(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
In the closing days of Adams' term, Congress passed a Judiciary Act. This act gave Adams the power to appoint as many judges as he wished. It was a way for the Federalist Party to keep control of one branch of government. The Federalists had lost the presidency and their majority in Congress to Thomas Jefferson and his Democratic-Republican party -- known today as the Democratic Party. Now, Tony Riggs and Shep O'Neal continue the story of America's third president, Thomas Jefferson. President Adams quickly created new courts and named new judges. Just as quickly, the Senate approved them. The papers of appointment were signed. However, some of the judges did not receive their papers, or commissions, before Thomas Jefferson was sworn-in. The new president refused to give them their commissions. One of the men was William Marbury. He asked the Supreme Court to decide his case. The Chief Justice was John Marshall, a Federalist. Marshall thought about ordering the Republican administration to give Marbury his commission. On second thought, he decided not to. He knew the administration would refuse his order. And that would weaken the power of the Supreme Court. Marshall believed the Supreme Court should have the right to veto bills passed by Congress and signed by the president. In the Marbury case, he saw a chance to put this idea into law.
Marshall wrote his decision carefully. First, he said that Marbury did have a legal right to his judicial commission. Then, he said that Marbury had been denied this legal right. He said no one -- not even the president -- could take away a person's legal rights. Next, Marshall noted that Marbury had taken his request to the Supreme Court under the terms of a law passed in seventeen eighty-nine. That law gave citizens the right to ask the high court to order action by any lower court or by any government official. Marshall explained that the Constitution carefully limits the powers of the Supreme Court. The court can hear direct requests involving diplomats and the separate states. It cannot rule on other cases until a lower court has ruled. So, Marshall said, the seventeen eighty-nine law permits Marbury to take his case directly to the Supreme Court. But the Constitution does not. The Constitution, he added, is the first law of the land. Therefore, the congressional law is unconstitutional and has no power. Chief Justice Marshall succeeded in doing all he hoped to do. He made clear that Marbury had a right to his judicial commission. He also saved himself from a battle with the administration.
Most importantly, he claimed for the Supreme Court the power to rule on laws passed by Congress. President Jefferson understood the importance of Marshall's decision. He did not agree with it. He waited for the Supreme Court to use this new power. Several times during Jefferson's presidency, Federalists claimed that laws passed by the Republican Congress violated the Constitution. But they never asked the Supreme Court to reject those laws. During Jefferson's first term, the United States faced a serious problem in its relations with France. France had signed a secret treaty with Spain. The treaty gave France control of a large area in North America -- the Louisiana Territory. Napoleon Bonaparte ruled France at that time. Jefferson did not want him in North America. He felt the French presence was a threat to the peace of the United States. He decided to try to buy parts of Louisiana. Jefferson sent James Monroe to Paris as a special negotiator. Before sailing, Monroe met with the president and Secretary of State James Madison. They discussed what the United States position would be on every proposal France might make. First, Monroe would try to buy as much territory east of the Mississippi River as France would sell. If France refused, then Monroe would try to buy an area near the mouth of the Mississippi River.
The area was to be large enough for a port. Monroe never had a chance to offer the American position. Napoleon had decided to sell everything to the Americans. He told his finance minister to give up Louisiana -- all of it. Napoleon needed money for a war with Britain. James Monroe was happy to negotiate the purchase of Louisiana. They agreed on a price of eighty million francs for all the land drained by the great Mississippi River and all its many streams. Federalists in the northeastern states opposed the decision to buy Louisiana. They feared it would weaken the power of the states of the northeast. Federalist leaders made a plan to form a new government of those states. But to succeed, they needed the state of New York. Vice President Aaron Burr was the political leader of New York and a candidate for New York governor. The Federalists believed Burr would win the election and support their plan. But Federalist leader Alexander Hamilton did not trust Burr. The two had been enemies for a long time. Hamilton made some strong statements against Burr during the election campaign in New York. The comments later appeared in several newspapers. Burr lost the New York election. The Federalist plan died for a new government of northeastern states. After the election, Burr asked Hamilton to admit or deny the comments he had made against Burr. Hamilton refused. The two men exchanged more notes. Burr was not satisfied with Hamilton's answers.
He believed Hamilton had attacked his honor. Burr demanded a duel. A duel is a fight, usually with guns. In those days, a duel was how a gentleman defended his honor. Hamilton opposed duels. His son had been killed in a duel. Yet he agreed to fight Burr on July eleventh, eighteen-oh-four. The two men met at Weehawken, New Jersey, just across the Hudson River from New York City. They would fight by the water's edge, at the bottom of a high rock wall. The guns were loaded. Burr and Hamilton took their places. One of Hamilton's friends explained the rules. "Are you ready, gentlemen?" he asked. Both answered "yes." There was a moment of silence. He gave the signal. Burr and Hamilton raised their guns. Two shots split the air. Hamilton raised up on his toes, then fell to the ground. Burr remained standing. He looked at Hamilton with regret, then left. Hamilton died the next day. Newspapers throughout the nation reported Hamilton's death. Most people accepted the news calmly. To them, it was simply the sad end to an old, private dispute. But Burr's political enemies charged him with murder. The vice president fled to the southern state of Georgia. The nation was preparing for the presidential election in a few months.
Once again, the Republican Party chose Thomas Jefferson as its candidate for president. But Republicans refused to support Aaron Burr for vice president again. Instead, they chose George Clinton. Clinton had served as governor of New York seven times. The Federalist Party chose Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina as its candidate for president. It chose Rufus King of New York to be its vice presidential candidate. The campaign was quiet. In those days, candidates did not make many speeches. Republican pamphlets told of the progress made during the past four years. The former Federalist administration raised taxes, they said. Jefferson ended many of the taxes. The Federalists borrowed millions of dollars. Jefferson borrowed none. And, Jefferson got the Louisiana Territory without going to war. The Federalists could not dispute these facts. They expected that Jefferson would be re-elected. But they were sure their candidate would get as many as forty electoral votes. The results shocked the Federalists. Jefferson received one hundred sixty-two electoral votes. Pinckney received just fourteen. Thomas Jefferson would be president for another four years. That will be our story next week.
重点解析
1.waited for 等待
I waited for a little while, but he didn't raise.
我等了一会儿，但他没有再增加赌注。
2.looked at 看着
So I looked at the site.
所以我又登陆网站看了看。
3.charged with 控告某人因某事
A ire charged with electricity is called a live wire.
带电的电线叫火线。
4.Supreme Court 最高法院
He intends to fight the case to the Supreme Court.
他打算把官司打到最高法院。
5.refused to 拒绝
They refused to bow force.
他们拒绝在暴力面前低头。
参考译文
亚当斯任期的最后几天，国会通过了一项司法法案。该法案赋予亚当斯按照自己意愿任命多少法官的权力。这是联邦党人控制政府部门的一种方式。联邦党失去了总统职位和在国会的多数席位，败给了托马斯·杰斐逊和他领导的民主党-共和党（即今天的民主党）。现在，托尼·里格斯和谢普·奥尼尔继续为您讲述美国第三任总统托马斯·杰斐逊的故事。亚当斯总统很快设立了新的法院并任命了新的法官。很快得到了参议院的批准。任命文件已经签署。然而，有些法官在托马斯·杰斐逊宣誓就职之前并没有收到委任书。新总统拒绝给予他们委任书。威廉·马布里就是其中之一。他请求最高法院裁决这一案件。首席大法官是约翰·马歇尔，他是一位联邦党人，马歇尔考虑过命令共和党政府给马布里颁布委任书。再三考虑，他决定不颁发。他知道政府将拒绝执行他的命令。这将削弱最高法院的权力。马歇尔认为，最高法院有权否决国会通过并由总统签署的法案。在马布里一案中，他看到了将这个想法载入法案的机会马歇尔认真地写下了他的决定。首先，他说马布里合法拥有委任书。然后，他说马布里被剥夺了这项权利，任何人，甚至是总统，都不能剥夺一个人的合法权利。接着，马歇尔指出，马布里根据1789年通过的一项法律，向最高法院提出了请求。
该法律赋予公民要求高级法院命令下级法院或任何政府官员采取行动的权利。马歇尔解释说，宪法谨慎地限制最高法院的权力。最高法院可以直接审理涉及外交和州的案件，在下级法院做出裁决之前，不能对其他案件作出裁决。因此，马歇尔说，1789年的法律允许马布里将案件直接提交给最高法院。但是宪法并不允许。他补充说，宪法是美国的最高法律。因此，这项法律是违宪的，没有效力。马歇尔大法官希望做的事都成功了。他明确表示马布里有权得到委任书。他还避免了与政府的斗争。最重要的是，他声称最高法院有权对国会通过的法律进行裁决。杰斐逊总统明白马歇尔决定的重要性，他不同意这一观点。他等待最高法院使用这项新权力。在杰斐逊总统的任期内，联邦党人多次声称共和党控制的国会通过的法律违反了宪法。但他们从未要求最高法院否决这些法律。在杰斐逊总统的第一个任期内，美国在与法国的关系中面临一个严重的问题。法国与西班牙签订了一项秘密条约。该条约使法国控制了北美的一大片地区——路易斯安那州。拿破仑·波拿巴当时统治法国。杰斐逊不希望拿破仑留在北美。他觉得法国的存在是对美国和平的威胁，他决定购买路易斯安那州的部分地区。杰斐逊派詹姆斯·门罗作为特别谈判代表前往巴黎。临行前，门罗会见了总统和国务卿詹姆斯·麦迪逊。他们讨论了法国可能提出的每一项建议的美国立场。
首先，门罗将试图购买密西西比河以东的土地，将法国出售的土地全都买下来。如果法国拒绝，门罗将试图购买密西西比河河口附近的地区。这个区域足够大，可以建一个港口。门罗从来没有机会来阐述美国的立场。拿破仑决定把一切都卖给美国。他告诉他的财政部长放弃路易斯安那的全部地区。拿破仑需要钱与英国作战。詹姆斯·门罗很乐意就购买路易斯安那州进行谈判。双方商定以八千万法郎的价格买下密西西比河及其众多溪流所干涸的全部土地。东北部各州的联邦党人反对购买路易斯安那地区。他们担心这会削弱东北各州的力量。联邦党领袖制定了计划来成立新的州政府。但要想成功，他们需要纽约州的帮助。副总统亚伦·伯尔是纽约州的政治领袖，也是纽约州州长的候选人。联邦党人认为，伯尔会赢得选举，并支持他们的计划。但联邦党人领袖亚历山大·汉密尔顿并不信任伯尔。长期以来，两人一直针锋相对。汉密尔顿在纽约竞选期间发表了一些反对伯尔的强硬声明。这些声明后来出现在几家报纸上。伯尔在纽约选举中失败。联邦党在东北各州成立新政府的计划失败了。选举结束后，伯尔要求汉密尔顿承认或否认他对伯尔的评论。汉密尔顿拒绝了。两人交换了更多信件。伯尔对汉密尔顿的回答很不满意。他认为汉密尔顿破坏了他的名誉。伯尔要求决斗。决斗是一种打斗，通常是用枪。在那些时代，决斗是绅士捍卫自己荣誉的方式。汉密尔顿反对决斗。他的儿子在决斗中死去。然而他同意在1804年7月11日与伯尔战斗。
两人在新泽西州维霍肯相会，就在纽约市对面的哈德逊河上。他们站在一堵高岩墙底部的河边。子弹已经上镗。伯尔和汉密尔顿站在各自的位置上。汉密尔顿的一个朋友解释了规则，问道：“你们准备好了吗?”回答说“准备好了。”沉默了片刻。他发出了信号。伯尔和汉密尔顿举起了枪。两声枪响划破长空。汉密尔顿踮起脚尖，然后摔倒在地。伯尔仍然站着。他遗憾地看了看汉密尔顿，然后离开了，第二天，汉密尔顿就死去了。全国的报纸都报道了汉密尔顿的死讯。大多数人平静地接受了这个消息。对他们来说，这只是一场由来已久的私人恩怨，结局有些可悲罢了。但伯尔的政敌指控他谋杀。副总统逃到了南部的乔治亚州。这个国家正在为几个月后的总统选举做准备。共和党再次选择托马斯·杰斐逊为总统候选人。但是共和党人拒绝再次支持亚伦·伯尔竞选副总统。他们选择了乔治·克林顿。克林顿曾七次担任纽约州州长。联邦党选择南卡罗来纳州的查尔斯·考特斯沃斯·平克尼为总统候选人。它选择了纽约的鲁弗斯·金作为副总统候选人。竞选活动很平静。在那个时代，候选人很少发表演讲。共和党的宣传册讲述了过去四年美国的进展。他们说，前联邦政府提高了税收。杰斐逊废除了许多税收。联邦党人借了数百万美元。杰斐逊没有借来一分。杰斐逊未开战就得到了路易斯安那的领土。联邦党人无法否认这些事实。他们希望杰斐逊能再次当选。但是他们确信，他们的候选人将获得多达40张选举票。结果让联邦党人大吃一惊。杰斐逊获得了162张选举人票。平克尼只得到了14张选票。托马斯·杰斐逊将再次担任四年总统。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！
