(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
James Madison was inaugurated in Washington on March fourth, eighteen-oh-nine. The people of the city were happy with the new president. But the nation was not yet sure what kind of leader he would be. The French minister to the United States did not think much of him. He said: "Mister Madison is an intelligent man, but weak. He will always see what should be done, but will not do it." Like the first three American presidents, Madison had a small cabinet. There would be a secretary of state and a secretary of the treasury. Madison decided to keep Albert Gallatin in the position of treasury secretary. Gallatin probably knew more about the nation's finances than anyone else. The choice for secretary of state was political. Madison named Robert Smith, the brother of a senator. The new president was not too concerned about Mister Smith's abilities, because he planned to make foreign policy himself. Jefferson's biggest foreign policy problem arose from a war between Britain and France. The two nations refused to honor America's neutrality. Each tried to prevent the United States from trading with the other. Both interfered with American shipping. And the British navy sometimes seized American sailors. President Jefferson ordered a ban on trade with Europe.
But it failed to end the hostile acts against the United States. Britain and France were still at war when Madison was elected president. In place of the trade ban, Congress had approved a new law. It was called the Non-Intercourse Act. The law prevented trade with Britain and France. But it gave President Madison the power to re-open trade if either nation stopped interfering with American ships. Madison hoped the law would force Britain and France to honor American neutrality. He did not want war. But neither did he want to surrender America's rights as an independent nation. A month after Madison took office, the British minister in Washington, David Erskine, received new orders from his government. He said he had been given the power to settle all differences between the United States and Britain. Erskine said Britain would stop seizing American ships if the United States would end the Non-Intercourse Law. He did not make clear that the British government demanded several conditions before an agreement could be reached. One condition was that the United States continue the law against trade with France. Another was that Britain be permitted to capture American ships that violated the law. Erskine called the conditions, "proposals." He did not force the United States to accept them.
On April nineteenth, President Madison announced that an agreement had been reached. He said the United States would re-open trade with Britain. The American people welcomed the agreement. It appeared that -- after less than two months as president -- Madison had been able to remove the threat of war. The United States began trading again with Britain on June tenth, as agreed. Hundreds of ships left American ports. Relations with Britain seemed to have returned to normal. President Madison decided to spend the summer of eighteen-oh-nine at his home in the hills of Virginia. Soon after he arrived, he received surprising news. The British government had rejected the agreement he had reached with Erskine. A British newspaper said the agreement was not what Britain wanted. It said Erskine had violated his orders and was being called back to London. A new minister, Francis James Jackson, would take his place. Madison returned to Washington in the autumn, about a month after the new British minister arrived. He learned that Secretary of State Smith had made no progress in talks with him. So the president decided to deal with him directly. He wanted to know exactly why Britain had rejected the agreement. Madison ordered that all communications between the two sides be written.
There would be no more talks. Letters were exchanged. But the British minister failed to explain satisfactorily what had happened. And his letters seemed to charge that the United States had not negotiated honestly. Madison finally broke off all communications, and the British minister left Washington. America's policy of trade with Britain and France continued to be a serious issue. In the early days of eighteen ten, Congress began to consider a new law to control such trade. After several weeks of debate, the two houses of Congress approved a compromise bill. The bill ended the Non-Intercourse Act against Britain and France. It permitted trade with any nation. But it gave the president the power to declare non-intercourse again with either Britain or France separately. President Madison signed the bill into law. Relations between the United States and Britain did not improve during the year. And President Madison once again declared non-intercourse against Britain. Trade between the two countries was stopped at the beginning of March, eighteen-eleven. Trade was not the only problem, however.
A growing number of Americans believed that the British were helping some Native American Indians to fight the United States. As the people of the United States began to move to the northern and western territories, the government made treaties with the different Indian tribes. The treaties explained which land belonged to the Indians...and which land could be settled by the white men. The settlers did not always honor the treaties. A leader of the Shawnee Indian tribe, Tecumseh, decided to take action. He started a campaign to unite all Indians and to help them defend against the white men. Throughout the west, many Americans believed that the British in Canada were responsible for Tecumseh's efforts to unite the Indians. They demanded war with Britain to destroy the power of the tribes. In Washington, a new Congress was meeting. Some of the new members were very different from the men who had controlled Congress before.
They were less willing to compromise -- and more willing to go to war to defend America's interests. They soon got the name "War Hawks." The new Congress quickly approved several measures to prepare the United States for war. One bill increased the size of the army by twenty-five thousand regular soldiers and fifty thousand volunteers. At the same time, America had a new secretary of state. President Madison had not been pleased with the work of Robert Smith. Nor did he trust Smith. The president could not be sure of Smith's support for administration proposals. Madison wanted his close friend, James Monroe, to be secretary of state. Monroe was then governor of Virginia. He agreed to take the new job. What the United States did not have at that troubled time was a representative in Britain. When Madison broke off communications with British minister Jackson in Washington, Jackson returned to London. And the American minister in London, William Pinkney, sailed home. There was no official in either capital to report what was happening. And the two countries were moving closer to war. That will be our story next week.
重点解析
1.A growing number of 越来越多
The majority of actuaries work within the insurance industry, although a growing number of actuaries work in other fields.
大多数的精算师在保险行业工作，在其他领域发挥特长的精算师也越来越多了。
2.foreign policy 外交政策
They have revamped their foreign policy.
他们修改了外交政策。
3.once again 再一次
Once again he was disappointed in love.
他又一次失恋了。
4.called back 回叫
"One guy called back the next day and said he thought the self-knowledge really helped," she says.
有一位参与者实验后第二天打就打电话给我，说这种自我意识是很有帮助的。
参考译文
詹姆斯·麦迪逊于1809年3月4日在华盛顿宣誓就职。美国人民对新总统很满意。但国家还不确定他会成为什么样的领导人。法国驻美国大使对他并不看好。他说：“麦迪逊先生是个聪明的人，但很弱。他总是看哪些是应该做的，但就是不去做。”和美国前三任总统一样，麦迪逊也有一个小规模的内阁，内阁将有一个国务卿和一个财政部长。麦迪逊决定让加勒廷继续留任财政部长。加勒廷可能比任何人都更了解美国的财政状况。国务卿人选将从政治上考虑。麦迪逊选择的是罗伯特·史密斯，他是某个参议员的弟兄。新总统不太关心史密斯先生的能力，因为他打算自己制定外交政策。杰斐逊最大的外交政策问题源于英法战争。这两个国家拒绝尊重美国的中立政策。双方都试图阻止美国与对方进行贸易。两者都干扰了美国航运。英国海军有时会扣押美国水手。杰斐逊总统下令禁止与欧洲的贸易。但未能结束对美国的敌对行动。麦迪逊当选总统时，英法两国仍在交战。国会通过了一项新法律来代替贸易禁令。该法案叫《Non-Intercourse Act》，禁止与英法两国进行贸易。但它赋予麦迪逊一项权利，即如果任何一个国家停止干涉美国船只，麦迪逊有权重新启动与该国的贸易。麦迪逊希望这项法律能迫使英国和法国尊重美国的中立政策。他不想打仗。但他也不想放弃美国作为独立国家的权利。麦迪逊上任一个月后，英国驻华盛顿的大使戴维·厄斯金收到了政府的新指令。他说，他被赋予解决美英之间所有分歧的权力。
厄斯金说，如果美国终止《Non-Intercourse Act》，英国将停止扣押美国船只。他没有详细解释，在达成协议之前，英国政府提出的几个条件，一个条件是美国继续禁止与法国进行贸易。另一个是美国允许英国扣押违反法律的美国船只。厄斯金称这些条件为“提议”。他没有强迫美国接受这些条件。4月19日，麦迪逊总统宣布美英达成了一项协议。他表示，美国将恢复与英国的贸易。美国人欢迎这项协议。看来，麦迪逊在担任总统不到两个月后，已经解除了战争的威胁。按照协议，美国于6月10日开始与英国恢复贸易。数百艘船只离开美国港口。美国与英国的关系似乎已经恢复正常。麦迪逊总统决定1809年的夏天在他弗吉尼亚州山区的家中度过。麦迪逊回到家乡不久就收到了令人吃惊的消息。英国政府拒绝了他和厄斯金达成的协议。一家英国报纸称，该协议不是英国想要的。说厄斯金违反了他的命令，正被召回伦敦。新的大使弗朗西斯·詹姆斯·杰克逊将接替厄斯金的职位。大约在英国新任外交大使抵达一个月后，麦迪逊于秋季回到华盛顿。麦迪逊了解到史密斯国务卿没有任何进展，所以决定亲自处理这件事。他想知道英国拒绝该协议的确切原因。麦迪逊下令要双方之间的所有通信记录。没有更多的谈话，双方是通过书信往来的。
但英国大使未能对所发生的事情给出令人满意地解释。他的信件似乎指责美国谈判不真诚。麦迪逊最终切断了所有通信，英国大使离开了华盛顿。美国与英国和法国的贸易政策仍然是一个严峻的问题。1810年初，国会开始考虑制定新的法案以控制贸易。经过几周的辩论，国会两院通过了一项折衷法案。该法案终止了针对英法国的《Non-Intercourse Act》，允许与任何国家进行贸易。但总统有权单独再次宣布与英国或法国不再互通贸易。麦迪逊总统签署了该法案。1810年，美英关系没有改善。麦迪逊总统再次宣布，美国与英国不再互通往来。两国家的贸易关系于1811年3月初停止。然而，贸易并不是唯一的问题。越来越多的美国人认为，英国正在帮助一些美国本土印第安人对抗美国。随着美国人民开始向北部和西部地区迁移，美国政府与各个印第安部落签订了条约。这些条约解释了哪些土地属于印第安人…哪些土地可以由白人定居。定居者并不总是遵守这些条约。肖尼族印第安部落的首领特库姆塞决定采取行动。他发起了一项运动，联合所有印第安人，对抗白人。在整个西部，许多美国人认为加拿大的英国人应该为特库姆塞团结印第安人对抗白人负责。他们要求与英国开战以摧毁印第安部落的力量。在华盛顿，新一届国会正在开会。
一些新议员与以前控制国会的议员大不相同。他们不太愿意妥协，更愿意为了捍卫美国的利益而开战。他们很快就有了“战争之鹰”这个名字。新一届国会迅速通过了几项措施，为战争做好准备。有一项法案增加了军队的规模——2.5万正规军和5万名志愿者。与此同时，美国有了一位新的国务卿。麦迪逊总统对罗伯特·史密斯的工作不满意。麦迪逊也不信任史密斯，他无法确定史密斯是否支持政府的提议。麦迪逊希望他的密友詹姆斯·门罗担任国务卿。门罗当时是弗吉尼亚州州长，他同意这项任职。在那个动乱时期，美国驻英国的代表无事可做。麦迪逊中断了与英国驻华盛顿公使杰克逊的联系时，杰克逊返回伦敦。美国驻伦敦的外交大使威廉·平克尼也回国。两国都没有报告正在发生的事情，两国之战一触即发。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！
