(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. The American Civil War in the eighteen sixties was fought not only on land. There was a great deal of fighting between the Union and Confederate navies. This part of the war -- the sea war -- is often forgotten, but it was important. The Union victory might not have been possible without the successes of its navy. Many battles took place just off the coast of the United States. Many others took place farther away, in international waters. This week in our series, Kay Gallant and Harry Monroe talk about the naval side of the Civil War. As soon as the war started, President Abraham Lincoln wanted to block the South's major ports. He wanted to prevent the South from shipping its agricultural products to other countries in exchange for industrial goods. Lincoln's plan was good. But it had one major weakness. The Union navy was too small for the job.
The Confederate seacoast was long. It extended from Chesapeake Bay to Mexico, a distance of five thousand six hundred kilometers. There were not enough ships in the Union navy to blockade all of it. Many months would pass before the Union could build up an effective naval force. The Confederacy had no navy at the start of the Civil War. The Confederate government had little money to create one. And the South had no factories to build one. For a while, the Confederacy was able to get warships from Britain. Then the Union put diplomatic pressure on Britain to stop this support. For the most part, the Confederacy depended on privately owned ships to get goods in and out of the South. About twenty of these private ships flew the Confederate flag. Most were very successful in the beginning. The Florida, for example, captured more than thirty ships before being captured itself off the coast of Brazil in eighteen sixty-four. The Alabama captured more than sixty ships. It was finally sunk in a battle with the Kearsarge off the coast of France. The Shenandoah sailed in the Pacific Ocean. It captured forty ships. After the war ended, the Shenandoah tied up in Liverpool, England.
In addition to these victories, the Confederacy claimed responsibility for several new naval technologies during the Civil War. One was the first modern submarine. This ship was ten meters long. It sank four times while being tested. It was raised each time and put back into service. One night, it fired its torpedoes at a much larger Union ship and sank it. But the explosion was so great that it tore apart the submarine. And it sank, too. The Confederacy also developed very effective underwater explosive devices for use in the harbors. Even with its victories and technologies, however, the Confederacy could not stop the Union navy. The Union navy was bigger to begin with and grew much faster. During the first two years of the Civil War, the Union captured several southern ports: Fort Hatteras and Roanoke Island, North Carolina. Port Royal, South Carolina. Pensacola, Florida. And -- perhaps most importantly -- New Orleans, Louisiana. New Orleans lay near the mouth of the Mississippi River. It was the largest city in the south. It was the largest seaport. It had become a busy industrial center, producing war equipment for Confederate forces. If the Union could capture New Orleans, it would control the Mississippi River.
President Lincoln appointed navy officer David Farragut to lead the attack on New Orleans. To reach the city, Farragut had to sail his ships past two Confederate forts on the Mississippi River. He shelled the forts for six days and nights. But the forts were so strong that the shells caused little damage. He decided not to wait any longer. One dark night, Farragut led seventeen Union warships up the river in a line. The Confederate forces heard them and began to fire. One ship was sunk. Three others were damaged so badly that they could not continue. But thirteen made it safely past the forts. When Farragut reached New Orleans, he found the city defenseless. Several thousand Confederate soldiers had fled. They knew they could not defend against the bigger Union force. Only civilians remained. Farragut captured New Orleans without a fight. The Confederate flag was lowered. And the United States flag was raised over the city. Several weeks before Farragut captured New Orleans, a new kind of navy battle was fought off Hampton Roads, Virginia. It was the first battle between iron ships. On the Confederate side was the Virginia. It had been built from what remained of a captured Union warship called the Merrimack. The Virginia was like no other warship ever seen in the world.
It was eighty meters long. The part that showed above the water line was built of wood sixty centimeters thick. This part was covered with sheets of iron ten centimeters thick. Ten windows were cut into it. Behind each window was a cannon. In a battle, the windows would open, the cannons would fire, and the windows would close again. At the front was a sharp point of iron that could smash through the sides of wooden ships. The Virginia could not move fast. And it was difficult to control. It took almost thirty minutes to turn around. Still, there seemed to be no way to stop this iron monster. It already had destroyed two Union warships. And it was coming back for more. The Union ship chosen to fight the Virginia was the Monitor. It, too, was covered with iron. But it was much smaller than the Virginia. And it carried only two cannons. These two cannons, however, were on a part of the ship that could turn in a complete circle. They could be aimed in any direction. The Monitor and the Virginia faced each other on the morning of March ninth, eighteen sixty-two. They moved in close -- very close -- then began to fire. A Confederate cannon ball hit the iron side of the Monitor and bounced away. Union sailors cheered. The cannons of the Virginia could do no damage! But the Union sailors soon discovered that their cannons could do no damage, either.
The men inside the two ships suffered from noise, heat, and smoke. The roar of their own cannons was extremely loud. Even louder was the crash of enemy cannon balls and explosive shells on the iron walls. Some of the men suffered burst eardrums. At least one man was struck unconscious from the force of a cannon ball against the iron. The men quickly learned to stay away from the walls. Smoke from the cannons filled the ships. Then it floated out over the water. At times, the two ships could not see each other. The Virginia and the Monitor fought for three hours. Neither ship scored an important hit. Neither suffered serious damage. Then the cannons of the Virginia fell silent. The Confederate ship had used up its gunpowder. It also had used up much of its fuel. It was lighter now and was floating higher in the water. A well-aimed cannon ball could hit below its iron covering and sink it. The Confederate captain decided to withdraw. The Union captain, too, was ready to break off the battle. He decided not to follow. Neither ship could claim victory. But the Monitor had kept the Virginia from destroying more of the Union's wooden warships. The Virginia itself was to live just two more months. Union forces seized the Confederate navy base at Norfolk, where the Virginia was kept. And the iron monster was sunk to keep it from falling into Union hands. The battle at Hampton Roads between the Virginia and the Monitor was undecisive. It did not have much effect on the final result of America's Civil War. But it was still an important battle. For it marked the beginning of the end of the world's wooden navies. We will continue our story of the Civil War next week.
重点解析
1.a great deal of 大量的；许多
I also had friends who gave me a great deal of encouragement.
我还有些朋友给了我很多鼓励。
2.take place 发生；举行
A total solar eclipse is due to take place some time tomorrow.
明天某个时刻会发生日全食。
3.depend on 依赖；取决于
The risk and severity of sunburn depend on the body's natural skin colour.
晒伤的风险和严重程度取决于人体的自然肤色。
4.in addition to 除......之外；除了
In addition to my weekly wage, I got a lot of tips.
除了每周的薪水外，我还能得到不少小费。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目。19世纪60年代的美国内战不仅在陆地上开战，联邦和联盟国海军之间也进行了大量的战斗。海上战争这部分内容经常被遗忘，但它非常重要。如果没有海军的成功，联邦可能也无法取得胜利。许多战斗发生在美国近海岸，还有许多发生在国际水域等更远的地方。在本周的系列节目中，凯·格兰特和哈里·门罗将谈论内战中的海军战况。战争一开始，总统亚伯拉罕林肯就想封锁南方的主要港口。他想阻止南方把农产品运往其他国家换取工业产品。林肯计划得很好，但它有一个主要的弱点。联邦海军规模太小，不能胜任这项工作。
联盟国的海岸线很长，从切萨皮克湾延伸到墨西哥，距离五千六百公里。联邦海军没有足够的船只封锁所有海岸线。联邦军要组建一支有效的海军，需要花几个月的时间。内战开始时，联盟国没有海军。南部联盟国政府没有钱来组建一支军队。南方也没有工厂可以建船。有一段时间，联盟国从英国获取军舰。然后，联邦对英国施加外交压力，要求其停止这种支持。在很大程度上，联盟国依靠私人船只进出南方。大约20艘这类私人船只都悬挂着联盟国旗帜，大多数船只开战时都非常成功。例如，佛罗里达号在1864年于巴西海岸被捕获之前，曾俘获30多艘船只。阿拉巴马号俘获了60多艘船只。它最终在法国海岸与奇尔沙治号作战时被击沉。谢南多亚号在太平洋航行。它捕获了四十艘船。战争结束后，谢南多亚号被停靠在英格兰的利物浦。
除了这些胜利之外，联盟国声称研发出内战期间的几种新型海军技术，一项是第一艘现代潜艇。这艘船长达十米，在接受测试时，它下沉了四次。每次都把它升起并重新投入使用。一天晚上，它向一艘更大的联邦军船只发射鱼雷，并将其击沉。但是爆炸太大了，以致于把潜艇炸开了，随后沉没了。联盟国还开发出用于港口的非常有效的水下爆炸装置。然而，即使联盟国多次获胜，并拥有新技术，但也无法阻止联邦海军。联邦海军开战时规模就较大，发展也更快。在内战的头两年，联邦军占领了南部几个港口：哈特拉斯堡和北卡罗来纳州的罗诺克岛、南卡罗来纳州的罗亚尔港、佛罗里达州的彭萨科拉，最重要的或许是路易斯安那州的新奥尔良。新奥尔良位于密西西比河河口附近，是南方最大的城市，也是最大的海港。它已经成为一个繁忙的工业中心，为联盟国军队生产作战装备。如果联邦占领新奥尔良，将控制密西西比河。
总统林肯任命海军军官大卫·法拉古特带领对新奥尔良发动袭击。为了到达这座城市，法拉古特不得不乘船经过密西西比河上的两个联邦军要塞。他炮击堡垒六天六夜。但是堡垒非常坚固，炮弹几乎没有损坏它们。他决定不再等待。在一个漆黑的夜晚，法拉古特率领17艘联邦军舰排成一行沿河而上。联盟国部队听到了他们的声音，随即开火。一艘船沉没了，另外三艘严重受损，无法继续作战。但有13艘船只安全通过了要塞。法拉古特到达新奥尔良时，他发现这座城市毫无防备。数千名联盟国士兵都逃走了，他们知道抵抗不了规模更大的联邦军。剩下来的都是平民。法拉古特没有开战就占领了新奥尔良联盟国的旗帜被降了下来，城市上空升起了美国国旗。法拉古特占领新奥尔良前的几周时间里，一场新的海军战斗在弗吉尼亚州的汉普敦水道展开。这是铁船之间的第一场战斗。联盟国那边是弗吉尼亚号，它是用一艘被俘获的名为梅里马克的联邦军舰的残骸建造而成。弗吉尼亚号和世界上其他军舰完全不同。
它有八十米长，水线以上的部分是用六十厘米厚的木头建造而成。这部分覆盖有十厘米厚的铁片。船身开有十个窗口，每个窗口后面都架有一门大炮。在战斗中，窗口打开，大炮开火，随后再将窗口关闭。船头有一个锋利的铁尖头，可以把木船的侧面砸碎。弗吉尼亚号不能快速前进，而且很难控制，几乎要花三十分钟才能掉头。然而，似乎没有办法能阻止这个铁怪物。它已经摧毁了两艘联邦军舰，现在又回来袭击更多的船只。选择与弗吉尼亚号战斗的联盟国船只是摩尼特号，它也被铁覆盖着。但它比弗吉尼亚号小得多，只有两门大炮。但是，这两门大炮位于战舰可以四面旋转的地方，能够朝不同方向射击。1862年3月9日上午，摩尼特号和维吉尼亚号碰面。他们靠得非常近，然后相互开火。联盟国的一枚炮弹击中了摩尼特号覆盖铁皮的部分，随后弹开了。联邦军的水手们欢呼起来。弗吉尼亚号的大炮不会造成任何伤害！但是联邦军的水手们很快发现，他们的大炮也不能伤到对方。
两艘船里的士兵都饱受噪音、高温和烟雾的折磨。他们自己大炮的轰鸣声非常大，敌人炮弹撞击和爆炸的弹壳打在铁墙上的撞击声则更大。有些人耳膜破裂，至少有一个人被炮弹撞击铁皮的力量击昏了。这些人很快学会要远离船壁。大炮冒出的烟充满了船只，然后漂浮到水面上。有时，这两艘船都看不见对方。维吉尼亚号和摩尼特号对峙了三个小时，两艘船都没有受到重击，也都没有严重损伤。随后，弗吉尼亚号的大炮沉寂下来。联盟国的船炮弹用尽，还消耗了大量的燃料。它现在更轻了，在海面上也漂浮得更高。炮弹瞄准好的话，可以打中船体铁皮以下部位，把它击沉。联盟国上尉决定撤退，联邦军上尉也准备好要结束这场战斗，他决定不追击。两艘船都未能获胜。但是，摩尼特号阻止了维吉尼亚号摧毁更多联邦军的木船。维吉尼亚号自己也只维持了两个多月，联邦军队占领了弗吉尼亚号停靠地诺福克港的联盟国海军基地。为了防止这艘巨型铁船落入联邦军手中，联盟国士兵将其击沉。维吉尼亚号和摩尼特号之间在汉普敦水道的战斗并非决定成败的因素，对美国内战的最终结果影响不大。但它仍然是一场重要的战斗，因为它标志着世界木制海军舰队的终结。下周我们将继续讲述内战故事。
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