(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Today, we tell about the administration of the thirty-eighth president of the United States, Gerald Ford. Gerald Ford was sworn-in as president on August ninth, nineteen seventy-four. The day before, President Richard Nixon had announced that he would resign. If he had not resigned, he probably would have been removed from office. A Congressional investigation had found evidence that Nixon violated the Constitutional rights of the American people during the Watergate case. The new president spoke about Watergate, and what it meant to America, on the day he was sworn-in. "Our long national nightmare is over. Our Constitution works. Our great republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule. ... As we bind up the internal wounds of Watergate -- more painful and more poisonous than those of foreign wars -- let us restore the 'Golden Rule' to our political process and let brotherly love purge our hearts of suspicion and of hate."Gerald Ford became the only president in American history to serve as vice president and president without being elected.
Richard Nixon nominated him for vice president in October, nineteen seventy-three. That was when Nixon's vice president, Spiro Agnew, resigned. When Nixon himself resigned, Ford became president. Ford was a long-time Congressman from the state of Michigan. He was well-liked. He had been a good student and a good athlete. He studied economics and political science at the University of Michigan. The he studied law at Yale University. During World War Two, he served as a Navy officer in the Pacific battle area. After the war, Ford entered politics. He was a member of the Republican Party. He was first elected to Congress in nineteen forty-eight. He won re-election twelve times. Other Republican members of the House of Representatives elected him minority leader during the presidential administration of Democrat Lyndon Johnson. Ford was still minority leader when Republican Richard Nixon was elected president in nineteen sixty-eight. In his leadership position, he helped win approval of a number of Nixon's proposals. He became known for his strong loyalty to the president. It was no surprise, then, that Nixon named Ford vice president. Gerald Ford became president suddenly. Almost as suddenly, he had to decide what to do about former President Nixon. After Nixon left office, he could have been charged with crimes for his part in the Watergate case. Instead, one month after Nixon resigned, President Ford settled the question. He pardoned Nixon of any crimes for which he might have been responsible. The pardon made many Americans angry.
Some believed Nixon should have been put on trial. They thought he might have answered more questions about Watergate if he had not been pardoned. The new president did what he thought was right. He said he pardoned Nixon to end divisions in the country. For a while, however, his action seemed to increase the divisions. Anger about the pardon was still strong when President Ford took another highly disputed action. He pardoned the men who illegally escaped military service in the Vietnam War. Most were not sent to prison. Instead, they were permitted to perform work for their communities. Many of the men did not accept the president's offer, however. They remained in hiding in the United States. Or they remained in other countries where they had fled. President Ford received much better public support when he asked Congress to control and limit the activities of the nation's intelligence agencies. He hoped this would prevent future administrations from interfering with the Constitutional rights of citizens. Other problems also caused trouble for President Ford. As vice president, he had described inflation as America's 'public enemy number one'. He proposed several measures to fight it. As president, he was forced to cancel some of these measures because there was an economic recession. During the recession, inflation decreased.
But fewer Americans had jobs. Unemployment in nineteen seventy-five was at its highest rate since the great economic depression of the nineteen thirties. In foreign policy, Ford usually took the advice of Henry Kissinger. Kissinger served as President Nixon's assistant for national security and as secretary of state. He kept those jobs under President Ford. Kissinger won much praise for his service to Richard Nixon. Yet he received much criticism, too. He was accused of interfering with civil liberties in the name of national security. And he was accused of supporting the overthrow of the leftist government of Salvador Allende in Chile. Still, President Ford was pleased that Kissinger would remain in the administration. Even Kissinger's worst critics admitted that he was excellent negotiator. At the time Ford became president, America's situation in the world was generally hopeful. Former President Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev had signed two agreements to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. Also, relations with China were less tense than before. However, American policy in parts of Southeast Asia had failed completely. American involvement in the Vietnam war officially ended the year before Ford became president.But fighting continued between South Vietnam and communist forces from North Vietnam. The peace agreement signed by the United States and North Vietnam in nineteen seventy-three left South Vietnam to defend itself. By nineteen seventy-five, it became clear that South Vietnamese forces were in danger of defeat. President Ford tried to prevent a total communist take-over of the south. He asked Congress to approve seven hundred-million dollars in military aid for South Vietnam. The American people, however, were tired of paying for the war. Their representatives in Congress said no. What happened in Vietnam was like a bad dream. Communist forces moved into Saigon, capital of the south. Ford ordered the rescue of American citizens and of Vietnamese who had supported American efforts. Few who saw people trying to escape Saigon will ever forget the day. It was April thirtieth, nineteen seventy-five. Terrified Vietnamese were screaming for help at the American embassy. Everyone was pushing, trying to escape. Some who reached the embassy's roof passed their children forward.
At least, they hoped, they could get the children to safety on American military helicopters. Others held on to the helicopters from the outside as the overloaded aircraft tried to take off. The Ford administration also faced trouble in the Middle East. Israel and an alliance of Arab nations had fought two wars in about ten years. After the war of nineteen seventy-three, Henry Kissinger led negotiations to settle some issues. Israel agreed to give up some of the territory it had seized during the fighting. In return, the United States made a promise. It would not recognize or deal with the Palestine Liberation Organization as long as the P-L-O failed to meet certain conditions. In September, nineteen seventy-five, Israel and Egypt signed a ceasefire agreement. They also agreed to permit American civilians to act as observers along the ceasefire lines. Henry Kissinger received widespread praise for his peacemaking efforts. Yet the situation in the Middle East remained tense. The Ford administration could not fix all the problems of the world. Still, as the presidential election campaign of nineteen-seventy-six began, things seemed better. The United States was not fighting any wars. Unemployment was high. But inflation had improved a little. Most important, Gerald Ford had led the country through the difficult days after Watergate. The election will be our story next time.重点解析
1.known for 因…而闻名
As a city known for entertainment and sports, these seemed to be just the right icons.
作为一个知名的娱乐和体育城市，这似乎正是它恰当的肖像。
2.screaming for 尖叫的
A man runs into the vet's office carrying his dog, screaming for help.
一个男人带着他的狗走进动物诊所，哭着向医生求助。
3.took the advice of 听从
Mr. Cook said to a cook, "Look at this cookbook. It's very good. " So the cook took the advice of Mr. Cook and bought the book.
库克先生对一名厨师说：“看这本烹饪书。很不错。”因此厨师接受了库克先生的建议，买了那本书。
4.caused trouble 引起的麻烦
But they said the men were model neighbors who never caused trouble, greeted people courteously on the street and strolled with their children in the fields around their house.
但是邻居们说这俩个人从来不惹任何麻烦是标准的模范邻居。 在街上或和孩子们在房子周围的田野里溜达时碰见邻居们也彬彬有礼。
5.win approval of 获得批准的
"Chinalco is using force to win approval of its project, " Ancietasays.
“中铝在用武力来赢得这项工程的许可，”安奇塔说。
参考译文
今天，我们来谈谈美国第三十八任总统——杰拉尔德·福特。杰拉尔德·福特在1974年8月9日宣誓就职总统。前一天，理查德?尼克松总统宣布他将离任。如果他没有这么做的话，他很可能会被撤职。国会调查发现，尼克松在水门事件中侵犯了美国公民的宪法权利。宣誓就职的那天，这位新总统谈到了水门事件，以及这件事对美国意味着什么。“美国同胞们，我们所经历的漫长噩梦已经结束了。我们的宪法正在发挥作用，我们伟大的共和国是一个以法治国的政体而非以人治国。在这里人民治国，当我们包扎水门事件的国内伤口——比那些国外战争更痛苦更有毒的伤口时——让我们恢复政治过程中的“黄金规则”，并让兄弟之爱净化我们猜疑和憎恨的心灵。”杰拉尔德·福特成为美国历史上未经选举而担任副总统和总统的唯一的一位。1973年10月，理查德?尼克松提名福特为副总统。那时，尼克松的副总统斯皮罗·阿格纽辞职了。尼克松辞职后，福特成为总统。福特是密歇根州的资深国会议员。他很受欢迎，是个好学生，也是名优秀的运动员。他在密歇根大学攻读经济学和政治学，后来在耶鲁大学学习法律。第二次世界大战期间，他在太平洋战区担任海军军官。战后，福特从政，他是一名共和党党员，1948年，福特第一次当选为国会议员，连任12次。在民主党人林登?约翰逊总统执政期间，众议院的其他共和党议员推选福特为少数派领袖。1968年，共和党人理查德?尼克松当选总统时，福特仍是少数派领袖。在其领导下，他帮助批准尼克松的一些提议。他因效忠总统而出名。因此，尼克松任命福特为副总统就不足为奇了。杰拉尔德·福特突然成为总统。几乎同样突然，他不得不决定对前总统尼克松做些什么。尼克松离任后，他可能会因参与水门事件而被指控犯罪。尼克松辞职一个月后，福特总统解决了这个问题。他赦免了尼克松可能要为之负责的任何罪行。这次赦免令许多美国人感到愤怒，一些人认为尼克松应该受到审判。他们认为，如果尼克松不被宽恕，或许会被问出更多有关水门事件的问题。新总统做了他认为正确的事。他说，原谅尼克松，来结束美国分裂的现状。
然而，有一段时间，他的行动似乎加剧了分裂。当福特总统采取另一项备受争议的行动时，人们的愤怒依然强烈。他赦免了那些在越南战争中非法逃避兵役的人。大多数人没有被送进监狱，代之以让他们为所在社区作工。然而，许多人没有接受总统的提议。他们仍然躲藏在美国。或者逃到其它国家。福特总统在要求国会控制和限制美国情报机构的活动时，得到了公众的大力支持。他希望这能防止未来政府干涉公民的宪法权利。其他问题也困扰了福特总统。在担任副总统期间，福特曾将通胀描述为美国的“头号公敌”。他提出了几项应对措施。身为总统，由于经济不景气，一些措施被迫取消。在经济衰退期间，通货膨胀减少了，但但许多美国人没有了工作。1975年的失业率是自20世纪30年代经济大萧条以来达到的最高点。在外交政策方面，福特通常听从亨利?基辛格的建议。基辛格曾担任尼克松总统的国家安全助理和国务卿。他把这些工作交给了福特总统。基辛格因对理查德?尼克松的贡献而赢得了许多赞誉。然而，基辛格也受到了很多批评。他被指控以国家安全的名义干涉公民自由。他还被指控支持推翻智利左翼政府萨尔瓦多?阿连德。尽管如此，福特总统还是很高兴基辛格能继续留任。即使是基辛格最严厉的批评人士也承认他是出色的谈判家。当福特成为总统的时候，美国在世界上的处境大体上还是充满希望的。前总统尼克松和前苏联领导人勃列日涅夫签署了两项限制核武器扩散的协议。此外，与中国的关系也没有以前那么紧张。然而，美国在东南亚部分地区的政策完全失败了。在福特成为总统的前一年，美国正式结束卷入越南战争。但是南越和北越共产党军队之间的战斗仍在继续。1973年，美国和北越签定的和平协定留给南越人自己保护自己。1975年，很明显南越军队处于被打败的危险中。福特总统试图阻止共产党完全接管南方。他要求国会批准向南越提供7亿美元的军事援助。然而，美国人民已经厌倦了为战争买单，他们的国会代表拒绝了这一提议。在越南发生的事情就像一场噩梦。共产党军队进驻南方的首都西贡。福特下令营救美国公民和支持美国的越南人。看到试图逃离西贡的那些人，几乎没有谁会忘记那一天。那是1975年4月30日。惊恐的越南人在美国大使馆大声呼救。每个人都在推推嚷嚷，试图逃跑。到达大使馆屋顶的一些人把他们的孩子递向前方。
至少，他们希望，孩子们能乘坐美国军用直升机抵达安全地点。当超载的飞机试图起飞时，有些人在外边坚持攀在直升飞机上。福特政府在中东也遇到了麻烦。大约十年的时间里，以色列和阿拉伯国家联盟打了两场战争。1973年战争结束后，亨利?基辛格领导谈判解决了某些问题。以色列同意放弃在战斗中占领的部分领土。作为回报，美国做出了承诺。它将不承认或与巴勒斯坦解放组织作交易，直到巴解符合某些条件为止。1975年9月，以色列和埃及签署了停火协议。他们还同意允许美国平民担任停火线的观察员。亨利?基辛格为和平所做的努力得到了广泛赞誉。然而，中东局势仍然紧张。福特政府无法解决世界上所有的问题。然而，随着1976年总统大选的开始，情况似乎有所好转。美国没有进行任何战争。失业率高居不下，但是通货膨胀有所改善。最重要的是，水门事件后，杰拉尔德·福特带领美国度过了艰难的日子。待续。译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
