(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English. In July of eighteen sixty-one, Union soldiers from the North and Confederate soldiers from the South fought the first major battle in the American Civil War. They clashed at Manassas, or Bull Run, Virginia, less than fifty kilometers from Washington. The Union soldiers fought fiercely. But two large Confederate forces broke the Union attack. This week in our series, Harry Monroe and Kay Gallant tell about some of the other early battles of the Civil War. Northerners had expected to win the battle of Bull Run. They believed the Confederacy would fall if the Union won a big military victory early in the war. Now, however, there was great fear that southern soldiers would seize Washington. The Union needed to build and train an army quickly.
President Abraham Lincoln named General George McClellan to do this. McClellan was thirty-four years old. The young general had two important tasks. He must defend Washington from attack. And he must build an army to strike at enemy forces in Virginia. McClellan wasted no time. He put thousands of troops into position around the city. And he built forty-eight forts. After this rush of activity, however, little more happened for a long time. McClellan told his wife: "I shall take my own time to make an army that will be sure of success. As soon as I feel my army is well-organized and well-trained and strong enough, I will force the rebels to a battle." McClellan kept making excuses for why he would not move against the enemy. His excuses became a continuing source of trouble for President Lincoln. The public, the press, and politicians all demanded that McClellan do something. They wanted to win the war, and win it right away. McClellan commanded the biggest army in the Union, the Army of the Potomac. But it was not the only army. Others were battling Confederate forces in the West. The Confederates had moved up through Tennessee into the border state of Kentucky. They built forts and other defensive positions across the southern part of the state. They also blocked as many railroads and rivers as they could. Their job was to keep Union forces from invading the South through Kentucky. One of the Union generals in the area was Ulysses Grant.
Grant had served in the army for twenty years. He had fought in America's war against Mexico and had won honors for his bravery. When that war ended, he was sent to an army base far from his wife and children. He did not like being without them. And he did not like being an officer in peace time. Grant began to drink too much alcohol. He began to be a problem. In eighteen fifty-four, he was asked to leave the army. When the Civil War started, Grant organized a group of unpaid soldiers in Illinois. With the help of a member of Congress, he was named a general. All of the other Union Generals knew Ulysses Grant. Few had any faith in his abilities. They were sure he would always fail. Grant, however, had faith in himself and his men. He believed he could force Confederate soldiers to withdraw from both Kentucky and Tennessee. Then he would be free to march directly into the Deep South -- Mississippi. Two Confederate forts stood in Grant's way. They were in Tennessee, close to the Kentucky border. United States Navy gunboats captured the first, Fort Henry, on the Tennessee River. That fort was easy to attack and not well-defended. The fighting was over by the time Grant and his men got there.
The second, Fort Donelson, was nearby on the Cumberland River. It was stronger and defended by twenty thousand soldiers. Grant surrounded the fort and let the navy gunboats shell it. The fighting there lasted several days. At one point, the Confederates tried to break out of the fort and escape. They opened a hole in the Union line and began to retreat. Suddenly, however, their commanding officer decided it would be wrong to retreat. He ordered them back to the fort. After that, there was no choice. The Confederates would have to surrender. The commanding officer sent a message to General Grant. "What were the terms of surrender?" Grant's answer was simple. "No terms except unconditional and immediate surrender." The Confederates gave up Fort Donelson. Grant took fourteen thousand prisoners. It was the greatest Union victory since the start of the war. Ulysses Grant was a hero. Newspapers called him "Unconditional Surrender" Grant. After the Union victory at Fort Donelson, Confederate forces withdrew from Tennessee. They moved farther south and began to re-group at Corinth, Mississippi.
Confederate Generals hoped to build one big army to stop Ulysses Grant. They would have to move fast. Grant was marching toward Corinth with forty thousand men. Another thirty-five thousand, under the command of Don Buell, were to meet him on the way. Grant arrived in the area first. He waited for Buell thirty kilometers from Corinth, near a small country meeting hall called Shiloh Church. Confederate General Albert Sydney Johnston was waiting, too. He had more than forty thousand men, about the same as Grant. And he was expecting another twenty thousand. But when he learned that Grant was nearby, he decided not to wait. He would attack immediately. Johnston did not know it, but his attack came as a surprise to the Union army. Union officers had refused to believe reports that Johnston was on the move. They said his army was not strong enough to attack. Union troops did not prepare defensive positions. They had no protection when the battle began. The fighting at Shiloh was the bitterest of the war. It was not one battle, but many. Groups of men fought each other all across the wide battlefield. From a distance, they shot at each other. Close up, they cut each other with knives.
The earth became red with blood. The dead and wounded soon lay everywhere. At first, the Confederates pushed Grant's army back. They had only to break through one more line and victory would be theirs. But in the thick of the struggle, General Johnston was shot in the leg. The bullet cut through an artery. Johnston bled to death before help arrived. Any hope for a southern victory at Shiloh died with him. By the time the fighting began again the next day, General Buell had arrived to help Grant. The Confederate army retreated. The Union army let it go. Shiloh. The word itself came to mean death and destruction. The battle of Shiloh had brought home to the American people -- both of the North and South -- the horror of war. It was the first time so many men -- one hundred thousand -- had fought against each other in the western world. It was the American people's first real taste of the bloodiness of modern warfare.
As one soldier who fought there said: "It was too shocking, too horrible. I hope to God that I may never see such things again." The North won the battle of Shiloh. But it paid a very high price for victory. More than thirteen thousand union soldiers were killed, wounded, or missing. On the Confederate side, more than ten thousand soldiers were killed or wounded. The North celebrated the news of its victory. But joy quickly turned to anger when the public learned of the heavy losses. People blamed General Grant. They demanded that President Lincoln dismiss him. Lincoln thought of the two men who were now his top military commanders: McClellan and Grant. They were so different. McClellan organized an army, and then did nothing. Grant organized an army, and moved. Lincoln said of Grant: "I cannot do without this man. He fights." We will continue our story of the Civil War next week.
重点解析
1.as soon as 一......就；一经
He got married as soon as he graduated.
他一毕业就结婚了。
2.right away 马上；立即
He wants to see you right away.
他想马上见你。
3.close to 靠近；亲近
I was close to tears with frustration, but I held back.
我沮丧得快要哭出来，但我忍住了。
4.At one point 一度；在某一时刻
At one point, around 70,000 members had failed to pay.
一度曾有约7万名成员没有支付费用。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目。1861年7月，北方的联邦军和南方的联盟国军队在美国内战中展开了第一次重要的战斗。他们在离华盛顿不到50公里的弗吉尼亚州的马纳萨斯或布尔朗发生冲突。联邦战士们激烈地战斗，但两支人数众多的联盟国部队击溃了联邦军的进攻。本周，哈利·门罗和凯·格兰特将讲述内战早期的一些战斗。北方人原以为会赢得布尔朗战役，他们认为，如果联盟国在战争初期取得重大军事胜利，南部联盟国就会垮台。然而，现在人们非常担心南方士兵会占领华盛顿，联邦需要迅速建立并训练一支军队。
总统亚伯拉罕·林肯任命乔治·麦克莱伦将军来做这件事，麦克莱伦当时三十四岁。这位年轻的将军有两项重任，他必须保护华盛顿不受攻击，必须在弗吉尼亚州建立一支军队来击退敌人。麦克莱伦没有浪费时间。他在城市周围部署了数以千计的军队，还建造了四十八座堡垒。然而，这股热潮过后的很长一段时间里，几乎没发生什么的事情。麦克莱伦告诉妻子：“我要花时间组建一支能确保获胜的军队。一旦我觉得军队已经组织好，士兵们训练有素、军力强大时，我将逼迫叛军作战。”麦克莱伦不停地为他为什么不向敌人进攻找借口，这些借口为总统林肯招来了持续不断的麻烦。公众、媒体和政治家都要求麦克莱伦采取行动。他们想赢得这场战争，现在就要赢。麦克莱伦指挥着联邦中规模最大的军队，波托马克军。但这不是唯一的军队，其他人在西部与联盟国军队作战。联盟国已经通过田纳西州进入边界肯塔基州，他们在该州南部建立了堡垒和其他防御阵地。他们还封锁了尽可能多的铁路和河流。
他们的任务是防止联邦军队通过肯塔基州入侵南方。尤利西斯·格兰特是该地区联邦军的一名将军。格兰特在军队服役20年，曾参加过美国对抗墨西哥的战争，并因其勇敢而获得过殊荣。战争结束后，他被派往一个远离妻子和孩子的军事基地。他不喜欢家人不在身边，不喜欢在和平年代当军官。格兰特开始酗酒，变成一个问题人物。1854年，军方要求他离开部队。内战开始时，格兰特在伊利诺伊州组织了一支无薪士兵小队。在国会议员的帮助下，他被任命为将军。其他所有的联邦将领都认识尤利西斯·格兰特，很少有人相信他的能力。他们确信他将一败涂地。然而，格兰特对自己和他的部下充满信心。他相信，他能迫使联盟国士兵从肯塔基州和田纳西州撤军。然后，他就可以随心所欲地向南方腹地密西西比州径直进军。两座联盟国堡垒挡住了格兰特的去路，它们都设在田纳西州，靠近肯塔基州边界。美国海军的炮舰先在田纳西河上占领了亨利堡。那座堡垒容易攻击，防御也很弱。格兰特和他的士兵到达那里时，战斗已经结束。
第二座是位于坎伯兰河附近的唐奈尔森堡。这座堡垒更坚固，有两万名士兵守卫。格兰特包围了堡垒，让海军炮艇炮击它。战斗持续了数日。有一次，联盟国试图冲出堡垒逃跑。他们在联邦军队的防线上冲出一个空隙，开始撤退。但他们的指挥官突然做出决定，他认为撤退是错误的，下令返回堡垒。此后，再无选择的余地，联盟国必须投降。指挥官给格兰特将军捎信询问，“投降的条件是什么？”格兰特的回答很简单。“除无条件立即投降外，没有条件可谈。”联盟国放弃了唐奈尔森堡，格兰特带走了一万四千名囚犯。这是开战以来，联邦军取得的最大胜利。尤利西斯·格兰特成了英雄，报纸上称他为“无条件投降”的格兰特。联邦军在唐奈尔森堡取得胜利后，联盟国军队从田纳西州撤出。他们移到了更远的南部，开始在密西西比州的科林斯重新组队。
联盟国的将军们希望建立一支大军来阻止尤利西斯·格兰特。他们必须迅速行动，格兰特率领四万人向科林斯进发。又有三万五千人，在堂·布尔的指挥下，与他们在路上相逢。格兰特先到了那个地方，他在距离科林斯30公里的地方等着布尔，那附近有个叫夏伊洛教堂的乡村小会议厅。军艾伯特·悉尼·约翰斯顿也等在那，他有四万多人，和格兰特的军队人数差不多。他估计还会再有两万士兵到来。但当他得知格兰特就在附近时，决定不再等下去。他要立即进攻。约翰斯顿并不知道，他的攻击把联邦军打得措手不及。联邦军官员不相信约翰斯顿的军队就要到来，他们说他的军队不够强大，无法进攻作战。何保护。在夏伊洛教堂的战斗是最艰苦的一场。这不是一场战斗，而是许多场战斗。成群结队的人在广阔的战场上互相战斗。从远处看，他们互相射击。往近看，是在用刀子割划彼此。
土地被鲜血染红，遍地都是死伤的战士。防线，胜利就属于他们了。但在这场激烈的斗争中，约翰斯顿将军的腿中弹了，子弹打穿了动脉。约翰斯顿在援军到来之前，因失血过多而死亡。在夏伊洛之战中南方获胜的希望都随他一起烟消云散了。第二天战斗再次打响时，布尔将军前来援助格兰特。联盟国军队撤退，联邦军没有追赶。夏伊洛，这个词本身就意味着死亡和毁灭。到了战争的恐惧之中。这是如此多的人——十万人——在西方世界第一次相互拼杀。这是美国人民第一次真正感受到现代战争的血腥。
正如一个在那作战的士兵所说：“这太令人震惊了，太可怕了。我希望上帝不要再看到这样的事情发生了。”北方军赢得了夏伊洛战役，但它却为胜利付出了高昂的代价。超过一万三千名联邦士兵丧生、受伤或失踪。在联盟国方面，有一万多名士兵伤亡。北方人民得到胜利的消息后，欢呼庆祝。但当公众得知损失巨大时，喜悦当即变为愤怒。人们指责格兰特将军，要求总统林肯罢免他的职务。林肯想到了他的两位现任最高军事指挥官：麦克莱伦和格兰特。他们是如此不同，麦克莱伦组织了一支军队，之后什么也没做。格兰特组织了一支军队，然后进军。林肯谈到格兰特时说：“我不能没有这个人，他能打仗。”下周我们将继续讲述我们的内战故事。
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