(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Welcome to the MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. Theodore Roosevelt was president of the United States during the early years of the twentieth century. He was a forceful leader. His national policies led to social reforms and federal protection of nature. His foreign policy led to greater American involvement in world events. This week in our series, Kay Gallant and Harry Monroe continue the story of the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. In nineteen-oh-three, Panama declared its independence from Colombia. Fifteen days later, Panama and the United States signed a treaty. The treaty gave the United States the right to build a canal across Panama. To protect the canal, President Roosevelt declared greater responsibility for a wide area around the canal. The greatest responsibility was financial. Roosevelt said the United States would guarantee repayment of loans made to Latin American countries.
He did this to prevent European countries from using the issue of non-payment as an excuse to seize new territory in the Western Hemisphere. Some Latin American nations were in serious economic trouble. Venezuela was one. At that time, Venezuela owed millions of dollars to Britain and Germany. The Venezuelan ruler refused to make payments on the loans. Britain and Germany decided to use force to get the money. Their ships began blocking Venezuela's ports. When they began shelling coastal areas, President Roosevelt intervened. He urged them to let the international court of arbitration at The Hague settle the dispute. They agreed. And the blockade of Venezuela ended. Less than two years later, a similar financial problem arose in the Dominican Republic. Revolutions and dictatorships there prevented re-payment of foreign loans. The United States offered a solution. It would take over collection of import taxes at ports in the Dominican Republic. Forty-five percent of the money would be paid to the Dominican government. The other fifty-five percent would be used to repay loans. The Dominican Republic agreed. The plan succeeded.
Some countries in Latin America and the Caribbean questioned the right of the United States to act as policeman for the Western Hemisphere. But none openly opposed President Roosevelt's policy. Theodore Roosevelt had become president after the assassination of President William McKinley. He completed the last three years of McKinley's term. Then he was ready to be elected in his own right. Republican Party leaders, however, were not so sure. Roosevelt had made businessmen angry, because of his attempts to control big companies. But he made voters happy, because of his fight for social reforms. Roosevelt's only serious competitor for the nomination was a long-time senator and presidential adviser. But the man died before the nominating convention. So, Roosevelt won the nomination easily. The Democratic Party, in the past two elections, had nominated a progressive, Congressman William Jennings Bryan, as its candidate.
This time, the Democrats chose a more conservative candidate. He was a New York judge, Alton Parker. Judge Parker had no chance to win the election. Theodore Roosevelt was the best-known man in America. He won easily. On inauguration day, Roosevelt made a short speech. He said America's capitalist economic system had done much good for the country. But it also had created a crisis in social relations. And the crisis had to be solved. "If we fail," Roosevelt said, "the cause of self-government throughout the world will suffer greatly." During his new term in office, President Roosevelt was able to get Congress to approve two major new laws. One was the Hepburn Act. This law gave the Interstate Commerce Commission power to limit how much railroads could charge for transporting goods. The purpose was to keep the cost of railroad transportation reasonable. The other new law was the Pure Food and Drug Act. This law declared it illegal to make or sell foods and medicines containing harmful chemicals. The purpose was to protect the health of all Americans. President Roosevelt's most important foreign policy success came as a result of a war between Russia and Japan.
At that time, Russia occupied Manchuria in northern China. Japan occupied Korea. Japan wanted control of Manchuria. It needed that area's coal and iron ore. Japan also wanted to end any Russian threat to Korea. So, it decided to fight. Japan's navy easily defeated all the Russian fleets sent to the Pacific. But the two sides continued to fight on land. When both began to run out of money, they accepted President Roosevelt's offer to make peace. Roosevelt invited Japanese and Russian diplomats to meet with him in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He told them his greatest hope and prayer was for them to find a just and lasting peace quickly. A quick settlement, however, was not easy. Japan demanded six hundred million dollars for war damages. It also wanted Sakhalin Island. Russia rejected both demands. It had agreed to give up southern Manchuria. Russia would give up nothing else. Negotiations lasted many days. President Roosevelt became more and more angry when neither side would compromise. But he remained calm and kept the talks going. Later, he said: "What I really wanted to do was give an angry shout, jump up, and knock their heads together."
Finally, Roosevelt made a secret appeal to the Emperor of Japan. He asked the Emperor to drop demands for money and for Sakhalin Island. He warned that Russia was ready to fight again if the peace talks failed. The Emperor agreed to drop the demand for money. But, he still demanded half of Sakhalin Island. Russia agreed to this compromise. The two sides signed a peace treaty. Theodore Roosevelt received the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating an end to the Russian-Japanese war. However, his efforts were denounced in Japan. Roosevelt was held responsible for the loss of war damage payments. It was money Japan needed badly. Anti-American riots broke out in some parts of the country. At the same time, tense relations developed between American citizens and Japanese immigrants in California. Poor Japanese immigrants were willing to work for low pay. As a result, Americans lost jobs. They protested. Then school officials in San Francisco barred Japanese children from attending school with white children.
President Roosevelt opposed the decision. He asked the officials to lift the ban. In exchange, he agreed to ask Japan to stop its poor farmers and laborers from going to live in America. Japan said it would. The understanding became known as the Gentleman's Agreement. Roosevelt worked hard to improve America's relations with Japan. Yet he made clear that the United States would defend its interests in Asia and the Pacific. As a warning, he sent a naval force on a voyage around the world. The force included sixteen battleships and twelve thousand men. It was called the Great White Fleet. The voyage lasted fourteen months. The fleet sailed down the Atlantic coast of South America. It went around the bottom of South America into the Pacific Ocean, then on to Hawaii, Australia, and Japan. Surprisingly, it received its warmest welcome in Japan. An American reporter said: "The fleet made a deep and far-reaching impression. It caused the Japanese to understand the great power of the United States, as nothing else could possibly have done." President Roosevelt believed this show of American strength prevented war with Japan. "Sending out the fleet," he said, "was the most important thing I did for peace." Theodore Roosevelt greatly enjoyed playing the part of peace-maker. After successfully ending the war between Russia and Japan, he was asked to settle another international dispute. At issue was control over Morocco. That will be our story next week.
重点解析
1.decide to 决定；决定去做
I'll engage for John's behaviour should you decide to employ him.
如果你决定聘用约翰，我愿为他的行为担保。
2.take over 接管；继承
Cars gradually took over from horses.
汽车逐渐替代了马匹。
3.break out 爆发；突然发生
I was in a nightclub in Brixton and a fight broke out.
当时我在布里克斯顿的一家夜总会里，那里发生了一场斗殴。
4.as a result 因此；结果是
As a result, the bad thing has been turned into a good one.
结果坏事变成了好事。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目。西奥多·罗斯福在20世纪初成为美国总统，他是位强有力的领导人，他奉行的国家政策引发社会改革和联邦对自然的保护。他的外交政策使美国更多地参与到世界事务之中。在本周的系列节目中，凯·格兰特和哈里·门罗继将续讲述西奥多·罗斯福总统的故事。1903年，巴拿马宣布脱离哥伦比亚。在独立15天后，巴拿马和美国签署了一项条约。该条约赋予美国在巴拿马修建运河的权利。为了保护运河，罗斯福总统宣布对运河周围的广大地区承担更大的责任，其中最重要的是财政责任。罗斯福说，美国将保证偿还对拉美国家的贷款。
他这样做是为了防止欧洲国家把不付款问题作为夺取西半球新领土的借口。一些拉丁美洲国家陷入了严重的经济困境，委内瑞拉就是其中之一。拉统治者拒绝偿还贷款。英国和德国决定使用武力来获得这笔钱款。他们的船只开始封锁委内瑞拉的港口，当他们开始炮击沿海地区时，罗斯福总统进行了干预。他敦促他们让海牙的国际仲裁法院来解决争端。他们同意了，对委内瑞拉的封锁也结束了。不到两年后，多米尼加共和国也出现了类似的财政问题。那里的革命和独裁阻止了外国贷款的偿付。美国提出了一个解决办法，它将接管多米尼加共和国港口的进口税征收。45%的钱款将支付给多米尼加政府，另外55%将用于偿还贷款。多米尼加共和国同意，计划成功了。
拉丁美洲和加勒比的一些国家质疑美国，是否有权担任西半球的警察职责。但是，没有人公开反对罗斯福总统的政策。西奥多·罗斯福在威廉·麦金利总统遇刺后成为总统，他完成了麦金利最后三年的任期。然后，他准备好自己当选。然而，共和党领导人对此并不确定。罗斯福因为试图控制大公司而激怒了商人，但他让选民们很高兴，因为他为社会改革而奋斗。罗斯福唯一一位重要的竞争对手是一位长期担任参议员和总统顾问的人，但他在提名大会之前就去世了。所以，罗斯福轻而易举地赢得了提名。会议员威廉·詹宁斯·布赖恩作为候选人。这次，民主党选择了一个更保守的候选人，他就是纽约法官，奥尔顿·帕克。
帕克法官没有机会赢得选举，西奥多·罗斯福是美国最有名的人，他轻而易举地取得了胜利。他说，美国的资本主义经济体系让国家受益匪浅。但是，它也造成了社会关系的危机，必须解决这一危机。罗斯福说：“如果我们失败了，全世界的自治事业将会受到重创。”罗斯福总统在新任期内，使国会通过了两项主要的新法律，其中一项是《赫本法案》。这项法律赋予州际商务委员会权力，限制铁路运输货物的收费，其目的是使铁路运输成本保持在合理的范围之内。另一部新法是《纯食品和药品法》。这项法律宣布生产或销售含有有害化学物质的食品和药品是非法的，其目的是保护所有美国人的健康。罗斯福总统最重要的外交政策取得成功，源于俄罗斯和日本之间的战争。
当时，俄国占领了中国北方的满洲，日本占领了韩国。日本想控制满洲，它需要该地区的煤炭和铁矿石。日本也希望结束俄罗斯对韩国的威胁。所以，它决定开战。日本海军轻而易举地击败了所有派往太平洋的俄罗斯舰队。但是，双方继续在陆地上作战。当双方都开始出现资金紧缺的情况时，他们接受了罗斯福总统的和平提议。罗斯福邀请日本和俄罗斯外交官在新罕布什尔州朴次茅斯与他会面，他告诉他们，他最大的希望和祈求是让他们尽快找到公正又持久的和平。然而，迅速解决问题并非易事。日本要求六亿美元来赔偿战争损失，同时它还想要萨哈林岛。俄罗斯拒绝了这两项要求，它同意放弃满洲南部，但不会放弃其他任何东西。谈判持续了数日，当双方都不妥协时，罗斯福总统变得越来越愤怒。但是，他保持冷静，继续谈判。后来，他表示：“我真正想做的是愤怒地大喊一声，跳起来，把他们的头撞在一起。”
最后，罗斯福秘密地向日本天皇发出诉求。他请求天皇放弃对金钱和萨哈林岛的要求，并警告说，如果和谈失败，俄罗斯准备再次战斗。天皇同意放弃要求钱款，但是，他仍然要占领一半的萨哈林岛。俄罗斯同意了这项妥协。双方签署了和平条约。西奥多·罗斯福通过谈判使俄日战争结束，由此获得诺贝尔和平奖。然而，他的努力在日本却遭到谴责。罗斯福要为战争损失赔偿负责，而日本急需这笔钱款。美国一些地区爆发了反美骚乱，与此同时，美国公民和居住在加利福尼亚州的日本移民之间的关系也紧张起来。贫穷的日本移民愿意为挣取低廉的工资而工作，结果导致美国人失业了。他们进行抗议。随后，旧金山的学校官员禁止日本孩子和白人孩子一起上学。
罗斯福总统反对这个决定，他要求官员解除禁令。作为交换，他同意要求日本停止让贫穷的农民和劳工到美国生活。日本表示会这样去做，这种理解被称为君子协定。罗斯福努力改善美国与日本的关系，但他明确表示，美国将捍卫其在亚太地区的利益。作为警告，他派遣了一支海军部队在世界各地航行。这支部队包括16艘战舰和12000名士兵。人们称其为伟大的白色舰队。这次航行持续了14个月，舰队沿着南美洲的大西洋海岸航行。它绕着南美的底部进入太平洋，随后到达夏威夷、澳大利亚和日本。令人惊讶的是，舰队在日本受到了最热烈的欢迎。一位美国记者说：“舰队给人们留下了深远的印象，它使日本人明白了美国的强大实力，这是其他任何事情都无法做到的。”罗斯福总统认为，美国实力的展示阻止了与日本的战争。“派遣舰队，”他说，“是我为和平所做的最重要的事情。”西奥多·罗斯福非常喜欢扮演和平缔造者的角色。在成功结束俄日战争后，人们请求他来解决另一场国际争端。这次争论的焦点是对摩洛哥的控制。这将是我们下周要讲述的故事。
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