(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Imagine that you are visiting the United States. What would you expect to see? In the nineteen fifties, America was a nation that believed it was on the edge of nuclear war. It was a nation where the popular culture of television was gaining strength. It was a nation whose population was growing as never before. After the terrible suffering of World War Two, Americans thought the world would be peaceful for awhile. By nineteen fifty, however, political tensions were high again. The United States and the Soviet Union, allies in war, had become enemies. The communists had taken control of one east European nation after another. And Soviet leader Josef Stalin made it clear that he wanted communists to rule the world.The Soviet Union had strengthened its armed forces after the war. The United States had taken many steps to disarm. Yet it still possessed the atomic bomb. America thought it, alone, had this terrible weapon. In nineteen forty-nine, a United States Air Force plane discovered strange conditions in the atmosphere. What was causing them? The answer came quickly: the Soviet Union had exploded an atomic bomb. The race was on. The two nations competed to build weapons of mass destruction. Would these weapons ever be used? The American publication, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, always showed a picture of a clock. By nineteen forty-nine, the time on the clock was three minutes before midnight. That meant the world was on the edge of nuclear destruction. The atomic scientists were afraid of what science had produced. They were even more afraid of what science could produce.
In nineteen-fifty, North Korea invaded South Korea. The Korean conflict increased efforts in the United States to develop a weapon more deadly than an atomic bomb. That was the hydrogen bomb. The Soviets were developing such a weapon, too. Many Americans were afraid. Some built what they hoped would be safe rooms in or near their homes. They planned to hide in these bomb shelters during a nuclear attack. Other Americans, however, grew tired of being afraid. In nineteen fifty-two, the military hero of World War Two, Dwight Eisenhower, was elected president. The economy improved. Americans looked to the future with hope. One sign of hope was the baby boom. This was the big increase in the number of babies born after the war. The number of young children in America jumped from twenty-four million to thirty-five million between nineteen fifty and nineteen sixty.
The bigger families needed houses. In ninetee fifty alone, one million four hundred thousand houses were built in America. Most new houses were in the suburbs, the areas around cities. People moved to the suburbs because they thought the schools there were better. They also liked having more space for their children to play. Many Americans remember the nineteen fifties as the fad years. A fad is something that is extremely popular for a very short time one fad from the nineteen fifties was the Hula Hoop. The Hula Hoop was a colorful plastic tube joined to form a big circle. To play with it, you moved your hips in a circular motion. This kept it spinning around your body. The motion was like one used by Polynesian people in their native dance, the hula. Other fads in the nineteen fifties involved clothes or hair. Some women, for example, cut and fixed their hair to look like the fur of a poodle dog. Actress Mary Martin made the poodle cut famous when she appeared in the Broadway play, "South Pacific."
In motion pictures, Marilyn Monroe was becoming famous. Not everyone thought she was a great actress. But she had shining golden hair. And she had what was considered a perfect body. Marilyn Monroe's success did not make her happy. She killed herself in the nineteen sixties, when she was thirty-six years old. Another famous actor of those days was James Dean. To many Americans, he was the living representation of the rebellious spirit of the young. In fact, one of his films was called, "Rebel Without a Cause." James Dean died in a car accident in nineteen fifty-five. He was twenty-four. The nineteen fifties saw a rebellion in American literature. As part of society lived new lives in the suburbs, another part criticized this life. These were the writers and poets of the Beat generation, including Gregory Corso, Jack Kerouac, and Allen Ginsberg. They said life was empty in nineteen-fifties America. They described the people as dead in brain and spirit.
Jackson Pollock represented the rebellion in art. Pollock did not paint things the way they looked. Instead, he dropped paint onto his pictures in any way he pleased. He was asked again and again: "What do your paintings mean?" He answered: "Do not worry about what they mean. They are just there ... like flowers." In music, the rebel was Elvis Presley. He was the king of rock-and-roll. Elvis Presley was a twenty-one-year-old truck driver when he sang on television for the first time. He moved his body to the music in a way that many people thought was too sexual. Parents and religious leaders criticized him. Young people screamed for more. They could not get enough rock-and-roll. They played it on records. They heard it on the radio. And they listened to it on the television program "American Bandstand." This program became the most popular dance party in America. Every week, young men and women danced to the latest songs in front of the television cameras.During the nineteen forties, there were only a few television receivers in American homes. Some called television an invention for stupid people to watch. By the end of the nineteen fifties, however, television was here to stay. The average family watched six hours a day. Americans especially liked games shows and funny shows with comedians such as Milton Berle and Lucille Ball. They also liked shows that offered a mix of entertainment, such as those presented by Arthur Godfrey and Ed Sullivan. People from other countries watching American television in the nineteen fifties might have thought that all Americans were white Christians. At that time, television failed to recognize that America was a great mix of races and religions.
Few members of racial or religious minorities were represented on television. Those who appeared usually were shown working for white people. A movement for civil rights for black Americans was beginning to gather strength in the nineteen fifties. Many legal battles were fought to end racial separation, especially in America's schools. By the nineteen sixties, the civil rights movement would shake the nation. Dwight Eisenhower was president for most of the nineteen fifties. He faced the problems of communism, the threat of nuclear war, and racial tensions. He had a calm way of speaking. And he always seemed to deal with problems in the same calm way. Some citizens felt he was like a father to the nation. With Mister Eisenhower in the White House, they believed that even in a dark and dangerous world, everything would be all right.重点解析
1.weapons of mass destruction 大规模杀伤性武器
The Chinese have expressed their desire to stem the proliferation of missiles and WMD, and we are heartened by recent steps taken in the right direction.
中国人已经表态，将阻止导弹和大规模杀伤性武器的扩散，同时中方近期采取的一些正确措施也让我们感到鼓舞。
2.hydrogen bomb 氢弹
In 1953, the Soviet Union publicly acknowledged it had tested a hydrogen bomb.
1953年，苏联在舆论上公开他们研制了一个氢弹！
3.rebellious spirit 反叛精神
At the movies, some films captured the rebellious spirit of the times. These included "The Graduate" and "Doctor Strangelove. "
而在电影方面，一些影片抓住了当时人们的反叛精神，比如电影“毕业生”和“奇爱博士”。
4.civil rights 民事权利
The civil rights bill carried by a large majority.
公民权利法案获得大多数同意而通过。
5.Broadway 百老汇
Plug your ears and this could be Broadway.
塞上耳朵吧，这就是百老汇的方式。
参考译文
如果你正在访问美国，你期待看到什么？20世纪50年代，美国认为自己处于核战争边缘。美国的电视流行文化正在崛起，人口以前所未有的速度增长。在经历了第二次世界大战的痛苦之后，美国人认为世界和平将会持续一段时间。1950年，政治紧张局势再次高涨。战争中的盟友——美国和苏联反目成仇。共产党人控制了一个又一个东欧国家。苏联领导人斯大林明确表示，他希望共产党人统治世界。战后，苏联加强了武装力量，美国采取了许多措施解除苏联的武装。然而美国继续拥有原子弹。美国认为只有自己国家拥有这种可怕的武器。1949年，一架美国空军飞机在大气层中发现了奇怪的现象。什么原因造成的？答案很快浮出水面：苏联引爆了一颗原子弹。军备竞赛开始了，两国竞相制造大规模杀伤性武器，这些武器会被人们使用吗？美国的《原子科学家公报》总是刊登时钟的图片。1949年，时钟的时间定格在午夜前3分钟。这意味着世界处于核毁灭的边缘。原子科学家害怕已经研发的科学成果。他们甚至更害怕科学会带来什么。1950年，朝鲜入侵韩国。朝鲜战争使得美国加倍努力研发比原子弹更致命的武器。他们研发的是氢弹，苏联也在研发这种武器。很多美国人都胆战心惊。一些人在房子里或附近建造安全屋。他们计划在核袭击时躲进这些避难室，然而，其他美国人却厌倦了这种惶恐不安的感觉。1952年，二战军事英雄德怀特•艾森豪威尔当选总统，经济出现好转，美国人对未来充满了希望，其中一个迹象是婴儿潮的出现，战后婴儿出生人数大增。1950年到1960年间，美国幼儿人数从2400万增至3500万。人口较多的家庭需要房子，仅在1950年，美国就建造了一百四十万所房子。大多数新房子都建在郊区，也就是城市周边地区。人们搬到了郊区，因为他们认为郊区的学校更好。他们也喜欢为孩子们提供更多的玩乐空间，许多美国人把20世纪50年代看作是时尚的年代。
20世纪50年代，呼啦圈流行一时。呼啦圈是一个大圆圈，由五颜六色的塑料管连接而成，玩游戏时，臀部做圆周运动。运动时，呼啦圈在身体周围旋转。这种运动和波利尼西亚人本土舞蹈——草裙舞类似。20世纪50年代，其他时尚还包括衣服和发型。例如，一些女性把头发做成卷发造型。女演员玛丽•马丁在百老汇戏剧《南太平洋》中以卷式发型而出名。在电影中，玛丽莲•梦露逐渐名声大振，并不是每个人都认为她演技很好，而是她有一头闪亮金发，人们认为她有着完美曲线的身材，玛丽莲•梦露对自己的成功并没有很开心。20世纪60年代，36岁的玛丽莲•梦露自杀。当时另一位著名演员是詹姆斯•迪恩。对许多美国人来说，他是年轻人叛逆精神的鲜活代表。事实上，詹姆斯•迪恩出演了一部电影叫做《无因的叛逆》，1955年，詹姆斯•迪恩因车祸去世，时年24岁。20世纪50年代，美国文学出现反叛。因为社会上一部分人在郊区过着新生活，另一部分人批判他们过的生活。这些人是垮掉一代的作家和诗人，包括格雷戈里•科索、杰克•凯鲁亚克和艾伦•金斯伯格。他们声称，20世纪50年代，美国人民的生活空虚寂寞，他们的脑子和精神都已死去，如行尸走肉一般。杰克逊•波洛克是艺术反叛的代表，波洛克画画的方式和常人不同，相反，他将颜料泼洒在画上，怎么高兴怎么来，人们反复问道：“你画的是什么意思？”波洛克回答说：“不要为画意烦恼，他们就在那儿…像花。音乐界的叛逆者是埃尔维斯•普雷斯利，他是摇滚之王。当埃尔维斯•普雷斯利第一次在电视上唱歌时，他还是一个21岁的卡车司机。随着音乐响起，他的身体摆动，许多人认为他舞动的太过性感。父母和宗教人士批评他，年轻人更多的是尖叫，不尽兴。他们播放他的唱片，在收音机里收听他的歌，在电视节目“美国音乐台”观看他的节目。“美国音乐台”成为最受欢迎的舞会。每周，年轻男女都会在电视摄像机前随着最新的歌曲跳舞。
20世纪40年代，美国家庭只有为数不多的几个电视接收器。一些人称电视为愚人发明的，20世纪50年代末，电视仍然存在。每个家庭平均每天观看6个小时。美国人特别喜欢与米尔顿•伯利和露西尔•鲍尔等喜剧演员合作的游戏节目和搞笑节目。他们也喜欢娱乐节目，比如阿瑟•戈弗雷和埃德•沙利文的节目。20世纪50年代，其他国家的人们在观看美国电视节目时可能会认为所有美国人都是白人基督徒。当时，电视没有意识到美国是种族和宗教的大杂烩。很少有种族或宗教群体出现在电视上。那些出现的人通常都是为白人工作。20世纪50年代，美国黑人民权运动开始发展壮大。为了结束种族隔离，特别是在美国的学校，人们进行了许多法律斗争。20世纪60年代，民权运动在全国愈演愈烈。20世纪50年代，德怀特•艾森豪威尔当选美国总统。艾森豪威尔面临着共产主义、核战争威胁和种族矛盾问题，他说话很平静，似乎总是以同样冷静的方式处理问题。一些公民认为他就像国家的父亲一样。艾森豪威尔入住白宫后，人们相信即使身处黑暗危险的世界，一切都会好起来的。译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
