(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English by the Voice of America.
Vice President Harry Truman was at the Senate. But he was not interested in the debate. He spent most of his time writing a letter to his mother and sister back in the state of Missouri. When the debate finished, he went to the office of House leader Rayburn to join him for a drink. It was an afternoon Truman would never forget. Rayburn and his other friend were talking in the office before Truman arrived. Suddenly the telephone rang. It was the White House. A voice asked whether Vice President Truman had arrived yet. "No," Rayburn replied. "Tell him to call the White House," the voice said, "as soon as he gets there."
Truman entered a minute later. He immediately called the White House. As he talked, his face became white. He put down the phone and raced out the door to find his car. Truman arrived at the White House within minutes. An assistant took him up to the private living area for the president. Missus Roosevelt was waiting for him there. "Harry," she said to Truman, "the president is dead." Truman was shocked. He asked Missus Roosevelt if there was anything he could do to help her. But her reply made clear to him that his own life had suddenly changed. "Is there anything we can do for you?" Missus Roosevelt asked the new president. "You are the one in trouble now." Within hours, the world knew the news. Franklin Roosevelt was dead. Americans were shocked and afraid. Roosevelt had led them since early nineteen thirty-three. He was the only president many young Americans had ever known. Who would lead them now.
The answer was Harry Truman, the vice president. Truman had been a surprise choice for vice president. Delegates at the Democratic presidential convention of nineteen forty-four chose him to be with Roosevelt only after considering several other candidates. Roosevelt and Truman easily defeated their Republican Party opponents. And, when Roosevelt died, Truman became president. Truman lacked the fame, the rich family, and the strong speaking voice of Franklin Roosevelt. He was a much simpler man. He grew up in the central state of Missouri. Truman only studied through high school and some night-time law school classes. He worked for many years as a farmer and a small businessman, but without much success.
Truman had long been interested in politics. When he was almost forty years old, he finally won several low-level jobs in his home state. By nineteen thirty-four, he was popular enough in the state to be nominated and elected to the United States Senate. And he won re-election six years later. Most Americans, however, knew little about Truman when he became president. They knew he had close ties to the Democratic Party political machine in his home state. But they also had heard that he was a very honest man. They could see that Truman had strongly supported President Roosevelt's "New Deal" programs. But they could not be sure what kind of president Truman would become.
History gave Truman little time to learn about his new job. In one of his first weeks as president, Truman signed a paper on his desk without reading it completely. Only later did he learn that his signing the paper had stopped the shipment of American goods to Britain under the "lend-lease" program. Truman's mistake caused problems for people in both the United States and Britain. But it also taught the new president how much power he now had, and how carefully he must use it. The most important power he now possessed was the power of atomic weapons. And, soon after he became president, he faced the decision to use that terrible power or not.Truman understood the tragic importance of using atomic bombs to end World War Two. Yet he firmly believed that using such bombs was the only way to force Japan to surrender. So in August, nineteen forty-five, he gave the orders to drop atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The war in Europe had ended several months earlier. Truman met in Potsdam, Germany, with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin to plan the peace. The three leaders agreed that their nations and France would occupy Germany jointly. They also agreed to end the Nazi party in Germany, to hold trials for Nazi war criminals, and to break up some German businesses.
Foreign ministers of the Allied nations later negotiated peace treaties with Germany's wartime allies and other countries, including Italy, Hungary, and Romania. The east European nations all agreed to protect the political and economic freedom of their citizens. However, western political experts were becoming more fearful each day that the Soviet Union would block any effort for real democracy in eastern Europe. Truman did not trust the soviets. And as he made plans for Asia, he promised himself that he would not allow Moscow any part in controlling Japan. For this reason, the Allied occupation of Japan was mainly American.
The United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, and the other Allies had formed the United Nations as a wartime organization. But soon after Truman took office, they met in San Francisco to discuss ways to make the United Nations a permanent organization for peace. At the same time, many of the world's economic experts were meeting to organize a new economic system for the world. They created the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to help nations rebuild their economies. At the center of all the action was Harry Truman. It was not long before he showed Americans and the world that he had the ability to be a good president. He was honest, strong, and willing to make decisions.
"I was sworn-in one night and the next morning I had to get right to the job at hand," Truman remembered years later. "I was afraid. But, of course, I didn't let anybody know that. And I knew that I would not be called on to do anything that I was not able to do. That's something I learned from reading history. "People in the past have had much bigger problems. Somehow, the best of them just went ahead and did what they had to do. And they usually did all right. "The job I had in the White House was not so very different from other jobs," Truman said. "I didn't let it worry me. Worrying never does you any good. So I have never worried about things much. "You have been listening to THE MAKING OF A NATION, a program in Special English by the Voice of America. Your narrators have been Harry Monroe and Rich Kleinfeldt. Our program was written by David Jarmul. The Voice of America invites you to listen again next week to THE MAKING OF A NATION.
重点解析1.possess控制；使掌握
It is illegal to possess rifles in some states.
在一些州持有来福枪是违法的
2.criminal 罪犯
The criminal was hanged.
那个罪犯被绞死。
3.Republican Party 共和党
The Republican Party will run Johnson for President.
共和党将提出让约翰逊竞选总统。
4.International Monetary Fund 国际货币基金组织
Currencies are considered part of a country’s monetary sovereignty, to be dealt with, if atall, by the International Monetary Fund.
货币体系被当做是属于一个国家的货币主权的部分，至少国际货币基金组织是这么看待的。
5.United Nations 联合国
China is a founding member of the United Nations.
中国是联合国的创始会员国之一
参考译文
《建国史话》——VOA慢速英语节目。1945年4月12日雨天的下午，国会众议院早早地结束了工作。众议院民主党领袖萨姆•雷伯恩(Sam Rayburn) 从椅子上站起来，邀请一位朋友到他的办公室来喝一杯“五点左右到那儿，”雷伯恩说。“哈里•杜鲁门准备过来。”第二次世界大战还没有结束，但那是华盛顿安静的午后。富兰克林•罗斯福总统在乔治亚州。他最近刚结束雅尔塔之行，会见了英国首相温斯顿•丘吉尔和前苏联领导人约瑟夫•斯大林，现在正在休息。总统的妻子埃莉诺(Eleanor)当时正在白宫发表讲话，致力于支持新的联合国组织。副总统哈里•杜鲁门在参议院，但他对这场辩论不感兴趣。他大部分时间都在给密苏里州的母亲和妹妹写信。辩论结束后，他到众议院领袖雷伯恩的办公室去喝一杯。杜鲁门永远不会忘记那个下午。杜鲁门到来之前，雷伯恩和他的另一个朋友在办公室里说话，突然电话铃响了。电话来自白宫，一个声音问副总统杜鲁门是否已经到达。“没有到，”雷伯恩答道。“让他打电话给白宫，”那个声音说。“一到那儿就开始打。”一分钟后，杜鲁门走了进来。他立即打电话给白宫，说话时，脸色变得苍白。他放下电话，跑出门去找他的车。几分钟内杜鲁门到达了白宫，助理带他到私人居住区去见总统。罗斯福太太在那儿等他。“哈里，”她对杜鲁门说，“总统去世了。”
杜鲁门惊呆了，他问罗斯福夫人自己有什么可以帮助她的。但她的回复让他明确，他的生活突然改变了。“我们能为您做点什么吗?”罗斯福太太问新总统。“你现在有麻烦了。”几个小时后，全世界都知道了这个消息，富兰克林•罗斯福去世了，美国人震惊害怕。自1933年初以来，罗斯福一直领导美国，他是许多年轻美国人所知道的唯一总统。现在谁来领导他们，答案是副总统哈里•杜鲁门。杜鲁门当上副总统属于意外之选。1944年的民主党总统大选上，委员们在考虑了其他几个候选人之后才选择了罗斯福。罗斯福和杜鲁门轻松击败了他们的共和党对手，而且，当罗斯福去世时，杜鲁门就担任总统。杜鲁门名气不大，家庭不富裕，演讲也没有富兰克林•罗斯福那样掷地有声，他比罗斯福简单得多。杜鲁门在密苏里州中部长大，只上到高中，学习过一些夜校法学院的课程。他做了多年的农民和小商人，但没有取得多大的成功。杜鲁门一直对政治感兴趣，在他近不惑之年时，终于在家乡的州赢得了几份低级别的工作。
到了1934年，他在家乡的州颇受欢迎，提名并当选为美国参议院议员。六年后他再次当选，然而杜鲁门执政时，大多数美国民众对其知之甚少。他们知道，杜鲁门与他家乡州的民主党政治集团关系密切。但他们也听说杜鲁门是一个非常诚实的人，他们看到杜鲁门强烈支持罗斯福总统的“新政”计划。但他们不确定杜鲁门会成为什么样的总统。历史没有给杜鲁门多少时间去了解他的新工作。在他就任总统的第一个星期，杜鲁门在桌子上签了一份文件，但没有看完。直到后来，他才知道，文件的内容是，根据“租借”计划，美国停止向英国运送货物。因为杜鲁门的错误，英美两国人民都面临着麻烦。但这件事也让杜鲁门总统认识到，自己现在拥有多大的权力，必须谨地使用。他现在拥有的最重要的力量是核武器。并且，上任后不久，他就面临着决定是否使用这种可怕的力量。杜鲁门明白原子弹的悲剧性以及使用它结束第二次世界大战的重要性。他坚信这是迫使日本投降的唯一途径。因此，1945年8月，他下令向日本广岛和长崎投放原子弹。
几个月前，欧洲的战争就已经结束了，杜鲁门与英国首相温斯顿•丘吉尔和前苏联领导人约瑟夫•斯大林在德国波茨坦商讨和平计划。三位领导人一致认为，美、英、苏、法将共同占领德国。他们还同意消灭德国的纳粹党，对纳粹战犯进行审判，并解散一些德国企业。后来，盟国的外交部长与德国的战时盟国以及其他国家包括意大利、匈牙利和罗马尼亚签订了和平条约。东欧国家都同意保护本国公民的政治和经济自由。然而，西方政治家日益担心，前苏联将阻止东欧实现真正民主。杜鲁门不信任前苏联，在制定亚洲计划时，他承诺不会让莫斯科参与控制日本。因此，军事占领日本的同盟国主要是美国。美国在日本的领导人道格拉斯•麦克阿瑟将军迅速采取行动，对日本的战争罪行进行了一系列的审判。他还发起了一系列改革，推动日本成为现代化的西方民主国家。妇女有投票权，农民分割土地，日本神道教最终成为国教。教育体系进行了重组。日本很快就开始复苏，日本作为经济强国比以往任何时候都更加强大。
当杜鲁门和其他世界领导人处理和平问题时，他们还试图建立一个维持和平的新制度。联合国作为战时组织，由美国、前苏联、英国和其他盟国组成。但是杜鲁门上任后不久，联合国成员在旧金山会面，讨论如何使联合国成为永久的和平组织。与此同时，世界上许多经济学家召开会议，组织新的世界经济体系。他们创建了世界银行和国际货币基金组织，帮助各国实现经济复苏。哈里•杜鲁门总统是所有这些行动的核心。不久，他就向美国人民和全世界表明，他有能力成为一名优秀的总统。他诚实、坚强，乐于做出决定。“晚上宣誓就职，第二天早上我必须立即着手手头的工作，”多年后，杜鲁门回忆道。“我很害怕。但是，当然我没有让任何人知道这一点。我知道我不会被要求做任何我不能做的事情。这是我读历史学到的。”过去，人们遇到的问题更难，最优秀的人只会继续前进，做自己该做的。他们通常都做得很好。“白宫的工作与其他工作并没有太大的不同，”杜鲁门说道。“我没有担心，担心对你没有任何好处，所以我从不太担心事情。”您正在收听的是VOA慢速英语《建国史话》。播报人哈里·门罗(Harry Monroe)和里奇·克莱因费尔特(Rich Kleinfeldt)，制作人David Jarmul。VOA邀您下周接着收听《建国史话》。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
