的时候,有三个法国人来拜访,后来这三人被称为X、Y和Z 。X、Y和Z告诉美国人,如果美国答应做三件事,法国将签署协议 。美国要借给法国政府1200万美元
联邦党人表示,这项规定并没有违宪 。美国为亚当斯总统最近向美国国会发表的反法言论道歉 。还必须付给法国外交部长25万美元 。美国的部长们表示,出钱可以,但是他们想先签协议 。法国外交部长拒绝了,先交钱,再签协议 。联邦党人终于找到了借口,法国侮辱了美国 。我们决不能示弱 。唯一的回答就是宣战 。联邦党人的报纸也火上浇油,进行反法宣传,使得局势更加紧张 。在一些地方,支持战争的团体变得暴力 。共和党对此无能为力 。连托马斯·杰斐逊也爱莫能助 。杰斐逊仍然住在当时的美国首都费城,但是他在那里没有什么朋友 。国会很快通过了建立永久性陆军和海军的法律 。它还批准了新的税收来组建和培训陆海两军 。国会还以微弱多数通过了另外两项立法 。但是他们大大增加了联邦政府的权力 。这两项法律是《外国人法》和《煽动叛乱法》 。联邦主义者表示,他们有必要保护国家安全 。但实际上,联邦党人是为了借此削弱了共和党的权力 。根据《外国人法》,总统可以指控任何居住在美国对国家安全构成威胁的外国人,并让其离开 。该法案还将外国人入美国国籍的时间从5年增加至14年 。这种做法让共和党人感到愤怒 。因为大多数外国人在成为美国公民后都加入了共和党 。共和党人认为,《外星人法》违反了美国宪法 。他们说,这给了联邦政府宪法以外更多的权力 。 。他们表示,宪法赋予联邦政府抵御外国侵略的权利 。另一部法律是《煽动叛乱法》,改法禁止出版任何可能煽动公众对政府敌对情绪的东西 。共和党人认为,这项法案侵犯了美国宪法赋予的言论自由和出版自由的权利 。联邦主义者再次表示,这样做是出于国家安权的考虑 。联邦党人试图利用《煽动叛乱法》平息共和党对亚当斯政府的批评 。根据煽动叛乱法被控 。包括共和党的几名新闻记者和一名共和党国会议员在内的二十五人受到了指控 。其中一些人被判有罪,进入监狱 。但其他共和党人在反对该法案的斗争中占据了自己的位置 。联邦主义者平息批评的计划没有成功 。亚当斯总统签署了《外国人法》和《煽动叛乱法》 。他认为,美国与法国仍有可能开战,他们有必要保护美国 。后来,在1799年初,亚当斯收到了几份报告,说法国准备就改善关系重启谈判 。他立即任命了一位新的法国部长 。联邦党人参议员威胁说要拒绝提名 。最后,亚当斯同意提名一个由三名部长组成的委员会,参议院批准了 。过了好几个月,这三个人才去法国谈判 。又过了好几个月才最终达成协议 。但是已经是1800年9月30日了 。经过几年激烈的国内政治斗争,亚当斯总统终于阻止了美国与法国的战争 。他后来写道:"我最希望人们记住的是,我担负着与法国和解的任务,并且成功了 。"1800年是美国又一个总统选举年 。联邦党人似乎了无生气 。联邦党人迫使国家与法国开战的努力失败了,也没能通过《外国人法》和《煽动叛乱法》阻止批评 。政党领导人知道这次选举将是他们维系政治权力的最后机会 。共和党的支持率更高,还在州议会和联邦议会中获得了越来越多的席位 。共和党领袖托马斯·杰斐逊上任总统看来是指日可待--除非联邦党人能找到改变选举程序的方法 。这就是我们下周要讲的故事 。译文为可可英语翻译,未经授权请勿转载!