(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember. We begin this week's story on January twentieth, nineteen sixty-one, the day John Fitzgerald Kennedy became president of the United States. It had snowed heavily the night before. Few cars were in the streets of Washington. The outgoing president, Dwight Eisenhower, was seventy years old. John Kennedy was just forty-three. He was the first American president born in the twentieth century. Both Eisenhower and Kennedy served in World War Two. Eisenhower had been commander of allied forces in Europe. Kennedy had been a young Navy officer in the Pacific. He came from a politically influential family from Boston, Massachusetts, but he was a fresh face in national politics. To millions of Americans, he represented a chance for a new beginning. Not everyone liked him, however. Many people thought he was too young to be president. Others did not like the idea of electing the nation's first Roman Catholic president.
Eisenhower's vice president, Richard Nixon, ran against Kennedy in the election of nineteen sixty. Many people believed Nixon was a stronger opponent of communism than Kennedy. The election of nineteen-sixty was one of the closest in American history. Kennedy defeated Nixon by fewer than one hundred twenty thousand votes. Now, on the steps of the Capitol building, he would be sworn-in as the nation's thirty-fifth president. One of the speakers at the inauguration was the eighty-six-year-old poet Robert Frost. The wind was blowing the paper in his hands and the sun was shining off the snow on the ground and into his eyes. Kennedy stood to help him. But the famous poet was unable to read much of the poem he had written specially for the ceremony. Instead, he began another one that he knew from memory. Here is a studio recording of Robert Frost reading his poem. "The Gift Outright." The land was ours before we were the land's. She was our land more than a hundred years. Before we were her people. She was ours. In Massachusetts, in Virginia, But we were England's, still colonials, Possessing what we still were unpossessed by, Possessed by what we now no more possessed. Something we were withholding made us weak. Until we found out that it was ourselves. We were withholding from our land of living, And forthwith found salvation in surrender. Such as we were we gave ourselves outright (The deed of gift was many deeds of war) To the land vaguely realizing westward, But still unstoried, artless, unenhanced, Such as she was, such as she would become.
Soon it was time for the new president to speak. He was not wearing a winter coat or a hat, unlike many of the people around him. One of the issues that Kennedy talked about was the danger of what he called "the deadly atom." He was taking office during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. Both sides had atomic bombs. People worried that there could a World War Three that would end in nuclear destruction. Kennedy said both sides should make serious proposals for the inspection and control of nuclear weapons. He said they should explore the good in science, instead of the terrors. "Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce ... Let both sides join in creating a new endeavor, not a new balance of power, but a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved." Kennedy also spoke about a torch of leadership being passed to a new generation of Americans. He urged young people to take the torch and accept responsibility for the future. He also urged other countries to work with the United States to create a better world.
"The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it -- and the glow from that fire can truly light the world. And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: Ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." John Kennedy was in office less than two weeks when the Soviet Union released two American airmen. The Soviets had shot down their spy plane over the Bering Sea. About sixty million people watched as Kennedy announced the airmen's release. It was the first presidential news conference broadcast live on television in the United States. Kennedy welcomed the release as a step toward better relations with the Soviet Union. The next month, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev made another move toward better relations. He sent Kennedy a message. The message said that disarmament would be a great joy for all people on earth. A few weeks later, President Kennedy announced the creation of the Peace Corps. He had spoken about his idea during the election campaign. The Peace Corps would send thousands of Americans to developing countries to teach and provide technical assistance.
Soon after the Peace Corps was created, another program was announced. The purpose of the Alliance for Progress was to provide economic aid for ten years to nations in Latin America. Another thing that Kennedy had talked about during the election campaign was the space program. He believed the United States should continue to explore outer space. The Soviet Union had gotten there first. It launched the world's first satellite in nineteen fifty-seven. Then, in April nineteen sixty-one, the Soviet Union sent the first manned spacecraft into orbit around earth. That same month, the new American president suffered a foreign policy failure. On April seventeenth, more than one thousand Cuban exiles landed on a beach in western Cuba.
They had received training and equipment from the United States Central Intelligence Agency. They were supposed to lead a revolution to overthrow the communist government of Fidel Castro. The place where they landed was Bahia de Cochinos -- the Bay of Pigs. The invasion failed. Most of the exiles were killed or captured. It was not Kennedy's idea to try to start a revolution in Cuba. Officials in the last administration of Dwight Eisenhower had planned it. However, most of Kennedy's advisers supported the idea. And he approved it. In public, the president said he was responsible for the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion. In private, he said "All my life I've known better than to depend on the experts. How could I have been so stupid." What happened in Cuba damaged John Kennedy's popularity. His next months in office would be a struggle to regain the support of the people. That will be our story next week.
重点解析
1.be unable to 不会；不能做某事
Many families on low incomes will be unable to afford to buy their own home.
许多低收入家庭将会买不起自己的房子。
2.find out 认为……理所当然；视为当然
I need to find out who tried to frame me.
我得找出是谁企图诬陷我。
3.instead of 替代；取代
We did the logo in lower-case letters instead of capitals.
我们的徽标用了小写字母，没用大写。
4.less than 不到；小于
The marriage had lasted for less than two years.
这段婚姻维持了不到两年。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目，我是史蒂夫·恩伯。我们本周的故事，从1961年1月20日开始讲起，约翰·菲茨杰拉德·肯尼迪在这一天出任美国总统。就在前一天的晚上，下了大雪。华盛顿街上的汽车很少。离任的总统德怀特·艾森豪威尔今年70岁，约翰·肯尼迪只有43岁，他是在20世纪出生的第一位美国总统。艾森豪威尔和肯尼迪都曾在第二次世界大战中服役，艾森豪威尔曾任欧洲盟军司令。肯尼迪曾是太平洋地区的一名年轻海军军官。他来自马萨诸塞州波士顿市一个有政治影响力的家庭，但他在国家政治场中才崭露头角。对于数百万的美国人来说，他代表着一个崭新的起点。但是，并非所有人都喜欢他。许多人认为他太年轻，无法当总统。其他人则不喜欢选举出该国第一位罗马天主教总统这个想法。
艾森豪威尔的副总统理查德·尼克松在1960年的选举中，与肯尼迪竞争。许多人认为，尼克松与肯尼迪相比，是共产主义更强大的反对者。1961年的选举，是美国历史上票数最接近的选举之一。肯尼迪以不到12万张选票的优势击败了尼克松。现在，在国会大厦的台阶上，他将宣誓出任美国第35任总统。开幕式上的一位演讲者是86岁的诗人罗伯特·弗罗斯特。风吹佛着他手中的纸，阳光照耀着地面上的雪，反射进他的眼中。肯尼迪站起来帮助他。但是，这位著名的诗人无法读出他特意为这次典礼撰写的诗歌。取而代之的是，他开始诵读出记忆中的一首诗。下面是由罗伯特·弗罗斯特录制的诗歌。全心的奉献：土地先属于我们，我们才属于土地。她成为我们的土地历一百余年，我们才成为她的人民。当时，她属于我们，在马萨诸塞，在弗吉尼亚，但我们属于英国，仍是殖民之身，我们拥有的，我们仍漠不关心，我们关心的，我们已不再拥有。我们保留的一些什么使自己贫弱，直到我们发现，原来是我们自己，保留着，不肯给自己生息之地，立刻，在献身之中找到了生机。赤裸裸地，我们全心将自己奉献，（献身的事迹是多次的战迹）献身与斯土，斯土浑沦正拓展，向西，但迄未经人述说，朴实无华，未加渲染。当时她如此，且预示她仍将如是。
很快该由新总统讲话了，他和周围的许多人不同，既没穿冬衣，也没戴帽子。肯尼迪谈论的一个问题是他所谓的“致命原子”的危险，他在美苏冷战期间就任总统。双方都拥有原子弹，人们担心第三次世界大战会以核毁灭告终。肯尼迪表示，双方应该就核武器的检查和控制提出严肃的建议。他说，他们应该探索科学方面的益处，而不是感到恐惧。“让我们一起探索星空、征服沙漠、根除疾病、挖掘海洋深处、鼓励艺术和商业......让双方共同开启新的尝试，不是新的力量平衡，而是一个全新的法律世界，在这个世界里强者是公正的，弱者是安全的，和平受到维护。”肯尼迪还谈到一把领导火炬正在传递给新一代美国人，他敦促年轻人接过这把火炬，为未来承担责任，还敦促其他国家与美国合作，创造更美好的世界。
“我们为这一努力所带来的能量、信念和奉献精神，将照亮我们的国家和为之服务的所有人——而那火焰的光芒能真正照亮世界。所以，我的美国同胞们：不要问你们的国家能为你们做些什么——要问你们能为国家做些什么。我的世界公民们：不要问美国会为你们做些什么，而要问我们一起能为人类的自由做些什么。”约翰·肯尼迪上任不到两周，苏联就释放了两名美国飞行员。苏联人在白令海上空击落了他们的间谍飞机，大约六千万人观看了肯尼迪宣布释放飞行员的仪式。这是美国首次通过电视，直播总统的新闻发布会。肯尼迪欣然接受释放飞行员这一行为，认为这是朝着改善与苏联关系迈出的一步。次月，苏联领导人尼基塔·赫鲁晓夫在改善双方关系方面又迈进了一步。他给肯尼迪发出一个口信，表示裁军对全世界来说都是一件乐事。几周后，肯尼迪总统宣布成立和平部队。他在竞选期间谈到了他的想法，和平部队将派遣数千名美国人，到发展中国家任教并提供技术援助。
和平部队成立不久，他又宣布了另一项计划。进步联盟的目的，是向拉丁美洲国家提供十年的经济援助。肯尼迪在竞选期间谈论的另一件事是太空计划，他认为美国应该继续探索外层空间。苏联在这方面领先一筹，于1957年发射了世界上第一颗卫星。随后，在1961年4月，苏联发射第一艘载人飞船进入环绕地球的轨道。同月，美国新总统在外交政策上遭遇失败。4月17日，一千多名古巴流亡者登陆古巴西部的海滩。
他们接受过美国中央情报局的训练和装备。他们预谋领导一场革命，推翻菲德尔·卡斯特罗的共产主义政府。他们登陆的地方是猪湾。这次入侵失败了，大多数流亡者被杀害或俘虏。在古巴发动革命不是肯尼迪的主意，德怀特·艾森豪威尔上届政府的官员已经计划好了。然而，肯尼迪的大多数顾问支持该想法。于是，他也表示同意。在公开场合，总统说他对猪湾入侵的失败负有责任。私下里，他表示：“我终其一生都明白，不必依赖专家。我怎么会这么蠢。”在古巴发生的事件损害了约翰·肯尼迪的声望。他在未来数月的执政，将是一场争取人民支持的斗争。这将是我们下期节目要讲述的故事。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
