(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Last week, we told how the convention reached agreement on a national judiciary. Delegates approved a Supreme Court. And they agreed that the national legislature should establish a system of lower national courts. The national executive -- or president -- would appoint the judges. These courts would hear cases involving national laws, the rights of American citizens, and wrongdoing by foreign citizens in the United States. The existing system of state courts would continue to hear cases involving state laws. We also told how the convention heard different proposals for a national government. Virginia and New Jersey offered their plans. Alexander Hamilton of New York presented a third proposal. It would give the national government almost unlimited powers. Hamilton's ideas were not popular. After Hamiliton's five-hour speech, one delegate said, "Hamilton is praised by everybody. He is supported by no one." Delegates voted to reject the New Jersey Plan. They did not even vote on Hamilton's plan. From that time, all their discussions were about the plan presented by Virginia. The delegates began to discuss creation of a national legislature. This would be the most hotly debated issue of the convention. It forced out into the open the question of equal representation.
Would small states and large states have an equal voice in the central government? One delegate described the situation this way. "Let us see the truth," he said. "This is a fight for power, not for liberty. Small states may lose power to big states in a national legislature. But men living in small states will have just as much freedom as men living in big states." The issue brought the deepest emotions to the surface. One day, Gunning Bedford of Delaware looked straight at the delegates from the largest states. "Gentlemen!" he shouted. "I do not trust you. If you try to crush the small states, you will destroy the confederation. And if you do, the small states will find some foreign ally of more honor and good faith who will take them by the hand and give them justice." The debate on legislative representation -- big states against small states -- lasted for weeks that summer in Philadelphia. Delegates voted on proposals, then discussed other proposals, then voted again. By the beginning of July, they were no closer to agreement than they had been in May. As one delegate said: "It seems we are at the point where we cannot move one way or another."
So the delegates did what large groups often do when they cannot reach agreement. They voted to create a committee. The purpose of the committee was to develop a compromise on representation in the national legislature. The so-called "Grand Committee" would work by itself for the next several days. The rest of the delegates would rest and enjoy themselves during the July Fourth holiday. July Fourth -- Independence Day. It was a national holiday in the United States. It marked the eleventh anniversary of America's Declaration of Independence from British rule. It was a day for parades, fireworks, and patriotic speeches. The celebration was especially important in Philadelphia. It was the city where the Declaration of Independence was signed. Now it was the city where a new nation was being created. Convention president George Washington led a group of delegates to a ceremony at a Philadelphia church. They heard a speech written especially for them. "Your country looks to you with both worry and hope," the speaker said. "Your country depends on your decisions. Your country believes that men such as you -- who led us in our war for independence -- will know how to plan a government that will be good for all Americans.
"Surely," the speaker continued, "we have among us men who understand the science of government and who can find the answers to all our problems. Surely we have the ability to design a government that will protect the liberties we have won." The delegates needed to hear such words. Just a few days before, Benjamin Franklin had expressed his thoughts about the convention. He was not hopeful. Franklin said: "We seem to feel our own lack of political wisdom, since we have been running around in search of it. We went back to ancient history for examples of government. We examined different forms of republics which no longer exist. We also examined modern states all around Europe. But none of these constitutions, we found, work in our situation." Franklin urged the convention to ask for God's help. He said each meeting should begin with a prayer. Hugh Williamson of North Carolina quickly ended any discussion of Franklin's idea. His words were simple. The convention, he said, had no money to pay a minister to lead the delegates in prayer. The convention returned to its work on July fifth. Delegates heard the report of the Grand Committee about representation in the national legislature. The report had two proposals. The Grand Committee said both must be accepted or both rejected. The report described a national legislature with two houses. The first proposal said representation in one house would be based on population.
Each state would have one representative for every forty thousand people in that state. The second proposal said representation in the second house would be equal. Each state would have the same number of votes as the other states. The convention already had voted for a national legislature of two houses. It had not agreed, however, on the number of representatives each state would have in each house. Nor had it agreed on how those representatives would be elected. The proposals made by the Grand Committee on July fifth were the same as those made by Roger Sherman of Connecticut a month earlier. In the future, they would be known as the "Great Compromise.” Delegates debated the compromise for many days. They knew if they did not reach agreement, the convention would fail. Those were dark days in Philadelphia. Later, Luther Martin of Maryland noted that the newspapers reported how much the delegates agreed. But that was not the truth. "We were on the edge of breaking up," Martin said. "We were held together only by the strength of a hair." Delegates Robert Yates and John Lansing of New York had left the convention in protest.
But George Mason of Virginia declared he would bury his bones in Philadelphia before he would leave without an agreement. Even George Washington was depressed. He wrote to Alexander Hamilton, who had returned to New York temporarily. "I am sorry you went away," Washington said. "Our discussions are now, if possible, worse than ever. There is little agreement on which a good government can be formed. I have lost almost all hope of seeing a successful end to the convention. And so I regret that I agreed to take part." During the summer of seventeen eighty-seven, the delegates argued long and hard about how much power to give a central government. But that question was not the most serious issue facing the convention. Many years later, James Madison explained. He said the most serious issue was deciding how the states would be represented and would vote in a national government. That question, he said, was the one which most threatened the writing of the Constitution. That will be our story next week.
重点解析
1.depends on 取决于；依赖于
Back to this question: Who depends on me?
回到这个问题：谁会依赖于我？
2.national government 国家政府
As with all ILO projects, national trade unions, employers’ organizations as well as the national government are partners in this work.
与国际劳工组织的其他项目一样，国家工会、雇主组织以及国家政府都是这项工作的合作伙伴。
3.Grand Committee 大委员会
Following the Emperor's death, he fell in with Trioculus and the Central Committee of Grand Moffs, which proved to be his downfall.
随着皇帝驾崩，他开始与特里奥库鲁斯及高级星区总督中央委员会为伍，后来他的这一行为被证明带来了他的垮台。
4.reach agreement 达成协议
He also called for negotiations with congressional leaders to reach agreement on a plan.
他还要求跟国会的领导人进行协商以对该计划达成协议。
5.agreed on 约定的，公认的
Either his boss or his colleagues agreed on this.
不论是他的老板还是他的同事都同意这点。
参考译文
上周，我们讲述了大会是如何就联邦司法体系达成共识的。代表们同意成立联邦最高法院，下级联邦法院体系由国会设立。法官将由总统任命。法院将审理涉及联邦法律、公民权利和外国人在美国的不法行为的案件。现有的州法院体系将继续审理涉及州法律的案件。我们还讲述了大会如何听取关于建立联邦政府的不同建议。弗吉尼亚州、新泽西州和纽约的亚历山大·汉密尔顿提出了三个方案。方案将赋予联邦政府几乎无限的权力。汉密尔顿的想法不受欢迎，在他连续五个小时的演讲之后，一名代表说："汉密尔顿受到了所有人的赞扬，但却没有人支持他。"新泽西州的方案被否决了。汉密尔顿的方案甚至都没有投票。从此，他们所有的讨论都是关于弗吉尼亚方案。代表们开始讨论建立国会的问题。该问题在大会中讨论最为激烈。同票同权的问题被迫公开讨论。各州，不论大小，在中央政府中有平等的发言权吗？一位代表这样描述："说白了，这是为权力而战，不是为自由而战。"人口少的州在国会的权利可能会输给人口多的州。但是，不管人口多少，各州享有的自由是一样的。"大家就这一问题争得面红耳赤。
一天，德拉瓦州的宁·贝德福德直直地看着几个大州的代表，喊道："先生，我不相信你们，如果你要试图压榨我们这些小州，那么你们摧毁的就是联邦。如果你们这样做的话，我们这些小州将会找一些更有信誉和诚意的外国盟友，让他们给予我们正义。"那年夏天，代表们围绕国会代表权（大州对小州）的问题辩论了好几个星期。代表们就提案进行投票，然后讨论其他提案，最后再投票。从五月到七月，没有任何进展。正如一名代表所说："我们似乎正处于寸步难行的地步。"因此，代表们采取了在无法达成一致意见时通常采取的做法。他们投票决定成立一个委员会，目的是就国会的代表权问题想出一个折中方案。所谓的"大委员会"将在未来几天自行开展工作。其余代表将在7月4日休假。7月4日是美国独立的日子，是美国的法定假日。它标志着美国宣布脱离英国独立11周年。这一天到处都是游行、烟火和爱国演说。费城的庆祝活动尤为重要。因为这里是签署《独立宣言》的城市。现在，一个新的国家正在这座城市建立起来。大会主席乔治·华盛顿带领一些代表出席了在费城教堂举行的仪式。他们听到了一篇专门为他们写的演讲。
演讲者说："你们的国家怀着忧虑和希望的心情关注着你们，你们的国家取决于你们的决定，你们的国家相信，你们这些独立战争中的领袖，会知道如何规划一个对所有美国人都有利的政府。演讲者接着说："我们中间肯定有了解政府体制的人才，有解决困境的人才，我们肯定能够规划出一个政府，保护我们来之不易的自由。"代表们需要听到这样的话。就在几天前，本杰明·富兰克林表达了他对大会的看法。他不抱希望。富兰克林说："我们似乎觉得自己缺乏政治智慧，我们一直在四处寻找政治智慧。我们研究了过去的政治制度，审查了已不复存在的各种共和国的形式。我们还考察了欧洲各国的政治制度。但我们发现，这些宪法都不适合我们。富兰克林敦促大会请求上帝的帮助。他说，每次会前都应该先祈祷。北卡罗莱纳州的休·威廉姆森很快反驳对富兰克林想法，原因很简单。他说，大会没有钱请牧师带领代表们祈祷。大会于7月5日再次召开。代表们听取了国会代表权委员会的报告。包括两项提案。大委员会表示，要么全部接受，要么全部拒绝。报告描述了拥有两个议院的国会。第一项提案说，其中一个议院的代表将根据人口而定。州里每4万人将派一名代表。第二项提案说，第二个议院的各州的代表人数相同。
各州将拥有与其他州相同的票数。大会已经同意建立国会由两个议院构成。但是，各州在众议院的代表人数问题上没有达成共识。就如何选举这些代表的问题上也没有达成共识。大委员会于7月5日提出的议案与一个月前康涅狄格州的罗杰·谢尔曼提出的议案相同。这一议案后来被称为"大妥协"。代表们就此进行了多天辩论。他们知道，如果不能达成共识，大会就会以失败告终。这是费城的黑暗日子。后来，马里兰州的路德·马丁注意到，当时的报道都说大会代表达成了一致，但这并非事实。"我们正处在破裂的边缘，"马丁说。"我们在千钧一发之际走到了一起。"来自纽约的代表罗伯特·耶茨和约翰·兰辛退出大会以示抗议。但弗吉尼亚州的乔治梅森宣布，达不成协议，他誓死也不离开费城。就连乔治·华盛顿也感到沮丧。他写信给已暂时返回纽约的亚历山大·汉密尔顿。"眼下的辩论比以往任何时候都要糟糕，在组建一个有效政府的问题上，大家的看法大相径庭。我对大会成功几乎不抱任何希望，真后悔当初同意来参加。"1787年夏天，代表们就给予中央政府多少权力进行了长期而激烈的争论。但是，这一问题并不是大会面临的最严峻的问题。许多年后，詹姆斯·麦迪逊解释说。他说，最严峻的问题是各州在联邦政府中的代表权问题。他说，这个问题才是对宪法制定的最大威胁。这就是我们下周要讲的故事。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
