(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Welcome to the MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. In November of eighteen forty, the American people elected their ninth president, William Henry Harrison. The election of the retired general was expected. Still, it was a great victory for the Whig Party and a sharply felt loss for the opposing party, the Democrats. They failed to put their man, President Martin Van Buren, in the White House for a second term. Whig leaders made most of Harrison's campaign decisions. Some of those leaders, especially senators Henry Clay of Kentucky and Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, believed they could control the newly elected president. But Harrison saw what was happening. When he made a trip to Kentucky, he made it clear that he did not want to meet with Clay. He felt that such a meeting might seem to show that Clay was the real power in the new administration. But Clay made sure that Harrison was publicly invited to visit him. The newly elected president could not say no to such an invitation. He spent several days at Clay's home in Lexington. This week in our series, Maurice Joyce and Jack Moyles discuss the presidency of William Henry Harrison.
Daniel Webster, without even being asked, wrote an inaugural speech for the new president. Harrison thanked him, but said he already had written his speech. Harrison spoke for more than one and a half hours. He gave the speech outside, on the front steps of the Capitol building. It was the coldest inaugural day in the nation's history. But Harrison did not wear a coat or hat. Harrison caught a cold, probably from standing so long outside in the bitter weather of inaugural day. Rest was his best treatment. But Harrison was so busy, he had little time to rest. Hundreds of people demanded to see the new president. They wanted jobs with the government. Everywhere he turned, Harrison was met by crowds of job-hungry people. And there was a problem that worried him. Henry Clay and Daniel Webster were fighting each other for power in the new administration. Harrison had offered Clay any job he wanted in the cabinet. But Clay chose to stay in the Senate. Harrison then gave the job of Secretary of State to Webster. He also gave Webster's supporters the best government jobs in New York City. Clay did not like this. And he told the president so. Harrison accused Clay of trying to tell him -- the president -- how to do his job. Later, he told Clay that he wanted no further words with him. He said any future communications between them would have to be written.
Harrison's health grew worse. Late in March eighteen forty-one, his cold turned into pneumonia. Doctors did everything they could to cure him. But nothing seemed to help. On April fourth, after exactly one month as president, William Henry Harrison died. Vice President John Tyler was then at his home in Williamsburg, Virginia. Secretary of State Webster sent his son Fletcher on horseback to tell Tyler of the president's death. The vice President was shocked. He had not even known that Harrison was sick. Two hours after he received the news, Tyler was on his way to Washington. He reached the capital just before sunrise on April sixth, eighteen forty-one. There was some question about Tyler's position. This was the first time that a president had died in office. No one was really sure if the Constitution meant that the vice president was to become president or only acting president. Webster and the other members of the cabinet decided that Tyler should be president and serve until the next election. Tyler also had decided this. Tyler was sworn-in as the tenth president on April sixth. He was fifty-one years old. No other man had become president at such an early age. Tyler was born and grew up in the same part of Virginia as William Henry Harrison. His father was a wealthy planter and judge who had been a friend of Thomas Jefferson. John completed studies at the college of William and Mary, and became a lawyer. He entered politics and served in the Virginia legislature. Then he was elected a member of Congress and, later, governor of Virginia. He also served as a United States senator.
The Whig Party controlled both houses of Congress after the eighteen forty elections. Clay wanted a special session of the new Congress. He was able to get Harrison to call such a session before the president's death. At the session, Clay offered six resolutions as a plan of work for Congress. These proposed putting an end to the independent treasury, the establishment of a new national bank, and a tax increase on imports. They also included a new plan to give the states the money received by the federal government from the sale of public lands. It was no problem to put an end to the independent treasury. Tyler had opposed it during the campaign and in his message to Congress. Congress soon passed a bill repealing the independent treasury act. And Tyler quickly signed it. But a dispute arose on the issue of a new national bank. Tyler had his Secretary of the Treasury send Congress the administration's plan for a national bank. It would permit such a bank to be established in Washington. And it would permit the bank to open offices in a state, but only if the state approved. This was not the kind of bank Clay wanted. He wanted no limits of any kind on the power of a national bank to open offices anywhere in the country. Clay then offered a bill that would create just this kind of bank. There was much debate. And Clay finally agreed to a compromise. Bank offices would be permitted in any state where the state legislature did not immediately refuse permission.
The Congress accepted the compromise. But President Tyler did not. He vetoed the bank bill and sent it back to Congress. This had been a difficult decision for Tyler to make. He wanted peace and unity in the party. But he also wanted to show that he -- and not Henry Clay -- was president. The people knew he opposed Clay's bill. If he accepted it, the people would feel that Clay was the more powerful. Clay did not have enough votes to pass the bill over the president's veto. Another effort was made to get a bank bill that the president would approve. This time, members of Congress met with Tyler to get his ideas. He explained, again, the kind of bank he would accept. He said the states must have the right to approve or reject bank offices. The congressmen wrote another bill. They said it was exactly what the president wanted. But the president did not agree. He said this second bill would also be vetoed unless changes were made in it. The changes were not made. And Tyler did as he said he would do. He vetoed it. This second veto caused a crisis in Tyler's cabinet.
重点解析
1.fail to 不能；没能做成
If executives fail to exploit the opportunities of networking they risk being left behind.
如果高管们未能抓住机会建立关系网，他们就有落后的风险。
2.grow up 长大成人；成年
Kate was in a hurry to grow up, eager for knowledge and experience.
凯特急于长大，渴望获取知识和经验。
3.expect to 期望；预期
You cannot expect to like all the people you will work with.
不要指望你会喜欢所有和你共事的人。
4.try to 设法；试图
One child shrinks away from me when I try to talk to him.
当我试图和一个孩子说话时，他避开了我。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目。1840年11月，美国人民选举出第九任总统威廉·亨利·哈里森。这位退役将军的当选完全在人们的意料之中。尽管如此，哈里森当选为总统对辉格党来说还是一个巨大的胜利，而对反对党民主党来说却是惨痛的失败。他们没能让马丁·范布伦第二次入主白宫。哈里森竞选中的大部分决定都是由辉格党领导人作出的，其中一些领导人，特别是来自肯塔基州和马萨诸塞州的两位参议员亨利·克莱和丹尼尔·韦伯斯特认为，他们能够控制新当选的总统。但哈里森对所发生的事情了如指掌，他去肯塔基州时明确表示不想和克莱见面。他觉得这样的会面似乎表明克莱才是新政府的真正掌权人。但克莱坚持要公开邀请哈里森同他会面，新当选的总统不能拒绝这样的邀请。所以，哈里森在列克星敦克莱的家里住了几天。在本周的系列节目中，莫里斯·乔伊斯和杰克·莫伊尔斯将探讨威廉·亨利·哈里森总统任期内发生的故事。
丹尼尔·韦伯斯特甚至在无人受邀的情况下，为新总统写了一篇就职演说。哈里森向他表示感谢，但告诉他自己已经写好了演说稿。哈里森在国会大厦前的台阶上发表了持续一个半小时的就职演说。这是美国有史以来最冷的一个就职日，但是哈里森没有穿外套，也没戴帽子。哈里森感冒了，可能是因为他在就职典礼当天寒冷的天气里站立时间过久所致。休息是最好的治疗方法，但是哈里森工作繁忙，几乎没有时间休息。数百人要求会见新任总统，他们想在政府工作。无论哈里森去哪，都能遇到渴求工作的人群。有个问题让他很担心，亨利·克莱和丹尼尔·韦伯斯特在新政府中为争夺权力而争斗。哈里森给向克莱授予内阁中他想做的任何职位，但克莱选择留在参议院。随后，哈里森把国务卿的工作交给了韦伯斯特。他还为韦伯斯特的支持者提供了纽约市最好的政府工作。克莱对这样的安排很不满意，他把自己的感受告诉总统。哈里森指责克莱，说他试图告诉总统该如何工作。后来，他告诉克莱不想再跟他讲话，他们以后所做的任何沟通都必须以书面形式进行。
哈里森的健康状况恶化。1841年3月下旬，他的感冒转为肺炎。医生们竭尽全力医治他，但似乎成效甚微。4月4日，在出任总统整整一个月后，威廉·亨利·哈里森去世了。副总统约翰·泰勒当时在弗吉尼亚州威廉斯堡的家中，国务卿韦伯斯特让儿子弗莱彻骑马去告诉泰勒总统的死讯。副总统十分震惊，他甚至不知道哈里森病了。泰勒收到消息两小时后，赶往华盛顿。他在1841年4月6日日出前到达首都。泰勒在职位方面存在一些争议。总统在任职期内去世，这种情况还是第一次发生。没人能确定，根据宪法是否应由副总统出任总统一职，还是仅作为代理总统。韦伯斯特和其他内阁成员决定在下届选举举行前，泰勒应该担任总统。泰勒也决定这样做。4月6日，51岁的泰勒宣誓就任第十任总统，以前从未有过如此年轻的总统。泰勒和威廉·亨利·哈里森是在弗吉尼亚州的同一个地方出生、长大的。泰勒的父亲是一位富有的种植园主，也是一位法官，他曾经是托马斯·杰斐逊的朋友。约翰在威廉与玛丽学院完成学业后，成为一名律师。他进入政界后在弗吉尼亚州立法机关任职，随后被选为国会议员，然后又当选弗吉尼亚州州长，他还曾出任美国参议员。
泰勒坚定地认为各州应拥有自己的权利，作为一名国会议员和参议员，他投票反对赋予联邦政府更多的权力。泰勒的政治信仰与北部和西部的辉格党成员格格不入。亨利·克莱坚定地支持国家银行、进口保护税，以及利用联邦政府的支出改善各州交通运输状况的观点。而泰勒则坚决反对这些想法。除此之外，还存在一些其它事宜。克莱有望在1844年成为辉格党的总统候选人，如果他支持泰勒，那么新总统可能会在政治上变得过于强势，并会第二次入主白宫。泰勒当选总统后，很快就确立了自己的地位。韦伯斯特告诉他，总统哈里森已经把政府的管理大权交给内阁。哈里森和其它内阁成员一样只有一票权。韦伯斯特询问泰勒是否想沿袭这一做法。“我不想这样，”泰勒说。“我想保留哈里森总统的内阁，但要由我来做决定。如果内阁成员不同意，就让他们辞职。”泰勒想换内阁，但不能马上实施。内阁成员中只有两人不是参议员克莱的支持者，泰勒想把那些人赶出去，然后任命支持他的人进内阁。但如果立即实施这一举措，就会使政党分裂。他必须等待。
1840年总统大选后，辉格党控制了国会两院。克莱想要举行一次新国会的特别会议，他能办法让总统哈里森在去世前召开了这次会议。克莱在会上提出了六项决议，作为国会的工作计划。这些决议建议终止国库独立，停止新建国家银行和增加进口税的做法。此外，还建议把联邦政府出售公共土地所得的资金拨给各州的新计划。终止国库独立不是什么大问题，泰勒在竞选期间，以及在给国会的信中都曾反对过这种做法。不久，国会通过了一项法案，废除了独立国库法案。泰勒很快就签署同意了。但对于新建国家银行的问题，却出现了争议。泰勒让财政部长向国会提交政府设立国家银行的计划，允许在华盛顿建立这样一家银行，如果某个州同意建立国家银行的话，银行也可以在该州开设分行。这不是克莱想要的那种银行，他希望国家银行可以不受任何限制地在全国各地开设分行。克莱随后提出了一项法案，创建他想要的这种银行，由此引发了很多争议，克莱最终同意妥协。如果州立法机关没有立即拒绝授予国家银行开设分行批准的话，方可在该州建立分行。
国会接受了这一妥协方案，但总统泰勒没有同意。他否决了这项银行法案，并将其发回国会。对于泰勒来说，这是一个艰难的决定。他希望党内和平统一，但他也想证明总统是他，而不是亨利·克莱。人们知道他反对克莱的法案，如果他接受该法案，人们会觉得克莱势力更强大。总统否决该法案，克莱没有足够的票数令法案通过。国会要再提交一份能获得总统批准的银行法案。这一次，国会议员与泰勒会面，想了解他的想法。他再次解释了他能接受的银行类型。他表示，各州必须有权批准或拒绝国家银行在本州开设分行。国会议员再次撰写了一份法案，他们说这正是总统想要的法案。但是总统还是没有同意。他说，第二项法案要进行一些修改后才能通过，否则他将予以否决。国会议员没有修改法案，于是泰勒照他所说否决了该法案。第二次否决导致泰勒的内阁出现危机。
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