(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. In nineteen eighteen, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, a truce took effect between the Allies and Germany. But not until seven months later was a treaty signed to officially end what was known as the Great War and the War to End All Wars. This week in our series, Shirley Griffith and Larry West continue the story of the peace conference following World War One. American President Woodrow Wilson was one of the chief negotiators at the conference in Paris. Throughout the early months of nineteen nineteen, he struggled hard for a treaty that would result in peace with justice for all sides. Wilson demanded a treaty that provided for a new international organization. He called it the League of Nations. To Wilson, the league was more important than any other part of the treaty.
Not all Americans shared Wilson's opinion. Many feared the league would take away the power of the American government to declare war and make treaties. They also agreed with the leaders of the other allied nations. Establishing the league was less important than punishing the defeated enemy. The other major allied leaders at the peace conference were Prime Minister David Lloyd-George of Britain, Premier Georges Clemenceau of France, and Premier Vittorio Otto of Italy. Lloyd-George, Clemenceau, and Otto understood how much Wilson wanted the League of Nations. They used this knowledge to win Wilson's approval for other parts of the peace treaty. Wilson soon learned that, to get the league, he had to compromise on many issues. For example, he had to accept British and French demands to make Germany pay all war damages. The payments added up to more than three hundred thousand million dollars. Wilson also had to accept the allied takeover of Germany's colonies. Some of Wilson's compromises violated his belief in self-determination. This was the right of all people to decide for themselves who would govern them.
One compromise, for example, gave to Japan Germany's colonial rights in the Shantung area of China. China protested the decision. It asked that control of Shantung be returned to the Chinese government. But President Wilson needed Japan's support for the League of Nations. So he accepted Japan's demand for control of Shantung. There were other violations of the policy of self-determination. These affected the people and land along the borders of several European nations. For example, three million Germans were made citizens of the new nation of Czechoslovakia. Millions of other Germans were forced into the newly formed nation of Poland. And Italy received territory that had belonged to Austria. Today, most history experts agree Woodrow Wilson was correct in opposing these decisions. They say Germany's loss of territory and citizens caused deep bitterness. And the bitterness helped lead to the rise of fascist dictator Adolph Hitler in the nineteen thirties. In East Asia, Japanese control over parts of China created serious tensions. Both decisions helped plant the seeds for the bloody harvest of World War Two twenty years later. But allied leaders at the Paris peace conference were not looking far into the future.
As one person said at the time: "They divided Europe like people cutting up a tasty pie." After months of negotiations, the peace treaty was completed. The Allies gave it to a German delegation on May seventh, nineteen-nineteen. The head of the delegation objected immediately. He said the treaty was unfair. He urged his government not to sign it. At first, Germany did not sign. The leader of the government refused and resigned in protest. But a new government was formed. And its leader signed the document at a ceremony at the palace in Versailles outside Paris. Finally, World War One was officially over. President Woodrow Wilson returned to the United States after the treaty signing ceremony. He was not completely satisfied with the treaty. Yet he believed it was still valuable, because it established the League of Nations. Wilson's battle for the league was only half over when the treaty was signed in Europe. He had to win approval from the United States Senate. That half of the battle would not be easy. Part of the problem was political. Wilson was a member of the Democratic Party. The Senate was controlled by the Republican Party.
Also, Wilson had refused to name any important Republicans to his negotiating team at the peace conference. Part of the problem was personal. A number of senators disliked Wilson. One was Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge. Lodge was the powerful chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He told a friend he never expected to hate anyone as much as he hated Wilson. Wilson spoke before the Senate just two days after he returned from Europe. He urged it to approve the peace treaty. Wilson said: "The united power of free nations must put a stop to aggression. And the world must be given peace. Shall we and any other free people refuse to accept this great duty? Dare we reject it and break the heart of the world? We cannot turn back. America shall show the way. The light streams upon the path ahead and nowhere else." The Senate Foreign Relations Committee began hearings on the treaty. It heard a number of people who opposed the League of Nations. They said the league would destroy the freedom and independence of the United States.
The committee completed its hearings and prepared a report for the full Senate. The report said the United States should reject the treaty, unless changes were made. The committee proposed almost forty changes. The committee's report was a blow to President Wilson both politically and personally. He had worked extremely hard to win Europe's support for the idea of a league of nations. Great crowds in Paris had cheered him and his idea. Now, the Senate of his own country was about to reject it. Wilson decided he must take his case out of the hands of the peoples' representatives. He would take the case directly to the people themselves. He would build public support for the treaty. If enough citizens supported it, he believed, the Senate could not reject it. President Wilson planned a speaking trip all across the country. His family and his doctor urged him not to go. They said he was still weak from a recent sickness. But Wilson refused the advice. He said the treaty was more important to him than his own life.
The president left Washington in early September. He traveled in a special train. In city after city, he made speeches and rode in parades. He shook thousands of hands. At times, he suffered from a painful headache. But there was no time to rest. Everywhere Wilson stopped, he urged the people to support the League of Nations. It was, he said, the only hope for peace. In Boulder, Colorado, ten thousand people waited to hear him. By then, Wilson was extremely weak. He had to be helped up the steps of the building where he was to speak. He made the speech. He said he was working to honor the men who had died in the war. He said he was working for the children of the world. Wilson put all his heart and energy into his speeches. And, as his family and doctor had warned, the pressure was too great. While in Wichita, Kansas, the pain in his head became terrible. He could not speak clearly. His face seemed frozen. A blood vessel had broken in his brain. Wilson had suffered a stroke. The president was forced to return to Washington. His condition got worse every day. Soon, he was unable to move. Woodrow Wilson would spend the rest of his presidency as a terribly sick man. He continued to hold on to his dreams of a League of Nations. But his dreams now filled a broken body. We will continue our story next week.
重点解析
1.agree with 同意；与...一致
I quite agree with you. That's a good way of looking at it.
我很赞同你的观点，这是看待该问题的一个很好的角度。
2.for example 举例；比如
Have they, for example, demonstrated a commitment to democracy?
例如，他们是否已表现出会致力于民主？
3.belong to 归于；归属
I used to belong to a youth club.
我过去是一个青年俱乐部的成员。
4.be about to 即将；准备
A new era seemed to be about to dawn for the coach and his young team.
对于那名教练和他的年轻球队来说，一个崭新的时代似乎即将到来。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目。1918年11月11日11时，盟国和德国之间的停战协定生效。但直到7个月后，才签署了一项条约，正式结束了所谓的第一次世界大战，以及这场结束所有战争的战争。在本周的系列节目中，雪莉·格里菲斯和拉里·韦斯特将继续讲述第一次世界大战后和平会谈的故事。美国总统伍德罗·威尔逊是巴黎会谈的主要谈判代表之一，在19世纪初的几个月里，他努力争取达成一项能够给各方带来和平与正义的条约。
威尔逊要求签订一项条约，成立一个新的国际组织，他称之为国际联盟。对威尔逊来说，该联盟比条约的任何其他部分都重要。并非所有美国人都赞同威尔逊的观点，许多人担心联盟会夺走美国政府宣战和缔结条约的权力。他们也同意其他盟国领导人的看法，与惩罚战败的敌人相比，建立联盟并没有那么重要。出席和平会谈的其他主要盟国领导人是英国首相大卫·劳埃德·乔治、法国总理乔治·克莱门索和意大利总理维托里奥·奥托。劳埃德·乔治、克莱门索和奥托明白威尔逊想要建立国际联盟的急切心愿，他们以此赢得威尔逊对和平条约其他部分的批准。威尔逊很快就明白了，要想建立联盟，必须在许多问题上做出妥协。例如，他不得不接受英国和法国的要求，即德国支付所有的战争损失。这些款额共计超过30亿美元，威尔逊还不得不接受盟军接管德国殖民地。威尔逊做出的一些妥协违背了他对国家自决权的信念，这是一种由所有人自己决定谁来管理他们的权利。
例如，有一项妥协是把德国在中国山东地区的殖民权交予日本。中国对这一决定表示抗议，要求把对山东的控制权交还给中国政府。但是，威尔逊总统需要日本对组建国际联盟的支持。所以，他接受了日本控制山东的要求。还有其他违反自决权政策的行为，这些行为影响了数个欧洲国家边境地区的人民和土地。例如，300万德国人成为捷克斯洛伐克这个新国家的公民。数百万德国人被迫进入新成立的波兰，意大利则获得了属于奥地利的领土。今天，大多数历史专家都认为，伍德罗·威尔逊反对这些决定是正确的。他们表示，德国失去领土，及其公民造成了深深的痛苦。这种痛苦导致了法西斯独裁者阿道夫·希特勒在20世纪30年代的崛起。领土的控制造成了严重的紧张局势。这两项决定都为20年后爆发的血腥的第二次世界大战播下了种子。但是，参加巴黎和平会谈的盟国领导人并未去展望未来。
正如当时一个人所说：“他们分裂欧洲就像人们切美味的馅饼一样。”经过几个月的谈判，和平条约已经完成。盟军于1919年5月7日把它交给德国代表团。代表团团长立即表示反对，他表示该条约并不公正，他力劝德国政府不要签字。起初，德国没有签署条约。政府领导人拒绝这样做，并辞职以示抗议。但新政府成立了，新政府的领导在巴黎凡尔赛宫举行的仪式上，签署了这份文件。第一次世界大战终于正式结束了。伍德罗·威尔逊总统在条约签署仪式后返回美国，他对该条约并不完全满意。但是，他认为条约仍然具有价值，因为它建立了国际联盟。当条约在欧洲签署时，威尔逊的联盟之战才进行到一半。他必须得到美国参议院的批准，而进行这半场战斗并非易事。问题的一部分来自于政治方面。威尔逊是民主党党员，而参议院由共和党控制。
此外，威尔逊拒绝在和平会谈上向他的谈判团队提名任何重要的共和党人。部分问题出自个人原因。许多参议员不喜欢威尔逊，其中一位是共和党参议员亨利·卡博特·洛奇。洛奇是参议院外交关系委员会极具权威的主席。他告诉一个朋友，他从来没有想到会那么仇视威尔逊。威尔逊刚从欧洲回来两天，就在参议院发表讲话。他敦促参议院批准和平条约。威尔逊说：“自由国家的联合力量必须制止侵略，世界必须得到和平。我们和其他自由的人会拒绝接受这个伟大的责任吗？我们敢拒绝它，让全世界人民心碎吗？我们不能回头。美国将指引道路。光撒在前面的小路上，其它的地方则没有。”很多人反对该国际联盟。他们说，联盟将摧毁美国的自由和独立。
委员会完成了听证会，并为参议院的所有议员准备了一份报告。报告说，除非做出改变，否则美国应该拒绝该条约。委员会提出了近四十项修改。委员会的报告对威尔逊总统的政治生涯和个人生活都是一个打击，他极其努力地争取欧洲对建立国际联盟的支持。巴黎的大批民众为他和他的想法欢呼雀跃。现在，美国的参议院要对其表示否决。威尔逊决定不能再用人民的代表处理此事，他要直接将其交给人民自行处理。他将建立公众对条约的支持。他认为，如果有足够多的公民支持，参议院就不能将其否决。威尔逊总统计划进行一次全国性的演讲，他的家人和医生劝他不要去。他们说，他最近生病了，身体还很虚弱。但威尔逊拒绝了这个建议，他说条约比他自己的生命更重要。
总统于九月初离开华盛顿，他乘专列出行。他在一座座城市发表演讲，并参加游行。他和成千上万的人握手。有时，他头痛得厉害。但是没有时间休息。威尔逊所到之处都敦促人民支持国际联盟，他说，这是和平的唯一希望。在科罗拉多州的博尔德，一万人等待听他演讲。那时，威尔逊极度虚弱。他必须由人搀扶才能走上发表演说的大楼台阶。他进行了演讲，他说，他是为了纪念那些在战争中牺牲的人，他在为世界儿童而工作。威尔逊在把所有精力倾注于他的演讲之中。而且，正如他的家人和医生所警告的那样，这个压力太大了。在堪萨斯州威奇托市时，他头疼欲绝，说话不清楚，脸好像冻僵了，脑血管破裂，威尔逊中风了。总统被迫返回华盛顿，他的病情每况愈下。很快，他就无法走动了。伍德罗· 威尔逊余下的总统任期，将在病入膏肓的状态中度过。他继续坚持自己的国际联盟梦想，但他的身体现在破败不堪。这将是我们下周要讲述的故事。
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