听力文本

All the colored people in the United States to-day are descended from these black slaves who were brought from Africa. Many people in our country thought these poor slaves, whose fathers and grandfathers had been stolen away from their homes in Africa, should be sent back to their own land. So when Monroe was President of the United States some of our colored people who had been set free and wanted to go “home” were put on a ship and sent back. Home was Home—even if it was a jungle. There they started this little country called Liberia, which means “Land of Liberty.” They named their capital Monrovia after President Monroe and named some of their villages after great cities here. Two of their villages they called New York and Philadelphia, although there are but a few hundred people in them. Instead of trying to forget the land where they had beenenslaved they imitated it.
As you go farther south in Africa you reach the Equator. This is half-way land between the North and South Poles, and the second greatest river in Africa, called the Congo, runs through it. In this part of Africa it is hot and rainy every month in the year. Things grow and keep on growing. Grass grows as high as a room. Vines and trees and everything else grow so thick, so close together, and in such a tangle that one can hardlyget through them. It is something like that other Equator land—in South America—the Selvas.

参考译文

今天美国的所有黑人都是过去从非洲带来的这些黑人奴隶的后代。许多美国人认为，这些可怜奴隶的父亲和祖父是从非洲的家园被偷来的，应该将他们送回他们的故土。于是，在门罗当总统期间（美国第五任总统），一些恢复了自由并想“回家”的黑人就被送上船，回到非洲。家就是家——即使它是一片丛林。他们在那儿建立这个名叫利比里亚的小国家，“利比里亚”意思是“自由之地”。他们以总统门罗的名字把首都命名为“蒙罗维亚”，并以美国一些大城市的名字给自己的一些村庄命名，其中有两个村庄分别叫“纽约”和“费城”，尽管村子里只有几百人。他们不是试图忘掉他们曾经受奴役的地方，反倒要仿效那里的一切。
从利比里亚再往南走，就到了赤道，赤道是离南北两极距离相等的地方，非洲的第二大河叫刚果河，就流经此处。非洲的这块地方终年炎热，每个月都下雨，所以植物很容易生长，不停地生长。草长得和房子一样高。各种藤本植物和树，以及其他一切植物都长得极为茂盛，密密匝匝地纠缠在一起，人很难穿过。这里很像另一个赤道地区——在南美洲——亚马孙河沿岸的热带雨林。