(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.outgoing 即将离职的
She arrived to receive the sash of office from the outgoing president.
她走上前去从即将离职的总统手中接过了就职腰带。
2.run against 与…竞选
McGovern started to run against nixon.
麦戈文开始与尼克松竞选。
3.swear in 使宣誓就职
Mary Robinson was formally sworn in as Ireland's first woman president.
玛丽·鲁宾逊正式宣誓就职爱尔兰的首任女总统。
4.inauguration 就职典礼
We are only a month away from the inauguration of a new president.
我们离新总统就职只有一个月了。
5.endeavor 努力
We made an earnest endeavor to persuade her.
我们郑重其事地努力说服她。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语栏目《建国史话》。我是史蒂夫·恩贝尔。本周的故事开始于1961年1月20日，那一天约翰·费茨杰拉德·肯尼迪成为了美国总统。前一天大雪纷飞。华盛顿街上的没几辆车。即将离职的总统德怀特·艾森豪威尔那时已经70岁了。而约翰·肯尼迪只有43岁。他是首个出生于20世纪的美国总统。艾森豪威尔和肯尼迪都参加过二战。艾森豪威尔是同盟军在欧洲战场上的指挥官。肯尼迪是太平洋战场上的一位年轻的海军军官。他来自马萨诸塞州波士顿的一个颇具政治影响力的家庭，但是他在国内政治中却是个新面孔。
对百万美国人而言，他就代表着重新开始的一次机遇。但并非所有人都喜欢他。很多人认为他太年轻了担不起总统一职。其他人不喜欢选举国内首位天主教徒总统的想法。
艾森豪威尔的副总统理查德·尼克松在1960年与肯尼迪竞选总统。很多人都认为尼克松是一位比肯尼迪还要强硬的共产主义反对者。1960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12万票的差距击败尼克松。现在，在美国国会大厦的台阶上，他将宣誓就职美国第35为总统。就职典礼上的发言人之一就是86岁的诗人罗伯特·弗罗斯特。风吹动他手中的演讲稿，太阳照射在雪地里，又反射进他的眼睛里。肯尼迪要帮他。但是这位著名的诗人无法读这首诗，这是他为了这场典礼而特别准备的。
他开始念出另一首记忆中的诗篇。以下是罗伯特·弗罗斯特朗读《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，在佛吉尼亚，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）献身于斯土，斯土正浑沦拓展，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。
很快到了新总统演讲的时刻。和周围很多人不一样，他没有穿冬衣，也没戴帽子。肯尼迪谈到的问题之一是关于“致命原子弹”的危险。他在美国和苏联冷战期间就职总统。双方都有原子弹。人们担心会出现第三次世界大战并以核毁灭而收场。肯尼迪说双方应该对核武器的监察和管控制定严厉提案。他说他们应该探索科技美好的一面而非制造恐怖。“让我们共同探索太空、征服荒漠、消除疾病、开发海洋的深处、鼓励艺术和贸易... 让我们共同做出努力，这不是追求新的权力均衡，而是建立一个新的法治世界，在那世界上强者公正，弱者安全，和平在握。”
肯尼迪还谈到将领导火炬传递给新一代的美国人。他敦促年轻人拿起火炬并担负未来的责任。他还力劝其他国家同美国一起创造更美好的世界。“我们在这场努力中所献出的精力、信念与虔诚、将照亮我们的国家以及所有为国家服务的人，而从这一火焰所聚出的光辉必能照明全世界。所以，同胞们：不要问你们的国家能为你们做些什么，而要问你们能为国家做些什么。全世界的公民：不要问美国愿为你们做些什么，而应问我们在一起能为人类的自由做些什么。 ”
约翰·肯尼迪任职不到两周，苏联就释放了两名美国飞行员。苏联在白令海击落他们的侦察机。肯尼迪宣布飞行员被释放，约六千万人观看直播。在美国，这是首次在电视上直播总统记者招待会。肯尼迪对此次释放表示欢迎，并将此当做两国关系缓和的一步。第二个月，苏联领导人尼基塔·赫鲁晓夫又为改善两国关系迈出一步。他向肯尼迪传递了一条信息。这条消息是，对世界人民而言，裁军是个一件大乐事。几周后，肯尼迪总统宣布美国和平部队成立。他在竞选时就谈到过这个想法。美国和平部队将数千名美国人送至发展中国家为他们提供科技援助。美国和平部队成立后不久，又宣布了另一个项目。进步联盟的目的在于为拉美国家提供为期十年的经济援助。
竞选期间肯尼迪谈过的另一件事是太空计划。他认为美国应该继续探索外太空。苏联首先登陆了外太空。苏联在1957年发射了世界首枚卫星。然后在1961年4月，苏联首个载人飞船进入轨道。同月，新任美国总统遭遇了一场外交政策失败。4月17日，一千多名古巴流犯登陆古巴西部的一个海滩。他们在美国中央情报局接受过训练并从那获得了一些设备。他们被要求领导革命推翻菲德尔·卡斯特罗的共产主义政府。他们登陆的地方是猪猡湾。他们的入侵失败了。大部分流犯被杀或被捕。在古巴进行革命并非肯尼迪的想法。上一届德怀特·艾森豪威尔政府的官员们策划了此次事件。但是肯尼迪的很多顾问都支持这个想法。他也批准了该计划。总统当众表示他对猪猡湾入侵事件的失败负责。但私下里，他说：“我一辈子都很聪明，知道不能依赖那些所谓的专家，这次我怎么如此糊涂了。”这次事件损害了肯尼迪的形象，他支持率下降。在接下来的几个月中他将尽力重获民众对他的支持。下周我们将讲述这部分的内容。
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