(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
In the closing days of eighteen-oh-seven, President Thomas Jefferson signed a bill banning all trade with Europe. No ships could enter the United States, and no ships could leave. The purpose of the trade ban was to keep America out of the war between Britain and France. Jefferson acted to protect American traders, ship owners and sailors. Yet those were the people who protested loudest against the ban. They were willing to take the chance of having Britain or France seize their ship and goods. They could make no money without trade. The situation quickly turned into a political battle between Jefferson's party, the Republicans, and the opposition Federalists. Federalist newspapers attacked Jefferson. They charged that he supported the trade ban to help Napoleon Bonaparte. They called him a tool of France. One Federalist senator wrote a pamphlet against the trade ban. He urged northeastern states to refuse to enforce it. Then he went even further. He met secretly with the British official sent to Washington to discuss the situation. He told the British official that President Jefferson would be forced out of office because of the trade ban. The Federalists tried hard to get Congress to end the ban.
But they were not successful. President Jefferson did not believe that trade bans -- embargoes -- were the best way to settle America's problems with other nations. But at the time, he thought an embargo was the only way to deal with Britain and France, short of war. And he did not want war. Jefferson's economic policies had brought much progress during his two terms as president. He had been able to pay much of the national debt, and still reduce taxes. He also had begun several projects to improve communication and transportation throughout the country. He was afraid that a war would destroy everything he had done. Jefferson simply wished to give the trade embargo a fair chance. "For a time," he wrote, "I think the embargo is less evil than war. But after a time, this will not be so. If the war should continue in Europe, and if Britain and France continue to act against us, then it will be for Congress to say if war would not be better than the embargo." Jefferson hoped that the loss of American trade would force Britain and France to change their policies toward the United States.
And he hoped the change would come quickly, for he knew the American people would not accept a long ban on trade. A British traveler visiting New York City described what the embargo had done. He wrote: "The port is full of ships. But all of them are closed. Only a few sailors can be seen. Many of the counting houses are closed. The coffee houses are almost empty. The streets near the water are almost deserted. Grass has begun to grow upon the docks." America's northern industrial states felt the loss of trade most strongly. But the agricultural South also was affected. Rich southern farmers and planters suddenly found themselves poor. Tobacco was one of their major crops. And Britain bought more American tobacco than any other country. Its price fell so low because of the embargo that it had almost no value. The price of wheat fell from two dollars a bushel to seven cents a bushel. Good farmland dropped in value until it was worth almost nothing. Opposition to the embargo was growing. Opposition was strongest in the Northeast. Ship owners and traders there believed that the embargo was wrong. They continued to export goods secretly. Some traders began sending goods over land to Canada. From there, the goods were sent on to Britain.
Congress passed a law against this kind of trade. But the shipments did not stop. Too many people were willing to violate the law for the large amounts of money they could make by trading secretly with Britain. By August, eighteen-oh-eight, Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin had lost all hope that the embargo would be successful. Gallatin told President Jefferson: "The embargo is now defeated by open violations, by ships sailing without permission of any kind." Another of Jefferson's supporters gave the president this advice: "If the trade ban could be enforced, and if the people would accept it, then I am sure it would be the wisest course. But if it cannot be enforced completely, and if the people will not accept it, then it will not answer its purpose. And it should not be continued." Jefferson, however, was not ready to give up his plan. In his last State of the Union message to Congress, he painted a bright picture of the nation. He reported that American industry was making progress. Many goods which had been imported before the embargo were now being made at home. He said almost all of the national debt had been paid. And he said more than one hundred gunboats had been built -- enough, he declared, to defend the country. Jefferson said nothing about opposition to the embargo.
Nor did he talk of the serious economic problems caused by it. He said only that Britain and France still refused to honor American neutrality, and so the embargo must continue. The rest of the nation was not so sure. Congress began debating a number of proposals to either lift or amend the embargo. And the opposition Federalist Party used the issue to increase its strength in northeastern states. Eighteen-oh-eight was, after all, a presidential election year. Thomas Jefferson had served two four-year terms as president. No law prevented him from running again. But Jefferson had decided years before that a man should be limited to two terms as president. Without such a limit, Jefferson believed, a powerful man might be able to keep the position for as long as he wished. George Washington had served two terms, and then retired. Jefferson would do the same. Three members of Jefferson's Republican Party wanted to be president. One was James Madison, the secretary of state. The second was James Monroe, who had served as a special assistant to the president. The third was George Clinton, who was vice president during Jefferson's second term.
The Republican Party chose Madison as its candidate for president. It chose Clinton as its candidate for vice president. The Federalist Party named the same candidates it had chosen four years earlier: Charles Cotesworth Pinckney for president, and Rufus King for vice president. The Federalists were sure of victory in the election. They thought that Jefferson's embargo on trade had angered the people and turned them away from the Republican Party. Even some Republicans felt the election could go very badly for their party. But Jefferson remained calm. He believed that most Americans understood what he was trying to do with the embargo. And he believed they would vote for his party's candidate. Jefferson was right. Madison was elected. As we said earlier, Congress was trying to resolve the issue of the embargo before Jefferson left office. In the first months of eighteen-oh-nine, it finally approved a bill. The bill lifted the ban on trade with all European countries except Britain and France. Jefferson had hoped to continue the embargo a little longer and with more powers to enforce it. He was not satisfied with the final bill. But he signed it anyway on March first. Three days later, the fifteen-month-old embargo was dead. And the United States had a new president. That will be our story next week.
重点解析
1.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。
2.vote for 投票赞成
However, if only the Democrat or Republican had a real chance to win, most of the Tea Party supporters would vote for the Republican.
不过，如果仅仅只有民主党或共和党有赢的机会，大部分茶叶党支持者都会投票给共和党人。
3.large amounts of 大量
The more adapters that you configure, the better, particularly if there are large amounts of heavily utilized disk.
您配置的适配器越多越好，特别是在大量磁盘的利用率都很高的情况下。
4.sent to 寄给
Money and food were sent to the impoverished drought victims.
给贫困的灾民送去了救济金和粮食。
5.turn away 避开；解雇；不准…入内
It does not care if you turn away.
它不在意你是否走开。
参考译文
在1807年的最后几天，托马斯·杰斐逊总统签署了一项法案，规定禁止与欧洲的所有贸易。没任何船只不得出入美国贸易禁令的目的是使美国置身于英法战争之外。杰斐逊这样做是为了保护美国商人、船主和水手。然而，这些人抗议禁令的呼声最高。他们愿意冒着被英国或法国没收只和货物的风险，不进行贸易他们就赚不到钱。局势很快演变成杰斐逊的政党、共和党和反对党联邦党人之间的政治斗争。联邦党人的报纸攻击杰斐逊，指控他支持贸易禁令以帮助拿破仑·波拿巴，说杰斐逊是法国的工具。一位联邦参议员写了一本小册子反对这项贸易禁令，他敦促东北部各州拒绝执行该法案。他甚至还秘密会见了派往华盛顿讨论局势的英国官员。他告诉这位英国官员，杰斐逊总统将因为贸易禁令而被迫下台。联邦党人试图说服国会结束这项禁令。但是没有成功。杰斐逊总统不相信贸易禁令（即禁运）是解决美国与其他国家问题的最佳途径。但当时，杰斐逊认为禁运是除了战争以外对付英法的唯一办法，他不想要战争。在杰斐逊的两届任期内，其经济政策取得了很大进步。他偿还了大部分国债，而且降低了赋税。他还启动了几个项目，以改善全国通讯和运输。他害怕战争会毁掉他所做的一切。杰斐逊只是希望给贸易禁运一个公平的机会。他写道：“短期内，我认为禁运没有战争那么邪恶。”但一段时间过后，我们再来决定。
如果欧洲的战火继续下去，如果英国和法国继续对我们采取行动，那么将由国会来决定战争和禁运哪个更好。”杰斐逊希望美国贸易的损失将迫使英国和法国改变对美国的政策。他希望这一改变能很快实现，因为他知道美国人民不会长期接受贸易禁令。一位访问纽约市的英国游客描述了禁运所造成的后果。他写道：“港口挤满了船只。但是它们都是停靠在那里。只能看见几个水手。许多计票室都关门了，咖啡馆里几乎空无一人。水岸上的街道也是，码头上荒草丛生。”美国北部工业州的贸易损失最大，农业发达的南部也受到了影响。富裕的南方农民和种植园主突然发现日子过得很困窘。烟草是其主要作物之一，而英国是烟草的主要买家。因为禁运，烟草几乎变得一文不值。小麦价格从每蒲式耳两美元跌至七美分。良田的价值不断下降，到了一文不值的地步。反对禁运的呼声逐渐高涨。东北部反对禁运的呼声最为强烈。那里的船主和商人认为禁运是错误的。他们继续秘密出口货物。一些商人开始陆运送货物到加拿大，再从那里运往英国。国会通过立法，禁止贸易，但并没有起到什么效果。很多人为了钱财不惜违反法律，与英国秘密通商。到1808年8月，财政部长阿尔伯特·加拉廷已经看不到禁运成功的希望。
加拉廷对杰斐逊总统说道：“船只未经许可航行，公然违反禁令，导致禁运行动彻底失败”杰斐逊的另一位支持者给了总统这样的建议：“如果贸易禁令能够实施，如果人们愿意接受，那么我相信这将是最明智的做法。但如果不能完全执行，人民不接受，那么贸易禁运就没有意义，不应该再继续下去了。”然而，杰斐逊并没有准备放弃他的计划。在他最后一次向国会发表的国情咨文中，他描绘了一幅光明的国家图景。他报告说，美国工业正在取得进展。禁运前进口的许多货物现在都是在国内生产的。他说，几乎所有的国债都已偿还，已经建造了一百多艘炮艇，足以保卫国家。杰斐逊对反对禁运一事只字未提。他也没有提及由此引发的严峻的经济问题，只是说，英国和法国仍然拒绝尊重美国的中立，因此禁运必须继续下去。全国其他地区则不那么认为。国会开始讨论取消或修正禁运。而反对党联邦党则利用这一问题来增加其在东北部各州的势力。毕竟，1808年是总统选举年。托马斯·杰斐逊曾连任两届总统，任期四年。没有法律规定说他不能再次参选。但杰斐逊多年前就已经决定，总统任期限制为两届。杰斐逊认为，如果不加限制的话，总统可能会想任职多久就任职多久。
乔治·华盛顿曾连任两届，然后退休。杰弗逊也会这么做。杰斐逊所在的共和党有三个人希望参选。一个是国务卿詹姆斯·麦迪逊。第二个是詹姆斯·门罗，他曾担任总统的特别助理。第三位是乔治·克林顿，他在杰斐逊的第二任期内担任副总统。共和党选择麦迪逊为总统候选人，克林顿作为副总统候选人。联邦党人提名了四年前他们选择的候选人:查尔斯·科茨沃斯·平克尼为总统，鲁弗斯·金为副总统。联邦党人有把握在选举中获胜。他们认为杰斐逊的贸易禁运激怒了人民，共和党对其也失去了信心。就连一些共和党人也觉得，此次选举可能对共和党非常不利。但是杰斐逊镇定自若。他相信，大多数美国人都明白他实施禁运的意图。他相信他们会投票给他所在政党的候选人。杰斐逊是对的，麦迪逊当选。正如我们早些时候所说，国会正试图在杰斐逊离任之前解决禁运问题。在1809年的头几个月，国会最终通过了一项法案。该法案解除了除英国和法国外所有欧洲国家的贸易禁令。杰斐逊曾希望禁运再持续一段时间，实施力度再大一点。他对最后的账单不满意。但他还是在3月1日签了字。三天后，实行了15个月的禁运结束，美国迎来了一位新总统。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！
