听力文本

British forces were planning several campaigns in the United States later in the year. Successful military campaigns could force the United States to accept the kind of treaty Britain wanted. British representatives to the talks demanded that the United States give control of its Northwest Territory to the Indians. They also asked that the United States give part of the state of Maine to Canada, and make other changes in the border. United States representatives were led by John Quincy Adams, son of former president John Adams. They made equally tough demands. The United States wanted payment for damages suffered during the war. It also demanded that Britain stop seizing American seamen for the British navy. And the United States wanted all of Canada. The British representatives said they could not even discuss the question of impressing Americans into the British navy. John Quincy Adams had little hope the talks would succeed. The Americans would surrender none of their territory. Old John Adams, the former president, told President James Madison: "I would continue this war forever before surrendering an acre of America." His son, John Quincy, did not believe the British would reduce any of their demands.

But another of the Americans at Ghent, House Speaker Henry Clay, felt differently. Clay was right. After Britain received word that its military campaigns had failed at Baltimore and Plattsburgh, its representatives became easier to negotiate with. They dropped the demand that the United States give the Northwest Territory to the Indians. Britain still hoped for military successes in America. The British government asked the Duke of Wellington to lead British forces in Canada. The duke had won important victories in the war against Napoleon. Perhaps he could do the same in America. The duke was offered the power to continue the war or to make peace. Wellington told the government he would go to America if requested. But he refused to promise any success. He said it was not a new general that Britain needed in America, but naval control of the Great Lakes that separated the United States from Canada. "The question is," Wellington said, "can we get this naval control? If we cannot, then I will do you no good in America. I think," said Wellington, "that you might as well sign a peace treaty with the United States now.

I think you have no right to demand any territory from the United States. The failure of the British military campaigns in America gives you no right to make such demands." The British government accepted this advice from its top military expert. It ordered the British representatives at Ghent to drop the demands for American territory. The Americans then dropped their demands for Canadian territory. The things that led to the war no longer existed. Britain's war with France had caused the British and French to interfere with neutral American trade. And Britain had needed men for its navy. Now, the war with France was over. No longer was there any reason to interfere with the trade of any nation. And no longer was there any need to seize Americans for service in the British navy. On the day before Christmas, eighteen fourteen, the United States and Britain signed a simple treaty. In it, each side agreed to stop fighting. They agreed to settle all their differences at future negotiations. The war had ended. But one more battle was to be fought before news of the peace treaty reached the United States. During the autumn of eighteen fourteen, British soldiers at Jamaica began preparing for an attack against New Orleans, at the mouth of the Mississippi River.

Late in November, this force of about seven thousand five hundred men sailed from Jamaica to New Orleans. The British soldiers were commanded by General Sir Edward Pakenham. The general did not take his men directly to the mouth of the Mississippi River. Instead, they sailed across a lake east of the city. Early during the afternoon of December twenty-third, General Andrew Jackson, the commander of American forces at New Orleans, learned the British force was near. General Jackson was a good soldier and a great leader of men. He fought in the Revolutionary War, then studied law. He moved west to Nashville, Tennessee. The general also served in both houses of the United States Congress. When war broke out in eighteen twelve, he was elected general of a group of volunteer soldiers from Tennessee. Jackson was a rough man. His soldiers feared and respected him. They called him "Old Hickory," because he seemed as tough as hickory wood. Jackson was given responsibility for defending the Gulf coast. Earlier in the year, he had attacked Pensacola, in east Florida, and forced out several hundred British marines. Jackson believed the British would attack Mobile before attacking New Orleans. He left part of his forces at Mobile and took the others to the mouth of the Mississippi. Jackson was a sick man when he got to New Orleans.

And what he found made him feel no better. Little had been done to prepare for the expected British attack. Jackson declared martial law and began building the city's defenses. Most of the work on the defenses had been completed when Jackson got word that the British were only a few kilometers from New Orleans. "Gentlemen," Jackson told his officers, "the British are below. We must fight them tonight." The British soldiers rested. They believed it would be easy to capture the city the next day. But Jackson rushed up guns and men, and attacked the British by surprise just after dark. Then, the Americans retreated to a place about eight kilometers south of the city. Jackson had chosen this place carefully. On the right was the Mississippi River. On the left was a swamp -- mud and water that could not be crossed. In front of the American soldiers was an open field. For two weeks, the British soldiers waited. They tested the American defenses at several places, but found no weaknesses.

Every day, Jackson had his men improve their positions. At night, small groups of Jackson's soldiers would slip across the field and silently attack British soldiers guarding the other side. Finally, on January eighth, the British attacked. They expected the Americans to flee in the face of their strong attack. But the Americans stood firm. Jackson's artillery fired into the enemy. When the British got as close as one hundred fifty meters, the Americans began to fire their long rifles. The rain of bullets and shells was deadly. General Pakenham was wounded twice and then killed by a shell that exploded near him. Only one British soldier reached the top of the American defenses. The British finally retreated. They left behind more than two thousand dead and wounded. Five hundred other British soldiers had been captured. Thirteen Americans were killed. It was a great victory for the United States, but one that was not necessary. The war had ended, by treaty, two weeks earlier.

重点解析

1.left behind 留下；遗留
He was not only an amazing athlete and martial artist, but he possessed genuine superstar charisma and through a handful of films he left behind an indelible impression.
他不仅是出色的运动员和武术艺术家，他还具有真正的巨星号召力，并且通过少数几部影片留下了他令人难忘的形象26TFMNFaq5@H%=HD37U。
2.responsibility for 责任；负责
In this scenario, the developer is abdicating much of the responsibility for the design and for code quality.
在这种情况下，这个开发者实际上是放弃了很多在设计和代码质量上的责任0qq3wIRvy_FQNVOa。
3.payment for 付款
There is a small risk that the same customer wants to do another payment for a different order at the same time.
这里有一个小小的风险，同一个客户可能想要在同一时间为另一个订单进行支付[Q|Eu[Ncs&T2@MV。
4.rushed up 冲了出来
Seeing the platoon leader returning, everybody rushed up to meet him.
看见排长回来了， 大家赶忙迎上去d;&cRYyg2FnNd%@1。

参考译文

英军计划于今年晚些时候在美国发动几次战役;l1p00N890^jTfe0H。成功的话，美国可能会按英国的要求被迫签订条约(TXTt#8xvQ-。参加谈判的英国代表要求美国把西北地区的控制权交给印第安人Uf]b)8crO7^Nw(%Rk。他们还要求美国把缅因州部分地区交给加拿大，并对边境做出其他更改^NOL.pUeX=A(8~[%V-lA。美国代表以前总统约翰·亚当斯的儿子约翰·昆西·亚当斯为首qnmwd%SoE.。他们提出了同样严苛的要求：要求赔偿战争期间遭受的损失PoT)qnL0Y5C5!%J(。还要求英国海军停止扣押美国船员mGNm]uR0bpc&&f[L。美国想要整个加拿大zI)ocPxjk3[vqXU。英国代表表示，他们甚至无法讨论美军为英国海军服役的问题avXTnihcpuH。约翰·昆西·亚当斯认为，谈判成功希望渺茫oSkUCfj[0W]j@7X!。美国人不会放弃他们的领土^.OW8T593@8t_]M。前总统约翰·亚当斯告诉美国总统詹姆斯·麦迪逊：“在交出一英亩美国土地之前，我将把这场战争进行到底[9#F(vn]Bk9h53。”他的儿子约翰·昆西不相信英国会做出任何让步=Mzn8L^gHd(。但根特的另一位美国众议院议长亨利·克莱却有不同的看法，克莱是对的e(*gqEH_xgY。在英国得知其在巴尔的摩和普拉茨堡的军事行动失败后，谈判变得容易起来H-Dc^s]lrE&[hjl7。英国放弃要求美国把西北领土给印第安人的要求Wv!O[VZzF@Ais7SWmA,4。英国仍然希望在美国取得军事胜利)_)5=Cg,EyB^eWWcgo%。

英国政府要求惠灵顿公爵领导英军进驻加拿大78a.O9*P=DF.)EC#vsol。惠灵顿公爵在与拿破仑的战争中取得了重大胜利，和美国的战争应该也是如此ZSS..SuDSg%F#C。公爵被授予决定战争或和平的权力;r+fS#=~kjUnW。威灵顿告诉政府，如果有需要的话，他将去美国=4wu|zC_!~8。但他拒绝承诺任何成功.k4&ZadIPdivoRZ。他说，英国在美国需要的不是一位新将军，而是对美国和加拿大分隔开来的五大湖的控制权ZavYX*9ssud。惠灵顿说：“问题是，我们能拿回控制权吗?如果不能，那在美国一事上我对你就没有用了K8|disOXQQ。惠灵顿说：“我认为，你不妨现在就同美国签署和平条约Vo%0,PVH7G|~ptWU。我认为你们无权向美国索要任何领土DXImTTB)Nk4m=TbK。英国对美军事行动的失败使得你们无权提出这样的要求wZKdCaGHy8o~gTQV#;Y+。”英国政府接受了最高军事专家的建议sLEb3MQL2SbiC。它命令根特的英国代表放弃对美国领土的要求o4H);hKB;y32|+W。美国人随后放弃了对加拿大领土的要求lz#4]hg3*i(pmRDhJ59。战争的导火索不复存在了U7l@e26_[z;v。英法战争导致英法两国干涉美国奉行中立贸易的政策*u~DY8k*.XOm5-TRTO。英国海军也需要人手dZcL!aKn@Z%m*266。如今，英法战争结束=bg8^7AY^*,yKlKL。再也没有任何理由干涉任何国家的贸易了azkDT+Mli#。再也没有必要扣押美国人在英国海军服役[k4eeU8df@C;vfI];P。1814年圣诞节的前一天，英美签署了一项简单的条约WW1enn;u]AaGl=YJ_。条约中，双方都同意停火，通过今后的谈判解决所有分歧.z^690)i@6iQWg5TC,。战争结束了py|;Zpm,hVl7.g,;,W。但是，在和平条约的消息传到美国之前，还有一场战争要打3&yGY&+bW@ajJ&x#。1814年秋天，英国士兵在牙买加开始准备在密西西比河河口进攻新奥尔良XEd*j!MOtv^T1V|VY。十一月底，这支由七千五百人组成的军队从牙买加航行到新奥尔良c_v4sD=FT]UV#X]nO+。

英军由爱德华·巴肯汉爵士将军指挥，巴肯汉没有直接把他的士兵带到密西西比河的河口|ZckGneWI=!。而是乘船穿过了新奥尔良东边的一个湖qGvQqx@93l6hFOf。12月23日下午早些时候，在新奥尔良的美军指挥官安德鲁·杰克逊将军得知英军已经逼近hnywSZ=0B.^icb#VRy=。杰克逊将军是一名好兵，也是人类伟大的领袖tXXk2lGpzV1cWbW。他参加了革命战争，学习了法律Xt_C.)df^[,,8。他搬到了田纳西州的纳什维尔HmeA4uWj*vBpWD0yqzta。这位将军还在美国国会两院任职%%7)#kpf,=Jl.jIb。1812年战争爆发时，他被选为田纳西州的将军，领导一群志愿兵k.*v1CFFSR-4ixp。杰克逊是个粗野之人G9^ZKq|wx^w0tX8XT。他的士兵敬畏他，尊敬他，叫他“老山胡桃”，因为他看起来像山胡桃木一样坚韧y@]=i+FPv*sq)WMU.。杰克逊负责保卫墨西哥湾海岸mNA+LXsO@GNa|。今年早些时候，杰克逊袭击了佛罗里达州东部的彭萨科拉，迫使数百名英国海军陆战队员撤离SNssuAUASaf~(CB(。杰克逊认为，英军在进攻新奥尔良之前会先进攻莫比尔gpREqBDU5fh4*+G%。他留一部分军队驻守莫比尔，把其余的部队带到密西西比河河口.3a*fC+SMxBOy=。杰克逊到达新奥尔良时生病了，病情一直没有好转@1UNv,ObCN)B3usjd)。美国还没有为英国进攻做好准备p=(sD#&XH&V。于是杰克逊宣布戒严，开始修建城市防御工事j)9!]]=_MCFsF]|。杰克逊得到消息说英军离新奥尔良只有几公里远时，大部分防御工事已经完成GLxMuHE1@wK;N。

杰克逊对他的军官们说：“将士们，英军就要来了，我们今晚必须和他们战斗yBC*YWgV8y8f!oKQl|r。”英军休息，他们认为第二天占领新奥尔良很容易B8CCZRB^)d^rO+nMC9。但是，刚刚天黑，杰克逊派人袭击了英军U4G&lUaNH!5KtncuSi@n。随后，美军撤到该市以南约8公里处的地方j94aisOIjq。杰克逊精心选择了这个地方Zs%d]_3o([UhM。这个地方的右边是密西西比河，左边是一片沼泽——泥浆和水不能通过1H2xdfBIwX18BLS。面前是一片开阔的田野H1^BjN#J,=-)hC。英军等了两个星期oY5EV(l87x1。他们在几个地方测试了美国的防御，但没有发现弱点;kwA%SC[V;%j8~F0;m。每一天，杰克逊都让他的人调整防御地点t2cT5xgZBImVvE.F+。晚上，杰克逊的一小组士兵悄悄穿过田野，攻击在另一边守卫的英国士兵A#_tFN,A]P~m@l=。终于，1月8日，英军发动了进攻)&YZ#4N5=kRllAQh。他们觉得美军面对英军的猛烈攻击会逃跑，然而美军并不屈服X-MM,s+WKp#|+k。杰克逊命令炮兵向敌人开火nKK^JW80a~GW]。当英军逼近150米时，美军开始用长枪射击U%!R3Bk5ejqmfBmAb&MP。枪林弹雨个个致命SRC4Qq.|j2+UYRQm。Pakenham将军受了两次伤，随后被附近的一枚炮弹炸死&b*FNr)8E!,oWw3gJd9|。只有一名英国士兵到达了美国防御的最高处u|94s@#]u#++Smkj.)。英军终于撤退，死伤两千多人S3Vfx[_l,*A%O,。另有500名英国士兵被捕，13名美国士兵遇难GQATf0jZfwj]xRc。这场战争对美国来说是一场伟大的胜利，但并不必要a0EXxf%yN,U~pOHXK。两周前，两国签订了缔结战争条约IIGWkqByOSr7w;WBJ6。

译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！